Ethics Policy
Research and Publication Ethics
Authorship and Contributorship Policy
The European Journal of Therapeutics adheres strictly to the authorship criteria recommended by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). Authorship must be based on four key criteria: substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work, or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data; drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content; final approval of the version to be published; and agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work, ensuring that questions related to its accuracy or integrity are appropriately investigated and resolved. An author must be able to identify which co-authors are responsible for specific parts of the work and should have confidence in the integrity of their co-authors' contributions. All individuals meeting these four criteria must be listed as authors. In contrast, those who do not meet all requirements should be acknowledged in the acknowledgements section on the manuscript's title page. To ensure proper authorship and prevent ghost or honorary authorship, the European Journal of Therapeutics requires corresponding authors to submit a signed and scanned Copyright Agreement and Acknowledgement of Authorship Form, available for download through www.eurjther.com. Should the Editorial Board suspect a case of "gift authorship," the manuscript will be summarily rejected, without proceeding to an external peer review. Additionally, the corresponding author must provide a short statement confirming their acceptance of full responsibility for authorship throughout the submission and review process of the manuscript.
Authorship and Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools
The European Journal of Therapeutics has adopted the following statements as reported by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) 1, World Association of Medical Editors (WAME) 2, and the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) 3.
Authors are required to submit an AI usage declaration at the submission stage (on the title page). The European Journal of Therapeutics screens submitted manuscripts using Turnitin's AI detection tool; to avoid false positives, minor matches (below 20% similarity) are excluded. Following the scan during the technical evaluation phase, if the AI writing report indicates 40% or greater AI usage, it is considered a significant detection of AI use.
Authors are required to disclose any use of AI-assisted technologies, such as Large Language Models, chatbots, or image generators, during the article preparation process; if AI tools were employed for writing assistance, such as drafting or editing text, this must be explicitly stated in the acknowledgements section on the Title Page. In contrast, detailed information about the tools used and their application methods must be provided in the methods section if AI technologies were utilized for data collection, analysis, or figure generation.
AI technologies must not be listed as authors, as authorship implies responsibility and accountability that AI tools cannot assume; consequently, all authors must ensure that any content created or modified using AI tools is thoroughly reviewed and edited to meet the journal's academic writing standards. Authors take full responsibility for the integrity, originality, and accuracy of the entire manuscript, including any sections influenced or generated by AI-assisted technologies.
Authors also hold the responsibility for protecting the confidentiality of research data, particularly sensitive patient information, ensuring that the use of AI technologies does not compromise patient privacy, as sharing confidential patient data with AI tools can lead to significant ethical and legal issues, including privacy breaches and misuse of information.
For comprehensive information on authorship roles and the ethical use of AI technologies, authors are advised to consult the recommendations provided by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) regarding the definition of authors and contributors.
1 COPE Council. COPE position - Authorship and AI - English.
https://doi.org/10.24318/cCVRZBms
© 2024 Committee on Publication Ethics (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) https://publicationethics.org
2 Zielinski C, Winker MA, Aggarwal R, Ferris LE, Heinemann M, Lapeña JF, Pai SA, Ing E, Citrome L, Alam M, Voight M, Habibzadeh F, for the WAME Board. Chatbots, Generative AI, and Scholarly Manuscripts. WAME Recommendations on Chatbots and Generative Artificial Intelligence in Relation to Scholarly Publications. WAME. May 31, 2023. https://wame.org/page3.php?id=106
3 ICMJE Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals.
Access URL: https://www.icmje.org/news-and-editorials/icmje-recommendations_annotated_jan24.pdf
Access Date: 21.07.2025
Research Ethics
For experimental, clinical, and drug studies, and some case reports, approval of research protocols by an Ethics Committee is required, following international agreements such as the World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki ("Ethical Principles for Medical Research Involving Human Subjects," amended in October 2024, https://www.wma.net/). Ethics Committee approval information, including the name of the approving institution, approval date, and approval number, must be declared on the title page and under the Materials and Methods section of the manuscript. Authors should provide the ethics committee reports.
As the European Journal of Therapeutics, we mandate that manuscripts presenting experimental studies with human participants include a definitive statement verifying that comprehensive, written informed consent was secured from all individuals, after a thorough explanation of all procedures involved. Correspondingly, for research conducted on animal subjects, a precise delineation of the measures implemented to preclude pain and mitigate suffering is an essential requirement.
It is the authors' responsibility to protect patient anonymity. For any photographs that may disclose a patient's identity, written consent must be secured from the patient or their legally appointed representative. Furthermore, within the Materials and Methods section of the manuscript, authors are obligated to declare that written consent was obtained from the patients, and to explicitly state the name of the approving ethics committee, its approval number, and the date of approval.
The journal also promotes the use of specific reporting guidelines for clinical research and other study designs to ensure comprehensive and standardized reporting within their respective disciplines, including CONSORT guidelines for randomized research studies and clinical trials (with SPIRIT guidance for protocols), STROBE guidelines for observational original research studies, STARD guidelines for studies on diagnostic accuracy, PRISMA guidelines for systematic reviews and meta-analysis (with PRISMA-P guidelines for protocols), ARRIVE guidelines and the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, 8th edition, for experimental animal studies, TREND guidelines for nonrandomized evaluations of behavioral and public health interventions, CARE case report guidelines for case reports, and SRQR guidelines for qualitative research.
Clinical Data Sharing Policy
The European Journal of Therapeutics is committed to enhancing the transparency and reproducibility of research. The journal strongly encourages authors to share their de-identified clinical data where ethically and legally permissible, consistent with patient privacy. Authors submitting clinical trials are required to register their trials in a public registry at or before the time of first patient enrollment, following ICMJE recommendations. Furthermore, manuscripts presenting the findings of clinical trials are required to incorporate a comprehensive data sharing declaration on their title page. The clinical trial findings statement should clearly state which de-identified participant data will be made available, the availability of relevant documentation (e.g., study protocols, statistical analysis plans), the data publication timeframe, and the specific criteria governing data acquisition.
Copyright&Licensing
Copyright Policy
The European Journal of Therapeutics requires corresponding authors to ensure proper authorship and prevent ghost or honorary authorship. The European Journal of Therapeutics requires corresponding authors to submit a signed and scanned Copyright Agreement and Acknowledgement of Authorship Form, available for download through www.eurjther.com. Should the Editorial Board suspect a case of "gift authorship," the manuscript will be summarily rejected, without proceeding to an external peer review. Additionally, the corresponding author must provide a short statement confirming their acceptance of full responsibility for authorship throughout the submission and review process of the manuscript.
By signing this form, authors agree that the article, if accepted for publication by the European Journal of Therapeutics, will be licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License (CC-BY-NC).
When incorporating previously published content, including figures, tables, or any other material in both print and electronic formats, authors are solely responsible for obtaining explicit permission from the respective copyright holder. All legal, financial, and criminal liabilities arising from the unauthorized use of such materials belong entirely to the author (s).
Authors maintain complete ownership of all patent and other proprietary rights, including copyright, on their published articles without restriction.
The European Journal of Therapeutics does not charge any publishing fees, nor are any copyright fees paid to the authors.
Licensing Policy
The European Journal of Therapeutics operates with a clear commitment to the open dissemination and ethical reuse of scholarly work. All content published in the European Journal of Therapeutics is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY NC 4.0). By submitting their work to the European Journal of Therapeutics, authors consent to its publication under these terms.
Under the provisions of this license, both third parties and authors are granted the freedom to copy, distribute, transmit, and adapt the material, provided the article is properly cited and the use is for non-commercial purposes. This includes the right to remix, transform, and build upon the material. It is a fundamental requirement that the original author (s) and full citation details are always acknowledged, and the article should be cited using its Digital Object Identifier (DOI) as provided by the journal. The authors permit the European Journal of Therapeutics to publish their article and to identify itself as the original publisher.
Authors are responsible for ensuring that the submitted study is original and entirely free from plagiarized content. The work in question must be original and not under copyright elsewhere, either in whole or in part. Authors warrant that their contribution, or any material contained within it, has not been published previously and will not be submitted for publication elsewhere while under consideration by this journal. Furthermore, authors must actively avoid duplicate publication, which involves reproducing verbatim content from their other published works. Authors confirm their contribution to the work and are required to read and sign the conflict of interest declaration, affirming their approval of and responsibility for the article and its contents.
Crucially, authors maintain complete ownership of all patent and other proprietary rights, including copyright, on their published articles without restriction. Nothing within this license should be interpreted as infringing upon an author's right to maintain the integrity and ownership of their work, nor as detracting from or restricting these rights. In the event of any concern or dispute regarding published studies, the European Journal of Therapeutics is committed to following the established flowcharts of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) to ensure fair and transparent resolution.
FORCE11 & COPE Research Data Publishing Ethics Working Group flowchart: Scientific rigor - Published data
©2023 FORCE11 & COPE (CC BY 4.0) https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7896759
Conflicts of Interest
The European Journal of Therapeutics rigorously upholds a policy requiring and actively promoting the transparency of any actual or perceived competing interests among all authors and those engaged in the assessment of submitted manuscripts. This encompasses, but is not limited to, financial associations, consultancy arrangements, and institutional affiliations that could potentially influence impartiality. Any financial grants or financial support (from individuals or organizations) received for the applied work must be clearly stated in the relevant field on the title page. To facilitate this disclosure, all contributing authors are required to complete and submit the ICMJE Potential Conflict of Interest Disclosure Form. Cases involving potential conflicts of interest among Editors, authors, or reviewers are resolved by the journal’s Editorial Board in strict adherence to COPE and ICMJE guidelines.
Plagiarism
The European Journal of Therapeutics maintains a zero-tolerance policy towards plagiarism. All submissions undergo rigorous screening using similarity detection software, specifically iThenticate by CrossCheck, to ensure the originality of the content. The upper limit for the plagiarism rate to be accepted for evaluation is 24%.
Early View Publication Policy
The European Journal of Therapeutics implements an "Early View" publication model to disseminate research findings to its readership rapidly. Under this policy, manuscripts that have completed the peer review process, received editorial acceptance, and undergone final typesetting are published online with a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) before being assigned to a specific volume and issue.
Rapid Publication: Accepted manuscripts are made available online as "Early View" on our platform before they are placed in a final print or regular issue. This ensures quicker publication of articles.
Full-Text Access: Early View articles are presented in full-text format (HTML and/or PDF), including all figures and tables.
Citation and DOI: Each article published as Early View is assigned a unique Digital Object Identifier (DOI). This DOI allows for reliable citation of the article even before its volume, issue, and page numbers are determined. The DOI remains valid even after the article is published in its final volume and issue.
Web of Science Indexing: Articles published online as Early View begin to be indexed immediately by Web of Science Core Collection and other relevant indexes. This means that articles become visible in the Web of Science database and start accumulating citations even before their final volume and issue assignment.
Official Publication Date: Articles published in Early View are considered officially published from their online release date.
Restriction on Changes: Once an article is published online as Early View, no significant changes can be made to it, except in cases of major error or editorial necessity.
Transition to Final Issue: When the article is assigned to its respective volume and issue, it will be removed from the "Early View" section and moved to the permanent content of that issue. At this stage, the article will be assigned volume, issue, and page numbers.
Ethical Oversight
The journal's Editorial Board is responsible for upholding the highest ethical standards in all aspects of publication. In any instance where research misconduct is alleged or suspected – including, but not limited to, plagiarism, manipulative citation practices, or the fabrication/falsification of data – our Editorial Board will meticulously adhere to and implement the comprehensive guidelines established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). The Editorial Board also manages all appeal and complaint cases within the scope of COPE guidelines. Authors should directly contact the editorial office regarding their appeals and complaints. In situations where internal resolution is not possible, an ombudsperson may be assigned to mediate. The Editor-in-Chief holds the final authority in the decision-making process for all appeals and complaints.
In manuscripts published in the European Journal of Therapeutics, the views and statements expressed solely reflect the perspective of the author(s) and do not represent the opinions of the Editors, Editorial Board, or the publisher. The ultimate responsibility for the published content rests with the authors.
Publication Malpractice Statement / Post-publication Discussions
The European Journal of Therapeutics is committed to maintaining the integrity of the scientific record. In any instance where research misconduct is alleged or suspected – including, but not limited to, plagiarism, manipulative citation practices, or the fabrication/falsification of data – our Editorial Board will meticulously adhere to and implement the comprehensive guidelines established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
Complaints regarding published and/or submitted manuscripts for evaluation must be submitted in writing to the addresses provided on the contact information page. The complainant is expected to provide evidence supporting their claim.
After reviewing the evidence concerning the complaint, the Editor-in-Chief will reject the complaint or initiate an investigation. During the investigation process, authors may be informed and asked for an explanation/response. If necessary, an external expert/reviewer may be appointed. As part of the investigation, the author's institution may be contacted for additional information. Throughout the entire investigation process, anonymity will be maintained unless it is necessary for resolution, in which case the consent of the parties will be obtained.
Upon completion of the review, the parties will be informed. The Editorial Board may publish corrections or retractions with detailed explanations, depending on the subject of the complaint and the outcome of the investigation. The Editor-in-Chief is the final authority in the decision-making process for all appeals and complaints.
Corrections and Retractions
Honest errors are an inherent part of science and publishing, necessitating the publication of a correction when identified. The process for retraction or correction can be initiated by authors, readers, or the editorial team.
The European Journal of Therapeutics may issue a correction for typographical or formatting errors that do not affect the interpretation of data, errors in author affiliations or funding acknowledgments, or inaccuracies in references or minor methodological descriptions. Updates to previous publications are considered as a new publication rather than a version of a previously published article. The European Journal of Therapeutics publishes a correction notice in the first issue following the submission, detailing and citing the changes in the original publication (the correction article is published with page number and a DOI). This notice is published as a new version of the article (correction) that includes details of the changes made to the original version and the date(s) the changes were implemented. A correction note will be marked and linked (with DOI) in the original version. Citation should be made to the latest updated version.
Errors serious enough to invalidate a paper's findings and conclusions may necessitate a retraction. Retractions may be published when mistakes in the article (e.g., misclassification or miscalculation) lead to a significant change in the direction or importance of the results, interpretations, and conclusions, regardless of whether they are intentional or unintentional. In such cases, the Editorial Board reserves the right to publish a retraction.
The decision of final publication rests with the Editor-in-Chief. The evaluation of corrections and retractions will be carried out following the standards outlined in COPE guidelines 1 and recommendations of ICMJE 2.
1 COPE Council. COPE Guidelines: Retraction Guidelines. November 2019.
https://doi.org/10.24318/cope.2019.1.4
© 2019 Committee on Publication Ethics (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) https://publicationethics.org
2 International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. Corrections and Version Control
https://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/publishing-and-editorial-issues/corrections-and-version-control.html Date of Access: 05.10.2023
Last Revised on August 2025
