Ethics

Ethical aspects in the editorial process of Anales de la Facultad de Medicina

Prior to the submission of articles to Anales de la Facultad de Medicina authors are encouraged to consider as set forth by the International Committee of Ethics in Scientific Publications, whose recommendations are found in the Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors, recommendations followed by the Editorial Committee of Anales de la Facultad de Medicina. This information is available at: http://publicationethics.org Through these guidelines, Anales de la Facultad de Medicina considers as ethical misdemeanors plagiarism, fictitious authorship, changes of authorship, redundant publication, data manipulation, undisclosed conflict of interest. In case of detection of any ethical publication misdemeanor, Anales de la Facultad de Medicina will reject the article and take the measures recommended by the International Committee of Ethics on Scientific Publications which includes information of the misdemeanor to the author, other authors, to the institution where he belongs, to his superiors, to the source of the funding entity, to the Ethics Committee of the institution, to other scientific journals and authorities.

Experimentation in humans and animals

Articles describing experiments carried out in humans should indicate whether the procedures followed were according to the ethical rules of the institutional or regional Ethics Committee and the Declaration of Helsinki (World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki: recommendations guiding physicians in biomedical research involving human subjects. JAMA. 1997; 277:925-6).

In Peru, the rules to follow for experimentation on humans are laid down in the Regulation of Clinical Trials. The National Institute of Health of Peru is the authority responsible at the national level to ensure compliance with that regulation and the related rules governing the authorization and execution of clinical trials. The authors of clinical trials in humans require approval by the National Institute of Health of Peru before starting the experiment. At the request of Anales de la Facultad de Medicina, the author must deliver copies of documentation evidencing authorization.

For animal experimentation the authors will take into consideration international standards for use of animals for experimentation, in particular those recommended by the Office of Animal Care and Use of the National Institutes of Health (http://oacu.od.nih.gov/index.htm), as well as the guidelines of the institution or national law governing the care and use of laboratory animals. The animals used must be named in the title, abstract, keywords and materials and methods. Such experimentation should be thoroughly detailed in the materials and methods section. Animal experimental research carried out in Peru, must have the approval of the Committee of Ethics and Animal Welfare at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos: http://veterinaria.unmsm.edu.pe/CEBA.htm.

Patients’ names, initials, number of clinical history, or general data enabling identification of study subjects should not be mentioned. Images of patients in the publication of original articles or case reports must have the permission and informed written consent. The recognizable characteristics of photographs of identifiable people must be masked. Studies on patients, records of patients or volunteers require the approval of the institutional Ethics Committee as well as informed consent.

Guidelines for development and presentation of research

For the submission of articles to Anales de la Facultad de Medicina authors are recommended to follow the guidelines established internationally for the design, realization and presentation of different types of studies:

Authors and contributors of articles submitted to Anales de la Facultad de Medicina

The authors of papers presented to Anales de la Facultad de Medicina must submit the affidavit of authorship. This requirement applies to all types of article including editorials and letters to the Editor. Ethical considerations about the authorship and collaboration should be adjusted according to the provisions of the uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals of the International Committee of Editors of Medical Journals (http://www.icmje.org/urm_full.pdf).

The recognition of authorship should be based on: 1) Contributions to the idea and study design, data collection, or to the analysis and interpretation of data; 2) The drafting of the article or revising it critically for intellectual content; and 3) Final approval of the version to be published. Authors should meet conditions 1, 2, and 3. The search for funding, data collection, or supervision of the research group doesnot justify authorship. All persons listed as authors should meet the criteria for authorship, and all those who meet them should appear in the list of authors. All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should appear in the acknowledgments section.

Acknowledgments

Collaborators of the study, i.e., people who made significant contributions to the article, including participants in clinical trials, are acknowledged. It should be mentioned specifically who and what type of cooperation in the investigation was carried out. The contributors mentioned in this section should give in writing authorization for the publication of their names.

Examples to be included in Acknowledgements: people who collaborated only giving technical help, collaboration in the drafting of the manuscript, the heads of departments whose participation was of a general nature.

Declaration of conflicts of interest

Authors submitting articles to Anales de la Facultad de Medicina should declare any personal or commercial relation that may present bias and therefore a conflict of interest in connection with the submitted article. Conflicts of interest may be direct or indirect, including financial interest of the authors by the company that sponsors the study as well as jobs, grants, payment of per diem, travel, consultancies, etc.

If the author has shares in the company or employee thereof either full-time or part-time, it should be indicated in the Declaration of conflicts of interest. Failure to do so may result in sanctions.

Announcing the sources of financial support of the study does not imply a conflict of interest.