Each journal is editorial independent of Caltech Library, and journals are responsible for determining their own editorial policies. The journal must describe the submission, review, appeals, and authorship policies for their publication.
Caltech Library journals must provide a clear policy that describes the peer review process for all submissions to the journal. Reviewers are asked to disclose conflicts of interest and also to follow the COPE Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers.
Caltech Library journals do not accept advertising.
Caltech Library adheres to the ethical guidelines for journal publications put forth by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Authors, reviewers and editors are required to declare any conflicts of interest that could be perceived as affecting the objectivity of presenting, reviewing or handling of the work.
Where applicable, journals must follow the guidelines recommended by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors in the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals:
“When reporting experiments on human subjects, authors should indicate whether the procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2008 (5). If doubt exists whether the research was conducted in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration, the authors must explain the rationale for their approach and demonstrate that the institutional review body explicitly approved the doubtful aspects of the study. When reporting experiments on animals, authors should indicate whether the institutional and national guide for the care and use of laboratory animals was followed.”
Where applicable, journals must follow the guidelines recommended by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors in the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals:
“Patients have a right to privacy that should not be violated without informed consent. Identifying information, including names, initials, or hospital numbers, should not be published in written descriptions, photographs, or pedigrees unless the information is essential for scientific purposes and the patient (or parent or guardian) gives written informed consent for publication. Informed consent for this purpose requires that an identifiable patient be shown the manuscript to be published. Authors should disclose to these patients whether any potential identifiable material might be available via the Internet as well as in print after publication. Patient consent should be written and archived with the journal, the authors, or both, as dictated by local regulations or laws.
“Nonessential identifying details should be omitted. Informed consent should be obtained if there is any doubt that anonymity can be maintained…If identifying characteristics are altered to protect anonymity, such as in genetic pedigrees, authors should provide assurance, and editors should so note, that such alterations do not distort scientific meaning.”
Corrections: Journals must list whether they accept corrections, under what circumstances, and how corrections will be published.
Editorial Expressions of Concern: Journals must indicate if they publish Editorial Expressions of Concern as part of their editorial policies.
Retractions: Journals must follow the COPE Retraction Guidelines and describe how retractions will be handled.