Ethical Considerations:
The journal follows the flowcharts and guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)- https://publicationethics.org- in confronting any ethical misbehavior. The Journal also follows the guidelines mentioned in the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals issued by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) (http://www.icmje.org/#privacy).
In case of any complaints regarding the Editorial Board's decision, authors can write directly to the editor who will follow the case according to standard and Ethical guidelines.
 
Human and Animal Rights:
 
Studies that involve human beings (or animals) must adhere to the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki.
 
•     Informed Consent:
All patients and participants in a study should be thoroughly informed about the aims of the study and any possible side effects of the drugs and interventions. Written informed consent from the participants or their legal guardians is necessary for any such studies. The Journal reserves the right to request the related documents. Articles that require informed consent should contain related statement in the “Method” section.

•     Authorship:
According to the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals, released by the ICMJE, an “Author” is generally considered to be someone who simultaneously meets the following conditions 1, 2, 3, and 4.
1-Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; AND
2-Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content; AND
3-Final approval of the version to be published; AND
4-Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.
 
 
•     Conflict of Interest:
We request all authors and reviewers to inform us about any kinds of “Conflict of Interest” (such as financial, personal, political, or academic) that would potentially affect their judgment. Authors are preferably asked to fill the uniform disclosure form available through:
(http://www.icmje.org/coi_disclosure.pdf)
 
•     Plagiarism:
Authors are not allowed to utilize verbatim text of previously published papers or manuscripts submitted elsewhere. COPE’s flowcharts and guidelines are approached in cases in which plagiarism is detected.
•     Data Fabrication/Falsification:
Falsification is the practice of omitting or altering research materials, data, or processes so that the results of the research are no longer accurately reflected. Fabrication is the practice of inventing data or results and reporting them in the research. Both of these misconducts are fraudulent and seriously alter the integrity of research. Therefore, articles must be written based on original data and use of falsified or fabricated data is strongly prohibited. COPE’s flowcharts and guidelines are approached in cases in which any of these two misconducts is detected. Researchers who perform randomized controlled or clinical trials (RCTs) are advised to keep their original data at hand. The Journal keeps the right to ask for raw data even after publication.
•     Redundant Publication:
The journal complies with the COPE flowcharts in case of any redundant publications (Suspected redundant publication in a submitted manuscript or in a published manuscript).

•     Image Manipulation:
The IJOS encourages authors to send their original images. All digital images in manuscripts accepted for publication will be checked for inappropriate manipulation. No specific feature within an image may be enhanced, obscured, moved, removed, or introduced. Adjustments of brightness, contrast, or color balance are acceptable as long as they are applied to the entire image and do not misrepresent any information present in the original, including the background. The editors will request the original data from the authors to compare the manipulated figures in cases suspected of inappropriate manipulation.
 
•    Copyright:
If a manuscript contains any previous published image or text, it is the responsibility of the author to obtain authorization from copyright holders. The author is required to obtain and submit the written original permission letters for all copyrighted material used in his/her manuscripts.