s, with institutional ethics committee approval explicitly stated. Clinical interventional trials must be prospectively registered in a primary registry, such as the Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials or other WHO-recognized registries.
Fundamental Errors in Published Works
When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in their published work, it is the author’s obligation to notify the journal editor promptly and cooperate with the editor to retract or correct the paper.
Duties of Reviewers
Contribution to Editorial Decisions
Peer review assists the Editor-in-Chief and the editorial board in making editorial decisions, and through editorial communications with the author, it may assist the author in improving the quality of the paper.
Confidentiality
Any manuscripts received for review are confidential documents and must be treated as such. They must not be shown to or discussed with others without authorization from the Editor-in-Chief. Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used in a reviewer’s own research without the express written consent of the author.
Objectivity and Standards of Review
Reviews should be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate. Referees should express their views clearly with supporting scientific arguments. Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors, and note any substantial similarity between the manuscript under consideration and other published works.
Promptness and Competing Interests
Any selected referee who feels unqualified to review the research reported in a manuscript, or knows that its prompt review will be impossible, should notify the editor promptly and decline the review invitation. Reviewers must not evaluate manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships with any of the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the papers.
Duties of Editors
Editorial Independence and Fair Play
The Editor-in-Chief has complete authority over the editorial content of the journal and the timing of publication. Manuscripts are evaluated exclusively on their academic merit, scientific rigor, clarity, and relevance to the scope of the journal, without regard to the authors’ race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy. Editorial decisions are independent of commercial or institutional interests associated with Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences.
Confidentiality
The Editor-in-Chief, the Journal Manager, and the editorial staff must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, and the publisher, as appropriate.
Review Process Oversight
The editorial board ensures that all submitted manuscripts being considered for publication undergo double-blind peer review by at least three independent external reviewers with specialized expertise. The identities of authors and reviewers remain concealed during the process.
Conflicts of Interest in Editorial Submissions
Editors and editorial board members must recuse themselves from editorial decisions on manuscripts that they have authored or that have been written by family members, colleagues, or institutional associates. In such cases, an independent handling editor oversees the peer-review process, and the manuscript is subjected to the same procedures as any standard submission.
Investigation of Misconduct
The Editor-in-Chief, guided by COPE flowcharts, investigates suspected research or publication misconduct, including plagiarism, data fabrication, improper authorship, and citation manipulation, even if discovered years after publication. Such investigations may involve seeking clarification from the authors, consulting independent experts, and contacting authors’ host institutions or regulatory bodies.
Integrity of the Scholarly Record
When genuine errors or scientific miscon duct are confirmed, the Editor-in-Chief coordinates the publication of prompt corrections, editorial expressions of concern, or retractions. Retractions adhere strictly to COPE Retraction Guidelines, clearly explaining the reasons for retraction and remaining permanently linked to the online version of the article.
