Responsible use of AI language models (ChatGPT)

TMR Publishing Group places great importance on the quality and reliability of academic research while also welcoming authors to use various effective tools and techniques to enhance their research efficiency and quality. When using artificial intelligence language models such as ChatGPT, we believe that authors must be cautious about the semantic understanding it generates and the ambiguities caused by cultural differences to ensure that the use of these tools does not affect the quality and reliability of the research.

Therefore, TMR Publishing Group allows authors to use ChatGPT to improve efficiency in translation, summarization, language correction, etc. but does not allow authors to use ChatGPT to generate the main content of their research papers. If an author is found to have violated this rule, the article will be rejected, and any manuscripts submitted by the author will not be accepted by any TMR Publishing Group journals for two years. We hope that the authors can understand our position and comply with our regulations.

Editorial policy

We are doing our best to practice the ethics and policy of COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics), ICMJE (International Committee of Medical Journal Editors), and DOAJ (Directory of Open Access Journals). TMR Publishing Group has an internal online monitoring system to regulate the journals following the Ethics and Policy stated on the website. TMR Publishing Group follows the sixteen principles of transparency developed by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Authorship and contributorship

We adopt the four criteria recommended by ICMJE (International Committee of Medical Journal Editors).

Only individuals who contributed significantly to one or more of the following can be listed as authors：

(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.
Contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship, but who have nevertheless contributed to the project, should be acknowledged in the Acknowledgements section. This may include individuals who provided technical help, editorial assistance, or significant administrative support, such as department leaders who aided the research process. Additionally, acknowledgements should extend to those who have contributed resources or funding. Consent should be obtained from these contributors before they are acknowledged to ensure transparency and respect for their privacy.

Comments and complaints

Readers with concerns or complaints about published article should contact the corresponding author directly to attempt resolution before contacting the editorial office. In cases where it is inappropriate to contact the author, the author has not responded, or the concerns have not been resolved, the editor's office can be contacted. The editorial office will coordinate with complainants, authors and editor-in-chief or editorial board members, with reference to COPE's general rules of practice, to investigate, remedy or resolve any concerns or complaints.

Allegations of research misconduct

We are committed to maintaining the highest standards of integrity in academic publishing, in accordance with the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Our policy defines research misconduct to include fabrication, falsification, and plagiarism. We conduct an immediate, confidential assessment of any allegations of misconduct. If necessary, a detailed investigation is carried out by an impartial committee, which may lead to corrections, retractions, or other appropriate actions. Throughout the process, we ensure confidentiality and provide a mechanism for appeals.

Conflicts of interest

At the end of the text, under the subheading 'Conflict of interest statement', all authors must disclose any financial and personal relationships with other people or organisations that could inappropriately influence (bias) their work. Examples of potential conflicts of interest include employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications/registrations, and grants or other funding.

Data sharing and reproducibility

Authors are encouraged to share their data in a manner consistent with ethical considerations and legal restrictions. Statistical methods and experimental protocols must be sufficiently detailed in the manuscripts to allow replication.

Ethical oversight

All research published in all journals of TMR Publishing Group must be conducted according to international and local guidelines ensuring ethically conducted research. If the experimental or clinical research does not meet the ethical standards of the journal, the manuscript will be rejected without delay.

1. Studies in animals

The manuscript for research involving animals (whether living or tissue) must include a statement providing information about the ethics committee that approved the research and, if available, the license or animal license number. This number must be clearly stated in the methods section.
If the research was approved by the ethics committee but did not receive an ethics approval number due to special circumstances, the author must include the original official approval document and its English translation as supplementary materials for the manuscript. If the research has been granted ethical approval for exemption, the name of the ethics committee granting the exemption and the reason for the exemption must be stated.

The research must be conducted in accordance with internationally recognized principles for the use and care of laboratory animals, such as those outlined in the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals: Eighth Edition (Washington, DC: The National Academies Press). The editors may reject a manuscript if there are any concerns about the appropriateness of the animal procedures used.

2. Studies in humans

Research involving humans, including observational and survey-based studies, as well as any personal data collection, must comply with the Declaration of Helsinki and must have been approved by a suitable ethics committee. The research must also have been approved by the institutional human experimentation committee or equivalent, and informed consent must have been obtained from participants. The ethical approval number must be clearly stated in the methods section. In cases where the research has been approved by the institutional human experimentation committee or equivalent but has not received an ethics approval number due to special circumstances, the author must include the original official approval document and its English translation as supplementary materials for the manuscript.
Ethical considerations in the design of different human research:

a. Retrospective research:

If the research involves accessing or using personal data, such as medical records or other sensitive information, ethical approval is required. Researchers must carefully consider the ethical implications of their research and seek guidance from appropriate committees or review boards if necessary to ensure that their research is conducted in an ethical and responsible manner. If ethical approval for the article is waived, documentation of approval from an ethics committee must be provided and a statement confirming this must be included in the manuscript. 
Unless the owner of the content in the database has other suggestions, the obtained data must remain anonymous. If the detailed information of the participants does not need to be anonymous, the authors must be able to provide evidence that written informed consent has been obtained from the participants, including consent to publication. A statement confirming this must be included in the manuscript.

b. Investigative research:

Researchers must ensure that they have informed all participants of the reasons for the research, whether anonymity is guaranteed, and how the data they collect is stored. Participants' confidentiality rights should always be considered and they should be fully informed of the purpose of the research and whether there are any associated risks. Their voluntary consent should be recorded and any legal requirements regarding data protection should be complied with. As with all research, ethical approval from the appropriate local ethics committee must be obtained prior to conducting research. A statement confirming this must be included in the manuscript. In cases where ethical approval of an investigative study is not required, authors must include a statement explaining this in the manuscript.

c. Research involving organ and tissue transplantation:

TMR Publishing Group endorses the ethical guidelines set forth by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Medical Association (WMA). All research involving the transplantation of human organs should have ethical approval from the appropriate committee and the source of donor tissue must be disclosed in the manuscript. If the donor is deceased, the authors must verify that the donated organ was obtained with the fully informed consent of the donor or a close relative. Consent must be given willingly and must not be influenced by coercion or bribes. The manuscript must include a statement specifying the source of the transplanted organ and a confirmation that informed consent was obtained.

d. Research involving children, adolescents, and vulnerable or incapacitated research participants:

Written informed consent must be obtained from the parent or guardian of any participant who is unable to provide full informed consent themselves. The legal age of majority varies by country and is generally between 16-18 years old. The manuscript must include a statement confirming that informed consent was obtained. If oral informed consent was obtained instead of written consent, this must be explained and documented in the manuscript. In accordance with the principles outlined in the Nuremberg Code and the Belmont Report, informed consent must be given voluntarily and without coercion or bribes.

3.Informed consent and patient details

TMR Publishing Group endorses the recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), which emphasizes that patients and study participants have a right to privacy that should not be violated without informed consent. 
According to the principles outlined in the Nuremberg Code and the Health and Disability Commissioner Act 1994, the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers' Rights, and the Privacy Act 1993, informed consent from participants must be obtained voluntarily, and participants should be fully informed about the research, including any benefits and risks involved.
For all research involving human subjects, written informed consent must be obtained before the start of the study and must be included in the manuscript as a statement confirming that this has been done. The author must retain written consent from patients, and the editorial office will ask the author to provide it in case of need, such as legal disputes, challenges, or complaints. For research involving children, in addition to obtaining the informed consent of the parent or legal guardian, assent from the child should also be obtained in a manner appropriate to the child's age, maturity, and level of understanding. Special consideration should be given to the protection of vulnerable populations, such as children, pregnant women, prisoners, and individuals with mental or physical disabilities. These individuals may require additional safeguards to protect their rights and well-being and may require the involvement of an advocate or legal guardian in the informed consent process. If the participant is deceased, consent must be obtained from their legal guardian or close relative.
The following informed consent policy must be followed for any articles and supplementary materials (including all illustrations and videos) that contain information that may identify a patient's personal details:
Authors must confirm that they have obtained access to the affected individual (or their parent/guardian, if the participant is not an adult or unable to give informed consent;  or a close relative if the participant is deceased).
Identifying information includes (but is not limited to) written descriptions, photographs, illustrations, audio recordings, videos, family trees and rare diseases, physical characteristics or diseases.
The process of obtaining consent to publish should include sharing the article with individuals (or anyone giving consent on their behalf) so that they fully understand the content of the article before publication. A statement of consent to publish must confirm that the individual giving consent is aware of and agrees to the release of specific details, such as images, videos, audio recordings, etc., and has been informed of the content of the article to be published.

4.Clinical case report

A clinical case report provides a detailed account of an individual patient's clinical experiences. As the manuscript may contain sensitive personal information, obtaining explicit consent is necessary for its publication.
To ensure proper ethical conduct, authors must confirm that they have obtained permission to include information about the affected individual (or their parent/guardian if the participant is not an adult or unable to give informed consent; or a close relative if the participant is deceased).
For thorough reporting, we recommend following the CARE guidelines.

5.Clinical trial results

a.Registration of clinical trials

We follow the ICMJE description of the clinical trial.
In accordance with the recommendations of the ICMJE, clinical trials must be registered in a public trials registry prior to publication in this journal. The trial registration number and registration date must be included in the abstract and methods sections of the manuscript, and any deviations from the original trial protocol must be explained.
Trials must register at or before the onset of patient enrolment. Purely observational studies will not require registration. Clinical trial protocols must be registered in a publicly accessible registry prior to participant recruitment. Public registration must be open to all potential registrants and administered by a non-profit organization. A list of eligible registries can be found on the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP). Trials can also be registered at Clinical Trials.gov or the EU Clinical Trials Register.

b.Reporting clinical trials

We strongly encourage authors of randomized controlled trial studies to follow the CONSORT guidelines in order to improve the quality and clarity of their research reports. Adhering to these guidelines can help to ensure that key information about the study design, participant characteristics, interventions, and outcomes is accurately and completely presented, allowing readers to fully understand and evaluate the study. While following the CONSORT guidelines is not a requirement, we believe that doing so can significantly enhance the value and impact of the research for the scientific community.

6.Research involving cell lines

In research involving cell lines, the methods section of submissions should clearly state the source of the cell lines used. For established cell lines, the provenance should be provided, along with references to a published paper or commercial source. If the cell lines are of human origin, written informed consent must be obtained and documented. In the case of previously unpublished de novo cell lines, including those obtained from other laboratories, details of institutional review board or ethics committee approval must be included. This is especially important for cell lines derived from vulnerable or incapacitated participants, for whom written informed consent from a parent or guardian is required. Ensuring ethical conduct and proper oversight in research involving cell lines is vital.

7.Research involving plants

The well-being of many species of wild animals and plants is endangered due to climate change and overuse of natural resources, such as pangolins and rhinoceros horn. It is important that authors respect biodiversity and adhere to international treaties related to endangered species. If any pharmaceutical ingredients used in research come from endangered animals or plants, the source of these ingredients must be disclosed and ethical approval must be obtained.
Experimental research on plants, whether cultivated or wild, must comply with institutional, national, or international guidelines. We recommend following the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Convention on the Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.
For research manuscripts involving rare plants, voucher specimens must be deposited in an accessible herbarium or museum and genetic information and origin must be provided for each submitted manuscript. Ensuring the protection and preservation of biodiversity is crucial in research involving plants and animals.

8.Research data

The length of time you store data depends on the nature of the research project and the resultant data. Where it is workable, you should store all data (for at least the term of the project). Most researchers will store data for at least five years after final publication.
You need to keep data for a further five years if you re-analyse data and publish again.

Intellectual property

All journals of TMR Publishing Group adopt Gold Open Access, which allows the final version of an author's work to be freely and permanently accessible to all immediately after publication. This approach clears most permission barriers. Authors retain the copyright of their manuscripts. Journal adopt the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license, this license allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, so long as attribution is given to the creator, the license allows for commercial use. See: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Corrections, retractions, and expressions of concern

1.Published papers corrections

TMR Publishing Group's "Published papers corrections" policy and process is open and transparent.

a.Not eligible for corrections

Minor errors that do not affect readability or meaning (eg spelling, grammar, whitespace errors) are not eligible for a correction, regardless of whether the error is caused by the author or editor.

b.Eligible for corrections without posting a correction notice

(1). The editorial office requires the author to confirm the author's information in the PROOF stage. Once the author's information is confirmed, the editor will not change it if it is not related to the spelling of the author's name. It may be done if it is deemed a reasonable request by the editorial office. Once approved, the article will be updated and republished on our website. After this, all relevant index databases will be notified to ensure that the database version has also been modified.
(2). Name changes are also permitted, and we recognize that name changes may be private in nature for a variety of reasons, which may include alignment with gender identity, marriage, divorce, or religious beliefs. Therefore, to protect authorship, no corrections will be published and no co-authors will be notified. Authors should contact the journal's editorial office to request a name change.
Although the above is the case of "Eligible for corrections without posting a correction notice", the revision process will be recorded in the TMR publishing group's submission system and retained for at least one year for retrospective use.
In the following cases, a corrections request can be completed, but a correction notice must be published.
(1). Error in a misleading section of an otherwise reliable publication; error in data or interpretation (that does not affect final conclusions); missing or unclear figures/tables.
(2). Add or remove the author from the author list (including adding or removing entire affiliations).
(3). Add or remove references.
(4). Add or remove text.
(5). Modification of funding, author contributions, acknowledgments.
Once the update request is approved, the article will be updated and republished on our website with the correction posted. The notice is a separate publication, linked to the updated article, registered as a separate DOI, but published in the latest issue of the journal. Following these updates, all relevant index databases will be notified to ensure that database versions are also revised.

2.Retractions

There are many reasons for retractions, which may be due to inadvertent errors in the research process, serious ethical violations, falsified data, extensive plagiarism, or other reasons. Such articles threaten the integrity of the scientific record and need to be retracted. 
TMR Publishing Group follows the recommendation of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) to retract. If a retraction is published, the original publication is revised with a "Retraction" watermark, but is still available on the journal's website for future reference. However, retracted articles should not be cited and used for further research as they cannot be trusted.  
The retraction notice will fully publish the information of the retracted paper and the reason for the retraction. The notice is a separate publication, linked to the retracted paper, and will be registered as a separate DOI, but published in the journal's latest issue. If the result is only partially wrong, a partial retraction may be published.  
Only in very exceptional circumstances, the article will be completely removed from the website and related indexing databases. 

3.Expressions of concern

If an editor identifies significant issues with the interpretation or conclusions of a published article that could influence public understanding or policy, they may issue an Editorial Expression of Concern. This notice serves to inform the readership of ongoing, complex investigations or immediate concerns relevant to public health or policy. Such expressions are preliminary and may lead to further editorial actions like corrections or retractions, but they remain a permanent part of the article's record.

Ensuring the integrity of the scholarly record

1.Plagiarism check

TMR Publishing Group utilizes both Crossref Similarity Check and an AI tool developed by TMR Publishing Group to check for plagiarism in manuscripts. This will effectively help editors identify potentially problematic manuscripts. The editors' check of the similarity score is comprehensive, including whether the citations are reasonable, whether the sources of repetition are concentrated or from different sources, and so on. In most cases, the similarity rate of accepted articles is below 20%.

2.Plagiarism, data fabrication and image manipulation

a.Plagiarism

Plagiarism is not acceptable. Plagiarism includes copying ideas, text, images, or data from another source without citing the original source, and even includes articles previously published by the author themselves. 
If the design of research or the structure or language of a manuscript is inspired by previous research, those researches must be explicitly cited.

b. Data fabrication

We adopt the Recommended action by COPE for Journal Editors process for handling data falsification. 
Suspected fabricated data in a submitted manuscript 
Suspected fabricated data in a published article 

c.Image manipulation

Starting from May 24, 2023, for manuscripts submitted to our journal, authors are expected to provide the original, unaltered, and uncropped images that support all the blot and gel results presented in the figures and supporting information files. It is acceptable for the author to make adjustments to the brightness, contrast, or color balance of the image (if they are applied to the whole image and if they do not obscure, eliminate, or misrepresent any information present in the original, including backgrounds). However, no specific feature within an image may be enhanced, obscured, moved, removed, or introduced.

d. Citation policies

Excessive self-citation, co-citation by multiple authors, unnecessary citation of articles published in submitting journals, and any other form of citation manipulation are inappropriate. Citation manipulation will result in the manuscript being rejected and possibly reported to the corresponding author's institution. Likewise, any attempts by reviewers or editors to encourage such practices should be reported by the author to the publisher.  
The author should consider the following guidelines when preparing the manuscript:  
(1). Any statement in the manuscript that relies on an external source of information (i.e. not the author's own new ideas or findings or general knowledge) should be cited.  
(2). Author should avoid citing derivative work of the original work.  
(3). Author should ensure that their citations are accurate.  
(4). Author should not cite sources they have not read.  
(5). Author should not use excessive citations to support a point.  
(6). Ideally, author should cite articles from peer-reviewed sources whenever possible.

Editorial board responsibilities

The Editorial Board plays a crucial role in enhancing the quality and integrity of the journal. Their expanded responsibilities encompass various aspects:  
Expert Guidance: Members provide essential scientific expertise, shaping the journal's content and strategic direction.  
Content Contribution: They actively contribute articles and solicit high-quality submissions from peers, increasing the journal's breadth and depth.  
Peer Review: Board members either oversee the peer review process or participate directly as reviewers, ensuring the rigor and fairness of evaluations.  
Promotion and Networking: They promote the journal within the scientific community, particularly at conferences and seminars, to attract groundbreaking manuscripts and foster collaborations.  
Developmental Feedback: Regular feedback on the journal's policies and practices is crucial, as it helps in refining operational and editorial strategies.  
Curating Content: They recommend themes for special issues and suggest potential authors for commissioned pieces, such as review articles and commentaries.  
Mentorship and Advice: New or existing members can always reach out to their journal contact for advice on structuring the Editorial Board effectively or resolving any procedural concerns.

Accessibility and digital archive

TMR Publishing Group has entrusted the National Library of New Zealand and Portico to archivally preserve the content published in its journals. This arrangement ensures the long-term availability and accessibility of our published research and scholarship, and helps to safeguard the intellectual record for future generations. The National Library of New Zealand and Portico are recognized as reputable and reliable archival organizations, and we are confident in their ability to properly care for and maintain our published content. This arrangement is an important aspect of our commitment to the preservation and dissemination of knowledge, and we believe it is essential for supporting the ongoing advancement of research and scholarship in our field.