Publication Ethics and Malpractice Policy

The Nursing Scope (TNS) is committed to maintaining high standards of integrity, transparency, accountability, and ethical conduct in scholarly publishing. Authors, reviewers, Editors, Editorial Board members, and other persons involved in the publication process are expected to uphold recognized principles of research and publication ethics. The journal takes reasonable measures to identify, prevent, investigate, and address suspected research or publication misconduct and is committed to maintaining the integrity of the scholarly record. The Nursing Scope follows internationally recognized principles of publication ethics and, where applicable, draws guidance from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), and internationally accepted ethical principles for research involving human participants.

Authors are responsible for ensuring that manuscripts submitted to The Nursing Scope are accurate, original, ethically conducted, and appropriately reported.

Authors must:

• submit work that is original and has not been published elsewhere, except where prior dissemination is appropriately disclosed and permitted by the journal
• accurately present the methods, findings, analysis, and conclusions of the work
• appropriately acknowledge and cite the work of others
• disclose all relevant conflicts of interest and sources of funding or support
• obtain required ethical approvals and informed consent before conducting applicable research
• maintain accurate research records and provide supporting information when reasonably requested by the journal
• ensure that all listed authors satisfy the journal's authorship requirements
• disclose relevant use of artificial intelligence or AI-assisted technologies where required by journal policy
• cooperate with the journal in addressing legitimate questions concerning submitted or published work.

Authors must promptly notify the journal if they identify a significant error or inaccuracy in a submitted or published manuscript and cooperate in correcting the scholarly record.

Authorship should be limited to individuals who have made substantial scholarly contributions to the work and who accept responsibility for the content of the manuscript. All listed authors should have participated sufficiently in the conception or design of the work; acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data; drafting or substantive revision of the manuscript; or other substantial scholarly contributions consistent with accepted authorship standards. Authors should approve the final version submitted for publication and accept appropriate accountability for their contributions. Individuals who contributed to the work but do not satisfy the criteria for authorship should be appropriately acknowledged with their permission. Guest, gift, honorary, and ghost authorship are not acceptable. Disputes concerning authorship should ordinarily be resolved by the authors and, where appropriate, their institutions. The journal may request documentation concerning individual contributions when authorship concerns arise.

Authors, reviewers, Editors, and Editorial Board members must disclose financial, professional, institutional, academic, personal, or other relationships or interests that could reasonably be perceived as influencing their work, judgment, or participation in the publication process. Authors must provide a conflict-of-interest declaration with their manuscripts, including a statement where no relevant conflicts exist. Sources of funding, sponsorship, material support, or other assistance relevant to the research must be disclosed. Where applicable, authors should describe the role of the funder or sponsor in the study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, manuscript preparation, or decision to submit the work for publication. Reviewers must decline an invitation or disclose the matter to the journal where a conflict could compromise, or reasonably appear to compromise, their impartiality. Editors and Editorial Board members must recuse themselves from handling or making decisions concerning manuscripts in which they have a conflict of interest.

Manuscripts submitted to The Nursing Scope must represent original scholarly work and must appropriately acknowledge all sources. Plagiarism, including the unattributed use of another person's words, ideas, data, images, or other intellectual contributions, is unacceptable. Inappropriate reuse of an author's own previously published material without appropriate citation or disclosure may also constitute unacceptable redundant publication or text recycling. The journal may use plagiarism-detection or similarity-checking systems as part of manuscript screening or investigation. Where suspected plagiarism or inappropriate textual overlap is identified, the journal may request an explanation, reject the manuscript, require correction, notify relevant institutions where warranted, or take appropriate post-publication action.

Authors must not submit substantially the same manuscript simultaneously to The Nursing Scope and another journal. Previously published work must not be submitted as an original publication unless the form of republication is permitted, transparently disclosed, appropriately authorized, and consistent with applicable scholarly-publishing standards. Authors must disclose closely related manuscripts, previous publications, preprints, conference abstracts, or other prior dissemination where these may be relevant to the journal's assessment of originality or duplicate publication.

The Nursing Scope does not tolerate fabrication, falsification, manipulation, or intentional misrepresentation of research data, methods, results, images, citations, ethical approvals, authorship, or other material aspects of scholarly work. Suspected misconduct may be investigated in accordance with the journal's established procedures. Authors may be asked to provide underlying data, ethics documentation, study records, or other information reasonably necessary to clarify concerns. Where credible evidence of serious misconduct exists, the journal may reject a manuscript, correct or retract a published article, issue an expression of concern, notify the authors' institution or other appropriate body, or take other action necessary to protect the integrity of the scholarly record.

Research involving human participants must be conducted in accordance with applicable ethical principles, laws, regulations, and institutional requirements. Before commencing research involving human participants, authors must obtain approval from an appropriately constituted Institutional Review Board, Research Ethics Committee, Health Research Ethics Committee, or equivalent authorized body, unless the research is legitimately exempt from such review under applicable requirements. Manuscripts reporting research involving human participants must state, as applicable:

• the name of the approving ethics committee or institutional review body
• the ethical approval or reference number, where one was issued
• that the research was conducted in accordance with applicable ethical standards
• how informed consent was obtained or, where applicable, the basis upon which consent was waived by an authorized ethics body.

Where ethical approval was not required, authors should state the reason and provide supporting documentation if requested by the journal. The journal reserves the right to request evidence of ethical approval and may decline or take appropriate action concerning research where adequate ethical oversight cannot be demonstrated.

Authors conducting research involving human participants must obtain appropriate informed consent before participation unless an authorized ethics committee has approved a waiver of consent. Consent procedures must be appropriate to the study population and circumstances and must comply with applicable ethical and legal requirements. Where a manuscript contains identifiable personal information, photographs, case details, or other material from which an individual could reasonably be identified, authors must obtain appropriate consent for publication unless otherwise permitted by applicable ethical and legal standards.

Authors must protect the privacy, dignity, and confidentiality of research participants. Personally identifiable information should not be published unless it is scientifically necessary and appropriate consent for publication has been obtained. Editors and reviewers must also maintain the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts and information obtained through the editorial and peer-review processes.

Research involving children or other populations requiring additional ethical protection must demonstrate appropriate safeguards. Authors should obtain all approvals, permissions, parental or guardian consent, participant assent, or other protections required by applicable ethical and legal standards. The journal may request additional information where the adequacy of protections for vulnerable participants is unclear.

Research involving animals must comply with applicable institutional, national, and internationally recognized standards for the ethical treatment and use of animals in research. Authors must obtain approval from an appropriate animal research ethics committee or equivalent body where required and identify the approving body and approval/reference number in the manuscript where applicable.

Authors are responsible for the accuracy and integrity of data reported in their manuscripts.

Data must not be fabricated, falsified, selectively manipulated, or presented in a manner intended to mislead readers. Where appropriate and consistent with ethical, legal, confidentiality, and participant-consent requirements, authors are encouraged to preserve research data and make relevant data available to support verification and further scholarly inquiry. The journal may request underlying data or supporting documentation when necessary to evaluate a manuscript or investigate concerns about published work.

Peer reviewers must conduct reviews objectively, constructively, confidentially, and within their areas of appropriate expertise. Reviewers should:

• provide evidence-based and respectful scholarly assessments
• disclose conflicts of interest
• decline assignments they are not qualified to evaluate
• maintain the confidentiality of manuscripts and associated information
• not use unpublished material obtained through peer review for personal advantage
• alert the journal to suspected plagiarism, duplication, fabrication, ethical concerns, or other serious problems identified during review
• submit reviews within the agreed timeframe or promptly inform the journal when unable to do so.

The journal's detailed peer-review procedures are provided in its Peer Review and Editorial Governance Policy.

Editors and Editorial Board members must evaluate manuscripts fairly and without discrimination or improper influence. Editorial decisions must be based on scholarly merit, scientific quality, relevance to the journal's aims and scope, ethical compliance, independent peer-review reports where applicable, and other legitimate editorial considerations. The Editorial Board, headed by the Editor-in-Chief, makes final publication decisions in accordance with the journal's established editorial procedures. Editors and Editorial Board members must maintain confidentiality and appropriately manage conflicts of interest.

The Nursing Scope maintains editorial independence in decisions concerning individual manuscripts. The publisher supports the journal but does not determine whether individual manuscripts are accepted or rejected on the basis of commercial, financial, political, organizational, personal, or other improper considerations. Final publication decisions are made through the journal's established editorial governance process.

The Nursing Scope is committed to correcting the scholarly record when errors are identified after publication. A correction or erratum may be published when an error affects the accuracy, interpretation, attribution, or completeness of an article but does not invalidate its principal findings or conclusions. Corrections will clearly identify the affected article and describe the information being corrected. Where appropriate, the online version of the article will be linked to the correction notice to ensure transparency and preservation of the scholarly record. Minor typographical or formatting errors that do not affect the scientific meaning or interpretation of an article may be corrected without a formal correction notice where appropriate.

The Nursing Scope may retract a published article where there is reliable evidence that its findings are seriously unreliable or where serious ethical or publication misconduct substantially undermines the integrity of the publication. Grounds for retraction may include, but are not limited to:

• fabrication or falsification of data
• plagiarism
• serious methodological or reporting problems that invalidate the findings
• unethical research
• unauthorized or seriously problematic duplicate publication
• fraudulent authorship
• compromised or manipulated peer review
• other serious misconduct affecting the reliability or integrity of the article.

A retraction notice will identify the retracted article, state the reason for the retraction to the extent appropriate, and be linked to the original publication. The original scholarly record will ordinarily be preserved and clearly marked as retracted rather than silently removed from the journal website, except where removal is necessary for compelling legal, privacy, safety, or other exceptional reasons.

The journal may publish an Expression of Concern when substantial questions have been raised about the integrity, reliability, or ethical status of a published article but the available evidence is not yet sufficient to justify a correction or retraction. An Expression of Concern may remain in place while an investigation is ongoing and may subsequently be replaced or supplemented by a correction, retraction, or other appropriate notice.

Allegations of misconduct will be considered objectively, confidentially, and fairly. The journal may request explanations and supporting documentation from the individuals concerned and, where necessary, seek additional expert advice. Where allegations concern matters that require institutional investigation, the journal may refer the matter to the relevant institution, research ethics body, funder, regulatory authority, or other appropriate organization. The journal will take reasonable steps to avoid unsupported accusations while also taking credible allegations seriously. Editorial actions will be determined according to the available evidence and the need to preserve the integrity of the scholarly record.

Authors and other interested parties may submit legitimate complaints concerning the journal's editorial procedures, ethical decisions, or published content. Authors may also appeal an editorial decision where they believe a material error occurred in the assessment of their manuscript. Appeals must provide a clear scholarly or procedural basis and should address the reasons provided for the original decision. An appeal does not guarantee reversal of the original decision. Where appropriate, an appeal will be considered by an Editor or Editorial Board member who is not materially conflicted in the matter. Complaints concerning the conduct of an Editor or Editorial Board member will, where practicable, be considered by another appropriate senior member of the journal's editorial governance structure.

Manuscripts submitted by Editors, Editorial Board members, or other persons associated with The Nursing Scope are subject to the same editorial, ethical, and peer-review standards as other manuscripts. Such manuscripts undergo double-blind peer review by a minimum of two independent external reviewers. An Editor or Editorial Board member who is an author or co-author of a submitted manuscript must not participate in reviewer selection, manuscript handling, editorial deliberations, or the final publication decision concerning that manuscript.

Artificial intelligence and AI-assisted technologies must not be listed as authors because they cannot assume responsibility or accountability for scholarly work. Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, integrity, citations, analysis, and content of manuscripts prepared with the assistance of AI technologies. Where AI-assisted technologies have been used in a manner that materially contributes to manuscript preparation, analysis, generation of content, or another aspect of the scholarly work, authors should transparently disclose such use in accordance with the journal's applicable submission requirements. AI-generated or AI-assisted content must not be used to fabricate data, references, results, images, ethical approvals, or other scholarly information. Editors and reviewers must protect manuscript confidentiality and should not upload confidential submitted manuscripts or unpublished material into external AI systems where doing so could compromise confidentiality, intellectual property, privacy, or data protection.

The Nursing Scope welcomes legitimate notifications concerning possible errors, ethical concerns, or misconduct affecting published articles. Concerns will be assessed according to their nature and available evidence. Where warranted, the journal may initiate an investigation and publish a correction, Expression of Concern, retraction, or other appropriate notice. The journal will not alter or remove the scholarly record solely to conceal errors or legitimate post-publication concerns.

The Nursing Scope is committed to maintaining the accuracy, accessibility, transparency, and integrity of its published scholarly record. Where significant errors or misconduct are established after publication, the journal will take appropriate corrective action and ensure that corrections, retractions, Expressions of Concern, and related notices are clearly associated with the affected publication. The journal will continue to review and update its publication-ethics policies in accordance with developments in recognized scholarly-publishing standards and applicable ethical and legal requirements.