CONTENTS
- Scope and applicability
- Fundamental ethical principles
- Authors' duties
- Reviewers' duties
- Editorial leadership duties
- Research ethics
- Conflicts of interest
- Misconduct handling and COPE workflows
- Confidentiality of the editorial process
- Whistleblowing and protection of the reporter
- Artificial intelligence and ethical responsibility
- Reference standards
1. Scope and applicability
This Publication Ethics Policy sets out, organically, the overall ethical principles adopted by European Gynecology and Obstetrics (EGO) regarding research, publication, and editorial conduct. The document serves as an umbrella policy: it gathers and systematizes the cross-cutting ethical principles governing the Journal's activities, referring to the specific documents of the editorial catalog for detailed provisions. The policy applies to all parties intervening in the editorial process in any capacity: authors, reviewers, the Editor-in-Chief, Associate Editors, members of the Editorial Board, Guest Editors, editorial staff, and the Publisher.
The reference normative framework includes the COPE Core Practices, the ICMJE Recommendations, the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing of the Directory of Open Access Journals, the recommendations of the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME), and the White Paper on Promoting Integrity in Scientific Journal Publications of the Council of Science Editors.
2. Fundamental ethical principles
The editorial activity of European Gynecology and Obstetrics (EGO) is informed by the following fundamental principles, which constitute the ethical foundation of every decision and procedure of the Journal:
• Scientific integrity - obligation to faithfully represent the data, methods, and results of research, without fabrication, falsification, or selective omission.
• Originality - commitment to publish original contributions, never previously published nor simultaneously submitted to other journals, except for cases of preprints governed by the Preprint Policy.
• Transparency - complete and timely declaration of every element relevant to editorial assessment, including funding sources, conflicts of interest, and non-authorial contributions.
• Equity - assessment of manuscripts based exclusively on scientific merit, without discrimination of any kind.
• Responsibility - personal and non-delegable assumption of responsibility for what is published, by authors, and for what is decided, by editorial leadership.
• Confidentiality - protection of the confidentiality of manuscripts and editorial communications in all phases of the process.
• Independence - autonomy of editorial decisions from economic, institutional, political, or personal pressures.
3. Authors' duties
Authors who submit manuscripts to European Gynecology and Obstetrics (EGO) are required to comply with the following ethical obligations:
• ensure the originality of the manuscript and the absence of plagiarism, self-plagiarism, duplicate publication, or undisclosed text recycling;
• comply with ICMJE criteria for the attribution of authorship and declare the specific contribution of each author according to the CRediT taxonomy;
• provide data and materials in support of their conclusions, in compliance with the Data Availability and Sharing Policy;
• faithfully represent data without manipulations that alter their scientific meaning, with particular reference to images and graphical data;
• declare any financial, institutional, or personal conflict of interest relevant to the manuscript;
• correctly cite previous works that have influenced the research, avoiding manipulative or distortive citations;
• obtain and document the approval of the competent ethics committee and the informed consent of participants for research on human subjects, in compliance with the Declaration of Helsinki;
• prospectively register clinical trials in a recognized public registry;
• declare any use of generative artificial intelligence tools in the preparation of the manuscript, according to the Artificial Intelligence Policy;
• promptly notify the editorial leadership of any significant error identified in their work after publication and cooperate in the publication of corrections or retractions.
Detailed provisions are contained in the Authorship Policy, the Conflict of Interest Policy, and the Research Ethics Policy.
4. Reviewers' duties
Reviewers who accept the assignment of evaluating a manuscript for European Gynecology and Obstetrics (EGO) undertake to comply with the following principles, consistent with the COPE Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers:
• accept the assignment only if in possession of adequate disciplinary competence and in the absence of conflicts of interest with respect to the manuscript, the authors, or the institutions involved;
• treat the manuscript as confidential communication: not disclose, cite, or use for their own purposes the contents, data, or ideas contained therein;
• evaluate the manuscript objectively, constructively, and promptly, providing reasoned arguments and suggestions useful for improving the work;
• refrain from personal, denigratory, or defamatory comments toward authors;
• promptly report to the editorial leadership any suspicion of plagiarism, duplicate publication, data manipulation, or other forms of misconduct;
• not use generative artificial intelligence tools that involve uploading the manuscript to external uncontrolled systems, except with explicit authorization from the editorial leadership;
• declare any conflict of interest emerging during the review and, if necessary, withdraw from the assignment.
Detailed provisions on the review process are contained in the Peer Review Policy.
5. Editorial leadership duties
The Editor-in-Chief, Associate Editors, and members of the Editorial Board of the Journal exercise their functions in compliance with the principles established by the COPE Core Practices and by the ICMJE Recommendations. In particular, they undertake to:
• make editorial decisions based exclusively on scientific merit, without conditioning of an economic, political, institutional, or personal nature;
• ensure the confidentiality of manuscripts and editorial communications in all phases of the process;
• select qualified, independent reviewers free from conflicts of interest with respect to the manuscript;
• declare and manage their own potential conflicts of interest, refraining from editorial management of manuscripts with respect to which significant relationships exist;
• ensure equity in the treatment of authors and reviewers, regardless of geographical origin, affiliation, gender, or other personal characteristics;
• act with promptness and diligence in the management of complaints, appeals, and reports of suspected misconduct, in compliance with COPE flowcharts;
• promote a plural composition of the Editorial Board and of the reviewer pool in coherence with the Diversity and Inclusion Policy;
• refrain from accepting gifts or advantages that may compromise editorial independence.
Detailed provisions on editorial governance are contained in the Editorial Board Charter.
6. Research ethics
European Gynecology and Obstetrics (EGO) requires that every submitted manuscript be the product of research conducted in compliance with the ethical principles established by the Declaration of Helsinki for research on human subjects and by the ARRIVE Guidelines for animal research. Documentation of approval by the competent ethics committee, of informed consent of participants, of prior registration of clinical trials, and of personal data protection in compliance with EU Regulation 2016/679 (GDPR) is required. For studies involving reproductive material, gametes, embryos, or sensitive tissues of particular relevance to the gynecological and obstetric domain, further reinforced standards of consent and data protection are required. Operational provisions are contained in the Research Ethics Policy.
7. Conflicts of interest
Transparency on conflicts of interest constitutes an essential pillar of editorial ethics. All parties involved in the process (authors, reviewers, editors) are required to declare any financial, institutional, or personal interest that may influence the assessment and publication of a manuscript. The Journal applies disclosure procedures compliant with ICMJE and COPE standards. Detailed provisions are contained in the Conflict of Interest Policy.
8. Misconduct handling and COPE workflows
European Gynecology and Obstetrics (EGO) adopts a structured and proportionate approach to managing suspected cases of misconduct, in compliance with the COPE flowcharts. The following are considered cases of misconduct:
• plagiarism, self-plagiarism, undisclosed text recycling, and duplicate publication;
• fabrication or falsification of data;
• manipulation of images or graphical data altering scientific meaning;
• violations of authorship criteria (ghost authorship, gift authorship, guest authorship);
• citation manipulation and citation stacking;
• substantial undisclosed conflicts of interest;
• violations of research ethics (absence of ethical approval, lack of informed consent, failure to register clinical trials);
• fraudulent peer review and recourse to false reviewers.
Reports of suspected misconduct are handled by the editorial leadership in accordance with the COPE flowcharts applicable to the specific case, ensuring confidentiality, a fair adversarial process with the parties involved, and proportionality of the measures adopted. Outcomes may include corrections, expressions of concern, retractions, communications to the institutions of affiliation, and to funding bodies. Detailed provisions are contained in the Corrections, Retractions and Expressions of Concern Policy.
9. Confidentiality of the editorial process
All manuscripts submitted to European Gynecology and Obstetrics (EGO), editorial communications, reviewer reports, and internal correspondence constitute confidential communication. It is prohibited for anyone involved in the process to disclose, distribute, cite, or use for purposes other than editorial assessment the contents, data, tables, figures, and supplementary materials of a manuscript under processing. The confidentiality obligation also persists after the conclusion of the process, regardless of the outcome of the assessment, and extends to the possible use of artificial intelligence tools that involve transmitting the manuscript to external, uncontrolled systems.
10. Whistleblowing and protection of the reporter
The Journal encourages the good-faith reporting of suspected violations of research integrity, editorial conduct, or the principles enunciated in this policy. All reports are handled with the utmost confidentiality: the reporter's identity is protected and may not be the subject of retaliation or prejudice of any kind. Anonymous reports are taken into consideration, provided sufficient documentary evidence supports them for examination. Operational provisions, including the transmission channel and response times, are contained in the Complaints, Appeals and Whistleblowing Policy.
11. Artificial intelligence and ethical responsibility
The use of generative artificial intelligence tools for the preparation, revision, or production of scientific content is subject to specific provisions. The Journal reaffirms 3 fundamental ethical principles: generative AI cannot in any case be recognized as an author; the use of AI must be the subject of explicit and detailed disclosure; ultimate responsibility for content generated with the assistance of AI tools remains with the human author, without possibility of delegation. Detailed provisions are contained in the Artificial Intelligence Policy.
12. Reference standards
This policy is drafted in compliance with the following international standards:
• COPE - Committee on Publication Ethics, Core Practices (2019, current version);
• COPE Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers;
• COPE Retraction Guidelines;
• COPE Flowcharts for the management of misconduct cases;
• ICMJE - Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals;
• DOAJ - Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing;
• WAME - World Association of Medical Editors, recommendations on editorial conduct;
• CSE - Council of Science Editors, White Paper on Promoting Integrity in Scientific Journal Publications;
• WMA - Declaration of Helsinki, latest version in force;
• EU Regulation 2016/679 (GDPR) for the protection of personal data in research.