Overview & Ethical Standards

This policy outlines the formal guidelines and standards required for submitting, reviewing, and publishing manuscripts across all OASIS Journals publications. Specifically, OASIS Journals adopts and strives to adhere strictly to the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).

Authorship Criteria

An author is defined as an individual who has made a significant intellectual contribution to the development of a manuscript. In alignment with ICMJE recommendations, authorship must be grounded on all four of the following criteria:

• Substantial Contribution: Active participation in the conception, design, acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work.
• Drafting & Revision: Drafting the manuscript or critically revising it for important intellectual content.
• Final Approval: Final review and formal approval of the manuscript version to be published.
• Accountability: Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to accuracy or integrity are appropriately investigated.

Acknowledgements

Individuals who contributed to the manuscript (e.g., technical assistance, writing assistance, or general supervision) but do not meet all four authorship criteria should be listed in the Acknowledgements section. Financial sponsors, funding agencies, and resource providers must also be explicitly acknowledged.

Changes in Authorship

Any requests to add, remove, or rearrange author names in a submitted manuscript or published article must follow COPE specifications. Requests must be submitted formally by the Corresponding Author to the Editor-in-Chief using the official Changes in Authorship Form, signed by all listed co-authors.

Submission of Manuscripts

Before submitting a paper, authors must ensure their manuscript strictly adheres to the formatting style of the target journal. Key submission rules include:

• All listed authors must fulfill the ICMJE authorship criteria and approve the final manuscript prior to upload.
• Full contact details (full name, institutional affiliation, official email address, and phone number) must be provided for all co-authors.
• A explicit Conflict of Interest statement must be incorporated within the manuscript text.
• All manuscript submissions must be submitted online through the official Author Dashboard. Email submissions are not accepted.

Conflict of Interest

According to WAME definitions, a Conflict of Interest (COI) occurs when financial or personal relationships inappropriately influence an author's, reviewer's, or editor's judgment. Authors must declare all relevant financial or commercial interests. Reviewers and editors must recuse themselves from evaluating any paper where a potential COI exists.

Confidentiality

Submitted manuscripts are strictly confidential documents. OASIS Journals will not share or disclose submitted manuscripts to third parties, except to assigned editors, peer reviewers, and editorial staff involved in processing the paper. In cases of suspected misconduct, manuscripts may be shared with institutional ethics boards or COPE representatives.

Academic Misconduct

Plagiarism, data fabrication, falsification, redundant/duplicate publication, and citation manipulation constitute severe scientific misconduct. Any suspected violations will be formally investigated in accordance with COPE flowcharts and guidelines.

Article Correction & Retraction Policy

Errors in published articles are handled systematically:

• Minor Corrections: Minor typographical errors may be updated directly with editor authorization.
• Major Errata/Corrigenda: Significant errors will be addressed by publishing a formal Correction Notice linked bidirectionally to the original published article.
• Retractions: Articles demonstrating unethical practice or invalid data will be retracted following COPE Retraction Guidelines.