Editorial Policy

Authorship

All contributors who meet the authorship criteria should be listed as authors. The order of authors should be determined collectively by all co-authors before manuscript submission.

Authorship credit should only be given to individuals who have made substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data; drafting the manuscript; or critically revising it for important intellectual content.

All authors must have:

• Made a substantial contribution to the research.
• Reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript.
• Agreed to its submission and publication.
• Accepted responsibility and accountability for all aspects of the work.

Individuals who contributed to the research but do not meet the criteria for authorship should be acknowledged appropriately in the Acknowledgments section with their permission.

The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that all listed authors satisfy the authorship criteria and that no inappropriate authors are included or omitted.

Changes to Authorship

Changes to authorship include the addition, deletion, or rearrangement of author names in the submitted manuscript.

If any changes to the authorship are requested during the peer-review process, the corresponding author must submit a written request to the Editorial Office.

The request must include:

• A clear explanation and justification for the proposed change.
• A completed Change to Authorship Form.
• Written consent signed by all authors indicating their agreement with the proposed addition, removal, or rearrangement.

If the request is submitted by someone other than the corresponding author, the Managing Editor will contact the corresponding author for verification before any action is taken.

No changes to authorship will be accepted after the manuscript has been accepted for publication except under exceptional circumstances approved by the Editor-in-Chief.

Peer Review Policy

All submitted manuscripts undergo an initial editorial evaluation to determine whether they are within the scope of the journal and meet the minimum scientific and ethical standards.

Manuscripts that pass the initial screening are subjected to a double-blind peer-review process, in which the identities of both authors and reviewers remain anonymous.

Each manuscript is evaluated by at least two independent reviewers with expertise in the relevant field.

Based on the reviewers' comments, the Editor-in-Chief may decide to:

• Accept the manuscript.
• Request minor revisions.
• Request major revisions.
• Reject the manuscript.

The final decision regarding publication rests solely with the Editor-in-Chief.

Editorial Independence

Editorial decisions are based exclusively on the scientific merit, originality, quality, significance, and relevance of submitted manuscripts.

Editors make publication decisions independently and without influence from sponsors, advertisers, institutions, or commercial organizations.

Confidentiality

Editors, editorial staff, and reviewers must treat all submitted manuscripts as confidential documents.

Information obtained through the peer-review process must not be disclosed to anyone other than individuals directly involved in the editorial process.

Unpublished information obtained from submitted manuscripts may not be used for personal research or personal advantage without the written consent of the authors.

Conflict of Interest

Authors, reviewers, and editors must disclose any financial or non-financial relationships that could influence the research or the editorial process.

Examples of conflicts of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Employment
• Consultancy
• Stock ownership
• Honoraria
• Paid expert testimony
• Patent applications
• Research funding
• Personal or professional relationships

Authors are required to submit a Conflict of Interest Statement during manuscript submission.

If no conflict of interest exists, authors should state:

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Editors and reviewers with conflicts of interest will be excluded from handling or reviewing the manuscript.

Research Ethics

Research involving human participants must comply with internationally accepted ethical principles, including the Declaration of Helsinki and applicable national regulations.

Studies involving human participants must have received approval from an appropriate Institutional Review Board (IRB) or Ethics Committee before the research began.

Authors must include the following information within the manuscript:

• Name of the ethics committee.
• Ethics approval number or code.
• Date of approval, where applicable.

Research involving animals must comply with internationally accepted guidelines for the ethical treatment and welfare of laboratory animals.

Authors should clearly state that appropriate institutional approval was obtained before conducting animal experiments.

Failure to provide evidence of ethical approval may result in rejection of the manuscript.

Informed Consent

For studies involving human participants, authors must confirm that informed consent was obtained from all participants or their legal guardians before participation in the study.

When patient photographs, clinical images, or any identifiable information are included, authors must obtain explicit written consent for publication.

The journal reserves the right to request copies of consent documentation when necessary.

Clinical Trial Registration

Clinical trials should be prospectively registered in a publicly accessible clinical trial registry before participant enrollment.

The clinical trial registration number and registry name should be included in the manuscript.

Failure to register eligible clinical trials may affect the editorial decision.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy

Artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted technologies may be used only to improve language, grammar, or readability of manuscripts.

AI tools cannot be listed as authors because they cannot take responsibility or accountability for the published work.

Authors remain fully responsible for the originality, integrity, accuracy, and scientific validity of their manuscripts.

Any substantial use of AI-assisted technologies in manuscript preparation should be disclosed in the appropriate section of the manuscript.

Data Availability

Authors are encouraged to make the research data supporting the findings of their study publicly available whenever possible.

Where data sharing is restricted due to ethical, legal, or privacy considerations, authors should provide a clear explanation in the manuscript.

The journal may request access to the original data during the editorial or peer-review process if necessary.

Publication Ethics

The journal is committed to maintaining the highest standards of publication ethics and follows the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Authors, reviewers, editors, and editorial staff are expected to uphold the principles of honesty, transparency, integrity, confidentiality, and accountability throughout the publication process.

Any allegation of research misconduct—including plagiarism, duplicate publication, data fabrication, data falsification, image manipulation, unethical research practices, or inappropriate authorship—will be investigated in accordance with COPE guidelines.

When misconduct is confirmed, the journal reserves the right to reject the manuscript, retract the published article, notify the authors' institutions or funding agencies, and take any additional actions deemed appropriate to preserve the integrity of the scientific record.

Plagiarism

The journal is committed to publishing original scholarly work. All submitted manuscripts are screened for plagiarism using Crossref Similarity Check (iThenticate) before entering the peer-review process.

The similarity report is evaluated by the Editorial Office, and a high similarity score does not necessarily indicate plagiarism. Editors carefully distinguish between acceptable overlap (such as references, standard methodological descriptions, or properly cited quotations) and unethical text duplication.

Manuscripts containing plagiarism, self-plagiarism, duplicate publication, or excessive text recycling may be rejected before peer review or at any stage of the publication process.

Authors are responsible for ensuring that all sources are appropriately acknowledged and cited.

Duplicate Submission

Authors must not submit the same manuscript simultaneously to more than one journal, regardless of the language of publication.

Duplicate submission wastes editorial and peer-review resources and may lead to conflicting publication rights between journals.

Manuscripts found to have been submitted simultaneously elsewhere will be rejected immediately. If duplicate publication is discovered after publication, appropriate editorial actions, including retraction, may be taken.

Preprint Policy

The International Journal of Drug Research in Clinics recognizes the role of preprint servers in accelerating the dissemination of scientific knowledge. Consequently, we welcome the submission of manuscripts that have been previously posted on recognized, non-commercial preprint servers.

Authors are required to disclose the existence of any such preprint at the time of submission by providing the server name, the DOI, or a direct link to the preprint version. If the manuscript is accepted for publication, it is the authors’ responsibility to ensure that the preprint version is updated with a prominent notice and a link to the final, peer-reviewed version published in the International Journal of Drug Research in Clinics. This ensures that readers are directed to the definitive version of record. The posting of a manuscript on a preprint server will not be considered a violation of our “Duplicate Submission” policy.

Copyright and Licensing

Authors retain the copyright of their published work.

Upon acceptance, authors grant the journal the right to publish, archive, index, and disseminate the article through electronic and print media.

All published articles are distributed under the terms of the journal's selected Creative Commons License, allowing users to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, and link to the full texts of articles in accordance with the license conditions.

Open Access Policy

The International Journal of Drug Research in Clinics is a fully open-access journal.

Immediately upon publication, all articles are freely and permanently available online without subscription fees or registration requirements.

Open access ensures the widest possible dissemination of published research and allows readers worldwide unrestricted access to scientific knowledge.

Fees and Funding

Immediately after publication, every article published in the International Journal of Drug Research in Clinics is made freely and permanently accessible online without any subscription fees or registration requirements.

The journal does not charge any submission fees, article processing charges (APCs), publication fees, or page charges.

Authors are encouraged to disclose all sources of financial support received for conducting the research.

If the study did not receive any financial support, authors should state:

This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Corrections and Retractions

The journal is committed to maintaining the integrity and accuracy of the scholarly record.

When errors that affect the scientific content of an article are identified, the journal may publish:

• Corrections (Errata)
• Corrigenda
• Expressions of Concern
• Retractions

Retractions are issued in cases of confirmed research misconduct, plagiarism, duplicate publication, serious methodological errors, fabricated or falsified data, or unethical research practices.

Corrections and retractions are published in accordance with the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Appeals and Complaints

Authors who disagree with an editorial decision may submit a written appeal to the Editor-in-Chief.

The appeal should clearly explain the reasons for reconsideration and provide any supporting evidence.

The journal will review all appeals fairly and independently. Decisions made following the appeal process are considered final.

Complaints regarding editorial procedures, peer review, or publication ethics will be handled confidentially and according to COPE recommendations.

Archiving Policy

The journal is committed to the long-term preservation and accessibility of its published content.

Published articles are archived on the journal's website and preserved through appropriate digital archiving systems and institutional repositories to ensure permanent accessibility.

Advertising Policy

The journal maintains complete editorial independence from commercial interests.

Any advertising or sponsorship associated with the journal shall not influence editorial decisions, peer review, or publication outcomes.

Editors are solely responsible for all editorial decisions based on the scientific quality and ethical standards of submitted manuscripts.

Disclaimer

The opinions and statements expressed in published articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editorial Board, the Publisher, or the affiliated institutions.

The journal, editors, and publisher assume no responsibility for errors or consequences arising from the use of information contained in published articles.