The British Editorial Society of Bone & Joint Surgery takes a rigorous approach to publication ethics. As a scholarly organisation and publisher of stringently peer-reviewed work, we are committed to upholding the integrity of that work.

Academic publishing is dependent on the ethical approach of all involved, including authors, peer reviewers, journal editors and the publisher. As publisher of The Bone & Joint Journal, we are committed to maintaining the editorial independence and transparency of the journal, its authors and editors, and supporting ethical publication practices.

The ethical duties of the key groups involved in the submission, review and potential publication process are outlined below; please note that these points are not exhaustive.

The ethical duties of authors

• All work should be original and unpublished elsewhere.
• Plagiarism is entirely unacceptable.
• An accurate account of the work must be given, along with an objective discussion of the work and its findings.
• Data should be represented accurately and authors should be prepared to provide public access to the data.
• Authors must be transparent throughout the process.  If an author is not sure whether his/her paper is original, he/she should inform the journal’s editor. If the editor decides it is appropriate to publish, the paper itself should clearly state any potential overlap.
• Sources and influences must be acknowledged.
• Privately-obtained information must not be used without the explicit permission of those involved.
• The research ethics guidelines of your field must be adhered to, particularly where human or animal subjects are involved.
• All co-authors must be listed and acknowledged as contributors.
• All co-authors must view and approve submission of a work to The Bone & Joint Journal.
• A declaration of any conflicts of interest must be given for each co-author.
• Any post-publication errors in the presented research or stated outcomes must be dealt with promptly between the corresponding author and the publisher, in the form of a retraction or correction.

The ethical duties of peer reviewers

• The process must remain blinded and confidential.
• The journal editor must be alerted immediately should a reviewer become aware of any potential competing interest that could impinge their impartiality as reviewer.
• All papers must be treated impartially.

The ethical duties of journal editors

• The editor (in conjunction with the editorial board as required) must select papers to be published in the journal based on the ethical validity of the work and a paper’s importance to the readership.
• Content must be evaluated on its research merits alone, with no regard to the race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnic origin, religious or philosophical beliefs of the author/co-authors.

For further in-depth guidance, please see the Committee on Publication Ethics website: http://publicationethics.org/.