Chinese Journal of Infection Control(CJIC) focuses on and implements ethical review standards throughout the whole publishing process, such as standards and guidelines formulated by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) and World Association of Medical Editors (WAME), etc. Ethical policies involve authorship, misconduct, and conflict of interests.

1. Authorship

It is the corresponding author’s responsibility to ensure that the author list is correct at the point of first submission. Requests to change the authorship (such as to include or exclude an author, change an author's name or contribution) must be accompanied by a letter signed by all authors to show they concur with the change. New authors must also confirm that they fully comply with the journal's authorship requirements. Requests for addition or removal of authors as a result of authorship disputes (after acceptance) are honored after formal notification by the institute or independent body and/or when there is agreement among all authors. Changes to the authorship will not be allowed once the manuscript has been accepted for publication.

The author should meet the following four requirements:

(1) Conceived and/or designed the work that led to the submission, acquired data, and/or played an important role in interpreting the results.

(2) Drafted or revised the manuscript.

(3) Approved the final version.

(4) Agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Contributions by individuals who made direct contributions to the work but do not meet all of the above criteria should be noted in the acknowledgments section of the manuscript. Medical writers and industry employees can be contributors. Their roles, affiliations, and potential competing interests should be included in the author list or noted in the acknowledgments and/or contributors section concurrent with their contribution to the work submitted. Signed statements from any medical writers or editors declaring that they have given permission to be named as an author, as a contributor, or in the acknowledgments section is also required. Failure to acknowledge these contributors can be considered inappropriate, which conflicts with the journal’s editorial policy.

2. Misconduct: Plagiarism, Data Falsification &Fabrication

Authors should ensure that the submissions are original works. Editors will scan each submitted manuscript with the help of Academic Misconduct Literature Check System of Science and Technology Periodicals (AMLC) developed by China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) to verify the originality of submitted manuscripts.If there's any plagiarism in the manuscript, it will be rejected and the authors will be blacklisted.

Falsification is the practice of altering research data with the intention of giving a false impression. This includes, but is not limited to, manipulating images, removing outliers or “inconvenient” results, or changing, adding or omitting data points. Fabrication is the practice of inventing data or results and recording and/or reporting them in the research record. Data falsification and fabrication call into question the integrity and credibility of data and the data record, and as such, they are among the most serious issues in scientific ethics.

Some manipulation of images is allowed to improve them for readability. Proper technical manipulation includes adjusting the contrast and/or brightness or colour balance if it is applied to the complete digital image (not parts of the image). The author should notify theeditor in the cover letter of any technical manipulation. Improper technical manipulation refers to obscuring, enhancing, deleting and/or introducing new elements into an image.

If there is suspicion of misconduct, the journal will carry out an investigation following COPE guidelines. Following an investigation, if the allegation raises valid concerns, the author will be contacted and given an opportunity to address the issue. If misconduct is established beyond reasonable doubt, this may result in the editor implementing one of the following measures:

● If the article is still under consideration, it may be rejected and returned to the author.

● If the article has already been published online, depending on the nature and severity of the infraction, either an erratum will be published alongside the article or, in severe cases, complete retraction of the article will occur. The reason for the erratum or retraction must be given.

● In either case, the author’s institution or funding agency may be informed.

In cases where co-authors disagree about a correction or retraction, the editors will take advice from independent peer-reviewers and impose the appropriate measure, noting the dissenting author(s) in the text of the published version.

3.Conflict of Interests

Authors must declare whether or not there are any competing financial interests in relation to the work described. The corresponding author is responsible for submitting a competing financial interests statement on behalf of all authors of the paper. This statement must be included on the title page of the manuscript, as well as within the article before the references section listed under 'Competing Interests'.

In cases where the authors declare a competing financial interest, a statement to that effect is published as part of the article. If no such conflict exists, the statement will simply read that the authors have nothing to disclose. 

For the purposes of this statement, competing interests are defined as those of a financial nature that, through their potential influence on behaviour or content, or from perception of such potential influences, could undermine the objectivity, integrity or perceived value of a publication. They can include any of the following:

● Funding: Research support (including salaries, equipment, supplies, reimbursement for attending symposia, and other expenses) by organizations that may gain or lose financially through this publication. The role of the funding body in the design of the study, collection and analysis of data and decision to publish should be stated.

● Employment: Recent (while engaged in the research project), present or anticipated employment by any organization that may gain or lose financially through this publication. This includes positions on an advisory board, board of directors, or other type of management relationship.

● Personal financial interests: Stocks or shares in companies that may gain or lose financially through publication; consultation fees or other forms of remuneration from organizations that may gain or lose financially.

● Patents: Holding, or currently applying for, patents, relating to the content of a manuscript; receiving reimbursement, fees, funding, or salary from an organization that holds or has applied for patents relating to the content of the manuscript.

The statement included in the submission must contain an explicit and unambiguous description of any potential competing interests, or lack thereof, for any of the authors as it relates to the subject of the report.

●Conflict of interests disclosing：At the end of main text, under a subheading of "Conflict of interests statement", authors must disclose any financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that could inappropriately influence (bias) their work. Examples of potential conflict of interests include employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications/registrations, and grants or other funding.