POLICIES & ETHICS

Publishing and Editorial Policies
​
SurgiColl closely follows standard publishing and editorial policies, including recommendations made by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) and the Committee on Publication Ethics.
SurgiColl adheres to the highest standards concerning its editorial policies on publication ethics, scientific misconduct, consent and peer review criteria. Please see below for our policies on Peer Review, Confidentiality, Conflicts of Interest, Data Sharing, Plagiarism, and Human Rights.
​
Peer Review
​
All authors and reviewers should read our Peer Review Policy before submitting an article or a review. Any article published in SurgiColl will have been reviewed through a single-blind peer review process. This means that the identities of the authors are disclosed to the reviewers but the identity of the reviewers will be concealed from the authors. Reviewers remain anonymous, which can reduce bias and encourage honest feedback, reviewers may be more willing to participate in the process, authors cannot directly appeal to reviewers or influence their perceptions, reviewers can better interpret the work’s significance when they know the authors’ backgrounds, including their previous work and expertise in the field, knowing the authors’ identities allows reviewers to evaluate potential biases or conflicts of interest based on the authors’ affiliations or reputations, authors may be more diligent in their work knowing that their identities are disclosed, which can lead to a higher quality of submissions, if the manuscript is relevant to a reviewer’s area of expertise, knowing the authors may open opportunities for future collaboration or networking, reviewers can tailor their feedback based on the authors’ previous contributions or specific areas of expertise, and making the review more relevant and constructive.
Once a manuscript is submitted to SurgiColl, the editorial board will send the manuscript out for review. All manuscripts submitted to SurgiColl are subject to peer review through an electronic process. SurgiColl will consider reviewers suggested by the author(s) of the manuscript for review but reserves the right to assign the manuscript to be reviewed by whomever they see fit. The manuscript will then be reviewed by two or more experts who will be asked to evaluate whether the manuscript is scientifically sound and coherent, whether or not it duplicates other published work, and whether or not the manuscript is sufficiently cleared for publication. Reviewers are also expected to provide their recommendation for whether or not the content of the manuscript is relevant to SurgiColl as a whole as well as make an evaluation on the manuscript’s originality, quality, and contribution to evidence about important questions.
As stated in our Submission Guidelines, we require that the author(s) of the manuscript declare any conflicts of interest (which could be personal, financial, intellectual, professional, political, or religious in nature) so that editors can assess these and factor them into their decisions. Reviewers are equally as expected to refer to the SurgiColl editorial board with any conflicts of interest prior to accepting to review a manuscript. Additionally, reviewers should not accept to review a manuscript simply to read it without intending to write a review.
All reviewers are expected to provide fair, honest, and unbiased feedback to the author(s) of the manuscript within the agreed upon timeframe. Reviewers are expected to be as specific as possible, to provide supporting evidence, and to be as professional and appropriate as possible. Reviews should be civil and constructive, and editors reserve the right to edit or remove any comments felt to be inappropriate.
Reviewers and Editors for SurgiColl adhere to the principles of the Singapore Declaration, and review manuscripts with upholding those principles in mind.
Requirements to Serve as a Reviewer for SurgiColl
​
-
Hold a terminal degree (e.g. MD, DO, MBBS, or PhD)
-
Have a minimum of 3 peer-reviewed publications in the English literature searchable on PubMed
-
Possess expertise in the research and peer review process within the surgical specialty recruited to review in
​
Expectations of Reviewers for SurgiColl
​
-
Respond promptly (within 72 hours) to accept or reject an invitation to review a manuscript
-
Provide timely (within 2 weeks) and constructive review upon acceptance of the request to review a manuscript
-
Complete the Reviewer’s Form, to be provided through the Reviewer portal
-
Review a manuscript up to two times (includes a review of a revised manuscript)
​
Reimbursement for Reviewers’ Services for SurgiColl
​
-
Reviewers will receive $40 USD, for solicited reviews of manuscripts
-
This payment will be inclusive of up to 2 reviews of a single manuscript
-
In rare instances of the 3rd round of review, an additional $10 will be included.
-
Payment to reviewers will be submitted electronically
-
The name of the active reviewers will be published on the website annually
-
Reviews will be recognized via collaboration of SurgiColl with Publons
Note: The Editor-in-Chief makes the final publication decision after considering reviewer feedback. The Editor-in-Chief may recommend the authors revise and resubmit the paper based on reviewer feedback.
​
Preprints
​
A preprint is a version of a research manuscript prior to formal peer review at a journal, that has been deposited on a public server. SurgiColl does not accept submissions that have been posted as preprints on any public repository or platform. To ensure the originality and integrity of the research we publish, all submitted manuscripts must be original works that have not been disseminated publicly in any form prior to submission.
​
Confidentiality
​
The manuscripts that authors submit to SurgiColl are the author’s confidential property. All manuscripts submitted to SurgiColl are privileged communications that are authors’ private, confidential property, and authors may be harmed by the disclosure of any or all of a manuscript’s details prior to publication.
SurgiColl prohibits editors from sharing information about manuscripts, including their content and status within the review process, criticism by reviewers, and any other pertinent details about the manuscript with anyone other than the other editors, authors, and reviewers. SurgiColl will do its best to maintain the confidentiality of manuscripts, including requests from third parties to use manuscripts and reviews for legal proceedings.
Additionally, reviewers are also prohibited from sharing confidential information with anyone who is not an author of the manuscript or part of the editorial board. Reviewers are expected to keep manuscripts and the information they contain strictly confidential during the review process. Reviewers and editorial staff are prohibited from publicly discussing the author’s work. Additionally, reviewers must not use or claim the authors’ ideas prior to the publication of the manuscript. SurgiColl expects reviewers not to retain copies of the manuscript for their personal use and to delete or destroy copies of the manuscript after submitting their reviews. Because SurgiColl uses a single-blind review process, the identities of the authors will be revealed to the other party but the reviewers’ identity will at no point be revealed to the authors throughout the review process.
SurgiColl reserves the right to breach confidentiality only in the serious case that dishonesty, plagiarism, or fraud is alleged. SurgiColl will notify authors and reviewers if they intend to do so. In any other case, confidentiality must be honored by the editorial board of the publication as well as any and all associated parties.
​
Conflicts of Interest
​
According to the ICMJE uniform declaration of competing interests, authors should disclose four types of potential conflicts of interest:
-
Associations with commercial entities that provided support for the work reported in the submitted manuscript
-
Associations with commercial entities that could be viewed as having an interest in the general area of the submitted manuscript
-
Any similar financial associations involving their spouse or their children under 18 years of age
-
Non-financial associations that may be relevant to the submitted manuscript
SurgiColl believes that in order to make the best decisions for the publication and the manuscript, the journal editor should know about any competing interests that authors may have. Competing interests will be published along with the paper. While a competing interest is not inherently unethical, it should be acknowledged and openly stated. Authors must complete and sign a declaration of competing interests (conflict of interest) [MOU1] upon the submission of their manuscript. They are also encouraged to list any and all competing interests in the cover letter accompanying their submission.
​
Data-Sharing
​
SurgiColl encourages authors to make the data generated by research openly and publicly available upon the publication of their manuscript, wherever legally and ethically possible. We encourage authors to submit as much data as possible, but at least the minimum data required to reproduce the results presented in the article.
Data should not be shared in any way that could compromise participant anonymity or privacy, and data should not be shared if that would require the authors to break any laws or licensing agreements.
​
Plagiarism
​
SurgiColl takes issues of copyright infringement, plagiarism, or other breaches of best practice in publication very seriously. Plagiarism is the unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and representing them as one’s own original work. Self-plagiarism is the reuse of significant, identical or near-identical portions of one’s own work without citing the original. Unacknowledged use of AI-generated text is also considered plagiarism (see the SurgiColl’s policy on AI and Computer-Generated Content below).
SurgiColl screens each manuscript upon submission using plagiarism detection software such as iThenticate and Similarity Check, which is offered through CrossRef and is powered by iThenticate.
Where an article is found to have plagiarized other work or included third-party copyright material without permission or with insufficient acknowledgment, or where the authorship of the article is contested, SurgiColl reserves the right to take action including, but not limited to: publishing an erratum or corrigendum (correction); retracting the article; taking up the matter with the head of the department or dean of the author’s institution and/or relevant academic bodies or societies; or taking appropriate legal action. SurgiColl’s Editorial Board will blacklist any author found to be guilty of plagiarism. The name of the author(s) committing plagiarism will also be disseminated to editors of other medical journals.
Additionally, SurgiColl seeks to protect the rights of our authors and will investigate claims of plagiarism or misuse of published articles.
​
AI and Computer-Generated Content
​
Text, figures, images, or graphics generated from AI, machine learning, or other algorithmic programs are allowed to be used in original works submitted to SurgiColl. However, AI-generated text is deemed reproduced material and must be cited as such, including:
-
the prompt
-
the AI tool and the version used
-
the company that developed the tool
-
the date the content was generated
-
the general URL for the tool
The journal prohibits AI coauthorship. This policy is consistent with our license agreement, which requires that papers be the original work of the authors, who assume full accountability for the integrity of the work.
In SurgiColl, we believe that a manuscript may benefit from implementing AI software and platforms for literature review, fluent writing, and grammar check, making medical writing more comprehensible. We are not restricting the use of AI to enhance medical writing and literature reviews. Still, we require the authors to be transparent and disclose the use of AI in the synthesis of each manuscript section.
​
Human Rights
​
Our policy is to ensure that all articles published by SurgiColl are ethically acceptable. SurgiColl expects authors to follow the World Medical Association’s Helsinki Declaration as revised in October 2024. All authors are expected to have received approval to conduct research from an independent, local, regional, or national review body (e.g. ethics committee or institutional review board). Papers describing investigations on human subjects must include a statement that the study was approved by the institutional review board, in accordance with all applicable regulations, and that informed consent was obtained after the nature and possible consequences of the study were explained.
Patients have a right to privacy that should not be violated without informed consent. Identifying information, such as names, initials, or hospital numbers, should not be included in any article published by SurgiColl. Additionally, nonessential details should be omitted. Informed consent should be obtained if there is any doubt about the anonymity of the subjects.
​
Advertising
​
SurgiColl does not permit commercial advertising.
​​
.png)