JOURNAL ETHICS

Publication Policy and Ethics

Manuscripts submitted must be original and not previously submitted or under consideration for publication elsewhere. Consequently, the following must be ensured:
- All authors must consent and accept the draft manuscript before submission with a covering letter to the Editor-in-Chief.
- All articles in this journal shall be copyrighted. Citation of any part or whole of a published article must be with the consent of the Editor-in-Chief after due consultation with the authors of the said publication.
- Conflict of interest should be stated where applicable.

Editorial Policy: Opinions and statements expressed in any presentation in this journal are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the publishers or editorial board. The Editor-in- Chief shall not be liable for any errors contained in such materials.

Proof (s): Authors are entitled to a set of Galley proofs, which shall be corrected and sent back to the Editor-in-Chief within 14 days. Corrections should be equally effected in the electronic versions (e.g. E-mail or CDs).

Human Subjects Research: Authors must ensure research involving human subjects complies with the Declaration of Helsinki. Authors must include a statement that consent has been obtained from each patient after full explanation of the purpose and nature of all procedures used. For research requiring ethics committee approval, please include a statement to this effect in the manuscript. Also indicate whether patient consent was obtained in line with the below policy. We will be unable to accept research papers without this statement.

Animal Studies: Experiments with animals must be performed in accordance with international, national and institutional requirements. Include a statement that investigations have been approved by the local ethical committee, along with the following; Authors must give the full binomial Latin names for all experimental animals other than common laboratory animals, state the breed or strain and source of animals, and give details of age, weight, sex, housing and detail the procedures and anaesthetics used, including doses administered. Papers may be rejected on ethical grounds should the editors feel the study does not adequately meet current international guidelines for humane research.

Experiments with genetically engineered mice: In inbred mice, genetic strain effects can have significant effects on phenotype. Because of this the following controls for experiments with genetically-manipulated mice should be used: parental inbred strain, or wild-type littermates.

Experiments with cell lines: In general, studies that are based on observations performed in a single cell line will not be considered for publication if other lines of the same general lineage and characteristics are available. If at all possible, observations should be replicated in multiple cell lines. The author should include the following information supporting the authentication of lines: Source of cell lines and the method of authentication is. For example, ATCC uses STRS analysis. Authors will also be required to state the passage number(s) of cell lines used for the experiments described in the submission. Unless the research is specific about senescence, lines >35 passages would not be acceptable.

Declaration of competing interest: Corresponding authors, on behalf of all the authors of a submission, must disclose any financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that could inappropriately influence (bias) their work. Examples of potential conflicts of interest include employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications/registrations, and grants or other funding.

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