Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing

Posted on February 10, 2023

Annals of Coloproctology adheres to the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing (ver. 4, published September 15, 2022; https://doaj.org/apply/transparency/) developed by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), the Open Access Scholarly Publishing Association (OASPA), and the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME). A compliance checklist of 16 items was used to assess the journal's adherence to the joint statement, as follows:

JOURNAL CONTENT	JOURNAL PRACTICES	ORGANISATION	BUSINESS PRACTICES
1. Name of Journal 2. Website 3. Journal Schedule 4. Archiving 5. Copyright 6. Licensing	7. Publication Ethics and Related Editorial Policies 8. Peer Review 9. Access	10. Ownership and Management 11. Advisory Body 12. Editorial Team and Contact Information	13. Author Fees 14. Other Revenue 15. Advertising 16. Direct Marketing

JOURNAL CONTENT

1. Name of journal

The official journal title is Annals of Coloproctology (abbreviated as Ann Coloproctol or ACP).

2. Website

The official website of our journal is https://coloproctol.org/. ACP team endeavors to make a high-quality website with accurate information and adherence to ethical and professional standards. It does not contain any misleading information or attempts to mimic other journal/publisher websites. Detailed information for authors and readers can be found on the journal website, accessible by clicking on the headings below.

• Aims and scope
• Readership
• Types of manuscripts
• Authorship criteria
• ISSN: pISSN (2287-9714), eISSN (2287-9722)

3. Journal schedule

ACP is published bimonthly on the last day of every February, April, June, August, October, and December. Additional supplementary or special issues may also be published.

4. Archiving

ACP is accessible without barriers from PubMed Central (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/journals/2062/), Korea Citation Index (https://www.kci.go.kr/), and the National Library of Korea (https://nl.go.kr/EN/), in case the journal is no longer in publication.

5. Copyright

As the official journal of the Korean Society of Coloproctology (KSCP), the copyrights for all materials published in ACP are owned by KSCP. The corresponding author must sign and submit the copyright transfer agreement form upon submission. Permission must be obtained from KSCP for any commercial use of the materials. The copyright information is indicated on all published papers (HTML and PDF) and on the ACP website.

6. Licensing

ACP is an open access journal distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, as long as the original work is properly cited. The licensing information is indicated on all published papers (HTML and PDF) and on the ACP website.

JOURNAL PRACTICES

7. Publication ethics and related editorial policies

ACP follows the Guideline on Good Publication of COPE (https://publicationethics.org/), Recommendations of International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (https://www.icmje.org/recommendations/), and Good Publication Practice Guidelines for Medical Journals of Korean Association of Medical Journal Editors (https://www.kamje.or.kr/). Our publication ethics are displayed on the Research and publication ethics section under the EDITORIAL POLICY.

In case the journal encounters suspected cases of research and publication misconduct, such as redundant (duplicate) publication, plagiarism, fraudulent or fabricated data, changes in authorship, an undisclosed conflict of interest, ethical problems with a submitted manuscript, a reviewer who has appropriated an author’s idea or data, complaints against editors, and so on, the resolution process will follow the flowchart provided by COPE (https://publicationethics.org/guidance/Flowcharts/). The discussion and decision on the suspected cases are carried out by the Editorial Board.

8. Peer review

ACP has an online submission and peer review system available at https://submit.coloproctol.org/.

All papers, including those invited by the editor, are subject to peer review. A manuscript is first reviewed for its format and adherence to the aims and scope of the journal. If the manuscript does not fit the aims and scope of ACP or does not adhere to the Instructions for Authors, it may be returned to the author immediately without review. Before the peer review process, all submitted manuscripts undergo plagiarism screening, inspected by Similarity Check, a plagiarism-screening tool powered by iThenticate (https://www.crossref.org/services/similarity-check/). Further details on peer review can be found in the Review policy section under the Editorial Policy. The basic policy is as follows:

ACP follows a double-blind peer review policy, in which the identities of both the authors and reviewers are kept anonymous throughout the review process. However, the editor managing the review process will have visibility of the authors and reviewers’ identities. The Editorial Board selects reviewers based on expertise, publication history, and past reviews. During the peer review process, reviewers can interact directly or exchange information (e.g., via submission systems or email) with only the editor, which is known as “independent review.” The editor is responsible for the final decision on whether to accept or reject a manuscript. An initial decision is typically made within 4 to 8 weeks of receipt of the manuscript. The review process and editorial decision are not published on the article page.

All manuscripts from editors, employees, or members of the Editorial Board are subject to the same review process as other submissions. During the review process, they will not engage in the selection of reviewers nor the decision-making process. Editors will not handle their own manuscripts, even if they have been commissioned.

All articles in ACP include the dates of submission, revision, acceptance, and publication on their article page.

9. Access

ACP is freely accessible from the journal website (https://coloproctol.org/) according to the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). All contents of the journal are immediately available upon publication without an embargo period. The copyright, including the right of online transmission, is owned by KSCP.

ORGANISATION

10. Ownership and management

This journal is owned by the academic society, KSCP (http://eng.colon.or.kr/). The full names and affiliations of the journal management team members can be found in the Managing team section under ABOUT.

11. Advisory body

The Editorial Board serves as the journal's advisory body. The names and affiliations of all Editorial Board members are disclosed, and their detailed information can be accessed through links to their ORCID, Research ID, and/or Scopus ID profiles.

12. Editorial team and contact information

The editorial team in charge of managing and publishing the journal's content is displayed in the Managing team section under ABOUT. Contact information for the Editor-in-Chief and the Editorial Office can be found in the Contact us section under About.

BUSINESS PRACTICES

13. Author fees

Accepted manuscripts are published with the understanding that the author(s) will cover the costs of publication, including page charges. The basic page charge for published manuscripts is USD 500. Any photographs, electron micrographs, color plates, and other special illustrations will also be reproduced at the author’s expense at cost prices.

ACP offers waivers and discounts for authors based in low-income countries, as classified by the World Bank (https://datahelpdesk.worldbank.org/knowledgebase/articles/906519/) in July of the year prior to submission. Requests for waivers should be made at the time of submission. Please contact the Editorial Office (editor@coloproctol.org) to request a waiver. In order to ensure that a paper’s waiver status does not influence the editor’s decision, editors are not informed when a waiver has been granted.

14. Other revenue

Revenue sources of ACP include author fees, support from the publisher (KSCP), and advertising income. ACP is also financially supported by the Korea Research Foundation, funded by the Ministry of Education of Korea (https://english.moe.go.kr/), and the Korean Federation of Science and Technology Societies, funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT of Korea (https://www.msit.go.kr/eng/).

15. Advertising

ACP follows the principles below for accepting advertisements and sponsorships for its printed journal:

• • Advertisements are kept separate from content. Advertisers and sponsors do not have any influence on the editorial content, nor do editors have prior knowledge of advertising. No editorial content will be altered, added, or deleted to accommodate advertising. Advertisers and sponsors have no say in editorial decisions or advertising policies.
• • ACP reserves the right to decline or cancel any advertisement at any time.
• • Advertisements for pharmaceutical products must strictly comply with all regulations and policies of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety of Korea.

16. Direct marketing

The journal's reach is expanded through its website and distribution of informational brochures. Invitations to submit manuscripts are primarily sent to attendees of relevant conferences, seminars, and workshops.

ACP recognizes the responsibility of publishers and editors to promote accessibility, diversity, equity, and inclusivity in all aspects of publication, as outlined in these principles. Editorial decisions are based solely on the scholarly merit of the manuscript and are not influenced by the author's nationality, ethnicity, political beliefs, race, or religion. ACP is committed to promoting inclusiveness and regularly reviewing its policies to ensure they do not create barriers to participation.