Ethical standards and procedures
General principles
All submitted manuscripts must comply with internationally recognized standards of research and publication ethics, including the recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) (Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals). The journal follows established editorial best practices and ethical guidelines in accordance with COPE and related international standards.
Research involving humans
Authors are required to follow ethical principles for human research in line with the Declaration of Helsinki. For all studies involving human participants, the Methods section must clearly state:
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that the study was approved by an appropriate Institutional Review Board (IRB) / Ethics Committee (or provide justification for waiver), and
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that informed consent was obtained where applicable.
All patient-related information must be handled confidentially and presented in a way that protects participants’ privacy.
Clinical trial registration
Clinical trials should be registered in a publicly accessible registry (e.g., ClinicalTrials.gov or another WHO/ICMJE-recognized registry) before the first participant is enrolled. Where applicable, authors should provide the trial registration number and registry name in the manuscript.
Authors are also encouraged to follow appropriate reporting guidelines (e.g., CONSORT for randomized trials, STROBE for observational studies, PRISMA for systematic reviews).
Research involving animals
Manuscripts reporting animal experiments will be considered only if the work complies with relevant legal and ethical regulations, including applicable national and international standards for animal welfare.
The Methods section must include sufficient detail to allow assessment of ethical and humane conduct, including:
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approval by an appropriate ethics committee (where required),
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anesthesia and analgesia protocols,
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surgical and experimental procedures.
Duties and responsibilities of authors
Polymers in Medicine uses a double-blind peer review system and publishes articles in Open Access.
Reviewers evaluate manuscripts via the Editorial System using standardized review criteria prepared by the Editorial Board. Reviews and recommendations must be objective, constructive, and evidence-based.
Reviewers are expected to:
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maintain confidentiality of all manuscripts and review materials prior to publication,
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declare any conflict of interest before accepting a review assignment,
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provide fair and unbiased assessment of the scientific quality, originality, and relevance of the work,
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identify relevant published literature that has not been cited (where appropriate),
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avoid requesting citations for non-scholarly or self-promotional reasons.
Where applicable, reviewers may also submit comments intended for publication (e.g., scientific commentary linked to the article), subject to editorial approval.
Submission requirements and declarations
Authors are required to provide declarations confirming:
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the originality of the manuscript (the work has not been published previously and is not under consideration elsewhere),
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that the manuscript does not infringe the copyright or other rights of third parties,
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disclosure of any conflicts of interest (or an explicit statement that none exist),
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where applicable, that all necessary institutional permissions/approvals to publish the work have been obtained.
Participation in peer review and post-publication responsibilities
Authors are expected to:
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cooperate with the editorial process and peer review,
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respond to reviewer/editor comments in a timely and professional manner,
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notify the journal promptly if significant errors are identified after publication,
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cooperate with the journal in issuing corrections or retractions when necessary.
References
Authors are responsible for ensuring the accuracy and completeness of citations and references. References should be prepared in accordance with the AMA Manual of Style:
https://www.amamanualofstyle.com/
Conflicts of interest
Authors must disclose all financial and personal relationships that could influence, or be perceived to influence, the submitted work.
Withdrawal of manuscripts
Authors may withdraw a manuscript at any time before acceptance by submitting an official withdrawal request via the Editorial System.
Declarations
All manuscripts must include a separate section entitled “Declarations”. Under this heading, authors must provide the statements listed below (as applicable).
Data availability
Authors must include a Data Availability Statement. Where applicable, the following wording may be used:
“The datasets generated and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.”
(If data are deposited in a public repository, please provide the repository name and accession number/DOI.)
Consent for publication
If the manuscript includes personal data, images, or information that could identify an individual, authors must state whether consent for publication was obtained.
Please note: consent for publication is different from informed consent to participate in a study. Here, “consent” refers specifically to permission to publish personal information about an individual.
Use of AI and AI-assisted technology
Authors must disclose the use of AI tools or AI-assisted technologies in the preparation of the manuscript (e.g., language editing, text generation), in accordance with the journal’s AI policy.
Please refer to the Data sharing section and the journal’s AI policy for details.
Not applicable
If any section is not relevant to the manuscript, authors must include the heading and state:
“Not applicable.”
Complaints and appeals
If concerns are raised regarding the scientific soundness, originality or integrity of a published article (including allegations of figure manipulation or other forms of misconduct), the journal will handle the case in accordance with COPE flowcharts and guidance.
Handling of allegations
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Concerns may be submitted directly to the Editor or Publisher by e-mail. Concerns raised via social media may also be considered, provided that supporting evidence is supplied.
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The journal will acknowledge the allegation and inform the claimant that the matter will be investigated. Due to confidentiality requirements, the claimant will not necessarily receive regular updates during the investigation.
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If sufficient evidence is not provided in the initial communication, the journal will request additional documentation.
Investigation and outcomes
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The Editors/Publisher will review the evidence and conduct an investigation following the appropriate COPE procedures.
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If the investigation results in an editorial action, the journal will issue an appropriate post-publication notice (e.g., Correction, Retraction, Removal, or Expression of Concern).
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The claimant will be formally informed once the case is resolved or an editorial action has been taken.
Plagiarism and duplicate publications
All manuscripts submitted to Polymers in Medicine are screened for originality using Similarity Check (Crossref) powered by iThenticate.
Suspected cases of scientific misconduct, including plagiarism, self-plagiarism, and duplicate/redundant publication, are handled in accordance with the COPE Core Practices and relevant COPE guidance.
Data falsification/fabrication
Data falsification refers to the manipulation of research materials, data, or results with the intention of misrepresenting findings. This may include (but is not limited to):
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inappropriate image manipulation (e.g., micrographs, gels, radiological images),
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selective exclusion of data (e.g., removal of outliers without justification),
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altering, adding, or omitting data points.
Data fabrication refers to making up data or results that did not occur.
Suspected cases of data falsification or fabrication in submitted or published manuscripts will be investigated and handled in accordance with the relevant COPE guidance and flowcharts.
Journal policy on data sharing and reproducibility
Polymers in Medicine supports open science and strongly encourages authors to share research data and code to enhance transparency, reproducibility, and reuse of published results.
Data availability statement
All manuscripts must include a Data Availability Statement. Where applicable, the following wording may be used:
“The datasets generated and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.”
Authors are encouraged to provide direct access to datasets and analytical code whenever possible.
Supplementary files and repositories
To ensure long-term accessibility of supplementary materials, the journal requires that supplementary files remain permanently available to readers.
Authors are encouraged to deposit supplementary materials (datasets, code, additional figures/tables) in a trusted public repository, such as Zenodo:
https://zenodo.org/
Supplementary materials should be uploaded:
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as separate files,
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within a single repository record and assigned one DOI for the complete package.
Authors should provide the Editorial Office with:
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the repository DOI, and
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a brief description of the package contents (e.g., Supplementary Table 1, Supplementary Figure 1, etc.).
The journal will publish the DOI and the description at the end of the article as part of the Data Availability Statement.
Repository neutrality statement
Neither Polymers in Medicine nor the publisher (Wroclaw Medical University) is financially or organizationally affiliated with Zenodo. Zenodo is recommended solely as a reliable, widely used and free third-party repository for long-term data storage.
Citation manipulation
Citation manipulation occurs when references are added that do not contribute to the scholarly content of the manuscript and are included primarily to artificially increase citation counts.
Any attempt by authors, reviewers, editors, or other parties to include or request citations for self-promotional purposes or to influence journal metrics constitutes unethical behaviour and violates publication ethics.
Suspected cases of citation manipulation will be investigated and handled in accordance with the relevant COPE guidance.
Duties and responsibilities of reviewers
Polymers in Medicine uses a double-blind peer review system and publishes articles in Open Access.
Reviewers evaluate manuscripts via the Editorial System using standardized review criteria prepared by the Editorial Board. Reviews and recommendations must be objective, constructive, and evidence-based.
Reviewers are expected to:
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maintain confidentiality of all manuscripts and review materials prior to publication,
-
declare any conflict of interest before accepting a review assignment,
-
provide fair and unbiased assessment of the scientific quality, originality, and relevance of the work,
-
identify relevant published literature that has not been cited (where appropriate),
-
avoid requesting citations for non-scholarly or self-promotional reasons.
Where applicable, reviewers may also submit comments intended for publication (e.g., scientific commentary linked to the article), subject to editorial approval.
Duties and responsibilities of editors
Editors are responsible for deciding which manuscripts are accepted for publication and for ensuring the integrity of the editorial process.
Editors act in a balanced, objective, and fair manner and evaluate manuscripts solely on the basis of scholarly merit, relevance to the journal scope, and compliance with ethical standards. Editorial decisions are made without discrimination based on gender, sexual orientation, religion, political beliefs, ethnic background, nationality, or geographic origin of the authors.
Editorial responsibilities include:
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maintaining confidentiality and integrity of the peer review process,
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managing conflicts of interest among editors and reviewers,
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ensuring that editorial decisions are transparent, unbiased, and evidence-based,
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taking appropriate action when ethical concerns or potential misconduct are identified.
Corrections and post-publication actions
The journal is committed to maintaining the accuracy of the scholarly record. Where justified, the Publisher and Editors may issue corrections, clarifications, withdrawals/retractions, and other editorial notices, in accordance with established editorial policies and COPE guidance.
Ethical oversight
If Editors suspect that research described in a submitted manuscript may have involved inappropriate or unethical procedures, authors will be required to provide documentation confirming:
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approval by an appropriate Ethics Committee / Institutional Review Board (IRB) (where applicable), and
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compliance with relevant ethical standards for human/animal research.
Manuscripts may be rejected or further editorial action may be taken if required ethical approvals cannot be confirmed.
Research involving human participants
For research involving human participants, human material/tissues or human data, authors must confirm compliance with the Declaration of Helsinki and obtain Ethics Committee / Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval prior to the study (or provide a justified waiver/exemption).
The manuscript must include an Institutional Review Board Statement specifying:
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Ethics Committee/IRB name,
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approval date,
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approval/decision number (or project code).
Authors must state whether informed consent was obtained.
If identifiable personal data or images are included (e.g., case reports), authors must obtain written consent for publication and ensure full anonymization. Signed consent forms should not be submitted unless requested by the Editorial Office.
For studies involving vulnerable groups, additional ethical verification may be required.
Research involving cell lines
For studies involving cell lines, the Methods section must specify the origin and provenance of all cell lines used (supplier/biobank/laboratory, catalogue number where applicable, and reference for established lines). For newly established or unpublished cell lines (including gifted lines), authors must provide Ethics Committee/IRB approval where applicable and confirm written informed consent if the line is of human origin.
Sex and gender in research
Authors are encouraged to follow the SAGER guidelines and include sex/gender considerations where relevant. Use the terms sex and gender accurately, report whether sex/gender were considered in study design and analysis, and provide disaggregated data where appropriate. If sex/gender analysis was not conducted, authors should provide justification.
Borders and territories
The journal remains neutral regarding jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Any disputes relating to borders or territories will be handled by the Editorial Office on a case-by-case basis.
Image integrity
Images must be minimally processed. No specific feature may be enhanced, obscured, moved, removed, or introduced. Global adjustments (brightness/contrast/color) are permitted only if applied to the whole image and without misrepresenting the original data. The journal may request raw/unprocessed image data during peer review or post-publication review.
Authorship and AI tools (COPE)
In accordance with COPE guidance, AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT/LLMs) cannot be listed as authors. If AI tools were used in writing/editing, data analysis, or figure preparation, authors must disclose the tool, version, and purpose in the manuscript. Authors remain fully responsible for the article content and integrity.
Ethical considerations: humans and animals
Human research must comply with the Declaration of Helsinki and include Ethics Committee/IRB approval (or waiver) and informed consent (where applicable). Animal studies must comply with applicable welfare regulations and include relevant ethics approval and sufficient methodological detail (including anesthesia/analgesia and procedures).