Policies

Editorial Policies

Young Nurses Journal of Research (YNJR) is committed to maintaining high standards of research integrity, editorial independence, transparency, and responsible scholarly publishing. The journal expects authors, reviewers, editors, and editorial board members to uphold the principles of honesty, fairness, confidentiality, transparency, and accountability.

1. Publication Ethics and Research Integrity

YNJR follows internationally recognized principles of publication ethics and research integrity, including relevant guidance from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), where applicable.

The journal does not tolerate:

  • Fabrication of research data or results.
  • Falsification or inappropriate manipulation of research.
  • Plagiarism.
  • Duplicate or redundant publication.
  • Inappropriate or fraudulent authorship.
  • Manipulation of the peer-review process.
  • Undisclosed conflicts of interest.
  • Inappropriate manipulation of research images or data.
  • Research conducted without required ethical approval.
  • Other practices that seriously compromise research integrity.

Where ethical concerns arise, the journal may request explanations or supporting documentation from authors and, where appropriate, their institutions or relevant authorities. Depending on the circumstances, the journal may reject a manuscript, issue a correction, publish an expression of concern, or retract a published article.

2. Peer Review Policy

YNJR follows a rigorous peer-review process to evaluate the scientific quality, originality, methodological rigor, ethical conduct, and relevance of submitted manuscripts.

Initial Editorial Assessment

All submitted manuscripts undergo an initial editorial assessment before external peer review. The assessment may consider:

  • Alignment with the scope of the journal.
  • Originality and scholarly contribution.
  • Methodological quality.
  • Ethical compliance.
  • Completeness of the submission.
  • Potential plagiarism or inappropriate textual overlap.
  • Compliance with the journal's author guidelines.

Manuscripts that do not meet the journal's basic requirements may be rejected without external peer review.

External Peer Review

Manuscripts considered suitable for review are evaluated by qualified reviewers with relevant subject or methodological expertise. YNJR uses a peer-review process designed to provide fair, objective, and constructive assessment.

Editorial Decision

Following peer review, a manuscript may be accepted, returned for minor or major revision, or rejected. The Editor-in-Chief or designated editor makes the final editorial decision based on the available scholarly and ethical evidence.

Peer review does not guarantee publication.

3. Authorship and Contributorship

Authorship should reflect substantial contributions to the conception or design of the study; acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data; drafting or critical revision of the manuscript; approval of the final version; and accountability for the work.

All listed authors must:

  • Approve the final version of the manuscript.
  • Agree to its submission to YNJR.
  • Accept responsibility for their contribution.
  • Be able to identify their contribution to the research.

YNJR does not support gift, guest, honorary, or ghost authorship.

Individuals who contributed to the research but do not meet authorship criteria may be acknowledged with their permission.

Any request to add, remove, or reorder authors after submission must be appropriately justified and agreed upon by all authors. The journal may request written confirmation before approving an authorship change.

4. Plagiarism, Originality and Duplicate Publication

All manuscripts submitted to YNJR must be original and must not be simultaneously under consideration by another journal.

The journal may use plagiarism or similarity-detection software as part of its editorial assessment.

Plagiarism includes the unauthorized presentation of another person's words, ideas, data, figures, images, or intellectual contribution as one's own without appropriate attribution.

YNJR considers the following serious publication concerns:

  • Direct plagiarism.
  • Unattributed paraphrasing.
  • Substantial self-plagiarism.
  • Duplicate publication.
  • Redundant publication.
  • Inappropriate fragmentation of research into multiple publications.
  • Unauthorized reuse of previously published material.

Similarity reports are evaluated by editors in context. A similarity percentage alone does not automatically establish plagiarism.

Where substantial overlap or plagiarism is suspected, the journal may request an explanation from the authors and take appropriate editorial action.

5. Research Ethics and Participant Protection

Research involving human participants must comply with applicable ethical principles, institutional requirements, and relevant national and international regulations.

Where required, authors must obtain approval from an appropriately constituted Institutional Ethics Committee (IEC) or Institutional Review Board (IRB) before commencing the study.

The manuscript should provide appropriate information regarding ethical approval, including the name of the ethics committee and approval or reference number where applicable.

Informed Consent

Authors must obtain informed consent from participants whenever required by the nature of the research.

For research involving children or other vulnerable populations, appropriate consent from parents or legal guardians and assent from participants should be obtained where applicable.

Participant Privacy and Confidentiality

Authors must protect participant privacy and confidentiality throughout the research and publication process. Identifiable personal information, photographs, clinical details, or other potentially identifying information should not be published without appropriate consent and authorization.

6. Conflict of Interest and Funding Disclosure

Conflict of Interest

Authors must disclose financial or non-financial relationships that could influence, or could reasonably be perceived to influence, the research or its interpretation.

Potential conflicts may include:

  • Employment or consultancy.
  • Research grants.
  • Honoraria.
  • Patents or intellectual property interests.
  • Financial investments.
  • Institutional relationships.
  • Personal or professional relationships.

Disclosure of a conflict of interest does not necessarily prevent publication. Transparency allows readers to assess potential influences on the work.

Editors and reviewers must also disclose relevant conflicts of interest and should decline assignments where their impartiality may reasonably be compromised.

Funding Disclosure

Authors must disclose all sources of financial or material support for the research.

Where applicable, the funding statement should identify the funding organization, grant or funding number, and role of the funder in the research.

If the funder had no role in study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, manuscript preparation, or the decision to submit the manuscript, this should be clearly stated.

7. Data Availability and Research Transparency

YNJR encourages transparency and reproducibility in research.

Authors should provide a Data Availability Statement indicating how supporting research data can be accessed, where appropriate.

Depending on the circumstances, authors may state that:

  • Data are publicly available through a recognized repository.
  • Data are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
  • Data are available subject to institutional or ethical restrictions.
  • Data cannot be publicly shared because of confidentiality, privacy, legal, or ethical restrictions.

Authors must not publicly disclose personally identifiable or confidential participant information.

Where appropriate, authors are encouraged to make relevant research protocols, analytical procedures, datasets, statistical code, or other supporting materials available to promote reproducibility.

8. Artificial Intelligence and Generative AI Policy

YNJR recognizes that artificial intelligence (AI) and generative AI tools may be used to assist with certain aspects of research and manuscript preparation.

AI tools cannot be listed as authors because they cannot assume responsibility for the accuracy, integrity, originality, and ethical aspects of scholarly work. Authors remain fully responsible for all content submitted to the journal.

AI tools may be used for appropriate purposes such as:

  • Grammar and language improvement.
  • Translation assistance.
  • Formatting assistance.
  • Limited editorial assistance.

Authors must carefully verify all AI-assisted content.

AI must not be used to fabricate or manipulate research data, research findings, references, citations, participant information, images, or evidence presented as authentic research material.

Where AI or generative AI has materially contributed to manuscript preparation, authors should disclose its use in accordance with the journal's submission requirements.

Confidential manuscripts, unpublished research data, or identifiable participant information should not be entered into AI systems in a manner that compromises confidentiality or privacy.

9. Corrections, Retractions and Expressions of Concern

YNJR is committed to maintaining an accurate, transparent, and trustworthy scholarly record.

When necessary, the journal may publish:

  • Corrections.
  • Errata or corrigenda.
  • Retractions.
  • Expressions of concern.

Corrections

A correction may be issued when an error affects the published article but does not invalidate the overall scientific findings.

Retractions

An article may be retracted when:

  • The findings are demonstrated to be unreliable.
  • Serious research misconduct has been established.
  • Ethical requirements have been seriously violated.
  • Significant errors invalidate the conclusions.
  • Duplicate publication has occurred.
  • Other circumstances substantially compromise the integrity of the article.

Expressions of Concern

An expression of concern may be published when serious questions arise regarding an article but an investigation has not yet reached a definitive conclusion.

Corrections and retractions will be clearly identified and appropriately linked to the original article to preserve the integrity of the scholarly record.

10. Editorial Independence, Complaints and Appeals

Editorial Independence

Editorial decisions at YNJR are based on the scholarly quality, originality, methodological rigor, relevance, ethical conduct, and contribution of submitted manuscripts.

Editorial decisions must not be influenced by nationality, gender, religion, ethnicity, institutional affiliation, academic position, political considerations, commercial interests, advertising, or sponsorship.

The editorial team maintains independence in decisions concerning publication.

Complaints

Authors and other stakeholders may submit complaints concerning editorial conduct, peer review, publication procedures, research ethics, authorship, or conflicts of interest.

Complaints will be considered fairly and confidentially.

Appeals

Authors may appeal an editorial decision when they believe that a significant procedural error occurred, important information was overlooked, the decision was based on a factual misunderstanding, or there is evidence of inappropriate editorial or peer-review conduct.

Appeals should provide a clear and evidence-based explanation. An appeal does not guarantee reversal of the original editorial decision.

11. Copyright, Licensing and Open Access

YNJR supports the broad dissemination of scholarly research while respecting authors' intellectual property rights.

Authors are responsible for ensuring that submitted manuscripts do not infringe the copyright or intellectual property rights of others.

Copyright

Authors should ensure that appropriate permission has been obtained for copyrighted figures, tables, photographs, instruments, or other third-party materials where required.

Open Access

Published articles are made accessible to readers in accordance with the journal's stated open-access and licensing conditions.

Any article processing charges or other publication fees must be clearly disclosed to authors before publication. The journal does not impose undisclosed publication charges.

Licensing

The applicable license for published articles will be clearly stated on the journal website and on individual articles.

12. Clinical Trials, Special Research Types and Ethical Oversight

Clinical Trial Registration

Clinical trials should be registered in an appropriate publicly accessible clinical trial registry before participant enrollment where required by applicable ethical and reporting standards.

Authors should provide the name of the registry, trial registration number, and registration date.

Animal Research

Research involving animals must comply with applicable institutional, national, and international standards for animal welfare. Authors should provide evidence of appropriate ethical approval where required.

Research Involving Vulnerable Populations

Research involving children, older adults, persons with disabilities, economically disadvantaged populations, or other potentially vulnerable groups must include appropriate ethical safeguards.

Authors must demonstrate that participant rights, dignity, privacy, safety, and informed decision-making were appropriately protected.

Ethical Oversight

YNJR may request documentary evidence concerning:

  • Ethics committee approval.
  • Informed consent.
  • Clinical trial registration.
  • Research permissions.
  • Authorship contributions.
  • Funding.
  • Data ownership.
  • Other information necessary to assess research integrity.

Where serious ethical concerns are identified, the journal may seek clarification from the authors, their institution, ethics committee, funder, or another appropriate authority.

Journal's Commitment

YNJR is committed to promoting ethical, transparent, rigorous, and responsible nursing and health-science research.

All authors, reviewers, editors, and editorial board members share responsibility for protecting the integrity of the scholarly record.

These policies may be periodically reviewed and updated in response to developments in research ethics, publication standards, and scholarly communication.

Last updated: October 2026