Ascentia Publishers is committed to maintaining the highest standards of editorial integrity, ethical publishing, transparency, and accountability in all of its journals. These policies define the responsibilities of authors, reviewers, editors, and the publisher to ensure a fair, rigorous, and trustworthy publication process.

​

1. Authorship Policy

Ascentia Publishers follows internationally accepted authorship standards based on the principles of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). Authorship is a matter of both credit and responsibility, and all listed authors must have made a genuine intellectual contribution to the work.

 

To qualify as an author, an individual must:

• Make a substantial contribution to the conception and design of the study, or to the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data.

• Participate in drafting the manuscript or revising it critically for important intellectual content.

• Approve the final version to be published.

• Agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work, including questions related to accuracy or integrity.

 

The order of authorship must be agreed upon by all authors before submission. Any addition, deletion, or rearrangement of authors after submission should be avoided unless there is a justified reason and editorial approval.

 

2. Submission Policy

Ascentia Publishers accepts original research articles, review articles, educational articles, case reports, and short communications, depending on the scope of the journal. Submission of a manuscript implies that the work is original, has not been published previously, and is not under consideration elsewhere.

 

Authors must not submit the same manuscript to another journal while it is under review with Ascentia Publishers. Duplicate submission is considered a serious breach of publication ethics and may lead to rejection. For original research articles, ethical approval from the relevant human ethics committee or animal ethics committee is mandatory before submission.

 

3. Peer-Review Policy

All manuscripts submitted to Ascentia Publishers journals undergo double-blind peer review. This means that the identities of authors and reviewers are kept confidential from each other to ensure an objective and unbiased review process.

 

Each manuscript is generally reviewed by two qualified experts in the relevant field. Their reports are considered by the editorial board when deciding whether the manuscript should be accepted, revised, or rejected. The final editorial decision rests with the Editor-in-Chief, who may consult additional experts or advisory board members when necessary.

 

3.1 Initial Screening

Each submission is first screened by an Editorial Board member to determine whether it falls within the journal scope and meets basic scientific and technical standards.

 

3.2 Reviewer Selection

Authors may suggest potential reviewers, but the journal is not obligated to use them. Authors may also identify individuals who should not be invited to review the manuscript, provided there are valid reasons.

 

3.3 Decision After Review

The editorial office may decide to:

• Accept the manuscript without revision.

• Request minor revision.

• Request major revision.

• Reject the manuscript.

 

3.4 Revisions

When revisions are requested, authors must respond within the deadline stated in the editorial decision letter. A revised manuscript should not be submitted as a new paper but should instead include a detailed point-by-point response to reviewer comments.

​

3.5 Final Submission and Acceptance

Once editorial concerns are resolved, the manuscript is formally accepted. Authors will then receive page proofs for final checking, and only minor corrections are usually permitted at that stage.

 

4. Human and Animal Ethics

Ascentia Publishers requires all research involving human participants or animals to comply with accepted ethical standards. Studies must be approved by the relevant ethics committee or institutional review board at the institution where the work was conducted.

 

For studies involving human beings, authors must clearly state that the research followed ethical principles governing participant safety, privacy, informed consent, and risk minimization. For animal studies, authors must confirm that the work followed institutional and national guidelines for the care and use of laboratory animals.

 

5. Patient Confidentiality

Patient privacy is a fundamental ethical requirement. Identifying information such as names, initials, hospital numbers, dates of birth, or recognizable images should not appear in the manuscript unless absolutely necessary and legally consented to.

 

If a patient can be identified from text, tables, figures, or clinical images, written informed consent must be obtained and submitted to the journal. Even when consent is obtained, authors should minimize unnecessary identifying details.

 

6. Archiving Policy

Ascentia Publishers is committed to preserving journal content for long-term access and continuity of the scholarly record. Published material should remain available for restoration and record retention through secure archiving systems.

 

This policy helps protect published work from accidental loss, technical failure, or interruption in availability.

 

7. Publication Ethics

Ascentia Publishers upholds strict publication ethics across all journals. Authors are expected to submit work that is honest, original, and ethically sound.

 

Any form of misconduct, including plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, duplicate publication, or unethical research practice, may result in rejection, correction, retraction, or notification to relevant institutional authorities. The journal reserves the right to screen all submissions using plagiarism-detection software.

 

8. Authors’ Responsibilities

Each author is expected to meet authorship requirements and take responsibility for the accuracy of the work they helped produce. The corresponding author is responsible for communication with the journal during submission, peer review, revision, and after publication.

 

Authors must ensure that:

• The manuscript is original.

• The work has not been published elsewhere.

• All contributors and sources are properly credited.

• The manuscript has been language edited before submission.

• The paper contains no plagiarism.

• Financial support and conflicts of interest are disclosed.

• Any post-publication errors are corrected promptly.

 

Communication with the journal, reviewers, and editorial team must be treated as confidential.

 

9. Authorship Standards Under ICMJE

Ascentia Publishers follows the ICMJE framework for determining authorship. Authorship is reserved for individuals who have made substantial intellectual contributions and who are willing to accept accountability for the published work.

 

Every author listed on a manuscript must:

• Contribute significantly to study design, data acquisition, analysis, or interpretation.

• Participate in drafting or critically revising the manuscript.

• Approve the final version.

• Agree to be responsible for the integrity of the work.

 

The journal may request author contribution details and may publish them when appropriate.

 

10. COPE and WAME Standards

Ascentia Publishers follows the ethical principles and best-practice guidance of COPE and WAME. These standards support responsible editorial decision-making, publication integrity, and ethical handling of disputes or misconduct.

​

Research must be conducted responsibly and in accordance with all relevant laws and ethical requirements. Data must be reported honestly and transparently, with no fabrication, falsification, or inappropriate manipulation. Originality, proper attribution, and disclosure of funding and conflicts of interest are mandatory.

 

11. Clinical Trials

Ascentia Publishers considers manuscripts reporting well-conducted clinical trials. Such trials must comply with ICH-GCP standards and must be registered in CTRI, the Clinical Trial Registry of India.

 

The registration number and date of registration must be included in the manuscript and will be published with the article. The trial protocol must also be submitted as a separate document.

 

12. Meta-Analyses

All manuscripts reporting meta-analyses must be accompanied by a completed PRISMA checklist and flow diagram. This ensures that the review and synthesis process is systematic, transparent, and reproducible.

The PRISMA documents should be uploaded with the manuscript when submitting systematic review or meta-analysis work.

13. Reviewers’ Responsibilities

Reviewers play a central role in maintaining scientific quality. They are expected to complete reviews promptly, provide constructive comments, and help authors improve the manuscript.

 

Reviewers must maintain confidentiality and must not discuss the manuscript with others. Their assessment should be objective, respectful, and supported by clear reasoning. Reviewers should identify missing citations, alert the editor to overlap with published work, disclose conflicts of interest, and avoid reviewing manuscripts where judgment may be affected.

 

14. Editorial Decision-Making

Editorial decisions about corrections, amendments, or clarifications are made by Ascentia Publishers’ in-house editors, sometimes with input from referees, the Editorial Advisory Panel, or the Editorial Board. The final decision always rests with the editorial office.

 

If a correction does not materially affect the scientific message or the reader’s understanding, it may be noted with a footnote or editorial notice.

 

15. Duplicate Publication

Ascentia Publishers requires all submitted work to be original. Duplicate publication occurs when authors reuse substantial parts of their own published work without proper citation or submit essentially the same work to more than one journal.

 

Material that has appeared in a thesis may be considered if it has been published according to the rules of the awarding institution. Meeting abstracts may be acceptable if the full submission clearly discloses the abstract and relationship between the two versions.

​

16. Manuscript Withdrawal Policy

Withdrawal of a manuscript after submission is discouraged because it disrupts the editorial process. Authors must consent to publication before peer review begins.

​

If a manuscript that has already been accepted is to be withdrawn, written consent from all authors and a valid reason are required. The editorial office may review such requests individually.

​

17. Availability of Materials and Data

Authors must be prepared to share supporting data, materials, and methods with editors and reviewers when requested for manuscript evaluation. This requirement supports transparency, verification, and reproducibility.

​

If the journal is not satisfied that authors can provide adequate access to underlying materials or datasets, publication may be refused. Data availability statements and supporting documents must therefore be accurate and complete.

​

18. Plagiarism

Plagiarism includes unacknowledged copying of text, ideas, data, or other intellectual content. It also includes misattributing the work of others or presenting copied material as original.

​

All manuscripts are checked for similarity before the publishing process begins. If plagiarism is discovered after publication, the journal may issue a correction or retract the article.

​

19. Conflict of Interest

To ensure transparency, authors must disclose any financial or non-financial interests that could influence, or appear to influence, the research or its interpretation. Financial conflicts may include research funding, employment by a related organization, consultation fees, stock ownership, or patent applications.

​

The corresponding author is responsible for submitting the conflict of interest statement on behalf of all authors. Reviewers and editors must also declare relevant conflicts and recuse themselves when necessary.

​

20. Article Retraction

Ascentia Publishers may retract a published article when serious problems are identified. Retraction is generally considered when there is plagiarism, fraudulent authorship, falsified data, or a major error that cannot be resolved through a simple erratum.

When an article is retracted, the PDF will remain accessible but will be clearly marked as retracted. In exceptional legal or ethical situations, the file may be removed or replaced with a notice.

​

21. Pre-Publication Proofs and Offprints

Before publication, authors receive a proof copy of their manuscript. This proof must be checked carefully for typographical errors, formatting issues, author details, and other minor corrections.

​

Large content changes are generally not permitted at this stage. After publication, original article PDFs may be downloaded from the website, and a copy may also be sent by email.

​

22. Rejection Policy

If a manuscript is found unsuitable for publication based on reviewer comments or journal policy, it will be rejected. The corresponding author will be informed, and reviewer comments may be shared where relevant.

​

Rejected manuscripts are not returned.

​

23. Acknowledgements

Individuals who contributed to the work but do not meet full authorship criteria should be acknowledged appropriately. This may include technical support, statistical assistance, writing assistance, or other non-author contributions.

 

Financial and material support should also be acknowledged in this section.

​

24. Advertising Policy

Ascentia Publishers does not accept advertising that could influence editorial independence. The journal does not permit commercial or promotional content that might compromise the objectivity of the publication process.​

​

Last Updated: June 2026 | For questions regarding these policies, please contact our publishing office.