Ethical standards and procedures

Termedia Publishing House is committed to upholding standards of ethical behaviour at all stages of the publication process. We follow closely the industry associations, such as the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICJME) and World Association of Medical Editors (WAME), that set standards and provide guidelines for best practices in order to meet these requirements. Authors and editors, have ethical obligations with regard to the publication of the results of research. According to our publishing policy, manuscripts not conforming to the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki should not be accepted for publication.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF AUTHORS

The Author(s) is obliged to prepare and send the article in accordance with the requirements set out in the journal Editor. Moreover the Author(s) is obliged to submit editorial complemented by a statement which will be included: a statement about the originality of the content of the article (work not yet published anywhere), the integrity of the copyrights of others, no conflict of interest or its application, as well as the superior permission to publish an article in the journal. Authors are obliged to participate in peer review process. The Author(s) are obliged to provide retractions or corrections of mistakes, they also should provide a list of references.

Author(s) are responsible for disclosing all financial and personal relationships that might bias or be seen to bias their work.

Authors may, at any time before accepting the article for publication, withdraw the article by submitting a statement in the electronic system of the Editorial System.

AUTHORSHIP CRITERIA AND/OR WHO SHOULD BE LISTED AS A CONTRIBUTOR

Termedia Publishing House in the matter of authorship criteria and/or who should be listed as a contributor, respects standards recommended by COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics). Detailed information about those criteria you can find in COPE Report "COPE - publication ethics".

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF REVIEWERS

Articles are selected for publication in double blind selection system and published in open access system. Reviewer shall review by the electronic system on the basis of questions prepared for a specific title. It is also possible for a reviewer to send individual comments to be published in the article content. All judgments and findings in the peer-review process should be objective. Reviewers should have no conflict of interest (they make a statement before proceeding to review.). Reviewers - if is a legitimate need - should point out relevant published work which is not yet cited, and reviewed by them articles should be treated confidentially prior to their publication.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF EDITORS

Editors are responsible for deciding which articles are accepted for publication. Editors act in a balanced, objective and fair way while carrying out their expected duties, without discrimination on grounds of gender, sexual orientation, religious or political beliefs, ethnic or geographical origin of the authors.

Publisher and Editors are always ready to publish corrections, clarifications, withdrawals and apologies if there is a legitimate need.

In the situation when there is a suspicion that an inappropriate research procedure described in the work sent by autors has taken place, the authors are obliged by the editorial office - if not yet submitted - to submit information regarding the approval of the described research procedure by a properly established ethics committee to conduct clinical trials.

POLICIES REGARDING PLAGIARISM

Plagiarism is using the words, tables, grafics or ideas of others and presenting them as your own. Such activity is a form of fraud. It can take many forms, from deliberately seeking academic advantage by replicating the work of others, to accidentally copying from a source without obtaining permission from the rights holder.

The Editor will not accept a paper which employs ghostwriting or guest authorship, and will disclose all such practices, especially symptoms of scientific dishonesty (breaking or compromising the ethical principles effective in scientific research) and plagiarism The author accepts that a submitted manuscript may be screened for plagiarism against previously published works (iThenticate - plagiarism checker). Manuscripts that are found to have been plagiarized will incur plagiarism sanctions: immediate rejection of the submitted manuscript or published article, prohibition of any new submissions.

POLICIES REGARDING ADVERTISEMENTS

All advertisements should be approved by the journal owner, publisher or Editor in Chief. Advertisements are a separate section from content. The advertisement in the publisher‘s journal is not a guarantee, nor an endorsement of the given product, service, company, or of the claims made in such advertising by the publisher, editors or journal owner. Advertising is clearly distinguished from the editorial content. All advertisements should identify the advertiser by trademark or signature. The publisher is not responsible for any damages, including but not limited to actual, direct, incidental, or consquental damages.

POLICIES FOR RESEARCH ON HUMAN AND VULNERABLE POPULATIONS

Authors should follow the principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki of the World Medical Association (www.wma.net). The manuscript should contain a statement that the work has been approved by the relevant institutional review boards or ethics committees and that all human participants gave informed consent. Identifying information, including patients’ names, initials, or hospital numbers, should not be published.

Vulnerable populations (children) require special protection during research.Researchers need to consider additional ethics concerns or issues arising from working with potentially vulnerable persons. In cases where research involves potentially vulnerable groups, for example children, older persons or adults with learning disabilities, every effort should be made to secure freely given informed consent that participants or their legal representatives have actively provided.

INFORMED CONSENT POLICY

All individuals have individual rights that are not to be infringed. Individual participants in studies have, the right to decide what happens to the (identifiable) personal data gathered, to what they have said during a study, as well as to any photograph that was taken. This is especially true concerning images of vulnerable people (e.g. minors, patients, refugees, etc). In many instances authors need to secure written consent before including images. Identifying details (names, dates of birth, identity numbers, biometrical characteristics (such as for example facial features) of the participants that were studied should not be published in written descriptions, photographs, and genetic profiles unless the information is essential for scholarly purposes and the participant (or parent/guardian if the participant is a minor or incapable or legal representative) gave written informed consent for publication. Under certain circumstances consent is not required as long as information is anonymized and the submission does not include images that may identify the person.

Informed consent for publication should be obtained if there is any doubt. For example, masking the eye region in photographs of participants is inadequate protection of anonymity.

If identifying characteristics are altered to protect anonymity, such as in genetic profiles, authors should provide assurance that alterations do not distort meaning.

Exceptions where it is not necessary to obtain consent:

• Images such as x rays, laparoscopic images, ultrasound images, brain scans, pathology slides unless there is a concern about identifying information in which case, authors should ensure that consent is obtained.

• If images are being reused from prior publications, the Publisher will assume that the prior publication obtained the relevant information regarding consent. Authors should provide the appropriate attribution for republished images.

DATA SHARING POLICY

BioTechnologia is published in open acces without any requirements or restrictions.

Journal is committed to a more open research landscape, facilitating faster and more effective research discovery by enabling reproducibility and verification of data, methodology and reporting standards. We encourage all authors of articles published in our journal to share their research data including, but not limited to: raw data, processed data, algorithms, protocols, methods.

All authors willing to share such data have the opportunity to do so and they are made available in the form of supplementary materials.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE POLICIES

BioTechnologia recognizes the value of artificial intelligence (AI) and its potential to assist authors in the research and writing process. While these tools can be transformative, they cannot replace human creativity and critical thinking. BioTechnologia’s policy on AI use has been developed to help authors, reviewers, and editors make informed, ethical decisions regarding the use of such technologies.

For Authors
The use of generative AI and AI-assisted tools for text editing: AI tools that offer suggestions to enhance your writing—such as improving language, grammar, or structure—are considered assistive technologies and must be disclosed by authors or reviewers. When using generative AI or AI-assisted tools during the writing process, these technologies should be used solely to improve the readability and language quality of the manuscript. Their application must occur under human oversight and control, and authors must carefully review and edit the output. The use of AI tools that generate content—such as references, text, images, or any other material—must be disclosed when used by authors or reviewers. Authors should cite sources and avoid referencing generative AI tools as primary sources. If any portion of the submission was generated by AI, this must be disclosed upon submission to allow the editorial team to evaluate the AI-generated content. Authors must declare in the manuscript any use of AI or AI-assisted technologies; a disclosure statement will be included in the published article. AI or AI-assisted technologies should not be listed as an author or co-author, nor should AI be cited as an author.

Use of generative AI and AI-assisted tools in figures and images: We do permit the use of generative AI or AI-assisted tools to create or alter images in submitted manuscripts. This may include enhancing, obscuring, moving, removing, or introducing a specific feature within an image or figure. Adjustments such as contrast or brightness modifications are acceptable as long as they do not alter the scientific meaning or integrity of the image.

For Reviewers and Editors
The use of AI or LLMs in editorial work raises concerns related to confidentiality and copyright. Editors and reviewers must not use ChatGPT or other generative AI tools to write decision letters or summarize unpublished research. Language-support tools may be used by reviewers and editors, provided they are not applied to unpublished data or other confidential content. If a reviewer suspects inappropriate or undisclosed use of generative AI in a manuscript, they should report their concerns to the journal editor.

To learn more about the use of AI in life science research and the challenges of balancing innovation with ethical responsibility, we recommend the article by Lorenc-Kukula K (BioTechnologia (Pozn) 2025 Mar 31;106(1):77–102). Pay particular attention to the section titled “Guidelines on the Use of AI Tools in Research Publications” [click here to download].

JOURNAL POLICIES ON CORRECTIONS AND RETRACTIONS

In solving problems related to errors or ethical concerns that arise after publication, the journal BIOTECHNOLOGIA follows the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines and the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors for corrections and retractions.

Post Publication Corrections/Erratum
Corrections address errors that do not invalidate the article's findings but may affect clarity, completeness, or accuracy. These include:
• mistakes introduced during the journal's production process, such as typographical or formatting errors. These errors do not affect the scientific integrity of the work.
• author-identified errors, such as mistakes in data or analysis, which may impact the scientific interpretation of the work.
Errata are published to correct or add text or information that appears anywhere within an earlier published article. Errata are labeled and published in citable form; the errata appear on a numbered page in an issue of the journal.
Process for Corrections/Errata:
The authors, reviewers, readers, academic or institutional sponsor, editor, or publisher can report the error to the journal. After review, the journal publishes the Erratum, ensuring it is linked to the original article. The Erratum notice specifies the nature of the error and the changes made, following COPE guidelines for transparency.

Retractions
A retraction is an official notice informing readers that a published paper has been retracted and should no longer be regarded as part of the scientific literature, as it contains significant flaws or errors in content or data, which render the findings and conclusions unreliable. To preserve the integrity of the scientific record, a retracted paper is not removed from the journal but is clearly identified as retracted, and a notice of retraction is issued. Papers may be retracted in the following circumstances:
• Unreliable Findings: The data or conclusions are unreliable due to significant errors (e.g., miscalculation, experimental error) or misconduct (e.g., fabrication or falsification of data).
• Plagiarism: The article contains content copied from other works without proper attribution.
• Redundant Publication: The article was published without proper acknowledgment, permission, or justification.
• Unauthorized Use of Data: The publication includes material or data without appropriate authorization.
• Copyright or Legal Violations: Issues such as copyright infringement, defamation, or privacy violations.
• Unethical Research: The research did not adhere to ethical standards (e.g., lack of informed consent or ethical approval).
• Compromised Peer Review: The publication resulted from a manipulated or compromised peer review process.
• Undisclosed Conflicts of Interest: Authors failed to disclose significant competing interests that could unduly influence the work’s interpretations or recommendations.
Process for Retractions:
The error/ unethical conduct can be reported to the journal by the authors, reviewers, readers, academic or institutional sponsor, editor, or publisher. After review, the journal publishes the Retractions, ensuring it is clearly linked to the original article.
A retraction notice is promptly published on the journal’s website, made freely available to all readers, linked to the retracted paper, and contains at least the following information:
• clear identification of the retracted paper by the title and the author(s) in the retraction heading;
• the date of retraction;
• the party responsible for the decision to retract the paper (the author(s) or the editors/publisher);
• The reason(s) for retracting the paper are stated objectively and in sufficient detail.
• For further information and guidance on retractions, authors and readers are kindly advised to refer to the COPE Retraction Guidelines.

ARCHIVING

The journal has electronic backup and preservation of access to the journal content, both on the publisher's website and via PubMed Central.