Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

The African Journal of Nephrology (the AJN) is the official journal of the African Association of Nephrology (AFRAN). The Journal is committed to the highest standards of publication ethics and to preventing malpractice at every stage of publication. This statement sets out the responsibilities of editors, reviewers, authors and the publisher, and describes how the Journal identifies and handles misconduct.

Our policies are guided by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing and its Core Practices, together with the recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) and the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME). Research involving humans or animals is expected to conform to the World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki and equivalent standards.

This statement should be read together with the Journal's Instructions for Authors and Style Guide, its peer review process and its copyright and licensing terms.

Editorial independence

The Journal is owned by AFRAN and hosted by PKP Publishing Services. Editorial decisions rest with the Editor-in-Chief and the editorial team and are made independently of the publisher, the association and any commercial consideration. The payment of article-processing charges plays no part in editorial decisions.

Duties of editors

Publication decisions. The Editor-in-Chief and the senior editorial team (deputy editor and associate editors) decide which submitted manuscripts are published, on the basis of the reviewers' assessments, the validity and importance of the work and its relevance to the Journal's scope. The Editor-in-Chief holds final responsibility for these decisions and may confer with associate editors, editorial board members and reviewers.

Fair play. Editors assess manuscripts on their intellectual content, without regard to the authors' race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, seniority or institutional affiliation.

Confidentiality. Editors and editorial staff do not disclose information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisers and the publisher, as appropriate. Unpublished material in a submitted manuscript is not used in an editor's own research without the author's written consent.

Conflicts of interest and recusal. Editors recuse themselves from handling manuscripts in which they have a conflict of interest, such as papers authored by close collaborators, by members of their own institution or arising from their own work. Such manuscripts are reassigned to another editor and managed so that the editor concerned has no access to the review process.

Cooperation in investigations. Guided by COPE flowcharts, editors take responsive measures when ethical concerns are raised about a submitted or published manuscript, including contacting the authors and, where warranted, the relevant institutions and funding bodies.

Duties of reviewers

Contribution to decisions. Peer review assists the editors in reaching decisions and helps authors improve their manuscripts. The AJN uses single-blind peer review, in which the reviewers' identities are not disclosed to the authors.

Promptness. A reviewer who feels unqualified to assess a manuscript, or who cannot complete the review within the agreed time, should notify the editor promptly and withdraw.

Confidentiality. Manuscripts received for review are confidential and must not be shown to or discussed with others except as authorised by the editor. Reviewers must not use unpublished material or ideas from a manuscript for personal advantage.

Objectivity. Reviews should be conducted objectively and expressed clearly, with supporting arguments. Personal criticism of the authors is not acceptable.

Acknowledgement of sources. Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited and alert the editor to any substantial overlap between the manuscript under review and other work of which they are aware.

Conflicts of interest. Reviewers should decline manuscripts in which they have a competing interest arising from collaborative, financial, institutional or other relationships with any of the authors or funders.

Use of AI in review. Reviewers must preserve confidentiality and should not upload a manuscript, in whole or in part, to a generative-AI tool or any system that does not guarantee confidentiality. Any use of AI in preparing a review must be declared to the editor.

Duties of authors

Reporting standards. Authors are responsible for the accuracy and integrity of their work and should provide sufficient detail and references to permit others to replicate it. Fabrication, falsification and inappropriate manipulation of data or images are unacceptable.

Originality and plagiarism. Authors must ensure their work is original and that the work or words of others are appropriately cited or quoted. Manuscripts will be screened with plagiarism-detection software. Plagiarism in any form, including self-plagiarism, is unacceptable.

Data access and retention. Authors may be asked to provide the raw data associated with their manuscript for editorial review and should be prepared to retain such data for a reasonable period after publication.

Redundant publication. Authors should not submit the same research to more than one journal, nor publish redundant descriptions of the same study. Prior presentation as an abstract or poster does not preclude submission but must be disclosed.

Authorship. Authorship should be limited to those who meet the ICMJE criteria. All who made a significant contribution must be listed as co-authors, and all co-authors must have seen and approved the final version and agreed to its submission. The AJN requires a signed authorship statement from each author.

Conflicts of interest and funding. Authors must disclose any financial or other conflicts of interest that could influence their results or interpretation, and must acknowledge all sources of funding.

Research ethics. Research involving human participants or animals must have been approved by the appropriate research ethics committee and must comply with the Declaration of Helsinki and relevant national regulations. A statement of ethical approval, naming the approving committee and its reference number, is required, together with confirmation that participants gave written informed consent or that a waiver was granted. For case reports and any identifiable patient material, written consent must be obtained.

Declaration of AI use. Any use of AI or AI-assisted tools in the research or in manuscript preparation must be declared as set out in the Instructions for Authors. AI tools may not be listed as authors.

Errors in published work. An author who discovers a significant error in their own published work must promptly notify the editor and cooperate in publishing a correction or retraction.

Duties of the publisher

AFRAN, with its hosting partner PKP Publishing Services, safeguards the editorial independence of the Journal and supports the editors in maintaining the integrity of the published record. Published articles are digitally preserved through the PKP Preservation Network. Where misconduct is confirmed, the publisher supports the editors in issuing corrections, retractions, expressions of concern or other corrections of the record.

Identification and handling of misconduct

Publication misconduct includes, but is not limited to, plagiarism, data fabrication or falsification, image manipulation, redundant or duplicate publication, improper authorship, undisclosed conflicts of interest and failure to obtain ethical approval or consent.

Concerns may be raised at any time, before or after publication, by editors, reviewers, readers or others. The Journal investigates all credible concerns, following the relevant COPE guidance and flowcharts. The Editor-in-Chief may contact the authors and invite a response; in most cases concerns are resolved through clarification. Where misconduct is confirmed, the Journal may reject or retract the manuscript, notify the authors' institutions and funders and decline to consider future submissions from the authors concerned.

Corrections, retractions and expressions of concern

If a minor error is discovered in a published article, the authors or the editorial team may publish a correction. If a serious error or misconduct is confirmed, the AJN reserves the right to retract the article. Where a matter is under investigation and cannot be resolved promptly, the Journal may publish an expression of concern. The editorial board may be consulted, but the Editor-in-Chief has the final decision. Corrections, retractions and expressions of concern are linked to the original article, and the version of record is preserved.

Complaints and appeals

Complaints about editorial decisions, conduct or process should be addressed to the Editor-in-Chief, who will respond and, where appropriate, consult the editorial board. Authors may appeal an editorial decision by writing to the Editor-in-Chief and setting out the grounds; the Editor-in-Chief's decision on an appeal is final.

Copyright, licensing and open access

The AJN is a fully open-access journal. Copyright is retained by the authors, and all articles are published under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence. Full details appear in the Journal's copyright and permissions terms.

Contact

Questions about this statement, or notification of possible misconduct, may be addressed to the Editor-in-Chief via the Journal's Contact page, or to the Deputy Editor, Razeen Davids, at mrd@sun.ac.za.