Pediatrics Open Science Editorial Policies
Rights of the Publisher
Upon acceptance of a submission, author(s) are required to sign the Pediatrics Open Science License to Publish Agreement, giving Pediatrics Open Science the right to produce/publish the article, create derivatives, license, sell reprints, and repurpose content under new products created by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Rights of Authors
Pediatrics Open Science authors retain the copyright to their work. Authors can choose either a CC BY or CC BY-NC-ND license for their work. For further information on the license options, visit the Creative Commons.
Peer Review
Pediatrics Open Science utilizes single-blind peer review, meaning that reviewers are aware of the authors' identities but authors are not aware of reviewers' identities. Each manuscript is typically reviewed by two peer reviewers, though more reviews may be required in certain situations (eg, opposing reviews, narrow subject matter, etc.). During the peer review process, the manuscript is a privileged document and subject to an embargo. Reviewers are not to discuss the manuscript with others (eg, colleagues, the author, the media) during or after the review process and should not sign their reviews. Reviews submitted to Pediatrics Open Science are the property of the journal. To maintain confidentiality, reviewers may not share or republish reviews elsewhere without the permission of the journal.
Disclosure
Pediatrics Open Science and the American Academy of Pediatrics require detailed disclosure by all authors of any potential or actual interests relevant to the topic(s) discussed in submitted manuscripts. This policy is not intended to prevent authors with financial or other interests from publishing their work. However, it is the responsibility of the journal to provide reviewers and readers with full disclosure to ensure scientific integrity. Disclosures will be shared in full with reviewers. Disclosures will be published with accepted articles if deemed appropriate by the editors. If no potential or actual interests are disclosed, a statement to that effect will be published. For more information on the journal's disclosure policies, please contact the editorial office.
Authorship & Acknowledgments
Pediatrics Open Science adheres to the guidelines for authorship developed by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. An author is defined as a contributor who has participated in the work to the extent that s/he takes responsibility for a meaningful share of the manuscript's content. Specifically, authors are required to affirm their participation in the conception and design of the research or experiment(s); collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; drafting of the manuscript and revising of intellectual content; approval of the manuscript as submitted; and approval of the final version of the manuscript to be published. All authors are asked to affirm that they have had full access to and uphold the integrity of the data presented.
Contributors who do not meet the above criteria for authorship should be listed in an acknowledgment along with their specific contributions. Such contributors might include those persons who provided technical help, writing assistance, data collection, or general support. Because readers may infer the endorsement of data or conclusions of those acknowledged, the journal requires that all persons acknowledged provide written permission. Written permission should be collected by the corresponding author and should be available to the publisher upon request. Additionally, the corresponding author should also obtain written permission from any individual identified as a source of information (unpublished data). This consent should be made available to the journal upon request.
If a change in authorship (eg, addition or deletion of an author; change in author order) is requested, ALL authors must sign a letter conveying that ALL have agreed to the change and a rationale for this alteration should be provided. The change is left to the discretion of the Editor in Chief of Pediatrics OpenScience.
Clinical Trials
Pediatrics Open Science requires authors to disclose whether or not a work reports the results of a clinical trial. A clinical trial is defined as an experimental study in which the investigators assign patients to different interventions and measure any kind of health outcome, whether or not the assignment is randomized. If authors report the results of a clinical trial, they must affirm that the study has been registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov or another qualified national or international registry. Investigators should use registries that meet the following minimum requirements: is available to the public at no charge; is open to all prospective registrants; is managed by a not-for-profit organization; has a validation mechanism of the registration data; is electronically searchable; contains the following information: unique identifying number; intervention(s) and comparison(s) studied; study hypothesis; primary and secondary outcome measures; eligibility criteria; key trial dates (registration, anticipated or actual start of study, anticipated or actual last follow-up, planned or actual closure to data entry, and completion of data); target number of participants; funding source; and contact information for the principal investigators. Authors must also complete and include a CONSORT form upon submission.
Patients & Research Participants
Information that could potentially reveal the identity of a patient or study participant should not be included unless this information is essential for scientific purposes and the patient (or the patient's parent or legal guardian) provides written informed consent. Informed consent requires that the patient (or the patient's parent or legal guardian) be provided a copy of the manuscript to be published before providing consent. If informed consent is required, it must be stated that written informed consent was obtained, or, the authors must state that, to the best of their knowledge, no information that could identify patients or research participants is contained in the article.
Authors are also required to affirm that any research involving human subjects submitted to the journal was conducted in accordance with the ethical standards of all applicable national and institutional committees (eg, IRB protocols) and with the World Medical Association's Helsinki Declaration.
The journal does not accept submissions involving research on animal subjects.
Misconduct
All authors are responsible to ensure that information presented in a submission is accurate. Pediatrics Open Science reserves the right to decline to publish work if the journal determines that a significant conflict of interest exists. The journal also reserves the right to retract an article if author misconduct has been established and to prohibit future submission from any author who has participated in misconduct.
Misconduct includes, but is not limited to, inappropriate conduct related to research participants, fabrication or falsification of data, plagiarism, theft of intellectual property, duplicate publication, misrepresentation of authorship, and failure to disclose potential or real financial or non-financial conflicts of interest.
When there is an allegation of misconduct, the journal reserves the right to forward material to the author's institution for investigation; however, the journal does not make a determination of misconduct.
Editorial policies are subject to change without notice.
