RIAL is committed to ethics and the quality of scientific publication, supporting ethical behavior standards and good practices for all parties involved: authors, editors, and reviewers. The journal is dedicated to taking necessary measures to prevent the violation of these principles and advises the parties involved to adhere to the international principles of conduct and editorial practice of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

 Duties of Editors:

• Publication Decision: The editor is responsible for deciding which articles submitted to the journal should be published, guided by the policies of the editorial board and in strict compliance with legal requirements regarding defamation, copyright infringement, and plagiarism. The editor may consult the editorial board or collaborators in decision-making.
• Fairness: The editor must evaluate manuscripts for their intellectual content without discrimination based on race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, nationality, or political philosophy of the authors.

• Confidentiality: The editor and any editorial staff must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the author, reviewers, potential collaborators, other editorial advisors, and the editor, as appropriate.
• Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest: The editor must not use information derived from unpublished manuscripts for their own research without the express written consent of the author. The editor must refrain from evaluating manuscripts in which they have any conflict of interest resulting from competitive or collaborative relationships or any other type of relationship or connections with any authors, companies, or (possibly) institutions linked to the articles.
• Participation and Cooperation in Investigations: The editor must take reasonable response measures when ethical complaints have been made concerning a submitted manuscript or published article.

  Duties of Reviewers:

  • Contribution to Editorial Decision: Peer review assists the editor in making editorial decisions and may also help the author improve the article through editorial communications.
  • Timeliness: Any selected reviewer who feels unqualified to assess the research reported in a manuscript or knows that their immediate review will be impossible must notify the editor and excuse themselves from the review process.
  • Confidentiality: All manuscripts received for evaluation must be treated as confidential documents. They should not be shown or discussed with others.
  • Standards of Objectivity: Comments must be conducted objectively, and reviewers should express their opinions clearly with supporting arguments.
  • Source Recognition: Reviewers should identify relevant published works that have not been cited by the authors. The reviewer should also alert the editor to any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript in question and any other published document they personally know.
  • Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest: Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review should be kept confidential and not used for personal gain. Reviewers must not consider manuscripts in which they have any conflict of interest resulting from competitive or collaborative relationships or any other type of relationship or connections with any authors, companies, or (possibly) institutions linked to the articles.

    Duties of Authors

    • Reporting Standards: Authors of original research reports must present an accurate account of the work undertaken as well as an objective analysis of its significance. Underlying data must be accurately presented in the article. A document must contain sufficient details and references to allow others to replicate the work. Fraudulent or intentionally inaccurate statements constitute unethical behavior and are unacceptable.
    • Originality and Plagiarism: Authors must ensure that their works are entirely original. If authors have used work and/or words of others, these must be properly cited or quoted. Plagiarism in all its forms constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable. See the policy on Plagiarism prevention and Use of Artificial Intelligence.
    • Multiple, Redundant, or Concurrent Publications: An author should not, in general, publish manuscripts describing essentially the same research in more than one journal or primary publication. Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal simultaneously and/or publishing the same article in different journals constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable.
    • Source Acknowledgment: Proper acknowledgment of the work of others must always be made. Authors should cite publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the reported work. Information obtained privately, such as in conversation, correspondence, or discussion with third parties, should not be used or reported without explicit, written permission from the source. Information obtained in the course of confidential services, such as manuscript arbitration or grant requests, should not be used without explicit, written authorization from the author of the work involved in those services.
    • Publication Authorship: Authorship should be limited to those who have made significant contributions to the conception and design of the work presented. If there is any doubt about whether an individual should be included as a (co)author, it is recommended to refer to the CRediT taxonomy which includes 14 categories of roles that can be played in the preparation of a scientific article. The author submitting the manuscript must ensure that all co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the document and agreed to its submission for publication in RIAL.
    • Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest: All authors must disclose any financial or substantive/material conflicts of interest that could influence the results or interpretations in their manuscripts. All sources of financial support for the project must be disclosed. See the policy on sobre Conflicts of Interest.
    • Errors in Published Works: When a significant error or inaccuracy in their own published work is discovered, it is the author's obligation to promptly notify the editor of RIAL and cooperate with the editor to retract or correct the article. See the policy on Errata and Retraction.

    Duties of the Publisher

    • RIAL is committed to ensuring that the obtaining of funds or other commercial revenue does not impact or influence editorial decisions.
    •  Our articles are reviewed to ensure the quality of publications and users of tools for identifying plagiarism and similarity.

    (*) This Ethics Policy is based on recommendations from Elsevier and COPE - Committee on Publication Ethics - Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors.

Ethics in Research Involving Human Beings and Use of Animals

The publication of articles presenting results from research involving human beings and/or animals is conditioned upon adherence to international ethical principles and current legislation in the country where the research was conducted.

In the case of research involving human beings, studies must observe the ethical principles of the Helsinki Declaration, of the World Medical Association, as well as applicable national legislation.

In Brazil, they must comply with the standards of the National Research Ethics Commission  (CONEP), linked to the National Health Council (CNS), including CNS Resolution Nº 466, of December 12, 2012, and comply with Law Nº 14,.874 of May 29, 2024, which regulates research involving human beings and establishes the National System of Ethics in Research with Human Beings.

Research involving human beings must be approved by an Ethics in Research Committee (CEP) recognized by CONEP. In the case of clinical trials, studies must additionally have registration in an appropriate database.

In the case of research involving animals, studies must comply with specific legislation applicable in the country where the research was conducted. In Brazil, they must observe the standards of the National Council for Animal Experimentation Control (CONCEA), including Federal Law Nº 11.794 of October 08, 2008, the Brazilian Guidelines for the Care and Use of Animals for Scientific and Educational Purposes (DBCA, 2024), and Resolutions No. 12, No. 13, and No. 14. Additionally, studies with animals must comply with Federal Law Nº 9.605/1998 (Environmental Crimes Law) and Federal Law Nº 6.638/1976, where applicable. Projects must be approved by an Ethics Committee for Animal Use (CEUA) recognized by the National Council for Animal Experimentation Control (CONCEA) of the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation.

Authors must explain in the METHODS section of the manuscript that the research was conducted in accordance with applicable ethical standards for the type of study conducted, including clear information about the ethical approval obtained. Authors must also report at the end of the ABSTRACT the number of the Certificate of Ethical Appreciation Approval (CAAE) generated by the CEP/CONEP System (Plataforma Brasil) or the number of the Institutional Animal Ethics Committee opinion.

At the time of submission, the respective approval opinions issued by the Ethics in Research Committees, duly signed by the committee, must be submitted as supplementary documents.

Authors must retain all documents related to this procedure, which may be requested at any time by the editors of RIAL.