Ethics
Ethics and Malpractice Statement
Kiru Journal is committed to scientific integrity throughout all stages of the editorial and research process. In this regard, the journal adopts and adheres to international ethical standards for scientific publication and editorial best practices, in accordance with the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). Likewise, the journal follows the recommendations of the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME) regarding potential conflicts of interest that may arise during editorial processes.
In addition, the journal adheres to ethical principles established in international regulations, including the Declaration of Helsinki, the Belmont Report, the International Ethical Guidelines for Health-related Research Involving Humans issued by the Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences (CIOMS), and the ethical standards established by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Adherence to the DORA Declaration
Kiru Journal adheres to the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) (https://sfdora.org/read/).
Date of adherence: November 2, 2025.
The journal promotes the principles of open access and open science and adopts the DORA guidelines in accordance with its editorial policy and international ethical standards.
DORA promotes improvements in research assessment practices by prioritizing quality, rigor, equity, and transparency over traditional bibliometric indicators. Within this framework, Kiru Journal is committed to evaluating scientific contributions based on their quality and relevance, fostering a fair, objective, and transparent assessment process.
In accordance with these principles, the journal establishes that:
Manuscripts must be original and unpublished.
Responsible authorship is encouraged.
The CRediT taxonomy is adopted to identify individual author contributions.
The availability and accessibility of research data are encouraged.
Data citation must follow the Vancouver referencing style.
All published articles are assigned a Digital Object Identifier (DOI).
Research Involving Human Subjects
Research involving human participants, human biological material, or potentially identifiable participant data must receive prior approval from a Research Ethics Committee.
The journal requires authors to comply with ethical principles applicable to research involving human subjects, in accordance with major international regulations, including the World Medical Association’s Declaration of Helsinki, the Belmont Report, the International Ethical Guidelines for Health-related Research Involving Humans developed by CIOMS, and the ethical standards established by the WHO.
Likewise, compliance with current Peruvian regulations is required, including the technical document Ethical Considerations for Health Research Involving Human Subjects and the National Code of Scientific Integrity issued by the National Council of Science, Technology and Technological Innovation (Concytec). Clinical trial (CT) studies must be registered in a publicly accessible database. Clinical trials conducted in Peru must be registered in the Peruvian Clinical Trials Registry (Registro Peruano de Ensayos Clínicos, REPEC) (https://ensayosclinicos-repec.ins.gob.pe/). Studies conducted in other countries must be registered in the World Health Organization International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) (https://trialsearch.who.int/). In cases where the clinical trial was not registered or was registered after the initiation or conduct of the study, the authors must provide an appropriate justification for this circumstance.
These regulations establish the mandatory requirement for informed consent, approval by an Institutional Research Ethics Committee, and clinical trial registration when applicable.
Manuscripts must clearly demonstrate compliance with these ethical principles to minimize risks to participants. Compliance will be evaluated by the editorial committee and peer reviewers.
The manuscript must explicitly state the name of the Ethics Committee that approved the study, the responsible institution, and the corresponding country.
Ethics Committee approval is not required for studies exclusively based on publicly accessible secondary databases, literature reviews, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, bibliometric studies, or investigations related to outbreaks, epidemics, or public health emergencies, provided that such studies do not involve identifiable information or pose risks to participants.
The editorial committee will verify that manuscripts comply with ethical principles related to the protection of participants’ life, health, dignity, integrity, privacy, and confidentiality, in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki.
In case reports, images, photographs, and clinical data must be anonymized to prevent participant identification. When minors are involved, informed consent signed by a parent or legal guardian is required. Personal data compromising participant confidentiality must not be included.
Research Involving Animals
Research involving animals must receive approval from an Animal Research Ethics Committee or equivalent body, indicating the responsible institution and country of origin.
The journal recommends following the ARRIVE 2.0 guidelines for reporting animal research.
Authors should also consider the recommendations outlined in the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (2011), particularly the principles of the Three Rs: replacement, refinement, and reduction.
Replacement: the use of alternative methods that avoid or replace the use of animals, such as computational or in vitro models.
Refinement: modifications to animal handling and experimental procedures aimed at minimizing suffering and improving animal welfare.
Reduction: implementation of strategies that obtain valid scientific information using the minimum number of animals necessary.
Informed Consent
Authors must obtain duly signed informed consent from research participants and retain the corresponding documentation, which may be requested by the journal at any stage of the editorial process.
The informed consent document must clearly explain the characteristics of the study, potential risks and benefits, and confidentiality measures. Participants must also be informed that participation is voluntary and that they may withdraw from the study at any time without consequences.
Individuals capable of providing informed consent must not be included in research without their explicit authorization, in accordance with paragraphs 25 and 26 of the Declaration of Helsinki.
Informed Consent in Vulnerable Groups
When research participants are minors or belong to vulnerable populations, authors must obtain informed consent from a parent or legal representative, as well as assent from the participant whenever the individual is capable of understanding the study.
The assent document should be written in simple and comprehensible language, explaining the nature of the study and emphasizing that participation is voluntary.
The journal follows the provisions of paragraph 29 of the Declaration of Helsinki:
“When a potential research subject who is deemed incapable of giving informed consent is able to give assent to decisions about participation in research, the physician or another appropriately qualified individual must seek that assent in addition to the consent of the legally authorized representative. The potential subject’s dissent should be respected.”
Informed consent may be waived only when the study uses archival records or databases that do not expose participants to risks and when appropriate measures are implemented to protect privacy and confidentiality.
Ethical Misconduct in Research
Scientific misconduct is defined as any action or omission that violates the values, principles, and good practices of scientific integrity and professional conduct among researchers.
The following are considered ethical misconduct:
Plagiarism: use of ideas, data, text, or expressions from other authors without appropriate acknowledgment, presenting them as one’s own.
Duplicate publication: total or partial publication of the same manuscript in more than one journal, with minimal modifications or through translations presented as original work.
Salami publication: unjustified fragmentation of research results into multiple independent articles.
Authorship misconduct:
Gift authorship: inclusion of individuals who did not make significant contributions to the research.
Ghost authorship: exclusion of individuals who made substantial contributions to the study.
Image manipulation: deceptive alteration of images, figures, or graphical data presented in the manuscript.
Fabrication of results: invention of data or research findings that did not occur.
Data falsification: manipulation, alteration, or omission of data that may affect the conclusions of the research.
Inappropriate use of Artificial Intelligence (AI): use of AI-generated content without proper verification, without transparent disclosure, or involving false or misleading information. Authors must explicitly disclose the use of AI tools, specifying the tool used and its purpose, acknowledging that responsibility for the content remains entirely with the authors.
Failure to disclose conflicts of interest: omission of personal, academic, institutional, or financial relationships that may influence the results or interpretation of the research.
Actions for Ethical Misconduct
Corrections
When the journal receives information regarding potential errors in a published article, the editorial committee will conduct an evaluation to determine whether such errors affect the validity of the manuscript’s results or conclusions.
Authors will be informed of the identified concerns and will have the opportunity to provide explanations or clarifications. Upon conclusion of the investigation, the Editorial Committee will determine whether the publication of a correction is warranted, and this decision will be formally communicated to the authors. Such action will be taken provided that it has been established that the authors did not incur any ethical misconduct.
Retraction
The journal will retract an article when, after a thorough evaluation by the editorial committee, ethical misconduct related to the research, manuscript preparation, or publication process is confirmed.
In such cases, the journal will publish a retraction notice clearly identifying the affected article and the reasons for the retraction. Authors and their affiliated institutions will also be notified.
A manuscript in which ethical misconduct is identified may be rejected at any stage of the editorial process or withdrawn after publication if irregularities are detected subsequently.
All cases will be evaluated confidentially and objectively, in accordance with international editorial ethics guidelines and the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
