All manuscripts should be prepared strictly in accordance with the research and publication ethics guidelines recommended by the Council of Science Editors (CSE; https://www.councilscienceeditors.org), the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE; https://www.icmje.org), the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME; https://www.wame.org), and the Korean Association of Medical Journal Editors (KAMJE; https://www.kamje.or.kr/en/main_en).

For issues not addressed by this instruction, the Korean J Helicobacter Up Gastrointest Res follows the ICMJE “Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals” (https://www.icmje.org/recommendations/).

The journal adheres to the principles of “Transparency and Best Practice” (joint statement by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), WAME, and the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA) (https://doaj.org/apply/transparency/).

1. Authorship

An author must have made substantial contributions to all of the following categories established by the ICMJE: (1) conception and design, acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data, (2) drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content, (3) final approval of the version to be published, and (4) agreeing to be accountable for all aspects of the work to ensure that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved. Those who meet some, but not all authorship criteria should be mentioned in the acknowledgment section.

Changes to authorship (addition or deletion of author names or rearranging the order of authors) after the initial submission of a manuscript are possible during the review process; however, the corresponding author should submit a letter signed by all authors to the editor to explain the rationale for these modifications. All authors must complete the copyright assignment. Any revision to authorship is not permitted after acceptance of the manuscript.

The description of equal contributions, commonly indicated by co-first authors or co-corresponding authors, is permitted for up to two individuals. However, the equal contributions of the two authors should be explicitly explained to the editor in the cover letter submitted with the manuscript.

The corresponding author is primarily responsible for communicating with the journal throughout the publication process (manuscript submission, peer review, and publication). The editorial board may request the corresponding author for details regarding authorship, ethics committee approval, clinical trial registration documentation, and conflict of interest statements.

2. Originality, plagiarism and duplicate publication

• • Submitted manuscripts should not have been previously published or be under consideration for publication elsewhere. Furthermore, they should not be under review by any other scientific journal. Submitted manuscripts are screened for possible plagiarism or duplicate publication through a ‘Similarity Check’ performed upon arrival.
• • Processes and sanctions related to ethics violations including fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, duplication, and research misconduct follow the Good Publication Practice Guidelines for Medical Journals 3rd Edition (KAMJE, 2019, https://www.kamje.or.kr/board/view?b_name=bo_publication&bo_id=13&per_page=)” recommended by KAMJE. International standards for editors and authors (https://publicationethics.org/resources/guidelines) will be applicable to policies on research and publication ethics not stated in these instructions.
• • Manuscripts that are forged, altered, plagiarized, duplicated, redundant, or dishonest should not be submitted. Manuscripts that violate ethics standards will not be published.

3. Secondary publication

It is possible to republish manuscripts if they satisfy the conditions for secondary publication established by the ICMJE Recommendations (https://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/publishing-and-editorial-issues/overlapping-publications.html). Additionally, at the time of the second submission, the authors should clarify that all or parts of the manuscript have been published by another journal; the name of the journal should be mentioned on the title page and as a footnote.

At the time of manuscript submission, authors should submit a letter to the editor regarding any potential overlap with previously published material or material being evaluated for publication and should also highlight the differences between the manuscript submitted to the Korean J Helicobacter Up Gastrointest Res and other material published elsewhere. Copies of these materials should be provided to the editor to confirm any potential duplication and redundancy.

4. Statement of human and animal rights

All manuscripts that describe research performed using human subjects must be in compliance with the Declaration of Helsinki (https://www.wma.net/policy/). Researchers should obtain approval from the Institutional Review Board (IRB) and clearly state the research objectives and methods. Research subjects or their legal guardians should be informed regarding the adverse psychological or physical effects that may result from the research, and informed consent must be obtained.

Information that may reveal participants’ identities, such as name and initials, among other such sensitive data should be excluded from the research materials, including figures. If this is not possible, a written agreement should be obtained from the participants, and this statement should be included in the manuscript.

In animal studies, researchers should describe the measures adopted to minimize pain and discomfort to the animals, in accordance with The United States National Institutes of Health (NIH) Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals or equivalent institutional guidelines. Manuscripts that describe animal experiments must explicitly state that the study protocol was approved by the Institutional Animal Ethical Committee (IAEC) in accordance with the Korean Animal Protection Law or an equivalent standard.

Authors should clearly state that all experiments were performed in conformity with the Korean Animal Protection Law, “The Principle of Animal Experiment,” or an equivalent standard. The editor may request proof of informed consent and a certificate of IAEC approval.

5. Reviewer guideline

Reviewers should not release, copy, or cite manuscript content prior to publication. For details, please refer to https://www.helicojournal.org/authors/reviewers.php.

6. Registration of clinical trial research

It is recommended that any research that includes a clinical trial be registered with a primary national clinical trial registration site such as the Clinical Research Information Service (https://cris.nih.go.kr/), or other sites accredited by the World Health Organization International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) (https://www.who.int/clinical-trials-registry-platform) and ClinicalTrials.gov (http://clinicaltrials.gov), a service of the United States NIH.

7. Data sharing policy

The journal follows the data sharing policy described in “Data Sharing Statements for Clinical Trials: A Requirement of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors.” The ICMJE’s policy regarding trial registration is explained on its webpage (http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/publishing-and-editorial-issues/clinical-trial-registration.html#two).

Changes in the data-sharing plan after registration should be clearly mentioned in the statement submitted and published with the manuscript, and details should be updated in the registry records.

8. Conflict of interest statement

At the time of manuscript submission, authors should disclose any financial and personal relationships with other individuals or organizations that could affect their work. Examples of potential conflicts of interest include employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications/registrations, and grants or other funding. A potential conflict of interest should be disclosed in the manuscript, even when the authors are confident that their judgments have not affected preparation of the manuscript.

The disclosure form should be the same as the ICMJE Uniform Disclosure Form for Potential Conflicts of Interest (http://www.icmje.org/conflicts-of-interest/), and it should be submitted by the corresponding author through the online submission system after acceptance of the manuscript.

9. Managing research and publication misconduct

If the manuscript is not published in accordance with ethical policies, the authors will be notified, and sanctions may be imposed in accordance with the COPE guidelines (https://publicationethics.org/guidance/Flowcharts).

The journal operates a Research Ethics Council to consider research ethics and related issues. The Director of the Publication Committee of the Korean College of Helicobacter and Upper Gastrointestinal Research chairs the Council, and the Publication Committee determines the Council’s constitution.

The Research Ethics Council plays a key role in (1) reviewing research ethics issues (any fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, duplication, wrongful research paper author indication, or multiple/duplicate publication allegations) associated with publication of the journal and related papers (review articles, original articles, and others), and (2) reporting the results of the review to the Executive Committee of the Korean College of Helicobacter and Upper Gastrointestinal Research.

10. Management of cases requiring corrections, retractions, and editorial expressions of concern

In cases of publication misconduct, such as redundant (duplicate) publication, plagiarism, fraudulent or fabricated data, changes in authorship, an undisclosed conflict of interest, ethical concerns in a submitted manuscript, a reviewer who has appropriated an author’s idea or data, and complaints against editors, among other such issues, the editorial board will follow the COPE guidelines (https://publicationethics.org/guidance/Flowcharts). If any misconduct is proved, the authors will be notified and sanctions may be imposed.

The Editorial Board will continuously monitor and uphold publication ethics, which include publishing corrections, clarifications, retractions, and apologies when necessary, excluding plagiarized and fraudulent data, maintaining the integrity of academic records, and preventing business needs from compromising intellectual and ethical standards.

The Korean J Helicobacter Up Gastrointest Res will publish corrections as soon as possible, detailing the changes from and citing the original publication in cases in which errors are detected. The journal follows the ICMJE and COPE guidelines where applicable. An erratum refers to a production error related to the journal, and a corrigendum refers to an error attributable to authors. Authors who notice such errors should contact the journal’s editorial office.

11. Research ethics on clinical validation of an artificial intelligence study

The authors should check the following criteria:

(1) The data collection process and nature of data used in learning artificial intelligence algorithms are written clearly. (2) The data collection process and nature of data used in the clinical verification of the algorithm are described in detail. (3) The methods used for the data approach and algorithm are described. (4) The research protocol, which includes data collection and analysis methods is registered and disclosed prior to study commencement. (5) The reporting and methodology guidelines for artificial intelligence studies are followed.

12. Research ethics on big data study

The authors should check the following points:

(1) Confirmation of written informed consent obtained from the research subjects or the subjects’ authorized representative before commencement of big data research, because there is no subject agreement or law on special permit regulations. (2) Confirmation of IRB approval for the study and whether the need for written informed consent from the research participants or their representatives was waived before research commencement. (3) IRB authorization for disclosure of personal information obtained for research purposes to third parties. (4) Whether the authors are aware of the safety measures drafted after evaluation of the effects of big data research and the environment on the study subjects. (5) Whether the authors are aware of the need to maintain records and delete personal information after the storage period and whether they are also aware of their right to apply for an extension of the storage period. (6) Whether the authors are familiar with the responsibilities and transparency of big data research. (7) Whether the authors are aware of guarantees of the study subjects’ right to request an explanation of the study and the right to access it.

13. Gender parity

Authors should ensure correct use of the terms sex (when reporting biological factors) and gender (identity, psychosocial, or cultural factors). Report the sex and/or gender of study participants, the sex of animals or cells, and describe the methods used to determine sex and gender. If the research subjects are organisms capable of differentiation based on sex and/or gender, the research should be designed and performed in a manner that will reveal the sex- and/or gender-related differences in the results.

If the study involved an exclusive population, for example, participants of only one sex and/or gender, the authors should justify why, except in obvious cases (e.g., prostate cancer). Authors should describe determination of race or ethnicity and justify their relevance to the study. Even in the absence of differences based on sex/gender or race/ethnicity, authors should specify that there were no sex and/or gender or race/ethnicity differences.