Editorial Policies

Editorial Policies

Contents

The Journal of Nursing in Infection Prevention and Control (JNIPC), the official publication of the ANIPIO Scientific Society, is committed to maintaining a transparent, fair, independent, and objective editorial process.

JNIPC applies a double-blind peer-review process. Manuscripts considered suitable for external evaluation are normally assessed by at least two independent reviewers with appropriate scientific or methodological expertise.

Authors, reviewers, Editors, and members of the Journal’s editorial structure are expected to uphold high standards of scientific integrity, confidentiality, transparency, accountability, and responsible publication conduct.

These Editorial Policies describe the Journal’s principal ethical and editorial requirements but cannot address every situation that may arise. Potential misconduct, disputed authorship, conflicts of interest, peer-review concerns, and post-publication issues will be evaluated according to the circumstances of the individual case and recognized principles of scholarly publishing, including the guidance of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) .

The scientific and editorial management of the Journal is overseen by the Editor-in-Chief and the designated Editors. ANIPIO is the owner of the Journal, while iEditore provides publishing, production, technical, preservation, and editorial-support services in accordance with the editorial agreement governing JNIPC.

Research Integrity

Research integrity requires honesty, accuracy, transparency, accountability, and respect throughout the design, conduct, analysis, reporting, peer review, and publication of research.

Authors must ensure that the submitted manuscript:

  • presents an accurate and honest account of the research conducted;
  • reports methods, data, analyses, limitations, and findings transparently;
  • has not been fabricated, falsified, manipulated, plagiarized, or inappropriately duplicated;
  • complies with applicable ethical, legal, professional, and institutional requirements;
  • identifies all authors, contributors, funding sources, and competing interests accurately;
  • follows the reporting guideline appropriate to the study design;
  • is original and is not simultaneously under consideration by another journal.

Authors must disclose any previous dissemination of the work as a preprint, conference abstract, poster, oral presentation, institutional report, thesis, dissertation, or other publicly available document.

Previous dissemination does not necessarily prevent consideration by JNIPC, provided that it is disclosed transparently, does not constitute duplicate publication, and does not infringe copyright or other third-party rights.

A breach of research integrity may result in rejection, suspension of editorial evaluation, withdrawal of acceptance, publication of a correction or expression of concern, retraction, or notification to relevant institutions or funding bodies.

Editorial Independence and Peer Review

Scientific and editorial decisions are based on the quality, originality, methodological validity, ethical compliance, transparency, and relevance of the manuscript to the aims and scope of JNIPC.

ANIPIO supports the strategic and scientific development of the Journal and appoints its scientific leadership. Such responsibilities do not permit interference in the independent evaluation of individual manuscripts.

iEditore provides publishing, technical, production, preservation, and editorial-support services. The Publisher may intervene where necessary to address legal concerns, copyright infringement, privacy violations, unethical research, threats to the integrity of the scholarly record, or non-compliance with the Journal’s editorial standards.

Sponsors, commercial organizations, institutional partners, funding bodies, professional associations, and other external parties must not influence reviewer selection, peer-review reports, or decisions concerning the acceptance or rejection of individual manuscripts.

Manuscripts that successfully complete the initial editorial screening are normally evaluated by at least two independent reviewers through a double-blind peer-review process.

Commentaries and other invited content may undergo external peer review when considered appropriate by the Editor-in-Chief. The final scientific and editorial decision rests with the Editor-in-Chief or a designated Editor acting without a relevant conflict of interest.

Authorship

Authorship must be limited to individuals who have made substantial intellectual contributions to the work and who accept public responsibility for its content.

Each author must meet all of the following criteria:

  • substantial contribution to the conception or design of the work, or to the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data; AND
  • drafting the manuscript or revising it critically for important intellectual content; AND
  • final approval of the version submitted and the version to be published; AND
  • agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work and to ensure that questions concerning its accuracy or integrity are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Individuals who contributed to the work but do not meet all authorship criteria should be identified in the Acknowledgements section after obtaining their permission.

Guest, gift, honorary, ghost, or coercive authorship is not permitted. Professional medical or scientific writing assistance must be acknowledged, and the source of funding for such assistance must be disclosed.

Authors should provide their ORCID iD and describe individual contributions using the CRediT Contributor Roles Taxonomy .

In multicentre or group-authored studies, the authors responsible for the manuscript must be clearly identified. All named authors must meet the Journal’s authorship criteria.

Corresponding Author

The corresponding author is responsible for submission and for all communication with the Journal during editorial evaluation, peer review, production, publication, and any subsequent post-publication correspondence.

The corresponding author must ensure that:

  • all listed authors meet the authorship criteria;
  • all authors have reviewed and approved the submitted manuscript;
  • all authors agree with the order in which their names appear;
  • authorship contributions are reported accurately;
  • funding and conflict-of-interest declarations are complete and current;
  • the Journal is informed promptly of any material change affecting the manuscript or its declarations.

Order of Authors

The order of authors must be agreed by all authors before submission and should reflect their respective contributions or another documented agreement accepted by the research group.

The Journal does not determine the relative contribution of individual authors and will not arbitrate authorship disputes. Where authors cannot reach agreement, the Journal may suspend the editorial process and refer the matter to the relevant institution or institutions.

Changes to Authorship

Requests to add, remove, or rearrange authors after submission must be sent in writing by the corresponding author and must include:

  • a clear explanation for the requested change;
  • written agreement from all existing authors;
  • written agreement from any author being added or removed;
  • an updated authorship-contribution statement.

Authorship changes may delay the editorial or production process. The Journal may request clarification from the authors’ institutions when the justification or consent for a change is unclear.

Changes to authorship after publication are permitted only in exceptional circumstances. Approved changes will normally require the publication of a formal correction notice linked to the original article.

Conflicts of Interest

JNIPC requires complete disclosure of any actual, potential, or perceived competing interest that could influence, or reasonably appear to influence, the conduct, interpretation, review, presentation, or publication of scholarly work.

Competing interests may be financial, personal, professional, institutional, academic, intellectual, political, or commercial. Examples include:

  • research grants or other financial support;
  • employment or paid appointments;
  • consultancies, honoraria, or speaker fees;
  • advisory or governance roles;
  • ownership of shares, patents, or intellectual property;
  • provision of products, equipment, services, or travel support;
  • paid expert testimony;
  • personal or professional relationships;
  • academic competition;
  • strongly held positions or affiliations that may affect objective judgment.

Authors must disclose all relevant competing interests at submission. A Conflict of Interest Statement must be included in the manuscript and will be published with the final article.

If no competing interests exist, authors must state:

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Reviewers must disclose any relationship or circumstance that could affect their impartiality. Reviewers must decline the assignment when a relevant conflict prevents an independent and objective evaluation.

Editors must not handle manuscripts in which they have a relevant conflict of interest. Responsibility must be transferred to another qualified Editor who has not been involved in the work and has no relevant competing interests.

Manuscripts authored or co-authored by the Editor-in-Chief, members of the Editorial Board, ANIPIO officers, iEditore staff, or other individuals involved in the Journal will be managed independently. Such submissions will be subject to the same editorial screening and peer-review standards applied to all other manuscripts.

The identity or position of an author within ANIPIO, iEditore, the Editorial Board, or another affiliated organization must not result in preferential treatment.

Failure to disclose a relevant competing interest may result in rejection, correction, expression of concern, retraction, or notification to an institution or funding body.

Research and Publication Misconduct

Research and publication misconduct includes actions that compromise the reliability, originality, transparency, legality, or integrity of research and of the scholarly record.

Examples include, but are not limited to:

  • fabrication of data, findings, participants, documents, or references;
  • falsification, alteration, omission, or selective reporting of data;
  • plagiarism or misappropriation of intellectual property;
  • duplicate, redundant, or simultaneous publication without adequate disclosure;
  • inappropriate reuse of the authors’ own previously published material;
  • inappropriate image alteration or duplication;
  • authorship or contributorship misconduct;
  • undisclosed conflicts of interest or funding;
  • conducting or reporting research without the required ethical approval, institutional authorization, or informed consent;
  • manipulation of the peer-review or editorial process;
  • citation manipulation;
  • submission of false reviewer identities, contact details, documents, or declarations.

JNIPC may use plagiarism and similarity-detection tools made available by the Publisher, including Crossref Similarity Check or iThenticate where available. Similarity reports are interpreted by the Editors and are not used as the sole basis for an editorial decision.

Legitimate similarity may arise from standard terminology, methodological descriptions, references, preprints, protocols, or appropriately cited prior work. The Editors will assess the nature, extent, context, and attribution of any identified overlap.

Figures, images, and illustrations must accurately represent the original information. Adjustments to brightness, contrast, or colour balance must not obscure, eliminate, introduce, or misrepresent scientific information.

Any image that has been previously published must be cited appropriately and accompanied by the required permission. The use of machine-learning or artificial-intelligence tools to create, enhance, combine, reconstruct, or alter images must be disclosed clearly.

Concerns may be raised by Editors, reviewers, authors, readers, institutions, or other parties before or after publication. The Journal may request original data, research protocols, ethics documentation, authorship records, funding documentation, image files, or other supporting materials.

Where appropriate, the Journal may contact the authors’ institution, ethics committee, funding organization, or another competent body. Investigations will be conducted as fairly and confidentially as reasonably possible.

Possible actions include:

  • requesting clarification or additional documentation;
  • suspending editorial evaluation;
  • rejecting the manuscript;
  • withdrawing an acceptance decision;
  • publishing a correction;
  • publishing an expression of concern;
  • retracting the article;
  • notifying relevant institutions, ethics bodies, regulators, or funding organizations.

Citation Manipulation

JNIPC considers citation manipulation to be a form of publication misconduct.

Authors must not include fabricated, irrelevant, unverifiable, excessive, or unnecessary citations for the purpose of artificially increasing citation counts, influencing bibliometric indicators, or benefiting particular authors, journals, institutions, or organizations.

Coordinated citation exchanges, citation cartels, coercive citation practices, disproportionate self-citation, and citations inserted without scientific relevance are not permitted.

Editors and reviewers must not request references solely to increase citations to themselves, JNIPC, ANIPIO, iEditore, an institution, or a particular group of authors. Every recommendation to add a reference must be based on genuine scientific relevance.

The Journal may investigate unusual citation patterns and may request the removal or correction of irrelevant, misleading, unverifiable, or inappropriate references.

Artificial Intelligence and AI-Assisted Technologies

Artificial intelligence and AI-assisted technologies may support certain aspects of research or manuscript preparation, but they cannot replace human accountability, scientific judgment, authorship responsibility, or editorial oversight.

Artificial-intelligence systems cannot be listed as authors because they cannot take responsibility for the accuracy, integrity, originality, or ethical compliance of a manuscript.

Authors remain fully responsible for all submitted content, including text, data, analyses, references, tables, figures, images, supplementary material, and statements produced or modified with the assistance of artificial intelligence.

Authors must disclose the use of generative artificial intelligence or other AI-assisted technologies when such tools have contributed substantively to:

  • the generation or revision of manuscript content;
  • data collection, transformation, analysis, or interpretation;
  • code generation or statistical procedures;
  • literature searching or evidence synthesis;
  • translation beyond routine language correction;
  • the creation or modification of figures, images, or audiovisual material.

The disclosure should identify the tool, the version where known, how it was used, and which parts of the work were affected.

Authors must verify all AI-assisted outputs. Fabricated citations, inaccurate statements, manipulated data, undisclosed image generation, or misleading attribution remain the responsibility of the authors.

Reviewers and Editors must not upload confidential manuscripts, reviewer reports, unpublished data, figures, or supplementary materials to external AI systems that cannot guarantee confidentiality, data protection, and non-retention.

Artificial intelligence must not replace the independent judgment of reviewers or Editors. Reviewers and Editors remain personally responsible for their assessments and decisions.

Data Availability

Authors must preserve the data and documentation supporting their findings in accordance with applicable ethical, legal, institutional, contractual, and disciplinary requirements.

Research Articles and Brief Reports presenting original data must include a Data Availability Statement.

The statement must indicate whether the supporting data are:

  • publicly available in a recognized repository, including the repository name and persistent identifier;
  • available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request;
  • available only under specified conditions;
  • restricted because of ethical, legal, contractual, privacy, confidentiality, security, or intellectual-property requirements;
  • not applicable to the submitted article, with an appropriate explanation.

Public sharing is encouraged where it is ethically and legally permissible. Authors must not deposit identifiable patient information, confidential institutional data, or restricted information in public repositories.

Editors may request access to de-identified underlying data, analytic code, questionnaires, protocols, statistical outputs, or other relevant material during editorial evaluation or after publication.

Failure to provide supporting information without a reasonable explanation may affect the editorial decision or result in a post-publication investigation.

Research Ethics

Authors are responsible for ensuring that their research complies with applicable ethical principles, national legislation, data-protection law, professional standards, institutional policies, and authorization requirements.

Ethical statements must be complete, accurate, and specific to the study being reported. Generic statements that do not identify the relevant ethical or institutional framework may be considered insufficient.

Research Involving Patients or Human Participants

When a study directly involves patients or other human participants, authors must obtain approval or formal authorization from the competent Institutional Review Board, Research Ethics Committee, or equivalent body before conducting the study.

Evidence of approval or authorization must be uploaded with the submission or provided to the Editorial Office upon request.

The manuscript must report:

  • the full name of the approving or authorizing body;
  • the approval or reference number, where available;
  • the date of approval, where applicable;
  • the procedures used to obtain informed consent;
  • the measures adopted to protect confidentiality, privacy, and personal data.

Research involving human participants should be conducted in accordance with internationally recognized ethical principles, including the Declaration of Helsinki , where applicable.

The Journal may reject a manuscript or suspend its evaluation when the required approval, authorization, consent, or supporting documentation is absent, inadequate, inconsistent, or unverifiable.

Research Involving Healthcare Professionals Only

Under the current operational framework of JNIPC, formal approval from an Institutional Review Board or Research Ethics Committee is not routinely required when a study involves healthcare professionals exclusively, including cross-sectional surveys directed solely at professional groups.

This Journal policy does not override national legislation, institutional regulations, local ethics requirements, employment protections, professional obligations, or data-protection law. Authors must obtain any approval, notification, authorization, or consent required in the jurisdiction and institution in which the study was conducted.

The manuscript must include a clear ethics statement explaining:

  • that the study involved healthcare professionals only;
  • whether formal ethics review was required;
  • the legal, institutional, or ethical basis on which the study was conducted;
  • how voluntary participation and informed consent were managed;
  • how confidentiality, anonymity, and personal-data protection were ensured.

Quality Improvement Reports

Quality Improvement Reports do not routinely require approval from an Institutional Review Board or Research Ethics Committee under the current operational framework of JNIPC.

Authors must, however, obtain formal authorization from the management or institutional leadership of the healthcare organization in which the Quality Improvement activity was conducted.

Evidence of this authorization must be uploaded during submission or provided to the Editorial Office upon request.

The manuscript must explain the purpose of the activity, the organizational context, the authorization obtained, the data-protection procedures, and the measures adopted to protect patients, professionals, and other individuals involved.

An activity described as Quality Improvement may require additional ethical review when it includes experimental procedures, randomization, non-routine interventions, research-specific data collection, identifiable personal information, or objectives designed primarily to produce generalizable research knowledge.

The Editors may request additional ethical or institutional documentation when the classification of an activity as Quality Improvement is unclear.

Patient Confidentiality and Publication Consent

Authors must protect the privacy, dignity, confidentiality, and personal data of patients and other individuals described in a manuscript.

Names, initials, dates of birth, hospital numbers, facial images, exact dates, or other identifying details must not be published unless they are scientifically essential and explicit written consent for publication has been obtained.

Consent to participate in research is distinct from consent to publish identifiable information. When an individual could be identified from text, images, clinical details, or a combination of information, explicit written consent for publication is required.

For minors or individuals unable to provide consent, authorization must be obtained from a parent, legal guardian, or other legally authorized representative, as applicable.

De-identification must not alter or falsify scientifically relevant information. Authors should omit non-essential identifying details rather than modify data in a way that could mislead readers.

Sex and Gender

Authors should distinguish accurately between sex, referring primarily to biological attributes, and gender, referring to socially and culturally shaped identities, roles, and experiences.

Where relevant to the research question, study design, population, analysis, or interpretation, authors should report how sex and gender were considered.

Authors are encouraged to follow the Sex and Gender Equity in Research – SAGER Guidelines .

When sex- or gender-related analyses were not performed, authors should explain why such analyses were not relevant, possible, or appropriate.

Clinical Trial Registration

Clinical trials must be registered in a publicly accessible and electronically searchable trial registry.

Prospective registration before enrolment of the first participant is strongly expected. The registry should provide a permanent and publicly accessible record of the study protocol and the principal trial information.

The manuscript must include:

  • the name of the trial registry;
  • the registration number;
  • the registration date;
  • the registry URL;
  • an explanation for any retrospective registration or discrepancy between the registered protocol and the submitted manuscript.

Registration does not replace the requirement for ethics approval or informed consent. The Journal may decline to consider an unregistered or inadequately registered clinical trial.

Funding Policy

JNIPC requires complete transparency concerning all financial and material support associated with the research or preparation of the manuscript.

Authors must disclose support including, but not limited to:

  • research grants from public or private organizations;
  • institutional or departmental funding;
  • industry funding or commercial sponsorship;
  • provision of equipment, devices, medicines, products, or materials;
  • payment for data collection, analysis, writing, editing, or translation;
  • travel, meeting, registration, or publication support;
  • in-kind contributions or technical assistance.

The Funding Statement must identify the funder and, where applicable, the grant number. Authors must also describe the funder’s role in:

  • study design;
  • data collection;
  • data analysis or interpretation;
  • preparation or approval of the manuscript;
  • the decision to submit the manuscript for publication.

If no external funding was received, authors must state:

This research received no external funding.

Financial support must also be considered when completing the Conflict of Interest Statement. Failure to disclose relevant funding may result in rejection, correction, expression of concern, retraction, or notification to the relevant funder or institution.

Corrections, Expressions of Concern, and Retractions

JNIPC is committed to preserving the accuracy, permanence, transparency, and integrity of the scholarly record.

Published articles should remain accessible and unaltered to the greatest extent possible. Material errors or concerns identified after publication will normally be addressed through a separate, dated, and permanently linked notice.

Corrections

A correction may be published when an error affects the interpretation, attribution, discoverability, reporting, or understanding of an article but does not invalidate its principal findings.

The correction notice will describe the error and the corrected information and will be linked to the original article. The original publication may be clearly marked to alert readers to the correction.

Expressions of Concern

An expression of concern may be published when serious questions have been raised about an article but the available evidence is inconclusive, an investigation remains ongoing, or a competent institution has not yet provided a final determination.

Retractions

An article may be retracted when:

  • its findings are unreliable because of misconduct or major error;
  • data were fabricated, falsified, manipulated, or reported misleadingly;
  • plagiarism or substantial unauthorized reuse is confirmed;
  • the work was published elsewhere without appropriate disclosure or justification;
  • the research lacked necessary ethical approval, authorization, or consent;
  • authorship, peer review, or the editorial process was manipulated;
  • the article infringes copyright, privacy, confidentiality, or another legal right;
  • another serious issue makes continued reliance on the article inappropriate.

A retraction notice will explain the reason for retraction to the extent permitted by law and confidentiality requirements. The retracted article will normally remain accessible but will be clearly identified as retracted.

Appeals Policy

Authors may appeal an editorial decision when they believe that the decision resulted from a factual misunderstanding, a material error in the review process, an unmanaged conflict of interest, or a significant departure from the Journal’s stated procedures.

An appeal should not be based solely on disagreement with the scientific judgment of the Editors or reviewers.

Appeals must be submitted in writing to: direttoreorientamenti@anipio.it .

The appeal must include:

  • the manuscript title and submission ID;
  • the editorial decision being appealed;
  • a concise and reasoned explanation;
  • a point-by-point response to the relevant editorial or reviewer comments;
  • any supporting evidence or documentation.

Appeals will normally be assessed by the Editor-in-Chief and, where appropriate, by an Editor or independent expert who was not materially involved in the original decision.

Where the appeal concerns the Editor-in-Chief, responsibility will be assigned to an independent qualified person who has no relevant conflict of interest.

The Journal aims to communicate the outcome within approximately 30 days where reasonably possible. Complex cases or those requiring additional expert or institutional input may require more time.

The outcome of the appeal will be communicated with an explanation. The Journal will not normally consider repeated appeals concerning the same decision unless substantial new evidence is provided.

Complaints Policy

JNIPC is committed to a fair, transparent, accountable, and professional editorial process. Complaints may concern:

  • editorial procedures;
  • peer review;
  • research or publication ethics;
  • conflicts of interest;
  • unreasonable delays;
  • professional conduct;
  • published content;
  • the conduct of authors, reviewers, Editors, or other individuals involved in the Journal.

Complaints should be submitted in writing to: direttoreorientamenti@anipio.it .

The complaint should describe the issue clearly and include relevant documentation, dates, manuscript identifiers, correspondence, or other supporting information.

Complaints will be acknowledged and assessed by an appropriate person who is not directly involved in the matter where independence is required.

Complaints involving the Editor-in-Chief, the Journal Manager, ANIPIO, or a significant institutional conflict may also be referred to the Publisher at: info@ieditore.com .

The Journal aims to provide a substantive response within approximately 30 days where reasonably possible. Complex ethical, legal, institutional, or technical matters may require additional time.

The Journal may seek advice from independent experts, institutions, ethics committees, funding bodies, legal advisers, or other competent organizations when necessary.

Post-Publication Discussion

JNIPC encourages responsible, evidence-based, and respectful scholarly discussion concerning its published articles.

Readers may contact the Editorial Office to report:

  • factual or methodological errors;
  • ethical concerns;
  • undisclosed conflicts of interest;
  • data-integrity concerns;
  • inappropriate citations or attribution;
  • privacy or confidentiality concerns;
  • other matters that may affect the reliability or integrity of the published record.

Communications must be relevant, specific, evidence-based, respectful, and free from defamatory, discriminatory, threatening, or otherwise inappropriate content.

Where appropriate, the authors of the original article may be invited to respond. The Journal may seek additional editorial, methodological, statistical, ethical, or institutional advice.

Depending on the nature and outcome of the evaluation, JNIPC may publish an editorial notice, author response, correction, expression of concern, retraction, or other appropriate update linked to the original article.

Concerns involving possible research or publication misconduct will be managed under the Research and Publication Misconduct section of these policies and recognized COPE principles.