Publishing Ethics and Malpractice Statement
Click here to download a PDF of the Publishing Ethics and Malpractice Statement.
WCET® Journal (ISSN 0819-4610 print, ISSN 2208-5920 online, published quarterly) is provided in hard copy, by individually addressed journal packages, to all members of the World Council of Enterostomal Therapists® (WCET®) as part of their membership and to institutions that subscribe. However, WCET® Journal and the WCET® recognise the importance of worldwide dissemination of knowledge and, consequently, provides Open Access to four online editions of the journal - journals.cambridgemedia.com.au/wcetcn (in English and Chinese), journals.cambridgemedia.com.au/wcetes (in English and Spanish), journals.cambridgemedia.com.au/wcetfr (in English and French) and journals.cambridgemedia.com.au/wcetpt (in English and Portuguese). All translations are done to internationally recognised standards ISO9001:2015 and ISO1710:2015.
The journal is owned by WCET®, published by Cambridge Media under contract to WCET® and the copyright of all non-advertising content resides with WCET® unless specifically stated otherwise. WCET® Journal is also the official journal of the International Inter-professional Wound Care Group. Cambridge Media owns the copyright to the electronic platform on which the online version of the journal appears but not the copyright of the content. The names and affiliations of the Editorial Board, including the address for the Editor, are listed in the Information section of the journal’s website.
WCET® Journal adheres to the recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE Recommendations) and is listed with the ICMJE accordingly.
The primary aim of the journal is to advance the care of people with ostomy, wound or continence needs by:
- providing professional development for ostomy, wound and continence nurses, related medical and allied health professionals and other relevant parties
- communicating knowledge and information about ostomy, wound and continence disease processes, conditions and associated preventions and treatments
- advocating for the interests of nurses, health professionals and persons with ostomy, wound or continence needs
- supporting and integrating practice development, research, quality improvement and innovation
- setting guidelines and recommending standards for nurses and health professionals caring for people with ostomy, wound or continence needs
- promoting inter-professional collaboration in the assessment and management of persons with ostomy, wound or continence needs doing all such other things as are incidental or conducive to the attainment of the Mission of the WCET®.
The journal focuses on publishing quality research, clinical practice, case studies, policies and education supplements that impact upon the care of people with ostomy, wound or continence needs.
The information sections of the online editions contain the Aims and Scope, Policies and Processes, Editorial Board, Author Guidelines, Case Study Template and information about WCET® (the Society) and Cambridge Media (the Publisher), as well as this Publishing Ethics Statement. The Editorial Board and summaries of Aims and Scope, Conflicts of Interest and Ethics are included in the print editions.
All articles published in WCET® Journal have been through a double-blind peer review process with manuscripts sent to at least two reviewers. Reviewers will score the manuscript and provide feedback to authors - the peer review process is outlined in the Author Guidelines. Commonly, authors will be asked to revise their manuscripts at least once during the peer review process.
Author fees are not charged and submissions in the form of original research articles, reviews (of research, practice and literature), case studies, clinical trials, commentaries, updates and letters to the editor are welcome. The editorial board may solicit manuscripts for themed editions of the journal. Each submission is evaluated on its merit, relevance, accuracy, clarity and applicability to the journal.
Authors must state sources of funding or grant supports if applicable. Investigations in human and animal subjects must conform to accepted ethical standards. Authors must certify in the text that the research protocol was approved by a suitably constituted ethics committee of the institution within which the work was carried out and that it conforms to the WMA Declaration of Helsinki or a similar such statement from the author’s country and participant consent must be documented. The conflict-of-interest section in the manuscript submission process must be answered. It is the responsibility of all authors to disclose any financial and non-financial relationships that could be viewed as presenting a potential or actual conflict of interest.
It is also the responsibility of authors to declare if any artificial intelligence software or tools have been used and to state clearly the names of any used. This is a requirement when submitting a manuscript.
Authorship policies are fully defined in both the Policies and Processes and Author Guidelines sections of the website. Permission will be granted to authors who publish their research work in the journal to self-archive a copy of the final version in their institution’s repository.
The ICMJE recommendations for corrections and retractions and misconduct and expressions of concern are followed by WCET® Journal. A corrigendum or an erratum will be published in the very next edition after the editor learns of a published error. If several and/or serious errors are found, a retraction will be considered and published. If doubt is raised as to honesty or integrity of a published article, an investigation by two editorial board members will be instigated which could lead to an expression of concern being published, in line with the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Guidelines.
Revenue to cover the costs of publishing comes from education sponsorship (Sustaining Journal Partners), translation sponsors, advertising, aggregator royalties, copyright fees, supplements, reprints and subscriptions. Advertising, which is managed by Cambridge Media provides opportunities for companies to reach a clearly defined target audience. Cambridge Media is committed to ensuring that commercial revenue has no influence or impact on editorial decisions. Most editorial board members and reviewers are members of the WCET®, none of the members work for Cambridge Media. The Cambridge Media sales team is never involved in any aspect of authorship, peer review or editing. Only advertising that is compatible with the image of and acceptable to the WCET® is accepted.
Preservation and access to the journal’s content is facilitated by the National Library of Australia’s edeposit service, Cambridge Media’s membership of CrossRef and indexing in CINAHL, Ebsco, InfoRMIT, ProQuest and EMCARE.
