Code of Ethics

Contents

1. General framework and guiding principles
2. Duties of the editorial team
3. Duties of reviewers
4. Duties of authors
5. Research ethics
6. Confidentiality, data protection, and informed consent
7. Conflicts of interest and transparency
8. Scientific integrity and prevention of misconduct
9. Corrections, retractions, and editorial expressions of concern
10. Use of artificial intelligence
11. Equality, diversity, and inclusion
12. Claims, complaints, and appeals

 1. General Framework and Guiding Principles

Boletín Epidemiológico Semanal (hereinafter, BES) is a scientific journal published by the National Centre for Epidemiology of the Carlos III Health Institute. Its purpose is to disseminate up-to-date information on epidemiological surveillance, the prevention and control of communicable diseases, and other matters relevant to public health in Spain, with scientific rigor and a commitment to public service. This Code of Ethics serves as the journal’s overarching governance document, regulating editorial conduct and providing the framework for its other editorial policies.

BES expressly adheres to the following standards and guidelines:

• The Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).
• The Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
• The Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing, a joint statement by COPE, DOAJ, WAME, and OASPA.
• The current version of the Declaration of Helsinki of the World Medical Association.
• The research reporting guidelines promoted by the EQUATOR Network.

1.1. Guiding Principles

Editorial activities are governed by six fundamental and non-negotiable principles: scientific integrity, editorial independence, transparency, fairness and impartiality, confidentiality, and public service. These principles take precedence over any commercial, political, or personal considerations in editorial decision-making.

• Scientific integrity: Published content must be truthful, original, reproducible, and based on rigorous methods.
• Editorial independence: Decisions regarding publication rest exclusively with the editorial team and are free from external influence.
• Transparency: Policies, procedures, sources of funding, and conflicts of interest are publicly available and verifiable.
• Fairness and impartiality: Manuscripts are evaluated solely on the basis of their scientific quality, regardless of the authors’ sex, gender, identity, sexual orientation, age, origin, nationality, beliefs, or institutional affiliation.
• Confidentiality: Information relating to manuscripts under review is treated as confidential by all individuals involved in the evaluation process.
• Public service: As a publication of a public research institution, BES contributes to epidemiological knowledge and supports evidence-based public health decision-making.

1.2. Relationship with Other Journal Policies

This Code of Ethics constitutes the journal’s overarching framework and is further developed through specific policies that retain their own identity for reasons of visibility and indexing requirements. These complementary policies are available through the “Editorial Policy” section of the journal’s website:

1. Peer review policy and guidelines for reviewers.
2. Authorship contribution policy.
3. Plagiarism detection policy.
4. Open access policy and privacy policy.
5. Gender equality policy.
6. Informed consent for publication policy.
7. Advertising policy.
8. Data sharing policy.

 

2. Duties of the Editorial Team

The editorial team comprises the Editor-in-Chief, Associate Editors, and the Editorial Board. Their responsibilities, derived from the COPE Code of Conduct and the ICMJE Recommendations, are as follows.

2.1. Publication Decisions

The editorial team is responsible for the final decision regarding the publication of submitted manuscripts. Decisions are based on scientific quality, originality, clarity of presentation, methodological rigor, and relevance to the journal’s editorial scope.

No considerations based on the authors’ sex, gender, identity, sexual orientation, age, origin, nationality, beliefs, institutional affiliation, ideology, or any other personal circumstance shall be considered. The journal ensures compliance with applicable laws regarding copyright, data protection, and the protection of the reputation of individuals and institutions.

2.2. Editorial Independence

Editorial policy, thematic planning, manuscript selection, and peer-review criteria fall exclusively within the remit of the editorial team.

No advertiser, sponsor, funder, or other interested party may influence editorial decisions. When a manuscript is authored by members of the editorial team or editorial office, its evaluation shall be managed by an editor with no involvement in the manuscript, thereby ensuring impartiality.

2.3. Confidentiality and Custody of Manuscripts

Neither members of the editorial team nor any other person associated with the journal shall disclose information about submitted manuscripts to anyone other than the authors, reviewers, and, where appropriate, oversight and supervisory bodies, and only to the extent strictly necessary.

Unpublished materials may not be used, cited, or reproduced without the written authorization of the authors.

2.4. Conflicts of Interest within the Editorial Team

Members of the editorial team shall disclose in writing any financial, professional, personal, or institutional relationships that a reasonable reader might consider relevant, in accordance with the ICMJE Disclosure of Interest form.

Where a conflict of interest exists in relation to a specific manuscript, the person concerned shall refrain from participating in its evaluation and decision-making process.

2.5. Ethical Oversight of Published Content

The editorial team maintains active oversight of published content. It investigates allegations of misconduct, retains relevant documentation, and applies the procedures described in Section 9 of this Code whenever appropriate.

The journal cooperates with authors’ institutions, funding bodies, and competent authorities in any investigations that may be required.

3. Duties of Reviewers

Peer review is the cornerstone of the journal’s quality assurance process. Reviewers provide an essential service to both the scientific community and the journal. Their role is governed by the following responsibilities.

3.1. Cooperation with the Editorial Team

The purpose of peer review is to assist the editorial team in making publication decisions and to contribute to improving the quality of submitted manuscripts. Reviews should be conducted in a constructive manner, providing clear, objective, and evidence-based comments, and should be completed within the agreed timeframe.

3.2. Diligence and Expertise

Reviewers should accept assignments only when they possess the necessary expertise to assess the manuscript adequately and can complete the review with the required diligence and within the requested timeframe. If a reviewer considers themself insufficiently qualified or unable to provide a timely evaluation, they should promptly inform the editorial team and decline the invitation to review.

3.3. Confidentiality

Manuscripts submitted for review are confidential documents. They must not be shared, discussed, or disclosed to third parties without the explicit authorization of the editorial team. Information obtained through the peer-review process must be treated as confidential and may not be used for personal advantage or for the benefit of others.

3.4. Objectivity

Reviews shall be conducted objectively, without personal criticism, and supported by scientifically sound arguments. Manuscripts shall be assessed exclusively on the basis of their content, without consideration of the authors’ personal characteristics or circumstances.

3.5. Identification of Sources and Detection of Overlap

Reviewers should inform the editorial team of any relevant published works related to the manuscript that have not been cited by the authors. They should also report any substantial similarity, duplication, or overlap between the manuscript under review and other publications of which they are aware.

3.6. Conflicts of Interest

Reviewers shall refrain from evaluating manuscripts in which they have a conflict of interest arising from competitive, collaborative, personal, financial, or institutional relationships. Any circumstance that could compromise, or reasonably be perceived to compromise, their impartiality must be disclosed to the editorial team.

3.7. Use of Artificial Intelligence in Peer Review

In accordance with the ICMJE recommendations on the use of artificial intelligence by reviewers, manuscripts under review, whether in whole or in part, must not be uploaded to generative artificial intelligence tools whose terms of use permit the incorporation of submitted content into their training models.

Any use of artificial intelligence during the review process must be disclosed to the editorial team. The reviewer retains full responsibility for the content, quality, and conclusions of the review at all times.

4. Duties of Authors

4.1. Quality and Reproducibility

Authors shall submit original research that is clearly presented, supported by verifiable data, and described in sufficient methodological detail to enable independent replication of the study. Where reporting guidelines are applicable to a particular study design (e.g., CONSORT, STROBE, PRISMA, CARE, ARRIVE), manuscripts must comply with the relevant guideline. Any false, deliberately inaccurate, or unsubstantiated statement shall be considered an ethical breach and grounds for rejection.

4.2. Originality, Plagiarism, and Proper Citation

Manuscripts must be original and must not have been previously published in any form, except in circumstances accepted by standard publishing practice (e.g., properly declared preprints, conference abstracts, or authorized translations). Authors must appropriately acknowledge all sources that support their work, including prior studies that were instrumental in the conception of the research. BES employs automated similarity and plagiarism detection tools.

4.3. Authorship and Contribution

Authorship is restricted to individuals who have made substantial contributions in accordance with the four ICMJE authorship criteria: substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work, or to the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data; drafting the manuscript or critically revising it; approval of the final version; and acceptance of accountability for all aspects of the work.

The corresponding author is responsible for obtaining the explicit approval of the final manuscript version from all co-authors and ensuring that the authorship list accurately reflects the applicable criteria. Contributions that do not meet the threshold for authorship should be acknowledged in the acknowledgements section.

4.4. Multiple, Redundant, or Duplicate Publication

Authors shall not submit manuscripts that have already been published elsewhere or that are simultaneously under consideration by another journal. Secondary publication is permissible only under the circumstances recognized by the ICMJE (for example, translations intended for different audiences), provided that explicit permission has been obtained from the copyright holders and that the original place of publication is clearly identified.

4.5. Disclosure of Funding and Conflicts of Interest

Authors must disclose all sources of funding for the study, without exception, in the relevant section of the manuscript. They must also declare any financial, professional, or personal conflicts of interest using the ICMJE disclosure form. These disclosures will be published together with the article.

4.6. Data and Code Sharing

Authors shall make available the primary data and materials associated with the manuscript in accordance with the journal’s data sharing policy, while respecting all applicable legal and ethical restrictions. Where analyses depend on source code, authors are encouraged to deposit the code in a public repository with a persistent identifier.

4.7. Errors in Published Work

If authors discover significant errors or inaccuracies in their work after publication, they must promptly notify the editorial team and cooperate in the correction, amendment, or, where necessary, retraction of the article, in accordance with Section 9 of this Code.

5. Research Ethics

All research published in BES must have been designed, conducted, and reported in accordance with internationally recognized ethical principles governing research involving human participants, personal data, and, where applicable, laboratory animals. This section sets out these principles in detail, fulfilling the Medline requirement for an explicit research ethics policy. The provisions contained herein are complemented by the journal’s Informed Consent Policy.

5.1. Approval by a Research Ethics Committee

Any research involving human participants, human biological samples, or personal data must have received a favourable opinion from an independent and accredited research ethics committee, in accordance with Law 14/2007 of 3 July on Biomedical Research, Royal Decree 1090/2015 of 4 December on clinical trials with medicinal products, Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR), and Organic Law 3/2018 of 5 December on Personal Data Protection and the Guarantee of Digital Rights.

The Methods section of the manuscript must identify the ethics committee that issued the approval, its location, and, where applicable, the reference number and approval date. BES may request a copy of the ethics approval at any stage of the editorial process.

For public health research, epidemiological surveillance, analyses of health registries, or studies based on data previously collected through healthcare or administrative activities, which are particularly relevant to BES given the nature of its content, manuscripts must clearly describe the legal basis for data processing and, where applicable, the justification for exemption from ethics committee review. The journal reserves the right to request additional clarification if the justification provided is considered insufficient.

5.2. Declaration of Helsinki and CIOMS Guidelines

Research involving human participants must comply with the ethical principles set out in the current version of the World Medical Association’s Declaration of Helsinki and, where applicable, the International Ethical Guidelines for Health-related Research Involving Humans issued by the Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences (CIOMS).

5.3. Research Involving Experimental Animals

Manuscripts reporting procedures involving laboratory animals must indicate compliance with Royal Decree 53/2013 of 1 February and Directive 2010/63/EU, and must report results in accordance with the ARRIVE 2.0 Guidelines.

The manuscript must identify the competent authority that authorized the procedures and the licensed facility where the work was conducted.

5.4. Registration of Clinical Trials

Clinical trials must be prospectively registered, before the first participant is enrolled, in a public registry recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO) or in ClinicalTrials.gov.

The registration number must be included in both the abstract and the Methods section, in accordance with Section L of the ICMJE Recommendations.

5.5. Data Sharing

In line with the FAIR principles and the Open Science model of the Carlos III Health Institute, the journal promotes the responsible sharing of data underlying published results.

Manuscripts must include a Data Sharing Statement specifying which data will be shared, where the data will be available, the timeframe for sharing, and the conditions for access.

When data cannot be shared for legitimate reasons, the statement must explain the reasons and, where possible, provide alternative resources, such as aggregated data, synthetic datasets, source code, or statistical analysis plans.

Specific requirements are further detailed in the journal’s Data Sharing Policy.

5.6. Sex and Gender Perspective in Research

Consistent with the institutional policy of the Carlos III Health Institute (ISCIII), the journal encourages authors to incorporate a sex and gender perspective into the design, analysis, and reporting of research findings, and to present data disaggregated by sex and/or gender whenever relevant to the epidemiological or clinical interpretation of the results.

6. Confidentiality, Data Protection, and Informed Consent

BES guarantees, in all its publications, respect for the right to privacy and the protection of personal data of patients, research participants, and any third parties mentioned in manuscripts, in accordance with Section II.E of the ICMJE Recommendations, Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR), Organic Law 3/2018, and Law 41/2002 of 14 November, which regulates patient autonomy and rights regarding clinical information and documentation.

6.1. Confidentiality in the Editorial Process

The journal treats all submitted manuscripts and associated information as confidential. Access to manuscripts under review is restricted to members of the editorial team, designated reviewers, and, where strictly necessary, technical support staff. Personal information relating to authors and reviewers is processed in accordance with the journal’s Privacy Policy.

6.2. Informed Consent for Publication

Authors must obtain written informed consent specifically for publication whenever a manuscript contains information that could directly or indirectly enable the identification of an individual. This includes, but is not limited to, clinical photographs, detailed case descriptions, videos, ultrasound images containing metadata, genomic sequences, or combinations of sociodemographic data that are sufficiently specific to permit identification.

The mere partial masking of images is not considered adequate anonymization. Signed consent forms shall be retained by the authors and the responsible institution; the journal may request an anonymized copy of the consent documentation at any stage.

Detailed requirements, including circumstances in which consent is not required, provisions applicable to minors and individuals with limited legal capacity, and recommended consent templates, are set out in the BES Informed Consent Policy, which forms an integral part of this Code of Ethics.

6.3. Protection of Personal Data

Any processing of personal data associated with publications must comply with the GDPR and the Spanish Organic Law on Data Protection and the Guarantee of Digital Rights (LOPDGDD).

Research based on data previously collected through healthcare information systems, administrative registries, or epidemiological surveillance networks must clearly describe the legal basis authorizing the use of such data and the safeguards implemented to protect participants.

Pseudonymization is not equivalent to anonymization. Consequently, the disclosure of identifiable or potentially re-identifiable data requires a specific legal basis and appropriate safeguards.

7. Conflicts of Interest and Transparency

Transparency regarding the financial, professional, and personal relationships surrounding a scientific publication is essential to its credibility. BES applies a unified conflict-of-interest disclosure policy that applies equally to authors, reviewers, and members of the editorial team.

7.1. Definition and Scope

A conflict of interest is any financial, professional, personal, or institutional circumstance that could reasonably influence, or be perceived to influence, an individual’s judgment regarding a manuscript. This includes, but is not limited to, employment relationships, consultancy work, honoraria, intellectual property rights, shares or stock options, grants, fellowships, sponsored travel, gifts, public statements, family relationships, and institutional commitments.

7.2. Mandatory Disclosure

Authors must disclose any conflicts of interest arising within the previous thirty-six months using the ICMJE Disclosure of Interest form. The disclosure statement will be published alongside the article. The deliberate omission of a relevant conflict of interest constitutes scientific misconduct and will be addressed in accordance with Section 8 of this Code.

7.3. Funding

Sources of funding for the study must be fully and explicitly disclosed in the manuscript. For studies funded by industry, authors must specify whether, and to what extent, the funder was involved in the study design, conduct, analysis, manuscript preparation, or decision to publish.

7.4. Sponsorships and Partnerships

Sponsorship and institutional partnership agreements must respect the journal’s editorial independence and comply with the provisions of its Advertising Policy and the ICMJE recommendations concerning sponsorships and partnerships.

8. Scientific Integrity and the Prevention of Misconduct

The journal is committed to maintaining the integrity of the research it publishes and actively promotes the prevention and detection of scientific misconduct.

8.1. Unacceptable Practices

Scientific misconduct includes, but is not limited to, the following practices:

1. Fabrication or falsification of data.
2. Improper manipulation of images, figures, or statistical results.
3. Plagiarism, self-plagiarism, and inappropriate text recycling.
4. Inappropriate authorship practices (gift authorship, ghost authorship, or purchased authorship).
5. Undisclosed duplicate, redundant, or “salami-sliced” publication.
6. Deliberate failure to disclose relevant conflicts of interest.
7. Manipulation of the peer-review process.
8. Research involving humans or animals conducted without the required ethical approvals.

8.2. Prevention

BES applies preventive checks to all submitted manuscripts, including verification of authorship composition, automated similarity and plagiarism screening, technical review of images and data consistency, and verification of funding disclosures, conflicts of interest, ethical approvals, and clinical trial registrations.

The journal provides training to its editorial team on the COPE guidelines and consults COPE flowcharts when handling complex or uncertain cases.

8.3. Investigation of Suspected Misconduct

Any well-founded suspicion of misconduct, whether raised by the editorial team, reviewers, readers, authors, or third parties, will be investigated confidentially, proportionately, and with due opportunity for all parties involved to be heard.

Where appropriate, the journal will contact the authors’ affiliated institution and, where relevant, the funding body, requesting that the corresponding institutional investigation be initiated.

8.4. Outcomes and Corrective Actions

If scientific misconduct is confirmed, the journal will implement the measures described in Section 9 of this Code, including correction, editorial expression of concern, or retraction, depending on the severity and verifiability of the issue.

Where the misconduct may have disciplinary or criminal implications, the matter will be reported to the appropriate authorities.

The journal may also prohibit further submissions from the individuals involved for a reasonable period, with the reasons for such a decision provided in writing.

9. Procedures for Corrections, Retractions, and Editorial Expressions of Concern

BES maintains a clear, transparent, and reproducible procedure for managing errors and allegations of misconduct in published articles, in accordance with Sections III.A and III.B of the ICMJE Recommendations, the COPE Retraction Guidelines (2025), and the National Library of Medicine (NLM) guidance on Errata, Retractions, and Other Linked Citations in PubMed. This section fulfils the Medline requirement for an explicit policy governing corrections, retractions, and editorial expressions of concern.

9.1. Types of Post-Publication Actions

9.1.1. Correction (Corrigendum / Erratum)

A correction is issued when an error affects part of an article but does not compromise its main conclusions or the overall reliability of the findings. Examples include errors in numerical data, author names, affiliations, figure legends, inadvertently omitted funding sources, or sections of the results that, once corrected, do not alter the study’s conclusions.

The correction notice shall be published with a clearly identifiable title, a full citation of the original article, and reciprocal links between the correction and the original publication. The original article shall be updated with a notice indicating that a correction exists and linking to the correction notice.

9.1.2. Editorial Expression of Concern

An editorial expression of concern is issued when verifiable evidence suggests that readers should be alerted to potential problems affecting the reliability of an article, but the available information is not yet sufficient to justify retraction.

This measure is particularly appropriate while an institutional investigation is ongoing, when a relevant party fails to respond, or when the available evidence is contradictory.

The expression of concern shall be published as an independent editorial notice, rather than as a letter to the editor, appear on a numbered page within the journal’s contents, reproduce the title of the affected article, and include reciprocal links to the original publication.

9.1.3. Retraction

Retraction is warranted when it is established that an article’s findings are unreliable due to error, data fabrication or falsification, inappropriate image manipulation, substantial plagiarism, false authorship, serious nondisclosure of relevant conflicts of interest, or undeclared duplicate publication.

The retraction notice shall be published as an independent editorial document, clearly labelled as a retraction, including a full citation of the original article and an explanation of the reasons for retraction.

Retracted articles shall remain publicly accessible but must be clearly identified as retracted in the HTML version, PDF version, and abstract. Metadata supplied to PubMed/Medline shall be updated accordingly.

9.2. Initiation of the Procedure

Any person may notify the editorial team of a potential error or a well-founded suspicion of misconduct by contacting the journal through its editorial correspondence address and identifying the article concerned, the nature of the issue, and, where possible, the supporting evidence.

BES guarantees the confidentiality of the complainant, except where disclosure is required by law, and prohibits any form of retaliation against individuals acting in good faith.

9.3. Preliminary Assessment and Investigation

The Editor-in-Chief, assisted by the Editorial Board, shall assess the plausibility and seriousness of the concern, consulting the relevant COPE flowchart where appropriate.

If the issue is minor and readily verifiable, the correction procedure shall be initiated. Where reasonable concerns exist regarding the integrity of the work, the authors shall be invited to provide a reasoned response within a reasonable timeframe, which may be extended where justified.

Where institutional investigation is required, the journal shall contact the authors’ affiliated institution and, where applicable, the funding body. Pending the outcome of such an investigation, the article may be flagged with a provisional editorial expression of concern.

9.4. Decision and Justification

The final decision rests with the Editor-in-Chief, following consultation with the Editorial Board, and shall be documented in writing with supporting reasons.

The journal will communicate the decision and its justification to the authors and, where appropriate, to the relevant institutions involved.

9.5. Format and Visibility of Notices

Correction notices, expressions of concern, and retraction notices constitute primary editorial content. They shall appear in the table of contents, have their own page numbers, be indexable, and be deposited in institutional repositories with the appropriate metadata.

The title of each notice shall incorporate the title of the affected article.

In the electronic edition, the affected article shall display a permanent notice visible from both the abstract and the full-text version.

9.6. Notification to Secondary Databases

Once BES is indexed in Medline, all correction notices, expressions of concern, and retraction notices shall be reported to the National Library of Medicine (NLM) in accordance with the applicable technical procedures, ensuring that the notice is correctly linked to the corresponding article within the database.

The same information shall be transmitted to other indexing services in which the journal is included (e.g., SciELO, Latindex, and DOAJ).

9.7. Appeals

Authors may appeal an editorial decision by submitting a reasoned written request to the Editor-in-Chief within thirty days of notification.

The appeal shall be reviewed by an individual or committee who was not involved in the original decision. The outcome shall be provided in writing, together with its justification.

The resulting decision shall be final within the journal’s editorial process.

10. Use of Artificial Intelligence

In accordance with Section V of the ICMJE Recommendations on the Use of Artificial Intelligence, generative artificial intelligence tools may not be listed as authors or assume authorship responsibilities.

The use of AI tools, including writing assistants, image generation or editing tools, data analysis applications, and literature review systems, must be explicitly disclosed in either the Methods section or the Acknowledgements section. The disclosure should specify the tool used, its version, and the purpose for which it was employed.

Authors retain full responsibility for the accuracy, integrity, and content of their work always.

Reviewers may not upload manuscripts under review, even in part, to AI systems whose terms of use permit submitted content to be incorporated into training models. Any use of AI during peer review must be disclosed to the editorial team.

The editorial team may use AI-based tools for ancillary purposes, such as similarity screening or technical checks, provided confidentiality is maintained and all outputs remain subject to human oversight.

11. Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion

The journal is committed to the effective promotion of equality between women and men, the use of inclusive language, and the integration of sex and gender perspectives into scientific research.

BES implements active measures to ensure balanced representation within both its editorial team and reviewer pool, in accordance with its Gender Equality Policy.

The journal also promotes geographical, institutional, and disciplinary diversity among authors and reviewers and seeks to facilitate participation by researchers working in resource-limited settings.

12. Claims, Complaints, and Appeals

Authors, reviewers, readers, and any other interested parties may submit claims, complaints, or suggestions regarding the operation of the journal, its editorial decisions, or its published content.

Such communications should be addressed to the journal’s editorial contact address and will be handled within a reasonable timeframe.

Appeals against editorial decisions shall be reviewed by an individual or committee different from the one responsible for the original decision, following the procedures outlined in the COPE Complaints and Appeals guidance.

The outcome of the appeal shall be communicated in writing, together with the reasons supporting the decision.

This decision shall be final within the journal’s editorial process.