Editorial Policies
All important information about our editorial process and policies can be found on https://www.ai-online.info/autoren-service.html#for_authors. Please note that the English version follows the German version.
Policy on Conflict of Interest
Any financial and material support of the submitted manuscript has to be declared by the author either on the first page of the manuscript or in an acknowledgement note. Questions concerning any potential conflicts of interest must be answered in the standard cover letter (https://www.ai-online.info/images/AnschreibenAutoren.pdf).
Policy on Human and Animal rights
Information which might disclose the identity of the patient/test person shall not be published. The author bears the responsibility for the complete anonymisation of all patient-related data (including graphical representations unless the person shown has given his or her written consent).
Studies belonging to randomised, controlled studies must have been conducted in agreement with the CONSORT statement (http://www.consort-statement.org/).
Our ethics and malpractice guidelines clearly state the following with regards to studies using animal models:
“These studies require at the top of the "Methods" section a confirmatory statement that the "Principles of Laboratory Animal Care" (NIH publication No. 86-23, revised 1985) and the Animal Welfare Act in its respectively valid version (https://www.uni-giessen.de/org/beauftragte/aufgaben/tschbjlu/index_html#Uebersicht) have been complied with. If a study has been conducted outside the Federal Republic of Germany, its concomitant conformity with the respective national regulations must be referred to.”
Policy on Informed Consent
Studies with patients/test persons require that the manuscript contains a declaration at the beginning of the "Methods" section, stating that the test protocol has received an affirmative vote from the Ethics Commission and complies with the Declaration of Helsinki (1964 or 1975, 1983) as amended (cf. Pharm. Ind. No. 12/1990 as well as German Federal Gazette No. 243a from Dec. 29, 1989 https://www.aerzteblatt.de/down.asp?typ=PDF&id=5324). An additional requirement is the indication that all patients or trial participants have given their informed consent in writing. A copy of the affirmative vote of the Ethics Commission must be enclosed upon submission of the manuscript.
Data Sharing Policy
A&I strongly encourages its authors to share their data as widely as possible for transparency reasons as well as to facilitate further research. Authors are not required to share their data, but our journal requires at least one author to clearly state contact details at the end of each article responsible for data sharing. It is common practice for our authors to respond to requests for data sharing to support further research and data validation.
Peer Review Process/Policy
All manuscripts will be peer reviewed by members of the editorial department, board of editors and/or external experts (single blind review). For each manuscript, a minimum of 2 independent reviewers are selected. Every review is carried out according to the “Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals” (http://www.icmje.org/). The review process is systematically processed with an editorial manager tool. The final decision of acceptance is with the Editor-In-Chief. In case of necessary revisions (>90 % of manuscripts), another review is being performed by the assigned reviewer. The Editor-In-Chief and editorial staff reserve their right on editorial changes of the manuscript if necessary; the author gets information on these changes before the manuscript is going to press.
Research Ethics Policy
All details about our ethics and malpractice guidelines can be found on https://www.ai-online.info/autoren-service/ethisch-rechtliche-anforderungen.html#ethics_and_malpractice_guidelines. This includes information on the use of patient data, studies with patients/trial participants, randomised, controlled studies, studies using animal models. Details on the disclosure of funding and financing and questions to be answered relating to any possible conflict of interest may also be found there.
Our process to handle cases requiring corrections, retractions, and editorial expressions of concern
Any case requiring a correction, retraction or editorial expression of concern will be checked by and discussed within the editorial board. Errata will be published in the earliest possible print version, the online version will be corrected as early as possible. Any editorial expression of concern will be clearly shown with a disclaimer.
