Ethical Rules and Publication Policy

Publication Ethics & Human Subjects

Pediatric Academic Case Reports undertakes to apply publication ethics rules and takes all possible measures to prevent any publication misconduct.

Case presentations involving human subjects are based on compliance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Furthermore, articles reporting the results of studies using human material must include an “Informed Consent” statement confirming that all procedures applied to the participants were explained and their consent obtained.

Citation & Plagiarism

Authors must cite the sources used in writing the article in accordance with ethical principles.

All manuscripts submitted to Pediatric Academic Case Reports are screened for textual similarity using Turnitin before peer review. Similarity reports are evaluated by the editorial team in context rather than solely on the basis of a numerical similarity score. Manuscripts containing inappropriate textual overlap, plagiarism, or other forms of publication misconduct may be returned to the authors for revision or rejected, depending on the nature and severity of the issue. Suspected plagiarism will be handled in accordance with COPE guidelines.

Only authors who have contributed to the article should be named.

Journal Overview & Peer Review

Pediatric Academic Case Reports is an international peer-reviewed journal published by the Association of Pediatric Specialization Academy. It is published three issues a year (February, May, September).

Pediatric Academic Case Reports is a free open access journal. Authors are not charged submission or article fees for articles submitted to the journal.

Articles submitted by authors for publication in Pediatric Academic Case Reports must not have been published elsewhere or submitted to another journal for publication at the same time. After a preliminary review of the form and content of articles submitted to the journal, a double-blind peer review process is initiated, and the articles are sent to at least two reviewers from different centres. Articles that do not meet the format requirements or are not relevant to the journal's subject matter are returned to the authors after preliminary review without being sent to reviewers.

Conflict of Interest Policy

All authors, reviewers, and editors must disclose any potential conflicts of interest, whether financial or personal, that could influence their objectivity. If any conflict is identified, it must be declared in the manuscript and will be evaluated by the Editorial Board.

Open Access Policy

Pediatric Academic Case Reports provides immediate open access to its content under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). Readers are free to read, download, copy, distribute, and use the content for any purpose, including commercial use, provided appropriate credit is given to the original authors and source.

Articles published prior to Volume 4, Issue 3 (2025) were published under a different license; please refer to the copyright notice on the individual article for the license applicable at the time of publication.

Archiving and Digital Preservation Policy

Pediatric Academic Case Reports ensures the long-term preservation and accessibility of all published content.

The journal archives each issue and article on secure institutional servers and maintains additional off-site backups.

In addition, the website content is periodically archived through the Internet Archive (Wayback Machine) to guarantee permanent public access, even in the event of technical failures or website changes.

Self-Archiving Policy

Pediatric Academic Case Reports supports the self-archiving of scholarly work and does not impose any embargo period.

Authors may deposit and make publicly available the submitted version (preprint), accepted manuscript (author accepted manuscript), and published Version of Record of their articles in institutional repositories, subject-based repositories, personal websites, or other non-commercial scholarly platforms.

The published Version of Record may be deposited immediately upon publication without embargo. When sharing or depositing the published version, authors should provide the full citation of the article, including its DOI, and acknowledge Pediatric Academic Case Reports as the original place of publication.

All published articles are distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). Authors retain copyright in their work, and self-archiving and reuse must comply with the terms of the CC BY 4.0 license.

Corrections, Retractions, Expressions of Concern, and Article Withdrawal Policy

Pediatric Academic Case Reports is committed to maintaining the integrity and accuracy of the scientific record. The journal handles corrections, retractions, expressions of concern, and article withdrawals in accordance with the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Corrections

When an error is identified in a published article that affects the accuracy or understanding of the article but does not invalidate its main findings or conclusions, the journal may publish a correction. Corrections will be clearly identified, linked to the original article, and made permanently accessible.

Minor typographical or formatting errors that do not affect the scientific content or interpretation of an article may be corrected without a formal correction notice when appropriate.

Retractions

An article may be retracted when there is clear evidence that its findings are unreliable as a result of major error or research misconduct, including fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, duplicate publication, serious ethical violations, or other circumstances that substantially compromise the integrity of the article.

Retraction decisions will be made in accordance with COPE guidelines. A retraction notice will clearly identify the retracted article and state the reason for the retraction. The original article will remain accessible as part of the scholarly record and will be clearly marked as retracted. Its DOI and bibliographic record will be maintained.

Expressions of Concern

When serious concerns are raised about a published article but the available evidence is inconclusive or an investigation is ongoing, the journal may publish an Expression of Concern. The notice will be linked to the article and may subsequently be replaced or supplemented by a correction, retraction, or other editorial notice when the investigation is completed.

Article Withdrawal

Withdrawal is generally limited to manuscripts that have been accepted for publication but have not yet been formally published as the Version of Record. Withdrawal may be considered in exceptional circumstances, including serious ethical concerns, duplicate publication, legal issues, or significant errors identified before publication.

Once an article has been formally published as the Version of Record, it will not normally be removed from the journal website. In exceptional circumstances where continued availability would create a serious legal, privacy, or safety risk, access may be restricted while the bibliographic record and an explanatory notice are retained whenever possible.

Complaints and Appeals

Authors, reviewers, or readers may submit complaints or appeals regarding editorial decisions, peer review, or publication ethics by emailing editor@pacrjournal.org. All concerns will be handled confidentially and in accordance with COPE guidelines.

Data Availability Policy

PACR encourages transparency and reproducibility of research. Authors are encouraged to make anonymized data available upon reasonable request to the corresponding author.

Funding and Revenue Disclosure

Pediatric Academic Case Reports is published and financially supported by the Association of Pediatric Specialization Academy. The journal does not charge submission or publication fees and does not receive commercial advertising revenue.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Usage and Generative AI Policy

Pediatric Academic Case Reports recognizes that artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, including generative AI tools and large language models (LLMs), are increasingly used in research and manuscript preparation. The journal permits the limited use of AI-assisted technologies provided that such use complies with established standards of scientific integrity, transparency, and accountability.

Use of AI in Manuscript Preparation

Authors may use AI tools for purposes such as language editing, grammar correction, or improving the clarity and readability of the manuscript. However, the use of AI must not compromise the originality, accuracy, or integrity of the scientific work. If during similarity and artificial intelligence checks, the submitted texts exceed the limits of originality and scientific contribution, they will be returned to the author.

Authors remain fully responsible for the content of their manuscripts, including all statements, data, references, analyses, and conclusions.

Any use of AI-assisted technologies must be clearly disclosed in the manuscript, including the name of the tool and the purpose for which it was used.

Authorship and Responsibility

Artificial intelligence tools cannot be listed as authors or co-authors. Authorship implies responsibility and accountability for the content of the work, which AI systems cannot assume.

Only individuals who meet the authorship criteria defined by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) should be listed as authors.

The following uses of AI are considered unacceptable and constitute scientific misconduct:

• Fabrication or manipulation of research data
• Generation of false or misleading scientific content
• Manipulation or fabrication of images, figures, or clinical data
• Generation of references or citations that do not exist
• Plagiarism or paraphrasing existing work without appropriate citation
• Use of AI to create patient data or case reports that are not based on real clinical observations

If such practices are detected, the Editorial Board will take appropriate action in accordance with the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Disclosure Statement

If AI tools were used during the preparation of the manuscript, authors must include a disclosure statement such as:

Editorial Use of AI

Editors and reviewers may not upload submitted manuscripts, images, or confidential data to AI tools that could compromise the confidentiality of the submission.

The journal may use similarity detection and screening tools to identify plagiarism, AI-generated text, or other forms of publication misconduct during the evaluation process.