Editorial Policies

Aims and Scope

VESTNIK DERMATOLOGII I VENEROLOGII is an open-access, peer-reviewed international journal that publishes original papers in efficacy and safety of medicines, the analysis of clinical practice, and its compliance with national and international recommendations. 

The primary fields of research interest of the journal are dermatology (skin and veneral diseases) and cosmetology.

VESTNIK DERMATOLOGII I VENEROLOGII cater for a wide range of readers comprising clinical and medical practitioners of general and advanced medical and clinical research, academicians, researchers, and students, as well as for the international business circle of people in the field that are establishing  new skin-care products.

The journal is specially interested in research related to clinical trials, procedural dermatology, patient-centered care and immunodermatology. Papers on research methodology, health care quality, and improving the delivery of patient care, including systematic reviews and evidence-based guidelines, are also welcomed.

VESTNIK DERMATOLOGII I VENEROLOGII founded in 1924 is the oldest journal worldwide in the field of dermatovenereology.

Sections

HEALTH ORGANIZATION

REVIEWS

ORIGINAL STUDIES

GUIDELINES FOR PRACTITIONERS

CLINICAL CASE REPORTS

CLINICAL PRACTICE GUIDELINES

ORGANIZATION OF HEALTH CARE AND EPIDEMIOLOGY

Peer Review Process

An bilateral anonymous ("double-blind") peer review method is mandatory for processing of all scientific manuscripts submitted to the editorial stuff of "Vestnik dermatologii i venerologii". This implies that neither the reviewer is aware of the authorship of the manuscript, nor the author maintains any contact with the reviewer.

1. Members of the editorial board and leading Russian and international experts in corresponding areas of life sciences, invited as independent readers, perform peer reviews. Editor-in-chief, deputy editor-in-chief or science editor choose readers for peer review. We aim to limit the review process to 2-4 weeks, though in some cases the schedule may be adjusted at the reviewer’s request.
2. Reviewer has an option to abnegate the assessment should any conflict of interests arise that may affect perception or interpretation of the manuscript. Upon the scrutiny, the reviewer is expected to present the editorial board with one of the following recommendations:
   
   • to accept the paper in its present state;
   • to invited the author to revise their manuscript to address specific concerns before final decision is reached;
   • that final decision be reached following further reviewing by another specialist;
   • to reject the manuscript outright.
3. If the reviewer has recommended any refinements, the editorial staff would suggest the author either to implement the corrections, or to dispute them reasonably. Authors are kindly required to limit their revision to 2 months and resubmit the adapted manuscript within this period for final evaluation.
4. We politely request that the editor to be notified verbally or in writing should the author decide to refuse from publishing the manuscript. In case the author fails to do so within 3 months since receiving a copy of the initial review, the editorial board takes the manuscript off the register and notifies the author accordingly.
5. If author and reviewers meet insoluble contradictions regarding revision of the manuscript, the editor-in-chief resolves the conflict by his own authority.
6. The editorial board reaches final decision to reject a manuscript on the hearing according to reviewers’ recommendations, and duly notifies the authors of their decision via e-mail. The board does not accept previously rejected manuscripts for re-evaluation.
7. Upon the decision to accept the manuscript for publishing, the editorial staff notifies the authors of the scheduled date of publication.
8. Kindly note that positive review does not guarantee the acceptance, as final decision in all cases lies with the editorial board. By his authority, editor-in-chief rules final solution of every conflict.
9. Original reviews of submitted manuscripts remain deposited for 3 years.

Publication Frequency

• Bimonthly, 6 regular issues per year
• Continuously Ahead-of-Print (Online First)

The "Online First" service allows the accepted articles to be published online in a preliminary PDF format available for download.
Readers will access the article earlier on our site in the "Articles in press" section. At the same time, authors will gain the opportunity for their work to be cited with DOI (Digital Object Identifier), registered in the Crossref database, before the inclusion in a final print and online journal issue.

Open Access Policy

"Vestnik dermatologii i venerologii" is an open access journal. All articles are made freely available to readers immediatly upon publication on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.

Our open access policy is in accordance with the Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI) definition - it means that articles have free availability on the public internet, permitting any users to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of these articles, crawl them for indexing, pass them as data to software, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without financial, legal, or technical barriers other than those inseparable from gaining access to the internet itself. For more information please read BOAI statement.

The Publisher grants usage rights to others using an open license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International) allowing for immediate free access to the work and permitting any user to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of articles, crawl them for indexing, pass them as data to software, or use them for any other lawful but only non-commercial purposes .

Archiving

The journal uses the PKP Preservation Network (PKP PN) to digitally preserve all the published articles. The PKP PN is a part of LOCKSS (Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe) program offers decentralized and distributed preservation, seamless perpetual access, and preservation of the authentic original version of the content.

Also, the journal makes full-text archives on the Russian Science Electronic Library (http://elibrary.ru/) platform.

Indexation

Articles in "Vestnik Dermatologii i Venerologii" are indexed by several systems:

• Russian Scientific Citation Index (RSCI) – a database, accumulating information on papers by Russian scientists, published in native and foreign titles. The RSCI project is under development since 2005 by “Electronic Scientific Library” foundation (elibrary.ru).
• SCOPUS
• BIOSIS (Web of Science)
• Google Scholar
• Base
• CAS
• Dimensions
• DOAJ
• EDS
• Oxford Library
• SOCIONET
• VINITI RAS
• WorldCat

Publishing Ethics

The Ethics policy of "Vestnik Dermatologii i Venerologii" is based on recomendations from international commettees:

• The International Committee of MEDICAL JOURNAL EDITORS 
• The WORLD ASSOCIATION OF MEDICAL EDITORS
• Committee on Publication Ethics
• The office of Research Integrity
• Council of Science Editors
• European Association of Science Editors

Reporting standarts

The "Vestnik Dermatologii i Venerologii" journal editorial team ask authors of reports of original research to present an accurate account of the work performed as well as an objective discussion of its significance. Underlying data should be represented accurately in the paper. A paper should contain sufficient detail and references to permit others to replicate the work. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behavior and are unacceptable.

Review and professional publication articles should also be accurate and objective, and editorial opinion works should be clearly identified as such.

Data Access and Retention

Authors may be asked to provide the raw data in connection with a paper for editorial review, and should be prepared to provide public access to such data (consistent with the ALPSP-STM Statement on Data and Databases), if practicable, and should in any event be prepared to retain such data for a reasonable time after publication.

Authorship clarified

The Journal and Publisher assume all authors agreed with the content and that all gave explicit consent to submit and that they obtained consent from the responsible authorities at the institute/organization where the work has been carried out, before the work is submitted.

The Publisher does not prescribe the kinds of contributions that warrant authorship. It is recommended that authors adhere to the guidelines for authorship that are applicable in their specific research field. In absence of specific guidelines it is recommended to adhere to the following guidelines (based on ICMJE guidelines):

All authors whose names appear on the submission:

1. made substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data; or the creation of new software used in the work AND
2. drafted the work or revised it critically for important intellectual content AND
3. approved the version to be published AND
4. agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Anyone who contributed to the research or manuscript preparation, but is not an author, should be acknowledged with their permission.

Submissions by anyone other than one of the authors will not be considered.

Research Ethics and Patient Consent (Statement of Human and Animal Rights)

Medical research involving human subjects must be conducted according to the World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki. If doubt exists whether the research was conducted in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration, the authors must explain the rationale for their approach, and demonstrate that the institutional review body explicitly approved the doubtful aspects of the study.

Submitted manuscripts should conform to the ICMJE Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals, and all papers reporting animal and/or human studies must state in the methods section that the relevant Ethics Committee or Institutional Review Board provided (or waived) approval. Please ensure that you have provided the full name and institution of the review committee, in addition to the approval number.

For research articles, authors are also required to state in the methods section whether participants provided informed consent and whether the consent was written or verbal.

Information on informed consent to report individual cases or case series should be included in the manuscript text. A statement is required regarding whether written informed consent for patient information and images to be published was provided by the patient(s) or a legally authorized representative. Please do not submit the patient’s actual written informed consent with your article, as this in itself breaches the patient’s confidentiality. The Journal requests that you confirm to us, in writing, that you have obtained written informed consent but the written consent itself should be held by the authors/investigators themselves, for example in a patient’s hospital record. The confirmatory letter may be uploaded with your submission as a separate file.

Please also refer to the ICMJE Recommendations for the Protection of Research Participants.

If the work involves chemicals, procedures or equipment that have any unusual hazards inherent in their use, the author must clearly identify these in the manuscript. If the work involves the use of animal or human subjects, the authors should ensure that the manuscript contains a statement that all procedures were performed in compliance with relevant laws and institutional guidelines and that the appropriate institutional committee(s) have approved them. Authors should include a statement in the manuscript that informed consent was obtained for experimentation with human subjects. The privacy rights of human subjects must always be observed.

When reporting experiments on animals, authors have to indicate whether the institutional and national guide for the care and use of laboratory animals was followed.

Research involving human embryos, gametes, and stem cells

Manuscripts that report experiments involving the use of human embryos and gametes, human embryonic stem cells and related materials, and clinical applications of stem cells must include confirmation that all experiments were performed in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations.

The manuscript should include an ethics statement identifying the institutional and/or national research ethics committee (including the name of the ethics committee) approving the experiments and describing any relevant details. Authors should confirm that informed consent was obtained from all recipients and/or donors of cells or tissues, where necessary, and describe the conditions of donation of materials for research, such as human embryos or gametes. Copies of approval and redacted consent documents may be requested by the Journal.

We encourage authors to follow the principles laid out in the 2016 ISSCR Guidelines for Stem Cell Research and Clinical Translation.

In deciding whether to publish papers describing modifications of the human germline, the Journal is guided by safety considerations, compliance with applicable regulations, as well as the status of the societal debate on the implications of such modifications for future generations. The decision to publish a paper is the responsibility of the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal.

Use of inclusive language

Inclusive language acknowledges diversity, conveys respect to all people, is sensitive to differences, and promotes equal opportunities. Articles should make no assumptions about the beliefs or commitments of any reader, should contain nothing which might imply that one individual is superior to another on the grounds of race, sex, culture or any other characteristic, and should use inclusive language throughout. Authors should ensure that writing is free from bias, for instance by using 'he or she', 'his/her' instead of 'he' or 'his', and by making use of job titles that are free of stereotyping (e.g. 'chairperson' instead of 'chairman' and 'flight attendant' instead of 'stewardess').

Conflicts of Interest

The journal requires that all authors disclose any potential sources of conflict of interest. Any interest or relationship, financial or otherwise that might be perceived as influencing an author's objectivity is considered a potential source of conflict of interest. These must be disclosed when directly relevant or directly related to the work that the authors describe in their manuscript. Potential sources of conflict of interest include, but are not limited to: patent or stock ownership, membership of a company board of directors, membership of an advisory board or committee for a company, and consultancy for or receipt of speaker's fees from a company. The existence of a conflict of interest does not preclude publication. If the authors have no conflict of interest to declare, they must also state this at submission. It is the responsibility of the corresponding author to review this policy with all authors and collectively to disclose with the submission ALL pertinent commercial and other relationships.

Conflicts include the following:

• Financial — funding and other payments, goods and services received or expected by the authors relating to the subject of the work or from an organization with an interest in the outcome of the work;
• Affiliations — being employed by, on the advisory board for, or a member of an organization with an interest in the outcome of the work;
• Intellectual property — patents or trademarks owned by someone or their organization;
• Personal — friends, family, relationships, and other close personal connections;
• Ideology — beliefs or activism, for example, political or religious, relevant to the work;
• Academic — competitors or someone whose work is critiqued.

For more information on conflicts of interest, see the guidance from the ICMJE and WAME.

Funding and Acknowledgement of Sources

Authors should list all funding sources in the Acknowledgments section. Authors are responsible for the accuracy of their funder designation. If in doubt, please check the Open Funder Registry for the correct nomenclature: https://www.crossref.org/services/funder-registry/  

Proper acknowledgment of the work of others must always be given. Authors should cite publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the reported work. Information obtained privately, as in conversation, correspondence, or discussion with third parties, must not be used or reported without explicit, written permission from the source. Information obtained in the course of confidential services, such as refereeing manuscripts or grant applications, must not be used without the explicit written permission of the author of the work involved in these services.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism takes many forms, from passing off another paper as the author(s) own paper, to copying or paraphrasing substantial parts of another(s) paper (without attribution), to claiming results from research conducted by others. Plagiarism in all its forms constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable. Only original works are acceptable for publication in "Vestnik Dermatologii i Venerologii". The journal does not allow any forms of plagiarism. Authors must not use the words, figures, or ideas of others without attribution. All sources must be cited at "Vestnik Dermatologii i Venerologii" take issues of copyright infringement, plagiarism or other breaches of best practice in publication very seriously. We seek to protect the rights of our authors and we always investigate claims of plagiarism or misuse of published articles. Equally, we seek to protect the reputation of the journal against malpractice. All the submitted articles are evaluated with plagiarism-checking software (Antiplagiat). Where an article, for example, is found to have plagiarized other work or included third-party copyright material without permission or with insufficient acknowledgment, or where the authorship of the article is contested, we reserve the right to take action including, but not limited to:

• publishing an erratum or corrigendum (correction);
• retracting the article;
• taking up the matter with the head of department or dean of the author’s institution and/or relevant academic bodies or societies;
• or taking appropriate legal action.

Also you can see ORI Avoiding Plagiarism, Self-plagiarism, and Other Questionable Writing Practices: A Guide to Ethical Writing

Duplicate Submission and Redundant Publication

Editorial team of "Vestnik Dermatologii i Venerologii" consider only original content, i.e. articles that have not been previously published, including in a language other than English. Articles based on content previously made public only on a preprint server, institutional repository, or in a thesis will be considered.

Manuscripts submitted to "Vestnik Dermatologii i Venerologii" must not be submitted elsewhere while under consideration and must be withdrawn before being submitted elsewhere. Authors whose articles are found to have been simultaneously submitted elsewhere may incur sanctions.

If authors have used their own previously published work, or work that is currently under review, as the basis for a submitted manuscript, they must cite the previous articles and indicate how their submitted manuscript differs from their previous work. Reuse of the authors’ own words outside the Methods should be attributed or quoted in the text. Reuse of the authors’ own figures or substantial amounts of wording may require permission from the copyright holder and the authors are responsible for obtaining this.

Editorial team of "Vestnik Dermatologii i Venerologii" will consider extended versions of articles published at conferences provided this is declared in the cover letter, the previous version is clearly cited and discussed, there is significant new content, and any necessary permissions are obtained.

Redundant publication, the inappropriate division of study outcomes into more than one article (also known as salami slicing), may result in rejection or a request to merge submitted manuscripts, and the correction of published articles. Duplicate publication of the same, or a very similar, article may result in the retraction of the later article and the authors may incur sanctions.

Citation Manipulation

Authors whose submitted manuscripts are found to include citations whose primary purpose is to increase the number of citations to a given author’s work, or to articles published in a particular journal, may incur sanctions.

Editors and reviewers must not ask authors to include references merely to increase citations to their own or an associate’s work, to the journal, or to another journal they are associated with.

Fundamental errors in published works, Corrections and Retractions

When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published work, it is the authors obligation to promptly notify the journal editor or publisher and cooperate with the editor to retract or correct the paper.

If the editor or the publisher learn from a third party that a published work contains a significant error, it is the obligation of the author to promptly retract or correct the paper or provide evidence to the editor of the correctness of the original paper.

When errors are identified in published articles, the publisher will consider what action is required and may consult the editors and the authors’ institution(s). 

Errors by the authors may be corrected by a corrigendum, and errors by the publisher — by an erratum (see more).

If there are errors that significantly affect the conclusions or there is evidence of misconduct, this may require retraction or an expression of concern following the COPE Retraction Guidelines. All authors will be asked to agree to the content of the appropriate notice. 

Sanctions

If editorial team and/or publisher of "Vestnik Dermatologii i Venerologii" becomes aware of breaches of our publication ethics policies, the following sanctions may be applied:

• Rejection of the manuscript and any other manuscripts submitted by the author(s).
• Not allowing submission for 1–3 years.
• Prohibition from acting as an editor or reviewer.

Editorial team of "Vestnik Dermatologii i Venerologii" may apply additional sanctions for severe ethical violations.

Self-archiving, preprint and postprint policy

Advertising & Reprints Policies

Our advertising policy is consistent with the principles mentioned in the Recommendations on Publication Ethics Policies for Medical Journals which issued by the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME).

http://www.wame.org/recommendations-on-publication-ethics-policie

1. "Vestnik Dermatologii i Venerologii" journal and it's Publisher generate revenue from advertising and reprints, which creates a potential conflict of interest. Editors’ decisions do not depend on the cost of advertising or producing reprints. Advertisers and sponsors have no influence over the editor’s decisions, regardless of the terms of advertising or other agreements.
2. All advertisements are subject to the approval of the "Vestnik Dermatologii i Venerologii" editorial team and Publisher's staff, which reserves the right to reject or cancel any advertisement at any time.
3. The functions of "Vestnik Dermatologii i Venerologii" editors and Publisher's advertising managers are separate.
4. In the "Vestnik Dermatologii i Venerologii" professional (physician-directed) publications and web site, the intentional placement of advertising adjacent to articles discussing the company or product that is the subject of the advertisement is prohibited. Advertising content must be distinguished from editorial and other materials so that the difference between them is obvious.
5. Publisher will not publish “advertorial” content in "Vestnik Dermatologii i Venerologii", and sponsored supplements must be clearly indicated as such. If a supplement did not undergo peer review or underwent a peer review-process different from the rest of the journal that should be explicitly stated.
6. The "Vestnik Dermatologii i Venerologii" editorial team have the right to refuse any advertisement that, in its sole discretion, is incompatible with its mission or inconsistent with the values of members, the publication/web site or the organization as a whole, and to stop accepting any advertisement previously accepted. Advertisements are subject to review by the editors of the "Vestnik Dermatologii i Venerologii" and Publisher's stuff. In no case shall separate agreements with Publisher or its subsidiaries supersede this policy.
7. Once an advertisement has been deployed online, it will be withdrawn from the journal site at any time if the Editor(s)-in-Chief or Publisher's staff request its removal.
8. Advertising for the following categories is prohibited:
   
   • Alcohol
   • Tobacco
   • Weapons, firearms, ammunition
   • Fireworks
   • Gambling and lottery
   • Pornography or related themes
   • Political and religious advertisements
   • Advertisements that claim to have a “miracle” cure or method
   • Advertisements that make unsubstantiated health claims for the products advertised
   • Advertisements directed at children
9. Advertisements may not be deceptive or misleading, and must be verifiable. Advertisements should clearly identify the advertiser and the product or service being offered. Exaggerated or extravagantly worded copy will not be allowed. Advertisements will not be accepted if they appear to be indecent or offensive in either text or artwork, or if they relate to content of a personal, racial, ethnic, sexual orientation, or religious nature.
10. All advertisements are accepted and published in "Vestnik Dermatologii i Venerologii" on the warranty of the advertisement agency and advertiser that both are authorized to publish the entire contents and subject matter of the advertisement.
11. In consideration of publication of an advertisement, the advertiser and the advertisement agency, jointly and severally, agree to indemnify and hold harmless Publisher, its officers, agents and employees against expenses (including legal fees) and losses resulting from the publication of the contents of the advertisement, including, without limitation, claims or suits for libel, violation of privacy, copyright infringement, or plagiarism.
12. Any references to "Vestnik Dermatologii i Venerologii" and Publisher or its products or services in advertisements, promotional material, or merchandising by the advertiser or agency is subject to Publisher’s written approval for such use.
13. All advertisements for drug-specific campaigns must comply with the relevant Russian legislation that regulates advertising. Advertisers should make available to Publisher the marketing authorization and summary of product characteristics when submitting their advertisement. In the case of drug advertisements, proprietary names of pharmaceutical products must be accompanied by the chemical, generic, or official name; the quantity of all active substances must be stated along with the recommended dosage. Each page of an advertisement for a prescription-only medicine should be clearly labeled as intended for health professionals.
14. Advertisements for products not approved by the FDA or the Ministry of Health of Russian Federation that make any kind of health claims must carry the following disclaimer: “These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and/or the Ministry of Health of Russian Federation. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.”
15. While Publisher welcomes and encourages information-rich advertising in "Vestnik Dermatologii i Venerologii", advertisements, advertising icons and advertiser logos must be clearly distinguishable from editorial content and may require special labeling to distinguish them as such. All advertisements must clearly and prominently identify the advertiser by trademark or signature.
16. Reprints should be published only in the form in which they were originally published in the journal (including subsequent corrections), so there should be no additions or changes in them.
17. Publisher is not responsible for incidental or consequential damage for errors in displaying or printing an advertisement.
18. Advertisements may not imply endorsement by the "Vestnik Dermatologii i Venerologii" or its publications/web site except as may be provided for under a separate agreement — in which case advertising must be pre-approved to ensure adherence to the letter and spirit of that separate agreement.
19. The full rules for any market research or promotion associated with an advertisement must be displayed in the advertisement or available via a prominent link.
20. The following online advertising formats are prohibited:
    
    • Pop-ups and floating advertisements.
    • Advertisements that collect personally identifiable information from visitors without their knowledge or permission.
    • Advertisements that extend across or down the page without the visitor having clicked or rolled-over the advertisement.
    • Advertisements that send visitors to another site without the visitor having clicked the advertisement.

Published advertising policies are not exhaustive and are subject to change at any time without notice.

We partner with third-party advertising companies to serve ads and/or collect certain information when you visit our website. These companies may use cookies or web beacons to collect non-personally identifiable information [not including your name, address, email address or telephone number] during your visit to this website to help show advertisements on other websites also likely to be of interest to you.

For contact with the Advertisement department of the Publisher, please, follow the link https://vestnikdv.ru/jour/about/contact 

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