Editorial Policies

Our Dermatology Online is committed to maintaining transparent, consistent, and responsible editorial and publishing practices.

The journal’s editorial policies are designed to ensure the integrity of the scholarly publishing process, protect the rights of authors and research participants, maintain the confidentiality and independence of peer review, and provide readers with reliable and accessible scientific content.

Editorial decisions are based on the scientific, clinical, and scholarly merits of submitted manuscripts.

The journal does not discriminate against authors on the basis of nationality, institutional affiliation, gender, race, religion, political views, or other personal characteristics.

Peer Review

Our Dermatology Online uses a double-blind peer review process.

Manuscripts that pass the initial editorial assessment and are considered suitable for external review are evaluated by at least two independent reviewers with appropriate expertise.

The average time from submission to first decision for manuscripts undergoing external peer review is approximately 3–6 weeks. This is an indicative timeframe and may vary depending on the complexity of the manuscript, reviewer availability, and the revision process.

Detailed information is available on the Peer Review Process page.

Publication Ethics

The journal is committed to high standards of publication ethics and research integrity.

Our policies address:

  • authorship and contributorship;
  • originality and plagiarism;
  • duplicate and redundant publication;
  • conflicts of interest;
  • research ethics;
  • informed consent;
  • patient privacy and confidentiality;
  • peer review confidentiality;
  • research and publication misconduct;
  • corrections and retractions.

The journal follows the principles and recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and other relevant international standards of responsible scholarly publishing.

Further information is available in the Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement.

Open Access

Our Dermatology Online is a fully open access journal.

All published articles are freely available online immediately upon publication without subscription, registration, or embargo.

The journal does not operate a hybrid publishing model.

Further information is available on the Open Access Policy page.

Copyright and Licensing

Authors retain copyright in their published work.

Articles published by Our Dermatology Online are distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0).

The applicable license and the rights of authors and readers are described in detail on the Copyright and Licensing page.

Author Fees

Our Dermatology Online is a no-fee open access journal.

The journal does not charge authors for manuscript submission, peer review, article processing, publication, pages, colour figures, or supplementary materials.

There are no mandatory article processing charges (APCs).

Further information is available on the Fees and Charges page.

Editorial Independence and Conflicts of Interest

Editors and reviewers must disclose potential conflicts of interest and must not participate in the evaluation or decision-making process when a conflict exists.

Editorial decisions are made independently of commercial interests.

Manuscripts submitted by the Editor-in-Chief, editors, or members of the Editorial Board are handled independently and are subject to the journal’s standard requirements for external peer review.

Corrections, Retractions, and Expressions of Concern

The journal maintains procedures for correcting the published scholarly record.

When necessary, the journal may publish:

  • corrections;
  • expressions of concern;
  • retractions;
  • other appropriate editorial notices.

Corrections and retractions are clearly identified and linked to the original publication.

The journal follows relevant COPE recommendations when addressing post-publication concerns.

Complaints and Appeals

Authors may submit complaints or appeals concerning editorial procedures or decisions.

Complaints and appeals are reviewed fairly and handled by the Editor-in-Chief or an appropriately designated editor.

An editor who has a conflict of interest in a complaint or appeal does not participate in its handling.

Further information is available on the Complaints and Appeals page.

Artificial Intelligence and Automated Tools

The journal recognizes the use of artificial intelligence and automated tools in scholarly publishing.

AI tools cannot be listed as authors.

Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, integrity, and ethical compliance of their manuscripts.

Any substantive use of generative AI or AI-assisted tools in preparing a manuscript should be disclosed in accordance with the journal’s Artificial Intelligence Policy.

Reviewers and editors must maintain manuscript confidentiality and must not upload confidential manuscript content to external AI systems where confidentiality cannot be assured.

Further information is available on the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy page.

Patient Privacy and Case Reports

Because the journal publishes clinical case reports and clinical images, protection of patient privacy is an essential part of the editorial process.

Authors must remove unnecessary identifying information and obtain appropriate informed consent for publication when an individual could be identified from the manuscript, photographs, videos, or other published material.

Further information is available in the journal’s Patient Consent and Case Reports Policy.

Special Issues and Guest Editors

Special issues and supplements are subject to the same standards of scientific integrity and editorial oversight as regular journal content.

The Editor-in-Chief retains overall responsibility for the editorial content of the journal, including special issues.

Manuscripts submitted by guest editors or members of the Editorial Board are handled independently and are subject to the journal’s standard peer review requirements.

Digital Preservation

The journal is committed to maintaining continued access to its published scholarly record.

The journal does not claim to use a preservation service unless that service is actually in operation.

Related Policies

Detailed information is available through the following policies:

  • Peer Review Process
  • Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement
  • Open Access Policy
  • Copyright and Licensing
  • Fees and Charges
  • Corrections and Retractions
  • Complaints and Appeals
  • Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy
  • Patient Consent and Case Reports

All policies apply to manuscripts submitted to and content published by Our Dermatology Online, unless a specific policy states otherwise.

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