Edanz Publication Ethics
Adherence to ethical standards is essential in academic research and the preparation of scholarly manuscripts.
Manuscripts are evaluated against the ethical guidelines set by organizations such as ICMJE, COPE, and EASE. Manuscripts that do not comply with these guidelines risk losing the opportunity to have their research properly evaluated.
As a COPE member, Edanz is committed to leading the research support services industry in the practice of the highest standards of transparency and ethics.
To this end, we always make publicly available the names and profiles of the editors and expert reviewers who have worked on each manuscript.
Acknowledgments
International publishing guidelines from COPE, ICMJE, EASE, and others require full transparency in manuscripts, including disclosure of any individuals who provided writing or editing assistance. Explicitly acknowledging professional English language support in the Acknowledgments section allows editors and reviewers to focus on evaluating the scientific merit of the manuscript.
Edanz is the only major writing support company to have a transparency policy that makes public the name and profile of the expert who worked on each client manuscript.
For questions about acknowledgments and publication transparency — including the following — please contact us at japan@edanz.com:
- Guidance on appropriate acknowledgment wording when multiple individuals or services are involved
- Cases where your target journal requires a permission letter signed by the individual(s) named in the acknowledgments
- Cases where your target journal uses its own form to obtain permission from individuals named in the acknowledgments
Plagiarism in Academic Manuscripts
Plagiarism is a serious ethical issue that threatens the integrity of academic publishing. Edanz is committed to ensuring that all services and guidance provided to authors are fully ethical, and we strive to support authors in acting responsibly. Knowingly editing text that has been plagiarized is itself considered a form of plagiarism. We therefore have strict policies regarding plagiarism identified within manuscripts.
- If plagiarism is identified during editing, the relevant passage will be highlighted and no edits will be made to that section. Advice on how to resolve the issue may be provided where appropriate.
- We will not edit, rewrite, or provide any other service designed to help text that has been identified as plagiarized avoid detection.
Where plagiarism is found in a manuscript, it will be clearly indicated to the author; however, we do not conduct checks specifically for the purpose of detecting plagiarism. The author bears full responsibility for all content in the final manuscript.
Edanz Services
Edanz provides all services in strict compliance with the following ethical guidelines.
| Edanz Service | Ethics Compliant | Details | How to Acknowledge |
|---|---|---|---|
| English Editing Review Editing | Yes | We suggest improvements to the flow, structure, and presentation of your manuscript. We do not alter data, results, or their representation. | We add an acknowledgment of our writing support services to the manuscript. We recommend keeping this text as provided, but you may modify or remove it. |
| Custom Science | Yes | We provide substantive editing and advice on the structure and content of the manuscript. We do not alter data, results, or their representation. | We add an acknowledgment of our writing support services to the manuscript. We recommend keeping this text as provided, but you may modify or remove it. |
| Journal Selection | Yes | We recommend target journals based on the author's preferences and the academic content of the manuscript, free from publisher-related or regional bias. | No acknowledgment required. |
| Cover Letter Development | Yes | We prepare a submission cover letter based on the manuscript. Our editors focus solely on presenting the research clearly and advising on submission requirements and conflicts of interest. | No acknowledgment required. |
| Reviewer Recommendations | Yes | We recommend reviewers without bias, based on the author's preferences and journal requirements. Potential conflicts of interest are checked during the selection process. If a conflict is identified after the report is delivered, we will select alternative reviewers at no charge. | No acknowledgment required. |
| Expert Scientific Review (independent of any journal) | Yes | We critically assess the manuscript content without bias, offering suggestions to improve the manuscript with consideration of the latest developments in the field, publication ethics, and the target journal. We do not alter data, results, or their representation. | We recommend adding the following to the Acknowledgments section of your manuscript: "We thank staff at Edanz (https://jp.edanz.com/ac) for critically reviewing a draft of this manuscript." |
| Abstract Development | Yes | Abstract Preparation does not involve changes to content. The abstract is prepared from an editorial standpoint, based on the content of the author's manuscript. | We recommend adding the following to the Acknowledgments section of your manuscript: "We thank Edanz (https://jp.edanz.com/ac) for helping to draft the abstract." |
| Response Letter Review (Point by Point) | Yes | We proofread the manuscript and response letter, then review the responses to reviewer comments and manuscript revisions to verify that the author has correctly understood and addressed the reviewer's comments. | No acknowledgment required. |
How Edanz Supports Ethical Publishing Practices
We are actively engaged in the following activities:
- Employing staff who are members of COPE Council, CSE, WAME, APAME, and ISTC
- Participating in COPE activities as a member
- Collaborating with EASE to produce Japanese translations of author guidelines
- Providing author workshops and educational content that address publication ethics
- Keeping our ethical guidelines up to date through regular consultation with our publishing partners
- Providing appropriate advice to authors when ethical issues arise in connection with their manuscripts
- Advising on authorship and conflicts of interest
- Leaving all decisions regarding manuscript content solely to the author
What Edanz Will Never Do in the Interest of Ethical Compliance
- Edit or rewrite plagiarized text
- Participate in or facilitate the following violations:
- List individuals as authors who do not qualify for authorship
- Manipulate conflicts of interest
- Duplicate publication
- Simultaneous submission to multiple journals
- Fabrication or falsification of data
- Peer review fraud
