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Author Instructions

grouping of images that should be presented separately, or modifying the contrast, brightness, or color balance to obscure,
eliminate, or enhance some information.
If irregular image manipulation is identified and confirmed during the peer-review process, we will reject the manuscript. If
irregular image manipulation is identified and confirmed after publication, we may publish a Retraction or retract the paper.
RDODJ reserves the right to contact the authors’ institution(s) to investigate possible publication misconduct if the Editors
find conclusive evidence of misconduct before or after publication. OAE has a partnership with iThenticate, which is the
most trusted similarity checker. It is used to analyze received manuscripts to avoid plagiarism to the greatest extent possible.
When plagiarism becomes evident after publication, we will retract the original publication or require modifications,
depending on the degree of plagiarism, context within the published article, and its impact on the overall integrity of the
published study. Journal Editors will act under the relevant COPE Guidelines.

4. Authorship
Authorship credit of RDODJ should be solely based on substantial contributions to a published study, as specified in the
following four criteria:
1. Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work, or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data
for the work;
2. Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content;
3. Final approval of the version to be published;
4. Agreement 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.
All those who meet these criteria should be identified as authors. Authors must specify their contributions in the section
Authors’ Contributions of their manuscripts. Contributors who do not meet all the four criteria (like only involved in
acquisition of funding, general supervision of a research group, general administrative support, writing assistance, technical
editing, language editing, proofreading, etc.) should be acknowledged in the section of Acknowledgement in the manuscript
rather than being listed as authors.
If a large multiple-author group has conducted the work, the group ideally should decide who will be authors before the
work starts and confirm authors before submission. All authors of the group named as authors must meet all the four criteria
for authorship.
AI and AI-assisted technologies should not be listed as an author or co-author.

5. Reviewers Exclusions
You are welcome to exclude a limited number of researchers as potential Editors or reviewers of your manuscript. To ensure
a fair and rigorous peer review process, we ask that you keep your exclusions to a maximum of three people. If you wish
to exclude additional referees, please explain or justify your concerns—this information will be helpful for Editors when
deciding whether to honor your request.

6. Editors and Journal Staff as Authors
Editorial independence is extremely important and RDODJ does not interfere with editorial decisions. Editorial staff or
Editors shall not be involved in the processing their own academic work. Submissions authored by editorial staff/Editors
will be assigned to at least three independent outside reviewers. Decisions will be made by other Editorial Board members
who do not have conflict of interests with the author. Journal staffs are not involved in the processing of their own work
submitted to any OAE journals.
7. Policy of the Use of AI and AI-assisted Technologies in Scientific Writing
Authorship credit of RDODJ should be solely based on substantial contributions to a published study, as specified in the
Generative AI and AI-assisted technologies (e.g., large language models) are expected to be increasingly used to create
content. In the writing process of manuscripts, using AI and AI-assisted technologies to complete key researcher work,
such as producing scientific insights, analyzing and interpreting data or drawing scientific conclusions, is not allowed, and
they should only be used to improve the readability and language of manuscripts.
AI and AI-assisted technologies should be used under human control and supervision as they may generate incorrect or
prejudiced output, and they should not be listed as an author or co-author, nor cited as an author.
The use of AI and AI-assisted technologies should be disclosed by authors in their manuscripts, and a statement will be
required in the final publication.
OAE will keep monitoring the development and adjust the policy when necessary.

8. Conflict of Interests
RDODJ require authors to declare any possible financial and/or non-financial conflicts of interest at the end of their
manuscript and in the cover letter, as well as confirm this point when submitting their manuscript in the submission system.
If no conflicts of interest exist, authors need to state “The authors declare no conflicts of interest”. We also recognize that
some authors may be bound by confidentiality agreements, in which cases authors need to sate “The authors declare that
they are bound by confidentiality agreements that prevent them from disclosing their competing interests in this work”.

Rare Disease and Orphan Drugs Journal