Journal Policies

This page outlines the journal-specific policies that guide manuscript evaluation, peer review, publication ethics, research integrity, reporting standards, data transparency, and post-publication responsibilities.

These policies should be read together with ZENTIME's publisher-level Editorial Policies, Publishing Policies, and Open Access, Fees and Licensing policy. Where journal-specific requirements supplement publisher-level policies, authors should follow both sets of requirements unless otherwise specified.

As a journal focusing on research in skin pharmacology, dermatological therapeutics, and related drug delivery technologies, cutaneous pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, skin barrier science, dermatological formulations, pharmacovigilance, skin models and related translational or clinical studies, the journal requires authors to provide clear and comprehensive reporting of relevantdrug-related, methodological and transparency information. This includes drug identity, formulation, dose, route of administration, vehicle or excipients, study design, patient safety, data transparency and conflicts of interest, where applicable.

The journal expects authors, editors, reviewers and editorial board members to follow internationally recognized guidelines and recommendations of responsible scholarly publishing, including relevant guidance issued by  Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME), the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), and the EQUATOR Network, where applicable.

The journal operates a rigorous and consistent peer review process to ensure the quality, integrity, clinical relevance and scientific value of published content.

All submitted manuscripts are first assessed by the editorial office or a handling editor for completeness, relevance to the journal’s aims and scope, ethical compliance, reporting quality and suitability for further evaluation. Manuscripts that are outside the journal's scope, do not meet basic reporting standards, lack sufficient originality or raise significant ethical, safety or methodological concerns may be rejected before external peer review.

The journal uses a single-blind peer review model, in which reviewers remain anonymous to authors. Research articles, systematic reviews, clinical studies, pharmacological studies, formulation studies, translational studies and other scholarly manuscripts requiring external review are normally assessed by two or more independent reviewers with relevant expertise.

For manuscripts involving dermatological drugs, topical formulations, transdermal delivery systems, skin models, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamic studies, skin imaging, drug safety assessment or adverse cutaneous reactions, editors may invite reviewers with relevant clinical, pharmacological, pharmaceutical, methodological or statistical expertise.

Reviewer comments are advisory. Final editorial decisions are made by the Editor-in-Chief or designated handling editor based on editorial assessment, reviewer comments, methodological rigor, originality, ethical compliance, drug safety relevance, clinical or translational significance, and suitability for the journal.

Editorials, commentaries, letters, corrections and invited content may be reviewed internally or externally at the discretion of the editors, according to the nature of the content.

The journal maintains editorial independence in all editorial decisions. Decisions on individual manuscripts are made by the Editor-in-Chief, handling editors or other authorized editorial personnel in accordance with the journal's policies.

Editorial decisions are based on scholarly merit, originality, methodological rigor, relevance to the journal’s aims and scope, ethical integrity, clinical relevance, pharmacological significance and translational value. Decisions are not influenced by commercial interests, advertising, sponsorship, institutional affiliations, political considerations or personal relationships. Editorial decisions are also independent of the financial interests of ZENTIME, journal owners, editors, editorial board members, sponsors or any third party.

Editors and editorial board members must maintain confidentiality, declare conflicts of interest and recuse themselves from handling manuscripts when their impartiality may be compromised. Manuscripts submitted by editors, editorial board members or journal staff will be handled independently by an editor without conflict of interest and will undergo the same editorial assessment and peer review processes as other submissions.

The journal is committed to maintaining high standards of publication ethics and research integrity. Authors, editors and reviewers are expected to act with honesty, transparency and accountability throughout the submission, review and publication process.

The journal considers plagiarism, redundant publication, duplicate submission, data fabrication, data falsification, image manipulation, citation manipulation, authorship manipulation, peer review manipulation, paper mill involvement and other forms of research or publication misconduct unacceptable.

For skin pharmacology and dermatological therapeutics research, authors must not misrepresent drug identity, formulation composition, dose, concentration, vehicle-related effects, pharmacokinetic or pharmacodynamic findings, clinical efficacy, safety findings, adverse events, image-based outcomes, histological data, skin model results or sponsor involvement.

Suspected misconduct will be investigated according to the journal's procedures and ZENTIME's publisher-level policies. Depending on the circumstances, outcomes may include a request for clarification, manuscript rejection, correction, expression of concern, retraction, article removal or notification of relevant institutions or authorities.

All listed authors must have made substantial scholarly contributions to the work, approved the manuscript and agreed to its submission. The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that authorship, author order, corresponding author details and required declarations have been agreed by all authors before submission.

The journal requires an author contribution statement and encourages the use of the CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) framework where appropriate. Contributors who do not meet authorship criteria should be acknowledged with their permission.

Authors must disclose all financial and non-financial competing interests that could influence, or be perceived to influence, the work. In skin pharmacology research, relevant disclosures may include employment, consultancy, advisory roles, honoraria, stock ownership, patents, patent applications, royalties, licensing agreements, sponsored testing, drug or formulation supply, device donation, data access, statistical support, writing assistance or other relationships with pharmaceutical companies, formulation developers, cosmetic companies, biotechnology companies, device manufacturers, contract research organizations or sponsors.

All funding sources, grant numbers and institutional support should be disclosed. Authors should state the role of funders, sponsors or commercial partners, where applicable, in study design, formulation development, drug supply, participant recruitment, data collection, data access, analysis, interpretation, manuscript preparation and the decision to submit for publication.

Authors should state whether they had full access to the study data and whether the sponsor, funder or commercial partner had any role in approving or restricting publication.

Changes to authorship after submission require a clear explanation, written agreement from all authors and editorial approval.

Research involving human participants, human data, human tissue, skin samples, biological specimens or identifiable clinical information must obtain appropriate ethics approval or exemption where required. Authors should state the name of the ethics committee or institutional review board, approval number or reference number, and any relevant exemption information in the manuscript.

Research involving animals must comply with applicable institutional, national and international ethical standards. Authors should provide details of ethical approval and animal welfare measures where applicable.

Studies involving dermatological interventions, including topical or transdermal drug administration, patch testing, skin biopsies, tape stripping, skin imaging or phototesting, must comply with applicable ethical, regulatory and safety requirements. Studies involving cosmetic active ingredients or device-assisted drug delivery should also meet applicable ethical and regulatory standards.

Informed consent should be obtained where required. Written consent for publication is required for identifiable patient information, including clinical photographs, dermatological images, videos, case details, or other information that could identify an individual. This includes visible features such as facial characteristics, tattoos or birthmarks where identification may be possible. Patient privacy and confidentiality must be protected, and identifying information should not be published unless essential and supported by appropriate informed consent.

Authors should take particular care when reporting rare dermatological conditions, visible body sites, facial lesions, genital skin diseases, pediatric cases or images that may allow indirect identification.

Manuscripts reporting skin pharmacology, dermatological therapeutics, topical formulations, transdermal delivery systems or cutaneous drug delivery studies should provide sufficient information to support evaluation, interpretation and reproducibility.

Where applicable, authors should report:

• generic name or International Nonproprietary Name (INN) of the drug or active substance;

• chemical identity, source, purity and manufacturer where relevant;

• formulation type, vehicle, excipients and key formulation characteristics;

• drug concentration, dose, route of administration, frequency, duration and application site;

• treatment area, occlusion, skin condition and comparator or control;

• batch number, storage conditions and stability information where relevant;

• whether the product is approved, investigational, compounded, modified, off-label or used for research purposes;

• concomitant treatments, rescue medication and washout periods where applicable;

• adherence, exposure, application method and treatment fidelity.

Authors should report efficacy, pharmacokinetic, pharmacodynamic, safety and tolerability outcomes transparently. This may include local irritation, allergic contact dermatitis, sensitization, photosensitivity, burning, pruritus, dryness, barrier disruption, systemic absorption, laboratory abnormalities, serious adverse events and other relevant cutaneous or systemic findings.

For dermatological formulations, authors should describe relevant formulation properties, such as pH, viscosity, particle size, release characteristics, permeation or penetration methods, drug content uniformity and stability where applicable.

For comparative studies, authors should describe the comparator, vehicle, placebo, standard care or active control clearly.

Clinical trials and interventional studies involving dermatological drugs, topical therapies, transdermal delivery systems, biologics, small molecules, cosmetic active ingredients or device-assisted drug delivery must be registered in a publicly accessible registry before participant recruitment begins where required. The registry name and registration number should be included in the manuscript.

Manuscripts reporting clinical trials should include a data sharing statement where required by applicable guidelines, standards or journal policy. The statement should indicate whether de-identified individual participant data will be shared, what data will be shared, whether related documents such as the study protocol or statistical analysis plan will be available, the timing and duration of data access, and the conditions for access.

Authors should report adverse events, serious adverse events, treatment discontinuations and withdrawals, treatment-emergent events and other clinically relevant safety findings clearly. For pharmacovigilance reports and adverse drug reaction studies, authors should describe the data source, case definition, causality assessment, exposure information, confounding factors and limitations.

Authors should follow appropriate reporting guidelines according to study design. Relevant guidelines may include CONSORT for randomized trials, CONSORT extensions where applicable, PRISMA for systematic reviews and meta-analyses, STROBE for observational studies, STARD for diagnostic accuracy studies, SPIRIT for trial protocols, TIDieR for intervention description, CARE for case reports, ARRIVE for animal studies and other EQUATOR Network resources.

Reporting checklists and flow diagrams should be submitted where required by the journal or relevant reporting guideline.

Manuscripts reporting preclinical, in vitro, ex vivo or skin model studies should provide sufficient methodological detail to support reproducibility, interpretation and critical evaluation.

Where applicable, authors should describe:

• cell lines, primary cell, organoid, reconstructed skin, animal model where applicable, ex vivo human skin or other models used;

• source, authentication, passage number and contamination testing of cell lines where relevant;

• source, anatomical site, donor characteristics, storage conditions and ethical acquisition of human or animal skin tissue where relevant;

• experimental conditions, controls, replicates, randomization and blinding where applicable;

• drug concentration, exposure duration, vehicle, solvent and comparator;

• skin barrier preparation, integrity assessment and acceptance criteria;

• permeation, penetration, release, retention or distribution methods;

• analytical methods, validation and limits of detection where relevant;

• histological, imaging, molecular, biochemical or functional endpoints;

• limitations of the model and relevance to human skin or clinical use.

For animal studies, authors should follow appropriate animal research reporting standards and describe measures taken to minimize pain, distress and unnecessary animal use.

Authors should include a Data Availability Statement where applicable, describing where the data supporting the findings can be accessed or explaining why data cannot be shared.

Data, protocols, statistical analysis plans, analytic code, chemical information, formulation details, raw or processed imaging data, histological data, pharmacokinetic data, pharmacodynamic data and supplementary materials should be shared where ethically, legally and practically possible.

Restrictions due to privacy, ethics, legal, commercial, intellectual property, confidentiality or safety reasons should be clearly explained.

For clinical studies, authors should ensure that shared data are appropriately de-identified and consistent with ethics approval, informed consent and applicable data protection requirements. Special caution is required for clinical photographs, dermoscopic images, lesion images and other visual data that may allow direct or indirect identification.

For formulation and drug delivery studies, authors should provide sufficient information to allow readers and reviewers to understand the active substance, vehicle, excipients, preparation method, characterization, comparator, release or permeation method and limitations.

Supplementary materials should support the main article and should not replace essential methods, results, safety information, formulation details, pharmacological data or validation information needed to evaluate the work.

AI tools and large language models cannot be listed as authors. Authors remain responsible for the accuracy, originality and integrity of all submitted content, including any content generated or assisted by AI tools.

Use of generative AI or AI-assisted technologies beyond basic spelling/grammar/language editing should be disclosed in the manuscript according to the journal's requirements. AI tools must not be used to fabricate, falsify or manipulate data, images, references, clinical photographs, histological images, dermoscopic images, pharmacological results, safety findings or conclusions.

For manuscripts involving AI-enabled image analysis, automated lesion assessment, digital pathology, diagnostic algorithms, prediction models, drug screening tools or clinical decision support systems, authors should describe the intended use, system version, development and validation methods, datasets, performance metrics, human oversight, limitations, potential risks and safeguards where applicable.

Authors should clearly distinguish between real clinical images, simulated images, AI-generated images and processed images. AI-generated or AI-assisted images must be appropriately described, ethically justified and transparently disclosed. Their use is subject to journal policy.

Editors and reviewers must not upload confidential manuscripts, peer review reports, decision letters or related materials to public AI tools unless explicitly permitted by the journal and consistent with confidentiality and data protection requirements.

The journal considers manuscripts that have been posted as preprints, provided that the work has not been published as a peer-reviewed article and is not under consideration by another journal at the same time.

Authors must disclose any preprint, conference abstract, thesis, report, trial registry record, regulatory document, pharmacovigilance report or related prior dissemination at submission. Where applicable, authors should provide the preprint server name, DOI or link.

If the manuscript is accepted, authors are encouraged to update the preprint record with a citation and link to the final published article where permitted by the preprint server. Duplicate submission and redundant publication are not permitted.

Open Access

The journal is a Gold Open Access journal. All published articles are freely and permanently available online immediately upon publication.

Authors should review the journal's Open Access and Fees page before submission for information on article processing charges, waiver or discount options, copyright, licensing, article sharing and self-archiving.

Copyright

Authors are required to transfer copyright in their accepted manuscript to the journal upon acceptance for publication.

In exceptional circumstances, including where specific institutional or funder requirements apply, authors may contact the editorial office to discuss alternative copyright arrangements.

Licensing

All published articles are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license.

The CC BY 4.0 license permits others to share, copy, redistribute, remix, transform and build upon the work for any purpose, including commercially, provided that appropriate credit is given to the original authors and source, a link to the license is provided, and any changes are indicated.

Article Sharing and Self-Archiving

Authors may share, host and self-archive the published Version of Record in accordance with the CC BY 4.0 license.

Articles may be shared through institutional repositories, personal websites, academic networks and other appropriate platforms, provided that appropriate attribution to the original publication is retained and the terms of the CC BY 4.0 license are respected.

Use of Third-Party and Previously Published Material

Authors are responsible for obtaining permission to reproduce or adapt material owned by third parties where permission is required. This includes material previously published by the authors themselves if the copyright is held by another publisher or third party.

Permission may be required for, including but not limited to:

• previously published figures, tables, graphs, charts, schemes, artworks or other content that is reproduced or only slightly modified;

• substantial extracts of text or other material from previously published works;

• photographs, images or other visual materials for which the authors do not hold the necessary rights; and

• the authors' own previously published material where the authors have not retained the relevant copyright or reuse rights.

Authors should obtain all necessary permissions before submitting the manuscript and provide appropriate attribution and permission statements where required.

Authors are responsible for ensuring that the use of third-party material complies with applicable copyright, license and permission requirements. Third-party material may not necessarily be covered by the CC BY 4.0 license applied to the article as a whole.

The journal is committed to maintaining the integrity and transparency of the scholarly record. Post-publication updates may include corrections, expressions of concern, retractions or, in exceptional circumstances, article removal where appropriate.

Corrections may be issued for substantive errors that do not invalidate the article. Retractions may be issued when findings are unreliable, affected by serious ethical violations or substantially compromised. Expressions of concern may be issued when serious concerns remain unresolved.

For skin pharmacology research, post-publication concerns may include unreliable efficacy or safety data, unreported adverse events, misrepresented formulation or drug identity, undisclosed conflicts of interest, invalid analytical or permeation methods, manipulated clinical or histological images, privacy breaches or other issues that may affect clinical, pharmacological or scientific interpretation.

Authors may appeal an editorial decision or submit a complaint by contacting the editorial office. Appeals should identify specific concerns, such as a possible error in the editorial process, a misunderstanding of the manuscript or evidence that relevant information was not adequately considered.

Submission of an appeal does not guarantee reconsideration, further review or reversal of the original decision. Repeated appeals without new evidence may not be considered. Complaints regarding editorial conduct, peer review, conflicts of interest, confidentiality or publication ethics will be handled fairly, independently and in a timely manner.

Related ZENTIME publisher policies:

• Editorial Policies

• Publishing Policies

• Open Access, Fees and Licensing

Related external standards and resources may include:

• Committee on Publication Ethics

• World Association of Medical Editors

• International Committee of Medical Journal Editors

• EQUATOR Network

• CONSORT

• PRISMA

• STROBE

• STARD

• SPIRIT

• TIDieR

• CARE

• ARRIVE