Terms and conditions

Acceptance of the terms

These terms govern the use of the website of the journal Saltus, published by PEDIATRICSURGERYLATAM EDITORIAL S.A.S. By browsing the site, creating an account or submitting a manuscript you accept these terms and the Privacy policy. If you do not agree, do not use the site.

Use of the site and accounts

• You must be of legal age and give truthful information when registering. Each account is personal.
• You are responsible for keeping your password confidential and for what happens from your account. Tell us immediately if you suspect unauthorized access.
• You may not try to access data or functions that are not yours, interfere with the service, upload files with malicious software or use the site for unlawful purposes.
• We may suspend or close accounts that breach these terms or editorial ethics rules.

Manuscript submission and author responsibilities

By submitting a manuscript, the corresponding author declares and warrants, on behalf of all authors, that:

• The work is original, has not been published and is not under evaluation at another journal, and complies with the author guidelines.
• All authors meet the ICMJE authorship criteria and approved the submission. Artificial intelligence cannot be listed as an author and its use must be disclosed.
• Ethics committee approval was obtained (or an exemption was justified) and, where applicable, informed consent from parents or guardians and the child's assent. No data identifying patients is included without that consent.
• All conflicts of interest and funding sources were declared, and the data presented are real and have not been fabricated or manipulated.
• The manuscript does not infringe third-party rights or contain copyrighted material without permission.

Submitting a manuscript does not guarantee its evaluation, acceptance or publication.

Peer review and editorial decisions

Manuscripts go through an initial editorial screening and, where appropriate, peer review. The final decision on each manuscript rests with the editorial team, which may accept, request changes or reject, and is not obliged to justify beyond the decision letter. Decisions may be appealed by writing to editor@saltusjournal.org.

Reviewers and editors must keep manuscripts confidential, disclose conflicts of interest and not use the content for their own benefit or upload it to external artificial intelligence tools.

Copyright and license

Authors retain the copyright of their work. When an article is accepted, the author grants the journal the right to publish and distribute it in open access under the CC BY 4.0 license (proposed: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0), which allows anyone to copy, distribute and adapt the article provided authorship and source are credited.

The journal may keep copies of the article for archiving, indexing and digital preservation. The design, code and original texts of the site belong to PEDIATRICSURGERYLATAM EDITORIAL S.A.S., unless stated otherwise.

Corrections, retractions and misconduct

The journal follows COPE and ICMJE guidance. Errors are fixed through errata; articles with confirmed misconduct or errors that invalidate their conclusions may be retracted. In case of suspected plagiarism, data fabrication, fraudulent authorship or other conduct, we may reject the manuscript, withdraw a published article, inform the authors' institutions and suspend accounts.

Medical content

Articles are scientific research and communication aimed at health professionals. They are not medical advice and do not replace an assessment by a professional in a specific case. The opinions expressed in the articles are those of their authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the journal or PEDIATRICSURGERYLATAM EDITORIAL S.A.S.

Indexing and accreditations

The journal will report only the indexing, ISSN, DOIs and accreditations it actually holds. Any mention of future databases is a goal, not a guarantee.

Availability and limit of liability

We do our best to keep the site available and secure, but we provide it “as is”, with no guarantee of uninterrupted or error-free operation. To the extent permitted by applicable law, PEDIATRICSURGERYLATAM EDITORIAL S.A.S. is not liable for indirect damages, loss of data or opportunities arising from use of the site, or for the content of third-party sites linked from it. Keep a copy of your manuscripts and files.

Changes, governing law and contact

We may modify these terms; the current version is the one published on this page, with its date. Continued use of the site implies acceptance.

These terms are governed by the laws of Ecuador. Any dispute will be handled by [competent courts to be defined], without prejudice to the rights the law recognizes for the user.

Questions: editor@saltusjournal.org.