ISSN 2346-9420
online version
ISSN 0325-5247
printed version

Instructions to authors

• Scope and policy
• Form and preparation of manuscripts
• Sending of manuscripts

Introduction
The Revista de la Sociedad Argentina de Diabetes (SAD) is a peer-reviewed, double-blinded scientific journal published every four months by the SAD (Buenos Aires, Argentina). Its scientific issues are published in the following periods of each year: January-April, May-August and September-December.
Its objective is to communicate research and scientific updates from Argentina and Latin America on diabetes mellitus and related branches in order to encourage debate on the problems related to the specialty and to provide the medical population with scientifically verifiable information.
The Journal publishes original and unpublished articles on clinical or experimental research, reviews, updates, guidelines, consensus and recommendations, among other aspects related to the health of people with diabetes.
Aimed at physicians specializing in the pathology of reference in particular, physicians of all disciplines in general who have an interest in the area, researchers and teachers, the journal is published in Spanish and English.
The SAD Journal was created in 1967 and, since then, it has been published in printed format. Since 2014, it has also been published in electronic format.
The Journal reserves the right to accept or not the contributions received, in accordance with its thematic scope and in compliance with its editorial standards.
The opinions expressed by the authors of the articles are their exclusive responsibility.
All papers submitted for pre-evaluation to the Editorial Committee must have titles in two languages (Spanish and English) and be signed by the authors with full name(s) and surname(s), or have an institutional author statement or indicate their origin. Each document must include the full name of the institution where the author(s) work(s) or, if applicable, a declaration of independent worker. In the mention of the authors' affiliation, the use of the full name of the institution is mandatory. Each affiliation should include province and country of the institution.
The information available at the time of writing the paper should be indicated; the methodology used should be presented in detail, in such a way that it can be reproduced (the reference may be cited where the required details should be included).

1. Objective and content
The present Regulations are based on the guiding principles and objectives of the Statute of the Argentine Diabetes Society (SAD), as well as on the guidelines of good ethical-legal practices in force for medical journals, on the applicable International Human Rights Law and on the Positive Law in force in Argentina.
In formal and methodological aspects, these Regulations are consistent with the provisions of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), in particular with the "Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals: Writing and Editing for Biomedical Publication". The full version of these requirements can be found at: http://www.icmje.org/. The complete document translated into Spanish by the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) can be obtained at:http://www.metodo.uab.cat/docs/Requisitos_de_Uniformidad.pdf.
Similarly, the recommendations and guidelines for medical research publications have also been consulted and applied in their relevant parts at http://www.equator-network.org and their Spanish version at https://biblioguias.uam.es/citar/estilo_vancouver.
As regards writing style, the orthographic and orthotypographic rules of the new orthography of the Spanish language should be adopted. These aspects applied to biomedical publications can be consulted at: http://www.tremedica.org/panacea/IndiceGeneral/n37-tribuna-MJAguilarRuiz.pdf. In particular, it is indicated that the publication style in numerical expressions is to separate the integer part from the decimal part with a comma (0.001) and with a point the thousands (12,345.67), except for the calendar year (2017).
The publications and Journal of the SAD consist of different works and communications, both in digital and paper support, aimed at disseminating the objectives of the Society linked both to clinical, behavioral, epidemiological and/or social research, and to the prevention, control and care of diabetes.
The publications and contents produced by the SAD, in any format and whatever their content, are considered the intellectual property of the Society, and the authors who voluntarily submit their work for publication to the SAD waive all rights; the responsibility for submitting the corresponding authorizations to disseminate previously published materials is the sole responsibility of the authors who will use the same in their work.
            The SAD will designate, through the majority of the members of its Board of Directors, the members of the Editorial Committee of the SAD Publications and Journal. In order to be a member of the Committee, they must be active members of the SAD, with no less than five years of seniority, with no disciplinary record, with a proven track record in the field of teaching and/or research, and with no potential or real conflicts of interest that could affect freedom of judgment and opinion. The Editorial Committee will operate with full autonomy, guaranteeing its freedom and independence in the evaluation of papers and in the decisions it makes within its area of competence.
2. General principles and guidelines
2.1 Protection of rights and sensitive data
            The publications and Journal of the SAD will be respectful of the applicable legal provisions in force, particularly those related to the protection of personal and sensitive data, patients' rights and the rules on the protection of the rights of biomedical research subjects.
With regard to research publications, it should be borne in mind that ethical and scientific standards have been established, such as the Nuremberg Decalogue, the Declaration of Helsinki of the World Medical Assembly, the International Ethical Guidelines for Biomedical Research Involving Human Subjects of CIOMS and WHO, and the Guidelines for Good Clinical Practice of the International Conference on Harmonization (ICH). At the same time, the relevance of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the Treaty on the Elimination of Various Forms of Torture, among others, should be considered, since these are standards that protect the dignity and integrity of persons involved in biomedical research.
At present, the Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights, the Universal Declaration on the Human Genome and Human Rights and the International Declaration on the Protection of Genetic and Proteomic Data of UNESCO, in general, and in particular the new Civil and Commercial Code of the Nation, which has incorporated provisions applicable to the field of biomedical research and health sciences, are also an essential horizon for the evaluation of publications involving biomedical research. These norms establish the importance of the ethical, legal and scientific review of biomedical research, of the informed consent process and of the appropriate protection of vulnerable groups.
            According to Guideline II. E. on Privacy and Confidentiality of the ICMJE, patients, whose data appear in publications and are identifiable, must provide explicit informed consent for the authorization of the publication of their sensitive and personal data. This requirement must be reinforced and strictly enforced in the case of publication of health data of persons under 16 years of age, where the formal authorization of their legal representatives will be required.
            In the case of presentation of results or data related to research involving human subjects, the authors must prove that it was carried out with the authorization of the pertinent state authority, as well as of the Teaching and Research Committee, and with the authorization and monitoring of the Research Ethics Committee.
            In the case of preclinical studies with animals, compliance with the norms and recommendations related to the protection of animal rights and welfare, and the current guidelines for the care and use of experimental animals must be accredited.
2.2 Ethical-Regulatory Aspects
As established in the Declaration of Helsinki (point 23, http://www.wma.net/es/30publications/10policies/b3/), all medical research studies on human subjects, regardless of their experimental or observational nature, including research on human material and identifiable information, should be submitted for consideration, comment, advice and approval to the relevant Ethics Committee before initiating the study. In the presentation of clinical cases, informed consent should be requested for the publication of personal information. If it is a study related to the use of drugs, devices, supplies or any other element with economic value or the study received some type of partial or total subsidy from a third party (University, Foundation, pharmaceutical industry or other), the corresponding letter of conflict of interest must be included.
A conflict of interest letter should also be submitted in case of having received scholarships, consulting fees, dissertation or lecturer training or having received non-monetary support such as registration to congresses or trips, books, photocopies, equipment, administrative support or any other element of personal or institutional support in the last three years and has a direct or indirect relationship with the potential publication. These requirements are indispensable to begin the review process of an article submitted to the SAD Journal. Studies performed with experimental animals must have the approval of the corresponding Institutional Bioethics Committee, Institutional Committee for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (CICUAL).
The SAD Journal publishes papers that are original and unpublished. Therefore, the papers submitted by the authors will be analyzed by means of anti-plagiarism programs that measure percentages of correspondence with another text in the same language, controlling the condition of originality in a language to avoid the publication of articles that are part of plagiarism, self-plagiarism, duplication and fragmentation practices.
To this end, the cover letter should state whether other works derived from the same research have been published. If it has been published previously, the differences and similarities with respect to the article submitted for review should be described, which will be analyzed by the Editorial Committee, which will ultimately decide whether there are faults of self-plagiarism, duplication or fragmentation or whether it is possible and advisable to accept it for review by the assigned reviewers.
In addition, validated Internet search tools are used in which other works of the authors are traced, by which the title, fragments of the abstract, the methodological section and the results of the article submitted for review are compared with the purpose of detecting possible correspondences and avoiding plagiarism and self-plagiarism practices.
It should be clarified that the SAD Journal follows the Recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), for example regarding "Author Responsibilities-Conflicts of Interest" (http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/roles-and-responsibilities/author-responsibilities--conflicts-of-interest.html). In case of detecting any ethical misconduct in the area of plagiarism, self-plagiarism, duplication and fragmentation, the guidelines recommended by the Committee Of Publication Ethics (COPE) will be followed: https://publicationethics.org/files/Spanish%20%281%29.pdf.
3. Operational procedures for acceptance and evaluation
The material submitted for publication will be initially evaluated by the Editorial Secretary (or the person designated by the Editorial Committee) to certify compliance with the formal requirements for admission. The applicant author must preliminarily state that it is an unpublished, original and unpublished work. Then, in the event that the admissibility requirements are met, the work will be submitted to the consideration of two external referees to be designated by the Editorial Committee. The different communications between the Secretariat of the Journal and the Editorial Committee, and between the latter and the authors, will be carried out digitally through the e-mail addresses indicated by each of the parties. The personal data of the author(s) and the evaluators will be kept anonymous.
            The most relevant aspects in the evaluation of the manuscript by the reviewers are contained in the "Review Form"; this form should contain the guidelines and recommendations established by the ICMJE in section II.E.2.
The review process should ensure the anonymity of the reviewers and copyright with the commitment to destroy the material once the evaluation process is concluded; it should also include an indication of the existence of any conflict of interest that would oblige the reviewer to exclude him/herself from the evaluation. The form should include the justification of the reviewer's decision, marking the strengths and weaknesses of the manuscript, and may make anonymous suggestions about its content in the form of comments to the author(s) and to the editor of the Journal.
The final decision on the final evaluation of the papers will be made by the Editorial Committee, considering the evaluations of the reviewers. The Committee reserves the right to accept or reject the contributions received and, if accepted, the order of publication and the section where they will be published. In addition, the Editorial Committee may suggest, when it deems necessary, the style corrections it deems appropriate. The acceptance or rejection of the material sent for publication and its date of publication will be promptly informed to the responsible author by e-mail.
Papers finally accepted and published may only be reproduced with the express permission of the Editorial Committee or, failing that, with the authorization of the highest authority of the SAD.
3. 1 Procedure for submission of papers
Authors should send their original manuscripts by e-mail to: revistasad@diabetes.org.ar attaching the manuscript written in double spacing using a word processor, on a configured page (indicate the design characteristics that the Committee and the person in charge of the edition may require).
The different papers to be published in the SAD Journal may be divided into the following categories or sections: Original articles (full papers and short communications), Special articles, Abstracts or Dossiers of SAD Congress presentations, Review articles, Case reports, Images in diabetes, Editorial comments (only by invitation of the Editorial Committee), Bibliographic comments and Letters to the Editorial Committee.
Papers should be submitted in Arial 12 font, double-spaced, on A4 paper with margins of at least 25 mm. The paper, whose pages should be numbered consecutively beginning with the title page, should be accompanied by a letter of request for publication addressed to the Editorial Committee. When previously published material is reproduced or photographs that may identify individuals are presented, they must be accompanied by the appropriate authorization.
3.2 Content and structure of papers
3.2.1. Original articles
1) Introduction: causal explanation of the motivation of the work and its objectives in a clear and synthetic form. 2) Material and methods: the material or population used in the research should be presented; in addition to the technical information, the statistical tools used should be listed. 3) Results: the results should be presented in a logical sequence in the body of the text, tables and illustrations, avoiding repeating in the text the data included in the tables or figures; any important observation that the authors consider may also be succinctly emphasized. 4) Discussion: description of the novel or important aspects of the study and its conclusions, including the implications of the findings and their limitations, as well as the consequences for future research, avoiding conclusions not supported by the results, and relating the results obtained with other relevant studies. 5) Acknowledgements: one or more statements should specify: a) those contributions that require acknowledgement but do not justify authorship; b) acknowledgement for technical assistance; c) the existence of material and financial support, specifying the nature of such support. 6) Conflict of interest: include the declarations of each of the authors by means of their acronyms.
3.2.2 Short communications or presentation of clinical cases
They refer to description of observations, presentation of clinical situations, preliminary results, medical technology, procedures or other aspects of interest. The wording and presentation of the manuscript is similar to that indicated in "General aspects in the preparation of the manuscript". The purpose of the presentation or case report is the teaching or novelty of clinical cases that, due to their size or exceptionality, have significance in the diagnosis or treatment of diabetes. The structure will have the following characteristics: 1) Abstract in Spanish and English: the maximum length will be 150 words; it is not necessary that they are structured, they must include key words (up to five). 2) Story: it will have a maximum length of 1,400 words of text (excluding abstracts, bibliography and tables or figures), with no more than four (4) illustrations (tables, graphs or photographs). Write a brief introduction highlighting the importance of the topic, pointing out similar published experiences; then describe the observation or clinical picture of the patient and finally a discussion or commentary. 3) Bibliography: no more than 15 citations should be included, respecting the instructions indicated.
In all cases, the guidelines for the protection of personal and sensitive data of the participating patients should be taken into account.
3.2.3 Special articles
These are scientific reports that may contain contributions to the knowledge of diabetes from other non-biomedical disciplines, containing philosophical, anthropological, legal, ethical or social aspects; they should at least include an unstructured abstract and keywords in Spanish and English.
3.2.4 Review Articles
These papers will be prepared by an expert in a specific area of knowledge associated with the study of diabetes and the call for papers will be made at the invitation of the Editorial Committee.
4. Citations and references
Citations and references should be numbered consecutively in the same order in which they are mentioned in the body of the text, identifying them with Arabic numerals in parentheses, without inserting them as footnotes. For homogeneity and clarity, the editorial style of the examples below should be used, based on the formats established by the ICMJE. A complete sample of references, in Spanish, can be found at http://www.wame.org/urmreferenciasinter.pdf/.
Journal names should be abbreviated according to the editorial style used in Index Medicus. The "List of Journals Indexed in Index Medicus" can be consulted through the Library's web page: ftp://nlmpubs.nlm.nih.gov/online/journals/lsiweb.pdf.
- Example 1 (journal): list the first six authors followed by et. al.
- Halpern SD, Ubel PA, Caplan AL. Solid-organ transplantation in HIV-infected patients. N Engl J Med. 2002 Jul 25; 347(4): 284-7.
As an option, if a journal has continuous pagination by volume (as most journals do), the month and issue number can be omitted:
- Halpern SD, Ubel PA, Caplan AL. Solid-organ transplantation in HIV-infected patients. N Engl J Med. 2002; 347: 284-7.
- Example 2 (book):
- Ringsven MK, Bond D. Gerontology and leadership skills for nurses. 2nd ed. Albany (NY): Delmar Publishers; 1996.
- Example 3 (book chapter):
- Phillips SJ, Whisnant JP. Hypertension and stroke. In: Laragh JH, Brenner BM, editors. Hypertension: pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management. 2nd ed. New York: Raven Press; 1995, p. 465-78.
- Example 4 (abstract):
- Mosier D, Picchio G, Sabbe R, Lederman M, Offord R. Host and viral factors influence CCR5 receptor blockade. 7th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infection. San Francisco. January 30-February 2, 2000 [abstract 497].
5. Tables or tables and illustrations
Tables should be presented on separate sheets of paper, double-spaced, numbered consecutively in the order determined by the first reference in the text; each one should be accompanied by a short title. Each column should have a short heading. Explanatory material should be footnoted. In the footnotes, in addition, non-conventional abbreviations appearing in each table should be explained. This should be done at: http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/manuscript-preparation/preparing-for-submission.html#h.
Illustrations should be presented as attachments and not inserted or placed in the body of the text. Figures should be professional drawings or photographs. Photographs should be sharp (high resolution), pasted in Word and sent separately in JPG, TIFF or EPS format, always in black and white. Letters, numbers and symbols should be clear and of sufficient size to be legible when reduced for publication. Titles and detailed explanations should be in the captions of the illustrations and not on the illustrations themselves. Each figure should have a label indicating its number, the author's name and an arrow pointing to the upper part. Photomicrographs should have scale markers included. The symbols, arrows or letters used in the photomicrographs should contrast with the background. Illustrations should be numbered in consecutive order according to the order in which they are first cited in the text. In the case of a photograph that has already been published, the original source should be acknowledged and written permission from the copyright holder authorizing reproduction of the material should be attached. Captions for illustrations should be double-spaced, on a separate page, with Arabic numerals corresponding to the illustrations. When symbols, arrows, numbers or letters are used to indicate parts of the illustrations, they should be clearly identified and explained in the caption, as well as the scale and method of dyeing in photomicrographs.
6. Abbreviations and symbols
Only commonly used and standardized abbreviations should be used. Abbreviations should not be included in titles, subtitles, summaries and conclusions. The full term represented by the abbreviation should precede the abbreviation the first time it appears in the body of the text, unless it is a standard unit of measurement.
7. Title page and title page
It should have the following content: (a) the title of the article, in Spanish and English which should be concise but informative ; (b) short title or "running title" with no more than 40 characters; (c) the type or nature of the work; (d) the name and surname of each author, with his/her highest academic degree(s) and institutional affiliation(s); e) the name(s) of the department(s) and institution(s) to which the work should be credited; f) name, postal address and e-mail address of the author responsible for correspondence about the manuscript; g) source(s) of support in the form of funding, equipment, drugs or all of them; h) the number of figures and tables accompanying the manuscript.
It is necessary that those listed as authors must have actively and significantly participated in the research or preparation of the manuscript and be responsible for all its contents. This initial note must be signed by all authors, and a scanned copy with the same should be accepted.
8. Abstract and key words
The second page should include the abstract, clarifying the general and particular objectives of the work, the methodological aspects, findings and main conclusions, with special emphasis on the novel issues or significant contributions of the work; it should be written in Spanish and English. Key words or phrases should be identified at the bottom, also in Spanish and English.

Policy on plagiarism, self-plagiarism, duplication and fragmentation
As mentioned in "Theme and scope", the policy of the SAD Magazine is to publish works that, in addition to being original (that is, written by those who declare their authorship), are also unpublished (that is, that have not been published previously, in another scientific journal).
Anti-plagiarism programs measure percentages of correspondence with another text in the same language, so they only control the condition of originality in a language, without responding to other aspects such as translations, "fragmentation" of results or "salami slicing", duplication etc.
To avoid the publication of articles that are registered in practices of plagiarism, self-plagiarism, duplication, fragmentation, etc., the SAD Magazine implemented the following procedure:
In the "Declaration of ethical aspects and conflict of interest", at the time of submitting an article, the authors are requested to explainHave if they have already published other works derived from the same research and, in those cases in which other articles have been published, they are asked to describe the differences and similarities in relation to the article submitted for review.
Additionally, Internet search tools are used, in which other works by the authors are tracked (to avoid duplication) and the title, fragments of the abstract, the methodological section and the results of the article submitted for review are compared with the purpose of detecting possible correspondences and thus avoiding practices of plagiarism and self-plagiarism.

Ethical-regulatory aspects
As established in the Declaration of Helsinki (point 23, http://www.wma.net/es/30publications/10policies/b3/), all medical research studies on human beings, regardless of their experimental or observational nature , including the investigation of human material and identifiable information, must be submitted for consideration, comment, advice and approval to the relevant Ethics Committee before starting the study. In the presentation of clinical cases, informed consent must be requested for the publication of personal information. If it is a study related to the use of drugs, devices, supplies or any other element with economic value or the study received some type of partial or total subsidy from a third party (University, Foundation, pharmaceutical industry or other), the corresponding letter of conflict of interest.
A letter of conflict of interest must also be presented in case of having received scholarships, fees for consulting, dissertation or lecturer training or of having received non-monetary support such as registration to congresses or trips, books, photocopies, equipment, administrative support or any other element of personal or institutional support in the last three years and is directly or indirectly related to the potential publication. These requirements are essential to begin the review process of an article sent to the SAD Magazine. Studies carried out with experimental animals must have the approval of the corresponding institutional Bioethics Committee.
It should be noted that the SAD Journal follows the Recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), for example in relation to "Responsibilities of the author-Conflicts of interest" (http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse /roles-and-responsibilities/author-responsibilities--conflicts-of-interest.html).

Code of conduct
General Duties and Responsibilities of Editors
In accordance with the Code of Conduct of COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics), the Editors of the Journal of the Argentine Society of Diabetes are responsible for everything published in this medium. They commit to:
• Strive to meet the needs of readers and authors.
• Constantly improve the magazine.
• Ensure the quality of the material they publish.
• Defend freedom of expression.
• Maintain the integrity of the academic record.
• Prevent business needs from compromising intellectual standards.
• Always be willing to post corrections, clarifications, retractions and apologies when necessary.

relations with readers
Readers are informed about who has funded the research and about the role of funders in the research.

Relations with the authors
Publishers take all reasonable steps to ensure the quality of the material they publish, recognizing that journals and sections within journals will have different aims and standards.
Editors' decisions to accept or reject an article for publication are based solely on the importance, originality, and clarity of the article, and the relevance of the study to the journal's mandate.
A description of the peer review processes is published and the Editors are ready to justify any material deviations from the described processes.
SAD Magazine has a stated mechanism for authors to appeal against editorial decisions.
Publishers publish a guide for authors on what is expected of them. This guide is regularly updated and references or links to COPE's Code of Conduct.
Publishers do not reverse decisions to accept submissions unless serious problems with the submission are identified.
New publishers do not override decisions to publish submissions made by the previous publisher unless serious issues are identified.

Relations with reviewers
Editors publish a guide for reviewers on what is expected of them. This guide is regularly updated and references or links to the COPE Code of Conduct.
Editors have systems in place to ensure that the identities of peer reviewers areare protected.

Peer review process
The editors have systems in place to ensure that material submitted to SAD Magazine remains confidential while it is being reviewed.

complaints
Editors follow the procedure established in the COPE flowchart.
The editors respond promptly to complaints and make sure there is a way for dissatisfied complainants to be satisfied. This mechanism is clarified in the magazine and includes information on how to refer unresolved issues to COPE.

encourage discussion
Strong reviews of published work are published unless the Editors have compelling reasons to the contrary. Authors of criticized material have the opportunity to respond.
Studies that challenge previous work published in the journal receive an especially sympathetic audience.
Studies reporting negative results are not excluded.

Foster academic integrity
Editors ensure that the research material they publish conforms to internationally accepted ethical guidelines.
Editors seek assurance that all research has been approved by an appropriate body (eg, research ethics committee, institutional review board). However, the editors acknowledge that such approval does not guarantee that the research is ethical.

Individual data protection
The publishers protect the confidentiality of individual information (for example, that obtained through the doctor-patient relationship). Therefore, it is almost always necessary to obtain written informed consent from patients described in case reports and for patient photographs. Publishing without explicit consent is possible if the report is important to public health; consent is unusually onerous to obtain; and it is unlikely that a reasonable person would object to publication (all three conditions must be met).

persecute misbehavior
Publishers have a duty to act if they suspect misconduct. This duty extends to both published and unpublished articles.
Editors don't just reject articles that raise concerns about possible misconduct. They are ethically bound to pursue the alleged cases.
The editors first seek a response from the accused. If they are not satisfied with the answer, they ask the relevant employers or some appropriate body (a regulatory body) to investigate.
Editors follow COPE flowcharts where applicable (link to flowcharts).
The publishers make every reasonable effort to ensure that proper research is carried out; if this does not happen, the Publishers make all reasonable attempts to persist in obtaining a solution to the problem.

Ensuring the integrity of the academic record
Whenever a material inaccuracy, misleading statement or distorted report is recognized as having been published, it should be corrected promptly and with due importance.
If after proper investigation an item is found to be fraudulent, it should be removed. The retraction must be clearly identifiable to readers and indexing systems.

Relations with magazine owners and publishers
The publishers' relationship with publishers and owners is firmly based on the principle of editorial independence. Regardless of economic and political realities, publishers make decisions about which articles to publish based on quality and suitability for readers, rather than immediate financial or political gain.

Business considerations
The publishers have stated policies on advertising in relation to journal content and supplement publication processes.
Misleading advertisements are rejected and the Editors are willing to publish reviews, according to the same criteria used for the rest of the magazine's material.
Reprints are published as they appear in the journal, unless a correction is added.

Conflict of interests
Editors have systems in place to manage their own conflicts of interest, as well as those of their staff, authors, reviewers, and members of the Editorial Board.

In addition, Publishers agree to the “Process for dealing with complaints against Publishers referred to COPE” and the “Appeal Procedure” specified in the COPE Code of Conduct.