Editorial Integrity in Medical Journals: A Conceptual Review of Moral Foundations for Publication Ethics

Publication ethics in medicine has developed extensive procedural guidance concerning authorship, peer review, conflicts of interest, editorial independence, and correction of the scientific record. Less attention has been devoted to the moral goods that these norms are intended to protect. This article examines whether selected categories drawn from Catholic moral thought and Catholic social teaching can illuminate the ethical foundations of biomedical editorial practice without replacing established international standards. Using a conceptual and interpretive approach, the article examines the responsibilities of authors, reviewers, editors, publishers, and research institutions through the lenses of truthfulness, justice, prudence, non-maleficence, and the common good. The discussion focuses especially on plagiarism, retraction, and editorial independence as areas in which contemporary publication ethics and Catholic moral reflection converge. The analysis suggests that biomedical editorial ethics and Catholic moral thought address the same questions from distinct yet complementary perspectives. Procedural standards identify duties and corrective mechanisms, whereas moral reflection clarifies the human goods that these practices are intended to protect. Under this interpretation, editorial integrity emerges not merely as regulatory compliance but as an institutional responsibility directed toward the reliability of biomedical knowledge, the protection of patients and readers, and the preservation of public trust. Read as a conceptual contribution rather than a confessional proposal, this framework offers operational criteria for evaluating editorial conduct and clarifies why the integrity of the scientific record matters for clinical care, public health, and social trust.