Publication Ethics and Publication Malpractice Statement
Editorial and Peer Review Processes generally follow these steps:
The publication of an article in a peer-reviewed journal is an essential model for our journal " Journal of Medical and Life Science (JMALS) ".
It is essential to agree upon standards of expected ethical behavior for all parties engaged in the act of publishing: the author, the journal editor, the peer reviewer(s), and the publisher.
Editors of the Journal of Medical and Life Science (JMALS) follow the ICMJE's Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals.
and Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing
https://doaj.org/apply/transparency/
Our ethical statements are based on COPE’s Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors. Our Editors are familiar with the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) “Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors”
(See: https://publicationethics.org/)
Editors encourage the use of reporting guidelines for all study designs such as the CONSORT statement for randomized controlled trials and the STROBE statement for observational studies (see Equator network at:https://www.equator-network.org/)
Editors' responsibilities
Publication decisions
The choice of which of the articles submitted to the journal will be published is decided by the JMALS editor.
The editor may be guided by the policies of the journal's editorial board and constrained by such legal requirements as shall then be in force regarding libel, copyright infringement, and plagiarism.
When making this choice, the editor might consult with other editors or reviewers.
Fair play
The JMALS editor will evaluate manuscripts without consideration of the authors' race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political ideology. The decision will be based on the paper’s originality, importance, and clarity, and the study’s validity and its relevance to the JMALS journal's scope.
Confidentiality
The editor and any editorial staff of the Journal of Medical and Life Science (JMALS) not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisers, and the publisher, as appropriate.
Disclosure and conflicts of interest
Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted paper will not be used by the JMALS editor or the members of the editorial board for their research purposes without the author's explicit written consent.
Reviewers' responsibilities
Our Editors are responsible for selecting expert reviewers within the topic of each submitted manuscript from the journal database or suggested by the Journal / Author Name Estimator (JANE) (see: https://jane.biosemantics.org/) or Publons (WOS) Web of Science. Editors are also responsible for ensuring that reviewer comments are properly assessed and interpreted with declared conflicts of interest.
Contribution to editorial decisions
The peer-reviewing process assists the editor and the editorial board in making editorial decisions and may also serve the author in improving the paper.
Promptness
Any selected referee who feels unqualified to review the research reported in a manuscript or knows that its prompt review will be impossible should notify the editor and withdraw from the review process.
Confidentiality
Any manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents. They must not be disclosed to or discussed with others except as authorized by the journal editor.
Standards of objectivity
Reviews should be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate. Referees should express their views clearly with supporting arguments.
Acknowledgement of sources
Reviewers should ought to point out cases in which relevant published work referred to in the manuscript has not been cited in the reference section. They should point out whether observations or arguments derived from other publications are accompanied by the respective source. Reviewers will notify the JMALS editor of any substantial similarity or overlap between the article under consideration and any other published paper of which they have personal knowledge.
Disclosure and conflict of interest
Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage. Reviewers should not consider manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions associated with the papers.
Publisher Role
Journals published by the Society of Pathological Biochemistry and Hematology (SPBH)
follow a timely rigorous peer review process to bring the recent and novel scientific information to its best possible mode. As a publisher, the following policies are being considered:
Author's duties
Reporting standards
Authors of original research reports should present an accurate account of the work performed as well as an objective discussion of its significance. Underlying data should be represented accurately in the paper. A paper should contain sufficient detail and references to permit others to replicate the work. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behavior and are unacceptable.
Data access and retention
Authors could be asked to provide the raw data of their study together with the paper for editorial
review and should be prepared to make the data publicly available if practicable. In any event,
authors should ensure accessibility of such data to other competent professionals for at least ten
years after publication (preferably via an institutional or subject-based data repository or other data
center), provided that the confidentiality of the participants can be protected and legal rights
concerning proprietary data do not preclude their release.
Originality, plagiarism, and acknowledgment of sources
Authors will submit only entirely original works and will appropriately cite or quote the work and/or words of others. Publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the reported work should also be cited.
Multiple, redundant, or concurrent publication
In general, papers describing essentially the same research should not be published in more than one journal. Submitting the same paper to more than one journal constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable. Manuscripts which have been published as copyrighted material elsewhere cannot be submitted. In addition, manuscripts under review by the journal should not be resubmitted to copyrighted publications. However, by submitting a manuscript, the author(s) retain the rights to the published material. In case of publication, they permit the use of their work under a CC-BY SA [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/], which allows others to copy, distribute, and transmit the work as well as to adapt the work and to make commercial use of it.
Acknowledgment of Sources
Proper acknowledgment of the work of others must always be given. Authors should cite publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the reported work.
Authorship of the paper
Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. All those who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors.
The corresponding author ensures that all contributing co-authors and no uninvolved persons are included in the author list. The corresponding author will also verify that all co-authors have approved the final version of the paper and have agreed to its submission for publication.
Disclosure and conflicts of interest
All authors should include a statement disclosing any financial or other substantive conflicts of interest that may be construed to influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript. All sources of financial support for the project should be disclosed.
Fundamental errors in published works
When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published work, the author must promptly notify the journal editor or publisher and cooperate with the editor to retract or correct the paper in the form of an erratum.
Hazards and Human or Animal Subjects
Statements of compliance are required if the work involves chemicals, procedures, or equipment that have any unusual hazards inherent in their use, or if it involves the use of animal or human subjects.
Use of patient images or case details:
Research work involving human participants, human material, or human data should be performed following the Declaration of Helsinki (https://www.google.com/search?q=(+https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wma.net%2Fpolicies-post%2Fwma-declaration-of-helsinki-ethical-principles-for-medical-research-involving-human-subjects%2F&rlz=1C1GCEU_arEG926EG926&oq=(+https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wma.net%2Fpolicies-post%2Fwma-declaration-of-helsinki-ethical-principles-for-medical-research-involving-human-subjects%2F&aqs=chrome.0.69i59.424j0j9&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8).
Studies on patients or volunteers require ethics committee approval and informed consent, which should be documented in the paper.
Editor, Journal of Medical and Life Science (JMALS)
Statement On Human and Animal Rights
Work involving human or animal subjects or tissues:
Animal experiments:
Journal of Medical and Life Science (JMALS) endorses the ARRIVE Guidelines for reporting in vivo animal experiments. Whenever appropriate, authors should include in the Materials and Methods (Experimental Procedures) section:
• A statement indicating that the experiments were performed following named national legislation, where it exists, or, in its absence, with the named institutional/local body concerned with the ethics of experimentation, All animal experiments should comply with the ARRIVE guidelines (see: https://arriveguidelines.org/)
Experiments should be carried out following the European Communities Council
EU Directive 2010/63/EU for animal experiments
https://environment.ec.europa.eu/topics/chemicals/animals-science_en
Or with the Guidelines laid down by the NIH in the USA regarding the care and use of animals for experimental procedures. (e.g. the National Research Council, or NIH in the USA) (See: https://olaw.nih.gov/policies-laws/phs-policy.htm
Patients have a right to privacy that should not be violated without informed consent.
When research work involving human participants, human material, or human data, authors should indicate whether the procedures followed were under the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national), or if no formal ethics committee is available, should be performed following the Declaration of Helsinki.
If doubt exists whether the research was conducted following the Helsinki Declaration, the authors must explain the rationale for their approach and demonstrate that the institutional review body explicitly approved the doubtful aspects of the study.
If human subjects are used, manuscripts must be accompanied by a statement in the Methods section, indicating that:
• The experiments were undertaken with the understanding and written consent of each subject.
• The study methodologies conformed to the standards set by the Declaration of Helsinki.
• The study methodologies were approved by the local ethics committee.
Authors should ensure that all risks are minimized and the subjects are not injured and do not feel they have been abused as a result of participating in the study. Fully informed consent should always be sought.
In cases of experiments involving minors, in addition to meeting above mentioned precautions, evidence must be presented that the experiments were performed with the understanding and consent of the legal guardian.
Identifying information, including names, initials, or hospital numbers, should not be published in written descriptions, photographs, or pedigrees unless the information is essential for scientific purposes and the patient (or parent or guardian) gives written informed consent for publication. Informed consent for this purpose requires that an identifiable patient be shown the manuscript to be published.
Nonessential identifying details should be omitted. Informed consent should be obtained if there is any doubt that anonymity can be maintained. For example, masking the eye region in photographs of patients is inadequate protection of anonymity. If identifying characteristics are de-identified, authors should provide assurance, and editors should note, that such changes do not distort scientific meaning.
The Editor reserves the right to reject a paper if there is doubt as to whether appropriate procedures have been used.
Editor, Journal of Medical and Life Science (JMALS)