International Journal of Medical Science and Clinical Invention (IJMSCI)

The International Journal of Medical Science and Clinical Invention (IJMSCI) is committed to maintaining the highest standards of publication ethics and research integrity. The journal expects all authors, editors, reviewers, editorial board members, and the publisher to follow ethical standards and act with honesty, transparency, fairness, and responsibility.

This Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement applies to all manuscripts submitted to and articles published by IJMSCI.

1. Ethical Principles

IJMSCI follows internationally recognized principles of publication ethics and supports responsible scholarly publishing.

The journal is committed to:

• Maintaining the integrity of the academic record;

• Ensuring fair and objective editorial decisions;

• Protecting the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts;

• Addressing allegations of research and publication misconduct;

• Promoting transparency in authorship, funding, conflicts of interest, and research ethics;

• Correcting the published record when necessary.

The journal may use appropriate publication-ethics procedures and guidance when investigating suspected misconduct.

2. Responsibilities of Authors

Authors are responsible for ensuring that their submitted work is original, accurate, ethically conducted, and appropriately reported.

Authors must:

• Submit original work;

• Ensure that all listed authors have made meaningful contributions;

• Obtain approval from all authors before submission;

• Ensure that the manuscript is not simultaneously under consideration by another journal;

• Properly acknowledge all sources and contributions;

• Report research findings honestly and accurately;

• Disclose relevant conflicts of interest;

• Declare sources of funding;

• Obtain appropriate ethical approval where required;

• Obtain informed consent where applicable;

• Cooperate with investigations into possible misconduct.

Authors must not fabricate, falsify, manipulate, or knowingly misrepresent research data or results.

3. Authorship and Contributorship

Authorship must be based on substantial intellectual or scholarly contributions to the work.

All authors must:

1. Make a substantial contribution to the conception, design, data collection, analysis, or interpretation of the work;

2. Participate in drafting the manuscript or critically reviewing it for important intellectual content;

3. Approve the final version of the manuscript;

4. Accept responsibility for the integrity and accuracy of the work.

Individuals who do not meet authorship criteria should not be listed as authors. Appropriate contributors may instead be acknowledged.

Guest authorship, honorary authorship, ghost authorship, and authorship manipulation are not acceptable.

Any request to add, remove, or change the order of authors after submission must be justified and agreed to by all affected authors.

4. Plagiarism

Plagiarism is considered a serious violation of publication ethics.

Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to:

• Copying text without appropriate citation;

• Presenting another person's ideas as one's own;

• Using another person's data, figures, tables, or images without permission or acknowledgment;

• Submitting substantially copied or improperly reused material;

• Self-plagiarism involving significant duplication of one's own previously published work without appropriate disclosure.

IJMSCI may screen submitted manuscripts for plagiarism and inappropriate text similarity.

If plagiarism is identified before publication, the manuscript may be rejected. If plagiarism is identified after publication, the journal may issue a correction, expression of concern, or retraction, depending on the seriousness of the case.

5. Fabrication and Falsification

Fabrication and falsification are unacceptable.

Fabrication means inventing data, results, participants, experiments, or other research information.

Falsification includes manipulating research materials, data, images, methods, or results in a way that misrepresents the research.

When credible concerns arise, IJMSCI may investigate the matter and may request clarification, supporting data, ethical documentation, or institutional investigation.

6. Duplicate and Redundant Publication

A manuscript submitted to IJMSCI must not have been previously published in substantially similar form or simultaneously submitted to another journal.

Authors must disclose:

• Previous publications based on the same or substantially similar research;

• Related manuscripts under consideration elsewhere;

• Conference papers or abstracts that substantially overlap with the submitted work;

• Preprints or other publicly available versions where relevant.

Duplicate or redundant publication may result in rejection or post-publication corrective action.

7. Data and Image Integrity

Authors are responsible for the accuracy and integrity of the data presented in their manuscripts.

Data must not be fabricated, selectively manipulated, or intentionally misrepresented.

Images must not be manipulated in a manner that changes or misrepresents the underlying research findings.

Where appropriate, authors may be asked to provide original data, research materials, image files, or other supporting information for verification.

8. Research Involving Human Participants

Research involving human participants must comply with applicable ethical standards and must receive approval from an appropriate ethics committee or Institutional Review Board (IRB), where required.

Manuscripts should provide relevant information about:

• The name of the ethics committee or review board;

• The approval number or reference number, where applicable;

• The informed consent process;

• Measures taken to protect participant privacy and confidentiality.

The journal may request evidence of ethical approval at any stage of the editorial process.

9. Research Involving Animals

Research involving animals must comply with applicable institutional, national, and international standards for the ethical treatment and care of animals.

Authors should provide information about relevant ethical approval and the measures taken to minimize animal suffering.

The journal may reject research that does not demonstrate appropriate ethical oversight.

10. Informed Consent and Consent for Publication

Appropriate informed consent must be obtained from human participants where required by the nature of the research.

For case reports, clinical images, photographs, or other information that may allow an individual to be identified, authors should obtain appropriate consent for publication.

Authors must take reasonable steps to protect personal information and participant confidentiality.

11. Clinical Trial Registration

Authors reporting clinical trials should provide the registration number and name of the recognized clinical trial registry, where applicable.

Clinical trial registration supports transparency and helps reduce selective reporting of research outcomes.

12. Conflicts of Interest

Authors, reviewers, editors, and Editorial Board members must disclose any financial or non-financial interests that could influence, or could reasonably be perceived to influence, the research or editorial process.

Potential conflicts may include:

• Employment;

• Consultancy;

• Research funding;

• Grants;

• Patents;

• Financial relationships;

• Personal or professional relationships;

• Institutional affiliations.

A conflict of interest does not automatically prevent publication or participation in the editorial process. However, appropriate disclosure is required.

Undisclosed conflicts discovered after publication may require a correction or other appropriate action.

13. Funding and Sponsorship

All sources of financial support for the research must be disclosed.

Authors should state:

• The name of the funding organization;

• The grant or funding reference, where applicable;

• The role of the funder in the research;

• Whether the funder had any role in the preparation or publication decision.

If the funder had no role in the research or publication process, this should be clearly stated.

14. Use of Artificial Intelligence

Authors remain fully responsible for the originality, accuracy, integrity, and final content of their manuscripts.

AI-assisted tools may be used for appropriate purposes such as language improvement, grammar correction, translation, or other permitted editorial assistance.

AI tools and chatbots cannot be listed as authors.

Where AI-assisted technology has made a substantive contribution to the creation of submitted content, authors should disclose its use and describe how it was used, in accordance with applicable journal requirements.

Authors must carefully verify AI-generated content because AI tools may produce inaccurate, incomplete, biased, or plagiarized material.

Reviewers and editors must not upload confidential or unpublished manuscripts into external AI systems that may compromise manuscript confidentiality.

Failure to disclose substantive AI use may result in corrective action and, in serious circumstances, may be considered a publication-ethics concern.

15. Peer-Review Misconduct

Peer reviewers must evaluate manuscripts objectively and confidentially.

Reviewers must not:

• Share confidential manuscript information;

• Use unpublished information for personal or professional advantage;

• Review manuscripts in which they have a disqualifying conflict of interest;

• Misappropriate ideas or data from submitted manuscripts;

• Attempt to influence authors improperly;

• Submit fraudulent or manipulated reviews.

Manipulation of the peer-review process, including fake reviewer identities or fabricated reviews, is considered serious misconduct.

16. Editorial Misconduct

Editors and Editorial Board members must act fairly, independently, and confidentially.

Editors must not:

• Use unpublished information for personal benefit;

• Discriminate against authors;

• Allow personal, financial, or institutional interests to influence editorial decisions;

• Reveal confidential information about submitted manuscripts;

• Manipulate the peer-review process;

• Give preferential treatment to particular authors or institutions.

Editors must declare conflicts of interest and should not handle manuscripts where their impartiality may reasonably be questioned.

17. Allegations of Research and Publication Misconduct

IJMSCI takes allegations of misconduct seriously, whether they are raised before or after publication.

Allegations may concern:

• Plagiarism;

• Fabrication;

• Falsification;

• Image manipulation;

• Duplicate publication;

• Unethical research;

• Authorship disputes;

• Undisclosed conflicts of interest;

• Peer-review manipulation;

• Misuse of AI;

• Other forms of research or publication misconduct.

The journal may request explanations, supporting documents, original data, ethics approval information, or other relevant evidence.

Where appropriate, the journal may contact the authors' institution, research organization, funder, or another responsible authority.

The journal will seek to handle allegations fairly and confidentially and may take appropriate action based on the available evidence.

18. Complaints and Appeals

Authors may appeal an editorial decision when they believe that a significant error, misunderstanding, or procedural problem affected the decision.

Appeals should:

• Be submitted within a reasonable period;

• Clearly explain the basis of the appeal;

• Address specific editorial or peer-review concerns;

• Provide relevant supporting information where appropriate.

Complaints regarding the journal, editors, reviewers, editorial processes, or publisher will be taken seriously and reviewed fairly.

The journal may request additional information to investigate a complaint.

19. Corrections

Honest errors may occur in research and publishing.

If a published article contains an error that does not invalidate the overall research findings, the journal may publish a correction notice.

Corrections should clearly identify the error and explain the correction. Where appropriate, the correction will be linked to the original article.

The journal aims to maintain a transparent and accurate scholarly record.

20. Expressions of Concern

An Expression of Concern may be published when there are serious unresolved questions about the integrity, reliability, or ethics of a published article but the investigation has not yet reached a final conclusion.

An Expression of Concern may be issued while the journal seeks further information from authors, institutions, or other relevant parties.

21. Retraction

An article may be retracted when the published record is substantially unreliable or when serious ethical or publication misconduct has occurred.

Reasons for retraction may include:

• Major errors that invalidate the findings or conclusions;

• Fabrication or falsification;

• Serious plagiarism;

• Duplicate publication;

• Unethical research;

• Serious undisclosed conflicts of interest;

• Manipulation of the peer-review process.

A retraction is intended to correct the scholarly record.

The original article will normally remain part of the published record with a clear retraction notice and explanation of the reason for retraction.

22. Post-Publication Discussions

IJMSCI supports responsible scholarly discussion after publication.

Readers may submit questions, comments, or concerns regarding published articles through the journal's official communication channels.

Substantive concerns may be investigated by the editorial team and may result in a correction, Expression of Concern, retraction, or other appropriate action.

23. Confidentiality

Manuscripts submitted to IJMSCI are treated as confidential during the editorial and peer-review process.

Editors, reviewers, and editorial staff must not disclose information about submitted manuscripts to unauthorized individuals.

Confidential information obtained during peer review must not be used for personal or professional advantage.

24. Editorial Independence

Editorial decisions must be based on the scientific quality, originality, ethical integrity, and relevance of the manuscript.

Editorial decisions must not be influenced by:

• Commercial interests;

• Advertising;

• Sponsorship;

• Author nationality;

• Race or ethnicity;

• Religion;

• Gender;

• Institutional affiliation;

• Political views;

• Personal relationships.

The journal maintains a separation between editorial decision-making and commercial interests.

25. Commitment to Research Integrity

IJMSCI is committed to protecting the integrity of the scholarly record.

All authors, reviewers, editors, Editorial Board members, and the publisher are expected to cooperate with reasonable investigations of suspected ethical or publication misconduct.

The journal may update this policy as ethical standards and best practices in medical and scholarly publishing develop.

International Journal of Medical Science and Clinical Invention (IJMSCI)