Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

An author should not in general publish manuscripts describing essentially the same research in more than one journal of primary publication. Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently constitutes unethical behaviour and is unacceptable.

In general, an author should not submit for consideration in another journal a paper that has been published previously, except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture or academic thesis or as an electronic preprint.

Publication of some kinds of articles (e.g. clinical guidelines, translations) in more than one journal is sometimes justifiable, provided certain conditions are met. The authors and editors of the journals concerned must agree to the secondary publication, which must reflect the same data and interpretation of the primary document. The primary reference must be cited in the secondary publication. Further detail on acceptable forms of secondary publication can be found from the ICMJE.

The Electronic Journal of Medical Research (EJMR) follows a strict Publication Ethics and Malpractice Policy and is committed to protect the integrity of the scholarly record and feels its duty to help and support the scientific community in all aspects of research and publishing ethics.

Ethical responsibilities of authors are set out below:

Authors are expected to adhere to the highest standard with respect to publication ethics. Any cases of ethical misconduct are treated very seriously. Authors must state that the protocol for the research project has been approved by a suitably constituted Ethics Committee of the institution within which the work was undertaken and all necessary consents and approvals are obtained to publish their work.

At the time of submission where the manuscript reports on commercial software, hardware or other products, authors must include a disclosure statement in the body of the manuscript and declare any conflict of interest or any affiliation or involvement in any organization whether it is academic, commercial, financial, personal and professional relevant to the work under consideration to avoid the potential for bias and accept responsibility for what is said in the manuscript and also disclosed all sources of financial support for the research in the manuscript.

The author(s) should declare that all text, data, figures/tables or other illustrations presented in the manuscript are completely original and does not contain or include material taken from other copyrighted sources and wherever such material has been included, proper citation is included in reference section and also affirm that the work does not violate any proprietary or personal rights of others.

Author(s) must state that the article submitted has neither been previously published (in part or in full) nor submitted elsewhere in any form or media whatsoever for publication or for simultaneous consideration in any other journal. Authors also must not reuse their previously published work without making substantial changes and without specific address; this is considered self-plagiarism.

Authors must state that they have substantially participated in research and in preparation of the manuscript and that it represents original work adequate to claim the authorship.

Authors should agree that no author can publish his/her contribution anywhere else, unless it has been changed substantially.

Where an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in an article of his/her that has been published in EJMR, he/she has an obligation to promptly notify the editors and cooperate with them to correct the article or retract it as appropriate.

Ethics of Human Subject Research

The Author should ensure that studies involving experiments on humans must have institutional review board (IRB) and/or national research ethics committee approval. Manuscripts should include a statement that the informed consent was obtained for experimentation with human subjects and that it conforms to standards currently applied in the country of origin. The name of the authorizing body should be stated in the paper. The privacy rights of human subjects must always be observed.

Ethics of Animal Research

The Author should ensure that studies involving experiments on animals must include a statement in the manuscript indicating that the international, national, and/or institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals have been followed, and that the study has been approved by a research ethics committee. Procedures should be such that experimental animals do not have to suffer unnecessarily. Papers should include details of the procedures and of anaesthetics used.