Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement
Publication Ethics
Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement
MISJ-International Journal of Medical Research and Allied Sciences (MISJ-IJMRAAS)
Introduction
The MISJ-International Journal of Medical Research and Allied Sciences (MISJ-IJMRAAS) is committed to maintaining high standards of publication ethics and research integrity. The journal follows internationally accepted ethical principles to ensure transparency, fairness, accountability, and credibility in scholarly publishing.
MISJ-IJMRAAS adheres to the principles and best practices of:
• Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)
• International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE)
• Declaration of Helsinki (World Medical Association – Ethical Principles for Medical Research Involving Human Subjects)
All authors, editors, reviewers, editorial staff, and the publisher are expected to comply with these standards.
Editorial Responsibilities
Publication Decisions
Editors are responsible for making fair and independent decisions regarding manuscript acceptance, revision, or rejection. Decisions are based on:
• Scientific merit
• Originality
• Methodological soundness
• Ethical compliance
• Relevance to the journal's scope
Editorial decisions are not influenced by commercial, financial, or personal interests.
Fairness and Impartiality
Manuscripts are evaluated without discrimination based on:
• Race or ethnicity
• Gender or sex
• Religion
• Nationality
• Institutional affiliation
• Political beliefs
• Geographic origin
All submissions are assessed based on academic and scientific quality.
Confidentiality
Editors and editorial staff must maintain strict confidentiality regarding submitted manuscripts.
Information about a manuscript must not be disclosed to anyone other than individuals directly involved in the editorial and peer-review process, including:
• Authors
• Reviewers
• Editorial advisers
• Publisher, when necessary
Unpublished information obtained through manuscript evaluation must not be used for personal research or professional advantage.
Conflict of Interest
Editors must avoid handling manuscripts where an actual, potential, or perceived conflict of interest exists.
Where necessary, the manuscript should be assigned to another qualified editor.
Unpublished information from submitted manuscripts must not be used for personal research or advantage.
Author Responsibilities
Originality and Plagiarism
Authors must submit only original work. Plagiarism, substantial self-plagiarism, duplicate publication, fabrication, or falsification of data are strictly prohibited.
Proper acknowledgment and citation of sources are mandatory.
All manuscripts may be screened using appropriate plagiarism or similarity-detection software.
Multiple or Concurrent Submission
Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal simultaneously is unethical and unacceptable.
Authors must confirm that the manuscript is not under consideration by another journal at the time of submission.
Authorship Criteria
Authorship should be limited to individuals who have made substantial intellectual contributions to the work, including:
• Study conception or design, or acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data
• Manuscript drafting or critical revision
• Final approval of the version to be published
• Accountability for the accuracy and integrity of the work
Guest, honorary, gift, or ghost authorship is not permitted.
Individuals who contributed to the work but do not meet authorship criteria should, where appropriate, be acknowledged with their permission.
Data Accuracy and Integrity
Authors must present accurate and reliable data and maintain appropriate research records.
Fabrication, falsification, selective reporting, or inappropriate manipulation of data constitutes serious misconduct.
Authors should provide supporting data or documentation when reasonably requested by editors, subject to ethical, privacy, confidentiality, and legal restrictions.
Ethical Approval
Research involving human participants or animals must comply with applicable ethical standards and institutional or regulatory requirements.
Where applicable, manuscripts should include:
• Institutional ethics approval
• Ethics approval/reference number
• Informed consent
• Relevant participant-protection measures
Studies involving human participants should comply with the Declaration of Helsinki where applicable.
Research involving animals must comply with applicable institutional, national, and international guidelines for the care and use of animals and must include approval from the appropriate ethics committee where required.
Conflict of Interest Disclosure
All financial, personal, professional, institutional, or other relationships that could reasonably influence the research must be disclosed.
Funding sources and relevant financial support should also be disclosed where applicable.
If no relevant conflict exists, authors should state:
“The authors declare no conflict of interest.”
Corrections and Retractions
If authors discover significant errors or inaccuracies after publication, they must promptly notify the editorial office.
Authors are expected to cooperate with the journal in issuing corrections, retractions, or other appropriate post-publication notices when necessary.
Reviewer Responsibilities
Confidentiality
Manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents.
Reviewers must not share, copy, distribute, or use unpublished manuscript material for personal or professional purposes.
Objectivity
Reviews should be objective, constructive, respectful, and evidence-based.
Personal criticism of authors is inappropriate.
Contribution to Editorial Decisions
Reviewers should provide clear and relevant comments to help editors make informed decisions and assist authors in improving their manuscripts.
Reviewers should identify important scientific, methodological, ethical, or interpretative concerns.
Conflict of Interest
Reviewers must decline review if an actual, potential, or perceived conflict of interest could affect their impartiality.
Timeliness
Reviewers should complete evaluations within the assigned timeframe or inform the editorial office if they are unable to do so.
Peer Review Process
MISJ-IJMRAAS follows a double-blind peer-review system for research articles and other manuscripts where peer review is applicable:
• Author identities are concealed from reviewers
• Reviewer identities are concealed from authors
• Qualified and independent reviewers are selected
• Normally, at least two independent reviewers are invited for research articles
The final publication decision is made by the responsible editor after careful consideration of the reviewers' recommendations and the editorial assessment.
Peer review does not guarantee acceptance or publication.
Publisher Responsibilities
Integrity of the Scholarly Record
The publisher, Malwa International Scientific Journals (MISJ), supports the editorial team in ensuring:
• Ethical publishing practices
• Prevention and investigation of misconduct
• Editorial independence
• Transparency in corrections and retractions
• Preservation of the scholarly record
Commercial interests do not influence editorial decisions.
Misconduct Handling
MISJ-IJMRAAS takes all forms of publication and research misconduct seriously, including:
• Plagiarism
• Data fabrication or falsification
• Duplicate or redundant publication
• Citation manipulation
• Authorship misconduct
• Inappropriate image manipulation
• Ethical violations
• Undisclosed conflicts of interest
When misconduct is suspected:
• An appropriate investigation will be conducted
• Authors may be asked for clarification or supporting documentation
• Authors will be given an appropriate opportunity to respond
• Manuscripts may be rejected
• Published articles may be corrected or retracted
• Relevant institutions or authorities may be notified if necessary
The journal aims to handle allegations fairly, confidentially, and proportionately.
Complaints and Appeals: Authors may appeal editorial decisions by submitting a detailed explanation to the Editor-in-Chief. Appeals should identify specific factual, procedural, or ethical concerns. Appeals will be reviewed fairly and, where feasible, independently of the original decision-making process. Complaints related to editorial processes or publication ethics will be handled in accordance with applicable publication-ethics principles.
Image manipulation: Images, figures, photographs, microscopy images, radiological images, gels, graphs, and other visual materials must accurately represent the original data. Inappropriate manipulation, fabrication, selective alteration, or enhancement of images that may mislead readers is considered scientific or publication misconduct.
ORCID: Authors are encouraged to provide their ORCID iD during manuscript submission. ORCID identifiers may be used to improve author identification, attribution, and transparency in scholarly publishing.
Corrections, Retractions & Expressions of Concern
If errors or ethical issues are identified after publication:
• Corrections will be issued for errors that do not invalidate the overall findings but require amendment
• Retractions may be issued for major misconduct, unreliable findings, serious ethical violations, or other circumstances that substantially compromise the publication
• Expressions of Concern may be issued when serious concerns exist but an investigation is ongoing or has not yet reached a sufficiently clear conclusion
Retractions and other post-publication notices will be clearly identified and linked to the affected publication where appropriate to maintain transparency.
Commitment to Ethical Publishing
MISJ-IJMRAAS is committed to maintaining trust in scholarly communication by ensuring:
• Transparency
• Fair peer review
• Ethical conduct
• Scientific integrity
• Editorial independence
• Responsible research practices
All authors, editors, reviewers, editorial staff, and the publisher share responsibility for upholding these standards.
Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Authors who use AI tools for language editing or manuscript preparation must disclose such use where the AI tool has materially contributed to the manuscript.
AI tools cannot be listed as authors.
Human authors remain fully responsible for the content, accuracy, originality, integrity, and ethical compliance of the manuscript.
AI tools must not be used to fabricate or manipulate:
• Research data
• Results
• Images
• Participants
• References
• Citations
• Experimental findings
AI-generated content must be carefully reviewed and verified by the human authors.
Editors and reviewers must maintain confidentiality and should not upload confidential or unpublished manuscript content to public AI systems without appropriate authorization and safeguards.