Publication Ethics and Publication Malpractice Policy
IMCC Journal of Science is committed to upholding the highest standards of publication ethics and promoting ethical research practices. The journal adheres to the COPE Code of Conduct for Journal Publishers, ensuring that all aspects of the publication process are conducted with integrity and transparency. Any violation of the ethical procedures outlined here will result in the immediate rejection of the manuscript. The journal may also pursue legal action if deemed necessary.
Ethical Considerations for Authors
Authors submitting manuscripts to IMCC Journal of Science must adhere to the following ethical guidelines:
Objectivity and Accuracy: Authors must present their research findings objectively and accurately, providing sufficient detail and references to enable others to replicate their work. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements are unacceptable and constitute unethical behavior.
Originality and Acknowledgment: Authors must ensure that their work is entirely original and that any use of others’ work is appropriately acknowledged. Plagiarism in any form is considered unethical publishing behavior and will not be tolerated.
Multi-Submission: Submitting the same manuscript to multiple journals simultaneously is unacceptable. Authors should not submit articles describing essentially the same research to more than one journal.
Co-Authorship: The corresponding author must ensure that all co-authors have agreed to the final version of the manuscript and its submission for publication. All authors must have made substantial intellectual contributions to the submitted paper and are collectively responsible and accountable for the results.
After acceptance for publication, no changes to authorship or the order of authors will be accepted. Any request to change authorship must be justified in a letter addressed to the Chief Editor. The letter should clearly explain the rationale for the proposed change and provide supporting documentation if necessary.
Upon request from the editor, the authors must be prepared to provide relevant documents or data to verify the validity of the results.
Ethical Considerations for Editors and Reviewers
Editors and reviewers of IMCC Journal of Science must adhere to the following ethical guidelines:
Impartiality: Manuscripts must be evaluated solely on their academic merit, free from personal bias or conflicts of interest.
Confidentiality: Editors must treat all manuscripts received for review as confidential documents. Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must not be used for personal gain.
Fair Review: Reviews should be conducted objectively and impartially, with clear observations and supporting arguments to guide authors in improving their work.
Conflicts of Interest: Reviewers should disclose any potential conflicts of interest, such as competitive, collaborative, or personal relationships with the authors, institutions, or companies involved in the research.
Promptness: Reviewers should inform the editor promptly if they feel unqualified to review a manuscript or if they cannot complete the review within the specified timeframe.
Ethical Considerations for Human Subjects Research
IMCC Journal of Science is committed to upholding the highest ethical standards in research involving human subjects. Authors are required to adhere to the following guidelines to ensure the protection and welfare of all participants:
Informed Consent: Researchers must obtain informed consent from all participants involved in the study. The consent process should provide clear and comprehensive information about the research purpose, procedures, potential risks, benefits, and the participant’s rights, including the right to withdraw at any time without penalty.
Confidentiality and Privacy: Authors must ensure the confidentiality of participant data and respect their privacy. Any personal information collected during the study must be securely stored and de-identified when shared.
Ethics Approval: All research involving human subjects must be reviewed and approved by an accredited institutional ethics review board (IRB) or equivalent ethics committee prior to data collection. A statement of approval, including the IRB number, should be included in the manuscript.
Risk Minimization: Researchers are obligated to minimize any potential risks to participants. Studies must not expose participants to unnecessary harm, discomfort, or distress.
Vulnerable Populations: Special care must be taken when the research involves vulnerable populations, such as minors, the elderly, or individuals with disabilities. Additional safeguards must be in place to protect their rights and well-being.
A. Children and Minors
Parental or legal guardian consent is required for participation, alongside assent from the child, when age-appropriate. Language used in the consent and assent processes must be clear and understandable. Risks must be minimal unless the study offers direct and significant benefits to the child participant.
B. Pregnant Women
Research involving pregnant women must ensure that both the mother and fetus are protected from undue risks. Studies must be directly related to the health needs of pregnant women or the developing fetus to justify their inclusion. Informed consent must highlight any potential risks to the mother and fetus.
C. Elderly Individuals
Special consideration must be given to the cognitive and physical abilities of elderly participants. Informed consent processes must be sensitive to potential impairments in decision-making capacity. Studies must avoid coercion, ensuring that participation is entirely voluntary.
D. Persons with Disabilities
Researchers must ensure accessibility in the informed consent process, including providing materials in alternative formats (e.g., braille, large print, or audio). Studies must respect the autonomy of participants, taking care to avoid paternalistic attitudes or practices.
E. Economically or Educationally Disadvantaged Individuals
Researchers must avoid exploitation by ensuring that compensation for participation is not coercive. Consent forms must use plain language to accommodate participants with limited literacy or educational background.
Compliance with National and International Standards: Research must comply with national regulations and international ethical guidelines, such as the Declaration of Helsinki and the Belmont Report, where applicable.
Disclosure of Conflicts of Interest: Authors must disclose any potential conflicts of interest that may influence the conduct or reporting of the research.
Transparency in Participant Compensation: If participants are compensated for their involvement, the nature and amount of compensation must be disclosed to the participants during the consent process and detailed in the manuscript.
Reporting Ethical Violations: Any breach of ethical standards discovered post-publication must be reported to the journal immediately for investigation and corrective action, which may include retraction of the article.
By submitting a manuscript to the IMCC Journal of Science, authors affirm their adherence to these ethical principles and accept full responsibility for maintaining the integrity of their research involving human subjects.
Policy on Clinical Trials
IMCC Journal of Science is committed to promoting the ethical conduct, transparency, and integrity of clinical trials in medical research. Submissions involving clinical trials must adhere to the following policies, ensuring alignment with international standards and best practices:
Clinical Trial Registration: All clinical trials submitted for publication must be registered in a publicly accessible and recognized trial registry before participant recruitment begins. Accepted registries include ClinicalTrials.gov, the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP), and other national or regional registries recognized by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). The trial registration number and URL must be provided in the manuscript.
Ethical Approval and Oversight: Clinical trials must receive prior approval from a qualified Institutional Review Board (IRB) or Ethics Review Committee (ERC). Authors must include the name of the approving ethics board, the approval reference number, and a statement of compliance with ethical standards in the manuscript.
Informed Consent: Researchers must obtain written informed consent from all participants before enrollment. Consent forms must provide clear and comprehensive information about the trial’s purpose, procedures, potential risks, benefits, and participant rights, including the right to withdraw at any time. If participants are unable to provide consent (e.g., minors or incapacitated individuals), consent must be obtained from legally authorized representatives, with assent obtained where applicable.
Adherence to Good Clinical Practice (GCP): All clinical trials must adhere to the principles of Good Clinical Practice (GCP), as outlined by the International Council for Harmonisation (ICH-GCP). Researchers must demonstrate that they have implemented procedures to monitor and ensure participant safety throughout the trial.
Data Sharing and Transparency: Authors must commit to data sharing in line with ethical and legal guidelines. A data-sharing statement must be included in the manuscript, specifying whether individual participant data (IPD) will be shared, the conditions for access and use of shared data, and the repository or platform where the data will be available.
Reporting Standards: Manuscripts reporting clinical trial results must follow the CONSORT (Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials) guidelines. Authors should provide a CONSORT checklist and flow diagram during manuscript submission.
Conflict of Interest and Funding Transparency: Authors must disclose all sources of funding and any potential conflicts of interest that could influence the conduct or reporting of the trial. Funding sources must not have undue influence on the study design, data collection, or interpretation of results.
Post-Trial Access to Interventions: Researchers must outline plans for providing post-trial access to effective interventions, particularly for participants in low-resource settings. If no such access is planned, the manuscript must include a justification.
Adverse Event Reporting: Any adverse events or unexpected outcomes must be promptly reported to the relevant ethics committees, trial registries, and, where applicable, regulatory authorities. A summary of adverse events must be included in the manuscript.
Compliance with International Standards: Clinical trials must comply with international guidelines, including the Declaration of Helsinki, ICH-GCP Guidelines, and WHO and ICMJE standards for trial registration and reporting.
Retrospective Registration: Trials that were not registered prospectively may be considered for publication only if the authors provide a compelling justification and register the trial retrospectively in a recognized registry.
Rejection of Unethical Research: The IMCC Journal of Science reserves the right to reject manuscripts reporting clinical trials that do not adhere to these policies or fail to protect the rights and safety of participants.
Timeliness of Results
IMCC Journal of Science will not consider for publication manuscripts based on data sets where the last data point occurred more than five years prior to review by the journal. This policy is in place to ensure the timeliness of results published in the journal.
Conflict of Interest Disclosure
Authors must disclose all potential conflicts of interest, and the Editorial Board will determine whether the resolution of these conflicts is deemed favorable before accepting the manuscript for publication.
Policy for Investigating Complaints and Appeals
Upon receiving a complaint alleging copyright infringement, intellectual property rights violations, inaccuracies, libel, or illegality in a submission, IMCC Journal of Science will promptly initiate an investigation. This investigation will involve requesting substantiation of claims from both the complainant and the author. Following a thorough assessment, the Journal will make a good faith determination regarding the removal of the allegedly wrongful material. A decision to retain the material will signify the Journal’s belief that the complaint lacks sufficient merit or, if well-founded, that a legal defense or exemption applies, such as fair use in copyright cases or truthfulness in libel cases. IMCC Journal of Science will maintain a comprehensive record of all documents pertaining to the complaint and the subsequent investigation.
Manuscripts rejected by an Associate Editor may be appealed to the Chief Editor. However, it is highly uncommon for the Chief Editor to overturn an Associate Editor’s rejection based on a blinded review.
Corrections, Retractions and Expressions of Concern
IMCC Journal of Science recognizes the importance of clarity and accuracy in the scholarly record. To uphold these principles, the journal adheres to established guidelines for addressing errors, retracting flawed articles, and expressing concerns regarding published content.
Corrections. Minor errors in published articles may be rectified through corrigenda or errata. These corrections, authorized by the Chief Editor, inform readers of the error and provide a definitive solution. Corrigenda and errata are published as separate articles in the journal and linked to the original publication.
Retractions. Retractions are considered and implemented when an article contains severe errors that invalidate its conclusions or when there is evidence of publication malpractice, such as plagiarism, duplicate publication, or unethical research. IMCC Journal of Science follows industry best practices and adheres to Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines in handling retractions:
- A retraction note titled “Retraction: [article title]” is published in a subsequent issue of the journal. This note is signed by the authors and/or the editor and explicitly states the reason for retraction.
- A link is established in the electronic version of the retraction note, directing readers to the original article.
- The online version of the original article is preceded by a screen displaying the retraction notice. This screen serves as the landing page for the article, allowing readers to proceed to the retracted content with full awareness of its status.
- The original article remains unchanged, except for a watermark on each page of the PDF indicating its retracted status.
Withdrawals. Authors may withdraw articles before they are formally accepted for publication. Additionally, Online First Articles (early versions of articles that may contain errors or accidental duplicates) may be withdrawn if they are found to violate journal publishing ethics guidelines. However, once an article has been published under a specific issue, it cannot be withdrawn.
Editorial Expressions of Concern. When substantial doubt arises regarding the integrity of a submitted or published article, journal editors may issue an expression of concern. This action is taken only if an investigation has proven inconclusive but strong indications of validity remain. In rare cases, an editorial expression of concern may be issued while an investigation is ongoing. Expressions of concern are linked to the relevant published article.
Article Removal: Legal Limitations. In extremely rare circumstances, an article may need to be removed from the online database. This will only occur if the article is clearly defamatory, infringes upon others’ legal rights, is the subject of a court order, or poses a serious health risk if acted upon. In such cases, the metadata (Title and Authors) will be retained, but the text will be replaced with a screen indicating the article’s removal for legal reasons.
Article Replacement. If an article poses a serious health risk but can be corrected, the authors may choose to retract the flawed original and replace it with a revised version. The retraction procedures will be followed, with the exception that the database retraction notice will include a link to the corrected re-published article and a detailed history of the document.
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