Guidelines on Ethical Conduct and Publication
These guidelines are intended as a reference for authors and reviewers. JUCMD endeavours to maintain the highest ethical standards for the articles it publishes. To do so, the journal follows established international standards and guidelines on the conduct and publication of health research, including the World Medical Association’s Declaration of Helsinki, the Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences (CIOMS), the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), and the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME).
JUCMD considers these guidelines as necessary to make its position known and to provide authors with clear and easily accessible information on the important ethical issues to ensure that their papers are ethically compliant.
Authors’ responsibilities
Papers submitted to JUCMD should comply with the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly work in Medical Journals of the ICMJE.
Ethical approval
JUCMD expects authors to adhere to the Ethical Principles for Medical Research Involving Human Subjects outlined in the World Medical Association’s Declaration of Helsinki and CIOMS. For research involving humans, every research article submitted must include a declaration that before carrying out its field work, the study had obtained ethical clearance from a recognized body in the country, for example, the institutional review boards or research ethics committees. Research involving animals are expected to follow the relevant standards of ethical research. If ethical clearance was not considered to be required, a statement indicating the reasons it was not required must be provided. In any case, authors are expected to follow all requirements of ethical conduct of research, reporting of the findings, and preparation of manuscripts.
Participant confidentiality and respect
Manuscripts should be prepared in such a way that they preserve participants’ confidentiality. Authors are expected to obtain an individual’s explicit consent for the use of any personal or medical information that may make the participant identifiable and must ensure the dignity and respect of the participants and their communities in their manuscript.
Competing interests
JUCMD requires authors to provide details of any competing interests. A competing interest may occur when an author’s personal, family, or institutional interests (e.g. sources of funds, earnings, relationships, etc.) may affect the research, its findings, or publication of the manuscript. JUCMD will not reject a paper solely on the basis of a declared competing interest but will take this into consideration, when assessing a paper and, if considered relevant, including such information in the published paper.
Funding
JUCMD requires authors to state all sources of funding for their study.
Clinical trials registration
JUCMD requires registration of clinical trials in national trials registry before undertaking the trial, as a condition of consideration for publication.
Authorship
JUCMD follows the ICMJE recommendations on authorship credits, which aim to ensure that only those who have made material contribution to the research are named as authors. These require that all four of the following criteria be met to be considered an author:
1. Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work
2. Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content
3. Final approval of the version to be published
4. Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.
Every person who meets all four criteria should be identified as an author. Those who meet some but not all of these criteria should be included in an acknowledgement. It should be noted that data collection, laboratory testing, data management, acquisition of funds, provision of support for the study, etc. do not qualify (on their own) an individual for being included as an author.
JUCMD expects papers submitted to be original and not already published, accepted for publication, or currently under consideration for publication elsewhere. Authors must affirm this and disclose any papers that overlap with the submitted paper, including paper(s) published in other languages, although translation may occasionally be considered with the agreement of the other journal. Oral presentation of study findings at a conference, or publication of an abstract only in conference proceedings, does not normally prohibit submission of the full paper to JUCMD. Such abstracts should not exceed 500 words.
Scientific misconduct
JUCMD takes any allegation or evidence of scientific misconduct seriously. Examples of scientific misconduct include:
- Violation of ethical research standards: failing to adhere to standards for research involving humans and animals.
- Fabrication and falsification of data and abuse of accepted research practices such as making up data, deliberately suppressing and/or altering data, and manipulating experiments/analysis to obtain desired results.
- Plagiarism: using the published language or ideas of others without appropriate acknowledgment of the source and representing such ideas as one’s own. When referring to the published ideas/opinions of others, full referencing is expected. Brief quoted statements could be acceptable if good justification is provided and such statements are placed within inverted commas.
- Duplicate publication: this refers to the publication of a paper by at least one of the authors, that overlaps substantially with another one already published, without clear reference to the previous publication. Duplicate publication is considered unethical particularly for original research because it can lead to double-counting of data and inappropriate weighting of the results of a single study.
- Impropriety of authorship: this refers to improperly assigning authorship credit either by inclusion (“guest” authorship) or exclusion (“ghost” authorship).
Authors may appeal decisions on their papers if they believe there is good reason for an appeal. Such appeals will be carefully considered by the editorial team.
Website: Our website, reflective of our commitment to high ethical and professional standards, ensures clarity and accuracy without any misleading information. JUCMD maintains originality and distinctiveness, avoiding resemblance to other journals or publishers. You'll find a clear 'Aims & Scope' statement on the webpage, defining our readership and what we consider for publication, along with our authorship criteria. ISSNs are prominently displayed for both print and electronic formats.
Name of Journal: The name of our journal, Journal of University College of Medicine and Dentistry (JUCMD), is unique and unmistakable, avoiding confusion with other publications.
Peer Review Process: JUCMD employs a double-blind peer review policy.
Ownership and Management: Ownership and management information is readily available on our website, ensuring transparency and dispelling any misconceptions about our journal's affiliations.
Governing Body: The editorial board of JUCMD is comprised of experts in relevant subject areas. Full names and affiliations of our editorial board members are provided on our website. The full names and affiliations of our editors, along with contact details for our editorial office, including a complete address is listed on the website.
Copyright and Licensing: We outline our copyright policy in author guidelines, naming the copyright holder on all published articles. Licensing information is clearly described on our website, and licensing terms are indicated on all published articles in PDF format.
Author Fees: There is no fees associated with manuscript processing or publication, and it is clearly stated on our website, ensuring transparency for potential authors.
Publishing Schedule: Our publication schedule follows a biannual frequency, adhering to a strict protocol and timetable. Issues are officially released online in the first week of January and July each year.
Archiving: We preserve our content through the PKP Preservation Network.
Post-Publication Discussions and Retraction Policy
The JUCMD is committed to maintaining the integrity and accuracy of published research. This policy outlines the procedures for facilitating post-publication discussions and corrections to address errors, clarify information, or engage in scholarly discourse after an article has been published. JUCMD encourages constructive post-publication discussions among authors, readers, and the research community to foster dialogue and exchange of ideas. Authors, readers, and other stakeholders are invited to submit comments, questions, or critiques regarding published articles to the JUCMD Editorial Office.
