The Journal of Medical Research and Health Sciences (JMRHS) is committed to maintaining high standards of integrity, transparency, accountability, and ethical conduct in scholarly publishing. The Journal expects authors, editors, reviewers, and the publisher to follow recognized principles of publication ethics and responsible research conduct.

The Journal's editorial and publication practices are guided, where applicable, by recommendations and best-practice principles of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).

1. Plagiarism Policy

The Journal considers plagiarism a serious breach of publication ethics. Authors must ensure that submitted manuscripts represent original work and that material derived from other sources is appropriately quoted, paraphrased, acknowledged, and cited.

Plagiarism may include, but is not limited to:

• Copying text, ideas, methods, data, results, figures, tables, images, or other material from another source without appropriate acknowledgement.

• Presenting another person's work or ideas as one's own.

• Inappropriate or excessive reproduction of previously published material.

• Reusing substantial portions of an author's own previously published work without appropriate citation or disclosure.

• Translating previously published material from another language and presenting it as original work without proper acknowledgement.

• Using figures, tables, photographs, or other copyrighted material without appropriate attribution and, where required, permission.

Plagiarism Screening

Manuscripts may be screened using appropriate similarity-detection or plagiarism-detection software before or during editorial assessment and, when necessary, after publication.

A similarity percentage alone does not establish plagiarism. Similarity reports are evaluated in context by the editorial team, taking into consideration the nature, extent, location, source, and circumstances of the overlapping material.

The Journal therefore does not rely solely on a fixed similarity percentage when determining whether plagiarism has occurred.

Where substantial or inappropriate overlap is identified, the Journal may request clarification or revision, reject the manuscript, or initiate an investigation in accordance with applicable publication-ethics procedures.

2. Originality and Duplicate Submission

Submission of a manuscript to JMRHS indicates that the work is original and is not simultaneously under consideration by another journal.

Authors must disclose related manuscripts, previous publications, preprints, conference abstracts, or other material that may overlap substantially with the submitted work where such disclosure is relevant.

Simultaneous submission of substantially the same manuscript to more than one journal is not permitted.

3. Duplicate and Redundant Publication

Authors must not publish substantially the same research, dataset, analysis, or findings in more than one publication without appropriate justification, disclosure, and cross-referencing.

The Journal considers undisclosed duplicate or redundant publication a breach of publication ethics.

Where legitimate secondary publication or reuse is appropriate, authors must clearly disclose the original publication and comply with applicable copyright, licensing, and editorial requirements.

Fragmentation of a single study into multiple publications solely to increase publication output ("salami slicing") may be investigated when it results in misleading or substantially overlapping publications.

4. Data Fabrication, Falsification and Manipulation

Authors must report research data accurately and honestly.

The following practices are unacceptable:

• Fabrication of data or results.

• Falsification or inappropriate alteration of research data.

• Manipulation of images in a manner that misrepresents the original findings.

• Selective alteration, omission, or presentation of results intended to produce a misleading interpretation.

• Misrepresentation of research methods or findings.

Where concerns regarding data integrity arise, the Journal may request original data, supporting documentation, ethics approvals, laboratory records, images, or other relevant research materials.

5. Authorship and Contributorship

Authorship should reflect genuine and substantial contributions to the work.

All listed authors should have made appropriate contributions to the conception or design of the work; acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data; drafting or critical revision of the manuscript; and/or other substantial scholarly contributions consistent with accepted authorship standards.

All authors should approve the final version of the manuscript and accept appropriate accountability for the work.

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

Contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be appropriately acknowledged, subject to their consent where required.

Requests for addition, deletion, or rearrangement of authors after submission must be appropriately justified and may require written agreement from the authors concerned.

6. Conflicts of Interest

Authors, reviewers, and editors must disclose financial, professional, institutional, personal, or other relationships that could reasonably be perceived as influencing the research, review, or editorial decision-making process.

Authors should disclose relevant funding sources and the role, if any, of the funding organization in study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, manuscript preparation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.

The existence of a conflict of interest does not necessarily prevent publication; transparency is essential.

7. Ethical Oversight of Research

Research involving human participants, identifiable human data, or human biological material must comply with applicable ethical principles, institutional requirements, and relevant national or international regulations.

Where required, authors must provide the name of the approving Institutional Ethics Committee/Institutional Review Board and the approval or reference number.

Appropriate informed consent must be obtained when required.

For case reports, clinical photographs, or other material in which an individual could potentially be identified, authors must obtain appropriate consent for publication.

Research involving animals must comply with applicable institutional and national standards for animal welfare and must receive approval from the relevant ethics or animal-care committee where required.

8. Clinical Trials

Clinical studies and trials should comply with applicable ethical, reporting, and registration requirements.

Where prospective trial registration is required under recognized standards or applicable regulations, authors should provide the registration number and name of the registry in the manuscript.

Authors are expected to report clinical research transparently and to follow appropriate reporting guidelines relevant to the study design.

9. Peer Review Ethics

Manuscripts submitted to JMRHS are evaluated according to the Journal's stated peer-review procedure.

Reviewers must:

• Treat manuscripts as confidential documents.

• Provide objective, constructive, and evidence-based assessments.

• Disclose relevant conflicts of interest.

• Avoid using unpublished information obtained through peer review for personal advantage.

• Inform the editor of suspected plagiarism, duplicate publication, data manipulation, or other ethical concerns.

Editorial decisions should be based on the scholarly quality, originality, validity, relevance, and suitability of the manuscript for the Journal.

10. Editorial Independence

Editorial decisions are made on scholarly and editorial grounds and should not be improperly influenced by commercial considerations, advertising, sponsorship, the author's institutional affiliation, nationality, ethnicity, gender, religion, political beliefs, or other irrelevant characteristics.

Editors must disclose conflicts of interest and should recuse themselves from handling manuscripts where an appropriate independent editorial process is required.

11. Citation Manipulation

Authors should cite literature because it is relevant to the work and necessary to support the scholarly record.

Practices intended primarily to manipulate citation metrics are unacceptable. Authors should not be required to add irrelevant citations merely to increase citations to a particular author, journal, institution, or publisher.

Reviewers and editors should not request unnecessary citations for the purpose of increasing their own or the Journal's citation counts.

12. Artificial Intelligence and AI-Assisted Technologies

Authors must remain responsible and accountable for all content submitted to the Journal.

Generative artificial intelligence or AI-assisted technologies must not be listed as authors because they cannot assume responsibility for the integrity, originality, accuracy, or ethical obligations associated with authorship.

Where AI-assisted technologies have been used materially in manuscript preparation, data analysis, image generation, or another substantive part of the research or publication process, authors should disclose their use transparently, as appropriate.

Authors are responsible for verifying the accuracy of AI-assisted output, checking references and citations, protecting confidential information, and ensuring that submitted material does not infringe copyright or other rights.

The use of AI tools must not be used to fabricate, falsify, manipulate, or misrepresent research data or findings.

13. Confidentiality

Editors and reviewers must maintain the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts and related correspondence.

Information obtained through the peer-review process must not be disclosed or used for personal, professional, or commercial advantage before publication.

Authors are likewise responsible for ensuring that confidential or personally identifiable information is not included without appropriate authorization.

14. Research Misconduct

The Journal takes allegations of research and publication misconduct seriously.

Potential misconduct may include:

• Plagiarism.

• Data fabrication or falsification.

• Image manipulation.

• Duplicate or redundant publication.

• Undisclosed conflicts of interest.

• Inappropriate authorship.

• Citation manipulation.

• Peer-review manipulation.

• Ethical approval or consent irregularities.

• Other practices that compromise the integrity of the scholarly record.

Allegations will be evaluated fairly and confidentially. The Journal may request explanations, original data, ethics documentation, or other evidence from the authors and may contact relevant institutions or other journals when appropriate and justified.

The Journal will seek to follow established publication-ethics procedures, including relevant COPE guidance, when investigating suspected misconduct.

15. Corrections, Retractions and Expressions of Concern

The Journal is committed to maintaining the accuracy and integrity of the published scholarly record.

When an error or ethical concern is identified after publication, the Journal may issue an appropriate:

• Correction or corrigendum;

• Retraction;

• Expression of concern; or

• Other editorial notice.

The action taken will depend on the nature and seriousness of the issue and will be intended primarily to maintain the integrity and reliability of the scholarly record.

Retraction notices and other post-publication notices should clearly identify the affected article and explain the reason for the editorial action to the extent appropriate.

16. Complaints and Appeals

Authors, reviewers, readers, and other stakeholders may submit legitimate complaints concerning editorial procedures, publication ethics, peer review, or published content.

Authors may also appeal editorial decisions when they believe that a significant factual or procedural error affected the decision.

Complaints and appeals will be considered objectively and, where appropriate, by an editor or responsible person who was not directly involved in the matter.

Complaints involving the Editor-in-Chief or another senior editor should, where practicable, be handled through an independent process.

17. Post-Publication Concerns

Readers, researchers, institutions, and other stakeholders are encouraged to notify the Journal of credible concerns regarding published articles.

The Journal will assess such concerns and may seek responses or supporting evidence from the authors or their institutions. Appropriate corrections, expressions of concern, retractions, or other notices may be issued where warranted.

18. Responsibilities of the Publisher

The publisher supports the editorial independence of the Journal and the integrity of the scholarly record.

Commercial considerations, advertising, sponsorship, or publication fees should not determine editorial acceptance of manuscripts.

The publisher will cooperate with editors in investigating allegations of misconduct and implementing appropriate corrections or other post-publication actions.

19. Responsibility of Authors

By submitting a manuscript to the Journal of Medical Research and Health Sciences, authors confirm that:

• The manuscript represents their original scholarly work.

• The work has not been submitted simultaneously to another journal.

• All sources have been appropriately acknowledged.

• All listed authors meet appropriate authorship requirements.

• Required ethical approvals and informed consent have been obtained.

• Relevant conflicts of interest and funding sources have been disclosed.

• Data and results have not been fabricated, falsified, or misleadingly manipulated.

• Any substantial overlap with previous publications has been disclosed.

• The authors accept responsibility for the accuracy and integrity of the submitted work.

20. Policy Review

The Journal may periodically review and update this policy to reflect developments in publication ethics, research integrity, scholarly communication, and recognized international best practices.

Any updated policy will apply prospectively as appropriate while maintaining the Journal's commitment to fairness, transparency, and the integrity of the scholarly record.

Journal of Medical Research and Health Sciences (JMRHS)
Publication Ethics, Research Integrity and Plagiarism Policy