Publication ethics and Malpractice Statement

The International Journal of Interdisciplinary Medical Sciences (IJIMS) is committed to ensuring the highest standards of publication ethics.1 All parties involved—authors, editors, and reviewers—must agree upon standards of expected ethical behavior.

1. Duties of the Editorial Board

Fair Play and Independence

Editors evaluate manuscripts solely for their intellectual content and clinical relevance, without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy of the authors.

Confidentiality

The Editor-in-Chief and editorial staff must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, and potential reviewers.

Involvement and Cooperation in Investigations

The journal shall take reasonable responsive measures when ethical complaints have been presented concerning a submitted manuscript or published paper.

2. Duties of Reviewers

Contribution to Editorial Decisions

Peer review assists the editor in making editorial decisions and, through editorial communications with the author, may also assist the author in improving the paper.2

Promptness and Reliability

Any selected referee who feels unqualified to review the research reported in a manuscript or knows that its prompt review will be impossible should notify the editor and excuse themselves from the review process.

Standard of Objectivity

Reviews should be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate. Referees should express their views clearly with supporting arguments.

3. Duties of Authors

Reporting Standards

Authors of original research should present an accurate account of the work performed as well as an objective discussion of its significance. Underlying data should be represented accurately in the paper.

Originality and Plagiarism

The authors should ensure that they have written entirely original works. If the authors have used the work and/or words of others, this must be appropriately cited or quoted. IJIMS uses AI-powered detection tools to identify:

  • Plagiarism: Presenting others' work as your own.3
  • Self-Plagiarism: Re-publishing your own previously published data without citation.4

Multiple, Redundant, or Concurrent Publication

An author should not, in general, publish manuscripts describing essentially the same research in more than one journal or primary publication.

4. Handling Research Malpractice

IJIMS follows a strict protocol for dealing with unethical behavior:

Violation

Action Taken

Data Falsification

Immediate rejection or formal retraction of the paper.

Image Manipulation

Inquiry with the author; potential notification of the home institution.

Ghost Authorship

Correction of the author list and formal warning.

Redundant Publication

Retraction and notification to the other journal involved.

5. Post-Publication Corrections

The journal is committed to maintaining the integrity of the scientific record.5

  • Erratum: To correct errors introduced by the journal.
  • Corrigendum: To correct significant errors made by the authors.
  • Retractions: Issued if the main findings are found to be invalid or if the work is found to be unethical.

6. Transparency and Open Access

As an open-access journal, IJIMS ensures that:

  • All articles are freely available immediately upon publication.
  • Copyright: Authors retain the copyright of their work under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY)
  • Archiving: All published issues are digitally archived to ensure long-term availability.