Authors Responsibilities
The primary and core responsibility for the authenticity of an article is with the author. Author is expected to ensure that their work represents original research conducted with original data integrity and accuracy. This responsibility is aligned with internationally recognised authorship standards, particularly those outlined by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE); further guidance can be found at https://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/roles-and-responsibilities/. All submitted research articles consist of original content; therefore, no research data may be duplicated or modified. If the manuscript has already been submitted to another journal, the authors are not allowed to submit it to IJGMSP at the same time. The authors must approve the version submitted for publication before submission to the IJGMSP. In addition to this, the author must disclose any financial support, potential conflicts of interest or institutions associated with the research. Compliance with these ethical standards is essential for ensuring a fair publication process.
Affiliations, Funding, and Competing Interests
Affiliations should accurately reflect the institution responsible for the research. Misrepresentation of affiliation is considered unethical and may lead to rejection or further investigation. This expectation aligns with COPE transparency principles; further details can be accessed at https://publicationethics.org/guidance/case/change-author-affiliation.
All funding sources must be disclosed by an author and what role the funder had in conducting the study. IJGMSP will also require the author to declare whether they, or their funding partner have any financial, personal, or institutional conflict of interest with regard to the work that may be perceived as having influenced the work. The disclosure checks will occur during both the submitting and published process to ensure that the integrity of the research is maintained through transparency.
Plagiarism, Similarity, and Originality Standards
There is an absolute requirement for originality in all work submitted for consideration. Plagiarism is understood as the use of another individual’s work without proper acknowledgment, including copying, paraphrasing, and reuse of material, whether intentional or unintentional. This includes not only published articles but also unpublished work such as thesis, conference papers, and online sources. This understanding is consistent with internationally recognised definitions provided by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and further guidance can be found at https://publicationethics.org/core-practices; https://publicationethics.org/guidance/case/plagiarism-3.
All submitted manuscripts are screened for similarities prior to the peer review process with established standard software applications such as Turnitin, Cross Reference etc. Similarity reports are not historically interpreted mechanically; small similarities could occur in data sources, methodologies, and terms that are generally accepted. Because of this, editorial evaluation of a submission will centre on where and how a submission may have a presence rather than just the percentage similarity itself.
Mild Similarity (up to 15%) will typically be considered acceptable when there are correctly referenced sources, and if it is more than 15% the necessary action will be taken as per the nature of the plagiarism. The final decision will be performed by the editor(s) after analysing the detected content. These thresholds are intended as internal guidelines and are intentionally vague in keeping with international guidance advocating for subjective determination of Similarity. When Similarity is found, the author is often contacted to clarify or make requested changes to their submitted work.
Any submitted manuscripts that exhibit substantial amounts of similarity and/or contain potentially plagiarized content may be subject to editorial review pursuant to existing COPE guidelines, including any subsequent investigation through the author’s institution. Plagiarized acts will most probably lead to rejection of the manuscript. As well, the author(s) institution will be informed in circumstances of repeat or severe acts of plagiarism. The goal of this procedure is to maintain the integrity of the academic research community and allow proper assessment of normal scientific behaviours of the academic community. The idea of plagiarism and for acknowledging the sources of other work can be accessed at https://ori.hhs.gov/plagiarism-ideas and https://ori.hhs.gov/acknowledging-source-our-ideas respectively as suggested by the office of research (ORI). The plagiarism based on different scenarios can be accessed at https://publicationethics.org/guidance/case/plagiarism-1; https://publicationethics.org/guidance/flowchart/plagiarism-published-article; https://publicationethics.org/guidance/flowchart/plagiarism-submitted-manuscript respectively.
Data Integrity, Fabrication, and Image Ethics
The importance of data reliability and authenticity cannot be overlooked, as the credibility of research findings depends directly on the accuracy of reported information. Fabrication of data (the creation of inaccurately represented data), as well as falsification of data (the alteration of raw data or results), are serious infractions to research integrity. These definitions are consistent with international ethical frameworks such as those provided by COPE; further guidance is available at https://publicationethics.org/guidance/case/data-integrity-issues.
The authors must ensure accurate information about their data how it was collected using recognized research techniques by utilizing accurate data from recognized researchers/authorities. Furthermore, images and/or photographs must maintain faithfulness to the original findings of the study, however, slight variations such as contrast and/or brightness related to the original image are acceptable; but, any changes to images that will result in a change in interpretation will not be acceptable.
If any concerns arise regarding the accuracy of the data provided during the review process, the authors will be asked to provide raw data and/or supporting documentation to verify the accuracy and validity of the data. If this does not provide sufficient verification or errant data continues to present itself, then the journal may request that the additional reviewers and the editors conduct further investigation to verify whether or not any integrity issues exist with the submission. If integrity issues are identified, the authors may receive an inquiry for clarification; the authors may be provided an opportunity to determine if the submission was accepted or declined. Additionally, if issues regarding integrity have arisen after a publication, the authors may either be required to issue a corrigendum (correction) or retraction. This ensures the scientific dot is direct and not completely lost.
Conflicts of Interest
It is the responsibility of the author to ensure that there are no copyright violations in the paper that he/she submits for publication. Any third-party material included in the paper should be properly cited, and the concerned authority must be contacted for the relevant permissions.
Copyright and Licensing
Authors must ensure compliance with copyright laws and obtain permissions where necessary. This protects intellectual property rights.
Affiliations Accuracy
Correct affiliations should be provided for authors based on their true association either academically or professionally. Providing false affiliation details is unethical. The justification for any changes should be performed only with the consent of all authors and the editorial board. We believe that correct affiliation is of core importance when its comes to the institutional affiliation. We achieve this by the GRID APIs that has been integrated in our system thus, allowing authors to linked their correct affiliated institute when submitting their work. The more details can be found at https://grid.ac/
Authorship Responsibilities and Disputes
Authorship should only go to those people who have contributed intellectually to the research. Authorship can involve designing, collecting data, analysing information, and writing the paper among other things. Each author has to agree on the final version of the manuscript and will take responsibility for its accuracy and completeness. Corresponding authors should serve as the contact person between the journal and co-authors during the process. The corresponding author will handle all communications with the editor about the article, keep co-authors informed regarding decision making and completion of the manuscript documentation. The corresponding author ensures that all co-authors have agreed to the conditions of submission and publication. Disagreements related to authorship, such as authorship order and addition or omission, are very serious and are not handled by the journal in any way except for suspending the processing of the paper until the issue is sorted out. The institution can be contacted in case of further problems. Any change of authorship needs to be documented and approved by all authors.
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