Publication Ethics

Journal of Medical Sciences: Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

The Journal of Medical Sciences (JOMS), published by Sebha University, follows the COPE Core Practices and the ICMJE Recommendations. This statement sets out the ethical duties of everyone involved in publishing in JOMS: editors, reviewers, authors and the publisher. Detailed rules on specific topics are given in the linked policies, which form part of this statement.

1. Duties of editors

  • Publication decisions. Editors decide on manuscripts on the basis of their scientific merit, originality, validity and relevance to the scope of the journal. The Editor-in-Chief makes the final decision on every manuscript.
  • Fair play. Editors assess manuscripts without regard to the authors' race, sex, gender, religion, ethnic origin, nationality, citizenship, institution or political views.
  • Confidentiality. Editors and editorial staff do not disclose information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers and other editorial staff as needed.
  • Conflicts of interest. Editors withdraw from handling any manuscript in which they have a conflict of interest, including manuscripts from their own students, close colleagues, co-authors or relatives. Manuscripts by editors and board members are handled as set out in the Peer Review Policy.
  • Integrity of the record. Editors act on concerns about plagiarism, data fabrication or other misconduct, following section 5 below.

2. Duties of reviewers

  • Expertise and timeliness. Reviewers accept only manuscripts they are qualified to assess and can review on time, and tell the editor promptly if they cannot.
  • Objectivity. Reviews are objective and constructive, with clear arguments. Personal criticism of the authors is not acceptable.
  • Confidentiality. Manuscripts are confidential. Reviewers do not share them, use their content, or upload any part of them to generative AI tools (see the Use of Generative AI Policy).
  • Conflicts of interest. Reviewers decline an invitation when they have a conflict of interest, as defined in the Peer Review Policy.
  • Sources and concerns. Reviewers point out relevant published work that the authors have not cited, and tell the editor about any suspected plagiarism, duplicate publication or data problems.

3. Duties of authors

  • Reporting standards. Authors give an accurate account of the work and its significance, with enough detail and references for others to repeat it, and follow the relevant reporting guideline (for example CONSORT, STROBE, PRISMA or CARE).
  • Research ethics. Research involving people, human data or tissue, or animals must have ethics approval and, where required, informed consent, as set out in the Research Ethics policy. Case reports require the patient's consent to publication.
  • Originality. Submitted work is original and properly cited. All submissions are screened with Turnitin and handled under the Plagiarism and Similarity Policy.
  • Duplicate submission. A manuscript must not have been published before or be under consideration by another journal at the same time. Preprints, theses and conference abstracts are acceptable if disclosed.
  • Fabrication, falsification and image manipulation. Data and images must not be invented, altered or selectively reported. Such misconduct leads to rejection or retraction.
  • Citation manipulation. Authors must not add citations to raise the citation counts of an author or journal, including their own.
  • Authorship. Everyone listed as an author meets the authorship criteria, and every contributor who does not is acknowledged. See Authorship and Contributorship.
  • Conflicts of interest and funding. Authors declare all funding and all relevant financial and non-financial interests. See Conflicts of Interest and Funding Disclosure.
  • Data. Authors state where their data can be accessed and keep the raw data available to the editors on request. See the Data Availability Policy.
  • Use of AI. Authors disclose any use of generative AI as set out in the Use of Generative AI Policy.
  • Errors in published work. Authors who find a significant error in their published article must tell the journal promptly and cooperate in correcting or retracting it.

4. Duties of the publisher

  • Sebha University provides the resources the journal needs and does not influence editorial decisions, which rest with the editors alone.
  • The journal carries no advertising, and no commercial interest affects what it publishes.
  • The publisher ensures that published content is preserved and remains permanently accessible (see Archiving and Digital Preservation).

5. Handling of misconduct

  • Anyone may raise a concern about a submitted or published article by writing to the Editorial Office at [email protected]. Concerns are handled confidentially, and anonymous concerns with sufficient evidence are also investigated.
  • The journal investigates every concern following the COPE flowcharts, and gives the authors the opportunity to respond.
  • Depending on the findings, the journal may reject the manuscript, publish a correction, an expression of concern or a retraction (see Corrections, Retractions and Withdrawals), and inform the authors' institution or funders.
  • Authors who disagree with a decision may follow the Complaints and Appeals policy.