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Publication Ethics

For research manuscripts involving experiments on live vertebrates and/or higher invertebrates, the corresponding author must confirm that all experiments were performed in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations. The manuscript must include a statement identifying the institute and/or licensing committee approving the experiments, including any relevant details. Manuscripts that lack proper ethical consideration for human or animal subjects will not be accepted for publication.

For experiments that involve human subjects, authors must identify the committee that approved the experiments and include in their submission a statement confirming that informed consent was obtained from all subjects. Authors using phase II and phase III randomized controlled trials in their study should refer to the CONSORT Statement for recommendations which facilitates complete and transparent reporting of trial findings. The MJHR follows the guidelines set out by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) in all aspects of publication ethics, in particular, protocols of research and publication misconduct. The authors must declare that all experiments on human subjects were conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and that all procedures were carried out with the adequate understanding and written consent of the subjects. The authors must also certify that formal approval to conduct the experiments described was obtained from the human subjects review board of their institution and should be made available if requested by the MJHR.

All animal experiments must adhere to institutional and national guidelines for the care and use of animal subjects, and this should be clearly stated within the manuscript. Manuscripts should contain a statement that advises all efforts were made to minimise animal suffering and reduce the number of animals used, and if available, efforts to utilise alternatives to in-vivo techniques. Studies involving animals should obey the International Guiding Principles for Biomedical Research as developed by the Council for International Organization of Medical Sciences (CIOMS).

The MJHR adheres to the COPE guidelines that ensures a high-quality standard of ethics for authors, editors, and reviewers:

Authors

  1. Authors attest that the material has not been previously published and that they have not transferred any rights to the article to another party.
  2. Authors should ensure the originality of their work and must properly cite others work in accordance with the approved references format.
  3. Authors should not engage in plagiarism or self-plagiarism.
  4. Authors should ensure that they follow the criteria for authorship as described in the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).
  5. The authors must not disclose any personal information that may identify their subjects, such as overt descriptions, photographs or pedigrees. If photographs of the patient are essential to the article, the authors must receive written consent and state it clearly within the article.
  6. When human subjects are involved, the authors must certify that their research is in accordance with ethical standards of The Helsinki Declaration, and domestic and foreign committees that preside over human experiments. If any doubts are raised over whether the research was conducted in accordance with the declaration, the authors must respond to those doubts. Similarly, if animals are involved in the research process, authors must certify that all domestic and foreign guidelines relating to the experiments on animals in a laboratory were adhered to.
  7. Authors should make all data and details of their work available to the editors if there are suspicions of data falsification or fabrication.
  8. Authors of the article should clarify any possible conflicts of interest such as their job role, research expenses, consultant expenses, and intellectual property.

 

Editors

  1. Editors are responsible for every article published in the MJHR.
  2. Editors should assist authors, where possible, to ensure their articles adhere to ICMJE guidelines.
  3. Editors may confer with other editors or reviewers when making final decisions regarding publication.
  4. An editor must evaluate manuscripts objectively for publication; judging each on its merit without bias towards nationality, ethnicity, political beliefs, race, religion, gender, seniority, or institutional affiliation of the authors. Editors should decline articles if there is a potential conflict of interest.
  5. Editors must ensure that documents sent to reviewers do not contain private information of the authors and vice versa.
  6. The editor's final decision should be relayed to authors in a timely fashion and will be accompanied by the reviewer's comments, unless they contain offensive or libelous remarks.
  7. If authors have a well-reasoned objection to a certain individual reviewing their work, editors should respect this request.
  8. Editors and all staff should guarantee the confidentiality of the submitted manuscript.
  9. Editors will be guided by the COPE guidelines if there is a suspected misconduct or disputed authorship.

 

Reviewers

  1. Reviewers are required to comment on possible research, ethical, and publication misconduct if they are suspected.
  2. Reviewers must complete the work in a timely manner and should notify the editor immediately if they cannot complete the work.
  3. Reviewers are to respect the confidentiality of the manuscript.
  4. Reviewers should not accept manuscripts for assessment if they believe there is a potential conflict of interest between them and any of the authors.