Publication Ethics

Publication Ethics
The Journal of Disease Mechanisms and Genomics (JDMG) expects all submitted manuscripts to comply with accepted standards of responsible research conduct and ethical scholarly publishing. This policy outlines the ethical responsibilities of authors, reviewers, editors, and the journal regarding manuscript submission, peer review, publication, and post-publication matters.

Author Responsibilities
Authors are responsible for ensuring that the work submitted to JDMG is original, accurate, and honestly reported. The manuscript must not contain fabricated data, falsified results, misleading interpretations, inappropriate image manipulation, or plagiarized content. Authors must ensure that the manuscript has not been published previously and is not under consideration by another journal at the time of submission. Any overlap with earlier publications, conference abstracts, preprints, theses, or related manuscripts should be clearly disclosed during submission. All authors are expected to approve the final version of the manuscript and agree to be accountable for the accuracy and integrity of the work.

Authorship and Contributor Criteria
Authorship should be limited to individuals who have made a substantial intellectual or scientific contribution to the study. This may include contribution to study conception, design, data acquisition, analysis, interpretation, manuscript drafting, or critical revision. All listed authors must have reviewed and approved the final manuscript. Individuals who contributed to the work but do not meet authorship criteria should be acknowledged appropriately with their permission. Guest authorship, gift authorship, honorary authorship, and ghost authorship are not acceptable.

Plagiarism and Originality
JDMG considers plagiarism a serious breach of publication ethics. Plagiarism includes copying text, ideas, images, tables, data, or results from another source without proper attribution. Self-plagiarism, including inappropriate reuse of the authors’ own previously published material without citation or disclosure, is also not acceptable. Submitted manuscripts may be screened using similarity-checking software. Manuscripts with unacceptable similarity, unattributed copied material, or suspected plagiarism may be returned to the authors, rejected, or investigated further.

Data Integrity and Research Accuracy
Authors must present research data honestly and transparently. Data fabrication, data falsification, selective reporting, inappropriate statistical manipulation, and misleading presentation of results are strictly prohibited. Figures, images, gels, blots, microscopy images, and other visual data must accurately represent the original findings. Any adjustment to images should be applied uniformly and must not obscure, remove, exaggerate, or misrepresent any feature of the data. The journal may request raw data, original images, ethical approval documents, consent forms, or other supporting materials where necessary.

Ethical Approval and Informed Consent
Research involving human participants, human tissues, clinical samples, medical records, or identifiable personal data must have received approval from an appropriate ethics committee or institutional review board. The manuscript should clearly state the name of the approving body and, where applicable, the approval reference number. Informed consent must be obtained where required, particularly for clinical studies, case reports, patient images, or any material that may allow identification of an individual. Research involving animals must be conducted in accordance with relevant institutional, national, and international guidelines for animal care and use. Authors should clearly state that animal ethics approval was obtained and that appropriate measures were taken to minimise animal suffering.

Conflicts of Interest
All authors must disclose any financial, institutional, personal, academic, or professional relationships that could influence, or appear to influence, the submitted work. Potential conflicts may include employment, consultancies, honoraria, paid expert testimony, grants, patents, stock ownership, institutional affiliations, or personal relationships. If there are no conflicts of interest, authors should include the following statement:

“The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.”

Funding Statement
Authors must disclose all sources of financial support, including grants, institutional funding, commercial sponsorship, or other support related to the study. The role of the funder in study design, data collection, data analysis, interpretation, manuscript preparation, or publication decision should be clearly stated. If no funding was received, authors should state:

“This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.”

Reviewer Responsibilities
Reviewers are expected to evaluate manuscripts objectively, confidentially, and constructively. Reviewers should provide comments that help the editors make an informed decision and assist authors in improving the quality of their work. Reviewers must not use unpublished information from a manuscript for personal, professional, or research advantage. They should decline a review invitation if they have a conflict of interest, lack the required expertise, or are unable to complete the review within the requested time. Reviewers should inform the editor if they suspect plagiarism, duplicate submission, data irregularities, ethical concerns, or any form of publication misconduct.

Editorial Responsibilities in Ethical Matters
Editors are responsible for handling submitted manuscripts fairly and for taking appropriate action when ethical concerns arise. Ethical concerns may include plagiarism, duplicate publication, authorship disputes, data manipulation, undisclosed conflicts of interest, peer-review manipulation, or concerns about ethical approval. Where necessary, the journal may request clarification from authors, seek additional documentation, consult editorial board members, or contact relevant institutions.

Duplicate Submission and Redundant Publication
Manuscripts submitted to JDMG must not be under review by another journal at the same time. Authors must not submit substantially similar work to multiple journals or publish the same findings in more than one publication without clear justification and disclosure. Redundant publication, salami publication, and inappropriate fragmentation of one study into multiple overlapping papers are discouraged.

Corrections, Retractions, and Expressions of Concern
JDMG recognises the importance of maintaining the accuracy of the scholarly record. If an error is identified after publication, the journal may issue a correction, clarification, expression of concern, or retraction depending on the nature and seriousness of the issue. Corrections may be issued for honest errors that do not invalidate the main findings. Retractions may be considered in cases of unreliable data, plagiarism, unethical research, duplicate publication, or confirmed misconduct.

Handling Allegations of Misconduct
Allegations of research or publication misconduct will be handled carefully and confidentially. The journal will assess the concern, request explanations or supporting documents when needed, and take appropriate action based on the available evidence. Possible actions may include rejection of the manuscript, publication of a correction or retraction, notification of the relevant institution, or restriction from future submissions.

Use of Artificial Intelligence Tools
Authors may use artificial intelligence tools for language improvement, formatting assistance, or technical support where appropriate. However, AI tools must not be listed as authors, as they cannot take responsibility for the accuracy, originality, or integrity of the work. Authors remain fully responsible for all content, including text, references, data, analysis, images, and conclusions. AI tools must not be used to fabricate data, create false references, manipulate images, or misrepresent research findings. Where AI tools have been used substantially in manuscript preparation, authors should disclose this in the manuscript.

Confidentiality
All manuscripts submitted to JDMG are treated as confidential documents. Editors, reviewers, and editorial staff must not share, discuss, copy, or use unpublished manuscript content except for the purpose of editorial assessment and peer review.

Appeals and Complaints
Authors may submit an appeal if they believe that an editorial decision was based on a misunderstanding, factual error, or procedural concern. Appeals should be supported by a clear explanation and relevant evidence. Complaints related to ethical matters, editorial handling, peer review, or publication processes will be reviewed by the editorial office and handled in a fair and professional manner.

Commitment to Responsible Publishing
JDMG is committed to protecting the integrity of the scientific record and promoting responsible publication practices. Authors, reviewers, editors, and readers are encouraged to report genuine ethical concerns so that they can be assessed and addressed appropriately.