Publication Integrity & AI Policy

The Journal of Disease Mechanisms and Genomics (JDMG) is committed to maintaining the integrity, reliability, and transparency of the scholarly record. This policy outlines the journal’s position on research integrity, responsible reporting, publication misconduct, and the appropriate use of artificial intelligence tools in manuscript preparation.

Publication Integrity
All manuscripts submitted to JDMG must represent original, accurate, and responsibly conducted scholarly work. Authors are expected to report their research honestly, present data transparently, and avoid any practice that may mislead readers, reviewers, editors, or the scientific community. The journal does not permit data fabrication, data falsification, plagiarism, inappropriate image manipulation, duplicate submission, redundant publication, authorship manipulation, peer-review manipulation, or undisclosed conflicts of interest.

Accuracy and Transparency of Research Reporting
Authors must ensure that all information presented in the manuscript is accurate and supported by appropriate evidence. Methods should be described in sufficient detail to allow evaluation and, where possible, reproducibility of the work. Statistical analysis, experimental design, sample selection, inclusion and exclusion criteria, and data interpretation should be reported clearly. Selective reporting or omission of relevant findings that may affect the interpretation of the study is not acceptable.

Data and Image Integrity
Research data must be presented honestly and without manipulation. Authors should retain original data, laboratory records, raw images, statistical outputs, and other supporting documents, as these may be requested during editorial assessment or after publication if concerns arise. Images, figures, gels, blots, microscopy images, and graphical data must not be altered in a way that changes or misrepresents the original findings. Any image adjustments should be applied appropriately and must not hide, remove, exaggerate, or create features.

Plagiarism and Text Reuse
Manuscripts must be original and properly referenced. Copying text, ideas, figures, tables, data, or results from another source without proper citation is considered plagiarism. Reuse of the authors’ own previously published material without appropriate citation or disclosure may be considered self-plagiarism. Submitted manuscripts may be checked using similarity-detection software. Manuscripts with unacceptable similarity or evidence of plagiarism may be rejected or investigated further.

Use of Artificial Intelligence Tools
JDMG recognizes that artificial intelligence tools may assist authors in certain aspects of manuscript preparation, such as language improvement, grammar correction, formatting, literature organization, or technical editing. However, these tools must be used responsibly and transparently. AI tools must not be used to fabricate data, generate false references, manipulate images, create misleading conclusions, or replace the intellectual responsibility of the authors. AI tools, chatbots, or language models must not be listed as authors because they cannot take responsibility for the accuracy, integrity, originality, or ethical compliance of the work.

Author Responsibility for AI-Assisted Content
Authors remain fully responsible for all content submitted to JDMG, including text, data, references, figures, tables, statistical analysis, interpretation, and conclusions. Any AI-assisted content must be carefully checked by the authors for accuracy, originality, bias, and relevance. Authors must verify all references and ensure that no fabricated, inaccurate, or misleading citations are included in the manuscript.

Disclosure of AI Use
If artificial intelligence tools were used substantially in manuscript preparation, authors should disclose this in the manuscript. This may include use for drafting text, generating summaries, language editing, image preparation, data processing, or analysis support.

A suitable disclosure statement may be:

“Artificial intelligence tools were used for language editing and grammar improvement only. The authors reviewed and verified the final content and remain fully responsible for the accuracy and integrity of the manuscript.”

If AI tools were not used, no statement is required unless requested by the editorial office.

AI Use in Peer Review and Editorial Handling
Reviewers and editors must treat submitted manuscripts as confidential documents. Manuscript content, unpublished data, figures, or reviewer reports should not be uploaded to external AI tools or platforms where confidentiality, privacy, or data security cannot be guaranteed. Reviewers may use tools for grammar or readability support only if confidentiality is maintained and the use does not compromise the integrity of the review process. The scientific judgement, critique, and recommendation must remain the reviewer's responsibility.

Misconduct and Investigation
Concerns related to publication misconduct, data irregularities, plagiarism, image manipulation, inappropriate AI use, authorship issues, or peer-review manipulation will be assessed carefully by the editorial office. The journal may request clarification, original data, ethical approval documents, raw images, or other supporting material from the authors. If misconduct is confirmed, appropriate action may be taken, including rejection, correction, retraction, notification of institutions, or restriction from future submissions.

Corrections and Retractions
JDMG is committed to correcting the scholarly record when necessary. If errors are identified after publication, the journal may issue a correction, clarification, an expression of concern, or a retraction, depending on the nature and seriousness of the issue. Corrections are used for honest errors that do not invalidate the main findings. Retractions may be considered where findings are unreliable due to misconduct, major error, plagiarism, unethical research, or serious breach of publication integrity.

Commitment to Responsible Publishing
JDMG encourages responsible research conduct, transparent reporting, ethical use of technology, and accountability in scholarly communication. The journal expects authors, reviewers, editors, and readers to uphold the integrity of the scientific record by reporting genuine concerns and adhering to ethical publication practices.