Publication Ethics & Malpractice Statement

IEJMS follows the Core Practices of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). This statement sets out what is expected of editors, reviewers and authors, and what happens when those expectations are breached.

Duties of editors

• Evaluate manuscripts solely on intellectual merit, without regard to the authors' race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, nationality, institution or political views.
• Treat every submitted manuscript as a confidential document, and not use unpublished material from it in their own research without the authors' written consent.
• Recuse themselves from any manuscript where they have a conflict of interest.
• Take responsive action when an ethical complaint is raised, however long after publication.

Duties of reviewers

• Keep the manuscript confidential and review it objectively and constructively.
• Declare conflicts of interest and decline where appropriate.
• Alert the editor to substantial similarity with other published work.

Duties of authors

• Present an accurate account of the work performed, with enough detail to permit replication.
• Ensure the work is entirely original, and cite the work of others properly.
• Not submit the same manuscript to more than one journal at a time.
• Disclose all funding sources and conflicts of interest.
• Obtain ethical approval and informed consent where human participants or animals are involved.
• Notify the editor promptly on discovering a significant error in their own published work, and cooperate in correcting or retracting it.

What counts as malpractice

Fabrication or falsification of data; plagiarism in any form; image manipulation that misrepresents results; duplicate or redundant publication; salami-slicing; improper authorship (gift, ghost or guest authorship); undisclosed conflicts of interest; undisclosed generative-AI content; and manipulation of the peer-review process, including suggesting fake reviewers.

How allegations are handled

Concerns may be raised at any stage — before, during or after publication — by writing to editor@iejms.scienceroot.in. We follow the relevant COPE flowchart: the complaint is assessed, the corresponding author is given a fair opportunity to respond, and where the matter is serious the authors' institution may be informed. Outcomes range from correction to retraction; see Corrections, Retractions & Expressions of Concern. Complainants' identities are kept confidential where possible, and anonymous complaints are investigated on the strength of the evidence supplied.