Publication Ethics and Malpractice

The Scientific Journal for Publishing in Health Research and Technology (SJPHRT) is committed to ensuring the highest ethical standards in scholarly publishing. This statement outlines the ethical responsibilities of all parties involved in the publication process: authors, reviewers, editors, and the publisher. We adhere to the core practices of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and expect all individuals to comply with these principles.

1. Responsibilities of Authors

  • Originality and Plagiarism: Authors must ensure that their work is entirely original and free from plagiarism. All sources must be properly cited. The journal uses a plagiarism detection software to screen for plagiarism.

  • Data and Results: Authors should present an accurate account of their research and provide an objective discussion of its significance. The data should be presented honestly, and fabrication, falsification, or manipulation of data is considered a serious breach of ethics.

  • Authorship: Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. All listed authors must have approved the final manuscript.

  • Multiple, Redundant, or Concurrent Publication: Authors should not submit the same manuscript to more than one journal at a time. Submitting a previously published paper (or a paper with substantial overlap) is also a breach of ethics.

  • Disclosure of Conflicts of Interest: Authors must disclose any financial or other substantive conflicts of interest that could be construed to influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript.

  • Human and Animal Subjects: When research involves human participants or animals, authors must state that the study was conducted in accordance with ethical guidelines and received approval from an appropriate ethics committee.

2. Responsibilities of Reviewers

  • Contribution to Editorial Decisions: Peer review assists the editor in making editorial decisions and may also serve to improve the quality of the manuscript.

  • Promptness: Any invited reviewer who feels unqualified to review the research reported in a manuscript or knows that a prompt review will be impossible should notify the editor and excuse themselves from the review process.

  • Confidentiality: Any manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents. They must not be shown to or discussed with others.

  • Objectivity: Reviews should be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate.

  • Acknowledgment of Sources: Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors. Any statement that an observation, derivation, or argument had been previously reported should be accompanied by the relevant citation.

  • Disclosure of Conflicts of Interest: Reviewers should not review manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions.

3. Responsibilities of Editors

  • Fair Play: Editors evaluate manuscripts solely on their academic merit (importance, originality, validity, and clarity) without regard to the authors' race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy.

  • Confidentiality: The editor and any editorial staff must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, or the publisher.

  • Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest: Editors should not be involved in decisions about manuscripts in which they have a conflict of interest.

  • Publication Decisions: The editor is responsible for deciding which of the manuscripts submitted to the journal should be published, based on the validation of the work in question and its importance to researchers and readers.

  • Involvement and Cooperation in Investigations: Editors should take reasonable measures when ethical complaints have been presented concerning a submitted manuscript or published paper.

4. Responsibilities of the Publisher

  • Dissemination and Archiving: The publisher is committed to ensuring that published content is widely disseminated and archived for long-term preservation.

  • Safeguarding Editorial Independence: The publisher must respect the principle of editorial independence.

  • Protection of Intellectual Property and Copyright: The publisher is responsible for protecting intellectual property and copyright, as outlined in our Copyright Policy.