Research Ethics Policy, IJMJ

1. Commitment to Ethical Integrity

IJMJ upholds the highest ethical standards in all publications. All research involving humans or animals must adhere to internationally recognized ethical guidelines, including the Declaration of Helsinki, ICMJE, and COPE.

2. Ethics Committee / Institutional Review Board (IRB) Approval

·         All manuscripts reporting research with human or animal subjects must include documentation of prior approval from a relevant ethics committee or IRB.

·         This approval must be clearly stated in the Materials & Methods section or Ethical Declarations. (ijmj.net)

3. Informed Consent

·         Written informed consent must be obtained from all individuals involved in the study or whose data/images are published.

·         A declaration confirming informed consent must appear in the manuscript.

·         For participants unable to consent (e.g., minors or deceased), authors must provide justification and document surrogate consent.

4. Confidentiality and Anonymization

Personal data and identifying details must be anonymized unless explicit consent is provided. Authors must anonymize or omit all recognizable details unless opted in.

5. Ethical Standards and Legal Compliance

·         Research must comply with the Declaration of Helsinki and local regulations.

·         Studies must ensure respect for participants' autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice. (en.wikipedia.org)

·         Clinical trials must be registered in recognized registries before recruitment begins.

6. Animal Research

Studies involving animals require explicit ethics approval and must follow ARRIVE, CCAC, or equivalent animal welfare guidelines.

7. Handling Misconduct

·         IJMJ screens submissions using plagiarism detection tools (e.g., iThenticate), reviewing and rejecting cases of plagiarism or self-plagiarism. (ijmj.net, ijmj.net)

·         Allegations of misconduct are handled per COPE guidelines, with possible outcomes including manuscript rejection, retraction, correction, and notification of institutions.

8. Conflict of Interest (COI)

·         All authors, editors, and reviewers must declare any COIs—financial, personal, or professional—that could influence the work, following ICMJE and COPE standards. (researchgate.net)

·         COI statements must be included in all manuscripts; undisclosed conflicts may result in corrective action or retraction.

9. Data Availability

·         Authors are encouraged to make their data publicly available in recognized repositories, in line with ICMJE recommendations and PubMed indexing best practices.

10. Transparency in Reporting

·         Manuscripts must identify roles and contributions of each author, in line with ICMJE authorship criteria. (en.wikipedia.org)

·         All funding sources and sponsorships must be clearly declared.

11. Post-Publication Ethics

·         IJMJ reserves the right to publish corrections, expressions of concern, or retractions, in line with COPE.

·         If ethical breaches are discovered after publication, the journal will act promptly, contact institutions, and clearly mark or retract the article. (icfje.org.in)

12. Policy Review and Updates

This policy is reviewed annually and updated to align with evolving guidelines from COPE, ICMJE, and other global standards.

13. Policy Details and Accessibility

·         These ethical policies are publicly posted at IJMJ Ethical Policies. (ijmj.net)

·         Authors should review and understand this policy before submitting manuscripts.

By implementing this Research Ethics Policy, IJMJ ensures rigorous adherence to global ethical standards, safeguarding the rights of research participants and maintaining credibility with indexing agencies.

Contact Us:

Editor-in-Chief/Editor

International Journal of Medical Justice

Head office Address: G-1, Ground Floor, City Center, Medical Road, Aligarh 202002 India    

E-Mail: editor@ijmj.net  Journal Web:  https://journal.ijmj.net Publisher:  www.glafims.org