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§ 1 Core Principles

Integrity Accuracy in reporting methods, results, and limitations without distortion or selective omission.
Transparency Clear and complete disclosures — funding, conflicts, ethics approvals, data availability, and AI tool use.
Accountability Authors stand behind the work; editors ensure fair process; reviewers support scientific quality.
Respect Protection of human and animal subjects, privacy rights, and the dignity of all research participants.

§ 2 Authorship & Contributions

Authorship must reflect meaningful intellectual contribution. All listed authors must approve the final manuscript and agree to its submission.

  • No "guest", "gift", or "ghost" authorship is permitted under any circumstances.
  • Author contributions should be described (e.g., conceptualisation, data curation, analysis, writing, supervision).
  • Changes to authorship after submission require written consent from all authors and a clear written rationale submitted to the editorial office.

§ 3 Originality, Plagiarism & Duplicate Submission

  • Submissions must be original and not under consideration at another journal simultaneously.
  • Plagiarism — including self-plagiarism without proper citation — is not permitted.
  • Text, figures, tables, and datasets from prior work must be properly credited and legally reusable.
  • Preprints are permitted if disclosed at submission with the preprint link provided.
See also: JMMBS Plagiarism Policy for full screening procedures.

§ 4 Data Integrity & Image Ethics

  • Data fabrication, falsification, or selective reporting that misleads readers is prohibited.
  • Image manipulation that alters scientific meaning is prohibited — including removing signal bands, hiding artefacts, or misrepresenting conditions.
  • Authors must retain original raw data and analysis logs; editors may request them at any stage of review or post-publication.
  • Statistical methods must be described clearly, including assumptions, effect sizes where appropriate, and clearly stated limitations.

§ 5 Human & Animal Research Ethics

For studies involving humans or animals, authors must confirm compliance with relevant ethical standards and local regulations.

  • Human research: include ethics approval or waiver details, and the informed consent process used.
  • Clinical and field studies: describe risk management, participant safety, and adverse event handling.
  • Minors and vulnerable groups: provide enhanced safeguards and consent/assent documentation details.
  • Animal research: include welfare, housing, handling, and ethical approval details.

§ 6 Conflicts of Interest & Funding

  • Authors must disclose all financial and non-financial conflicts (employment, consulting, patents, affiliations, paid speaking roles, etc.).
  • Editors and reviewers must disclose conflicts and recuse themselves from any manuscript where a conflict exists.
  • All funding sources and sponsor roles (if any) must be declared in a Funding Statement within the manuscript.

§ 7 Peer Review Ethics

  • Peer review is conducted to improve clarity, rigour, and scientific value — not to gatekeep based on conclusions.
  • Reviewers must treat manuscripts as strictly confidential and must not use unpublished ideas or data.
  • Reviews must be respectful, evidence-based, and entirely free from personal attacks or dismissive language.
  • Editors aim for unbiased decisions independent of nationality, institutional affiliation, gender, or personal beliefs.

§ 8 Use of AI Tools

AI-assisted tools may be used for language refinement or formatting, but authors remain fully responsible for accuracy, originality, and citation integrity.

  • Do not use AI to fabricate data, results, references, or methods.
  • Disclose material use of AI tools — what tool was used, which parts of the work it assisted with, and how outputs were verified.
  • AI tools cannot be listed as authors under any circumstances.

§ 9 Corrections, Retractions & Expressions of Concern

  • Correction — for honest errors that do not invalidate the core findings or conclusions.
  • Retraction — for unreliable results due to misconduct, major error, or research conducted unethically.
  • Expression of Concern — when an investigation is ongoing and readers should be alerted to potential issues.
  • JMMBS will publish notices that are clearly and permanently linked to the original article record.

§ 10 Handling Allegations of Misconduct

Allegations may be raised by readers, reviewers, institutions, or editors. JMMBS will evaluate claims fairly and may request raw data, original files, or institutional investigation documentation.

  • Outcomes may include revision, correction, rejection, retraction, or notification to institutions — as appropriate to the evidence.
  • All parties are expected to communicate professionally and provide requested documentation promptly.
Report concerns: Email the editorial office with manuscript or article details and a clear description of the concern: info@jmmbs.org — all reports are treated confidentially.

§ 11 Policy Updates

This policy may be updated periodically to reflect evolving best practices in scholarly publishing. The effective date will be stated on this page. Continued submission to JMMBS constitutes acceptance of the current version.

Effective date: 2026
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