Publication Ethics & Malpractice Statement

The publication of a research paper in a peer-reviewed journal is an essential building block of scholarly knowledge. It reflects the quality of the authors’ work and the institutions that support them. JRITM is committed to maintaining high standards of publication ethics and follows the core practices recommended by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Scope and Purpose

These policies set expected standards of behavior for all parties involved in publishing: authors, journal editors, peer reviewers, and the publisher. All manuscripts submitted to JRITM are subject to peer review and must meet accepted standards of academic excellence.

Peer Review

  • JRITM uses a double-blind peer review process unless otherwise stated. Reviewers and authors remain anonymous to each other.
  • If approved by the Editor, submissions are sent to independent reviewers for evaluation.
  • Reviewers evaluate originality, methodology, clarity, significance, and ethical compliance; they provide a recommendation (Accept / Minor revision / Major revision / Reject).

Plagiarism

  • Authors must not present the words, images, or ideas of others as their own. All sources must be properly cited at the point of use.
  • Reusing wording should be limited, clearly quoted or attributed, and correctly referenced.
  • Manuscripts found to contain plagiarism — from published or unpublished sources — may be rejected and may lead to sanctions; published articles proven to be plagiarised may be corrected or retracted.

Duplicate Submission and Redundant Publication

  • JRITM accepts only original work that has not been published elsewhere. Submitting the same manuscript simultaneously to more than one journal is unethical.
  • Material previously made public only as a preprint, thesis, or institutional repository may be considered, provided the prior source is cited and discussed.
  • Redundant publication (including salami-slicing) may lead to rejection, requests to merge manuscripts, corrections, or retraction of duplicate articles.

Falsification and Fabrication

  • Data fabrication, falsification, or manipulation of images is unacceptable. Proven misconduct may result in sanctions and retraction of published work.
  • JRITM may request raw data, images, or other supporting documentation to verify reported results.

Authorship and Acknowledgements

  • All listed authors must have made a significant scientific contribution, approved the final version, and agreed to be listed as authors.
  • JRITM follows ICMJE authorship principles and encourages authors to report contributions using the CRediT taxonomy.
  • Submitting authors should provide an ORCID iD; all authors are encouraged to create and supply ORCID iDs.
  • Changes to authorship (addition, removal, or order change) after submission must be agreed to by all authors and promptly notified to the journal.
  • Individuals who contributed but do not meet authorship criteria should be acknowledged with their permission.

Conflicts of Interest & Funding

  • Authors must declare all potential conflicts of interest in a dedicated "Conflicts of Interest" section. If none exist, authors should state: “The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest regarding the publication of this paper.”
  • All sources of funding, including payments or goods that could influence the work (including APCs), must be declared in the "Funding Statement".
  • The involvement of anyone other than the authors who had an interest in the outcome, was affiliated with an interested organization, or was paid/commissioned by a funder in study design, data collection/analysis, manuscript preparation, or the decision to publish must be declared.
  • Declared conflicts are considered by editors and may be disclosed in the published article.

Editors and Reviewers — Conflicts & Conduct

  • Editors and reviewers must decline involvement if they: have a recent publication or current submission with any author; share (or recently shared) an affiliation with an author; have collaborated recently; have a close personal connection; have a financial interest in the work; or otherwise feel unable to be objective.
  • Reviewers should declare any remaining interests confidentially on the review form; editors will assess whether the reviewer is suitable.
  • Editors must not handle manuscripts where they have a conflict and should assign an unbiased colleague instead.

Investigations and Reporting Misconduct

  • Suspected breaches of these policies (before or after publication) or concerns about research ethics should be reported to JRITM’s Research Integrity team at support@cmaoi.org (or the contact provided on the site).
  • Claimants may request anonymity. JRITM may assist those who prefer to use anonymous email services.
  • JRITM may request raw data, consult subject editors, contact authors’ institutions, or ask for formal investigations to resolve concerns.

Corrections, Expressions of Concern, and Retractions

  • If errors are identified in a published article, JRITM will determine the appropriate action in consultation with editors and, where necessary, the authors’ institutions.
  • Corrections (errata/corrigenda) will be issued for honest errors that do not invalidate findings.
  • Expressions of concern may be published while an investigation is ongoing.
  • Retractions will be issued for unreliable findings, serious ethical breaches, duplicate publication, or proven misconduct, following COPE Retraction Guidelines. The retraction notice will explain the reason and who is retracting the work.
  • Authors will be asked to agree to the wording of corrections or retraction notices when practical.

Author Name Changes

  • JRITM supports reasonable requests to change an author’s name on a published article (for example, for privacy, gender transition, or other legitimate reasons). When an author requests a name change, JRITM will update the article metadata and PDF as appropriate without issuing a public correction or requiring documentation, unless legal or institutional processes demand otherwise.

Data Availability and Reproducibility

  • Authors are encouraged to make underlying data, materials, and code available in public repositories where possible and to include a Data Availability Statement in the manuscript.
  • Transparency of methods and data supports reproducibility and integrity of the scholarly record.

Sanctions

  • Depending on the severity of misconduct, sanctions may include manuscript rejection, publication of a correction/retraction, notification to the author’s institution, temporary or permanent banning of authors from future submissions, or other measures deemed appropriate.

JRITM reserves the right to amend this policy. Substantial changes will be posted on the website and dated. For questions on any of the above, please contact the Editorial Office at support@cmaoi.org.