Publication Ethics

Publication Ethics and Publication Malpractice Statements: 

For all parties involved in the process of publishing (authors, Editorial Board, and reviewers), it is necessary to agree upon standards of expected ethical behavior. To guarantee high ethical standards, IJEM has developed international standards for all parties. IJEM expects all the parties to commit to these standards.

International Standards for Authors: IJEM does not require all authors of a research paper to sign a letter of submission, nor does it impose an order on the list of authors. All authors who submit to IJEM are expected to observe the international standards for authors voluntarily. IJEM adheres to International Standards for Authors developed by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and encourages all authors to refer to these standards.

• Authors must certify that their manuscripts are their original work. Plagiarism, Duplicate, Data Fabrication and Falsification, and Redundant Publications are forbidden.
• Authors must certify that the manuscript has not previously been published and is not currently being considered for publication elsewhere.
• If the authors have used the work and/or words of others, the authors must ensure that the work and/or words of others are appropriately cited or quoted and identify all sources used in the creation of their manuscripts.
• When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published work, it is the author's obligation to promptly notify the Journal editor or publisher and cooperate with the editor to retract or correct the paper.
• Authors must notify IJEM of any conflicts of interest.
• Authors must ensure the confidentiality and anonymity of the participants while collecting, analyzing, and reporting data.
• For studies involving human subjects, authors must obtain approval from their institutional ethics committee and confirm that recognized standards, such as the Declaration of Helsinki (see https://www.wma.net/policies-post/wma-declaration-of-helsinki-ethical-principles-for-medical-research-involving-human-subjects/#:~:text=The%20World%20Medical%20Association%20(WMA,identifiable%20human%20material%20and%20data), have been followed to minimize harm to participants. Authors must obtain informed consent from human participants. They must also ensure the information they collect from participants does not contain any identifiable information and mitigate the risk of being able to assign data to specific individuals.
• Children participating in research have a particular right to protection. Therefore, authors must obtain parental or guardian consent before data collection. They must also gain informed consent of other vulnerable individuals, i.e., the disadvantaged, prisoners, and minorities. 
• Research ethics policies for studies involving the participation of human subjects (e.g., consent, participant anonymity, etc.) and vulnerable populations (i.e., children – parent/guardian consent) are also expected to be present on the journal website, in line with accepted standard practices in the field.
• Authors must ensure that all participants in their study have given informed consent for publication.
• According to the WMA Declaration of Helsinki – Ethical Principles for Medical Research Involving Human Subjects, “Some groups and individuals are particularly vulnerable and may have an increased likelihood of being wronged or of incurring additional harm. All vulnerable groups and individuals should receive specifically considered protection”. (see https://www.wma.net/policies-post/wma-declaration-of-helsinki-ethical-principles-for-medical-research-involving-human-subjects/)
• Accordingly, authors must consider issues arising from working with potentially vulnerable people and must address how such risks to these participants are minimized and how they are protected from risks.

International Standards for Editorial Board: Editors and Editorial Board are required to follow the international standards for Editorial Board:

●  The Editorial Board must keep information pertaining to all submitted manuscripts confidential. 
●  The Editorial Board is responsible for making publication decisions for submitted manuscripts. 
●  The Editorial Board must strive to meet the needs of readers and authors. 
●  The Editorial Board must evaluate manuscripts only for their intellectual content. 
●  The Editorial Board must strive to constantly improve IJEM’s quality. 
●  The Editorial Board must maintain the integrity of the academic record. 
●  The Editorial Board must disclose any conflicts of interest and preclude business needs from compromising intellectual and ethical standards. 
●  The Editorial Board must always be willing to publish corrections, clarifications, retractions, and apologies when needed.

International Standards for Reviewers: Reviewers of IJEM are also expected to meet the international standards for reviewers when they accept to review invitations.

●  Reviewers must keep information pertaining to the manuscript confidential. 
●  Reviewers must bring to the attention of the Editor Board any information that may be a reason to reject publication of a manuscript. 
●  Reviewers must evaluate manuscripts only for their intellectual content. 
●  Reviewers must objectively evaluate the manuscripts based only on their originality, significance, and relevance to the domains of the journal. 
●  Reviewers must notify IJEM about any conflicts of interest.

Publisher Role: The Publisher is strictly not involved in the editorial process. The roles undertaken by "RHAPSODE LTD" include:
(a) Conducting plagiarism checks on submitted articles
(b) Website development and ensuring that best practice is followed in its publications
(c) Typesetting, proofreading and publishing accepted articles
(d) Assigning DOI numbers to published articles (as a Crossref member)
(e) Maintaining the integrity of the scholarly record