Publication Ethics

JRMB adheres to the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines that ensures a high-quality standard of ethics for authors, editors, and reviewers:

Authors

  1. Authors attest that the material has not been previously published and that they have not transferred any rights to the article to another party.
  2. Authors should ensure the originality of their work and must properly cite others work in accordance with the approved references format.
  3. Authors should not engage in plagiarism or self-plagiarism.
  4. Authors should make all data and details of their work available to the editors if there are suspicions of data falsification or fabrication.
  5. Authors of the article should declare any possible conflicts of interest such as their job role, research expenses, consultant expenses, and intellectual property.

Editors

  1. Editors are responsible for every article published in JRMB.
  2. Editors may confer with other editors or reviewers when making final decisions regarding publication.
  3. An editor must evaluate manuscripts objectively for publication; judging each on its merit without bias towards nationality, ethnicity, political beliefs, race, religion, gender, seniority, or institutional affiliation of the authors. Editors should decline articles if there is a potential conflict of interest.
  4. Editors must ensure that documents sent to reviewers do not contain private information of the authors and vice versa.
  5. The editor's final decision should be relayed to authors in a timely fashion and will be accompanied by the reviewer's comments, unless they contain offensive or libelous remarks.
  6. If authors have a well-reasoned objection to a certain individual reviewing their work, editors should respect this request.
  7. Editors and all staff should guarantee the confidentiality of the submitted manuscript.
  8. Editors will be guided by the COPE guidelines if there is a suspected misconduct or disputed authorship.

Reviewers

  1. Reviewers are required to comment on possible research, ethical, and publication misconduct if they are suspected.
  2. Reviewers must complete the work in a timely manner and should notify the editor immediately if they cannot complete the work.
  3. Reviewers are to respect the confidentiality of the manuscript.

Reviewers should not accept manuscripts for assessment if they believe there is a potential conflict of interest between them and any of the authors.