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Pacific Journal of Medical and Health Sciences is committed to maintaining the highest standards of publication ethics across all stages of the editorial and publishing process.
This statement sets out the ethical obligations of editors, reviewers and authors, and is based on the Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors published by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), and the updated guidelines of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE, 2023).
All parties involved in the publication process, including the editorial team, peer reviewers and contributing authors, are expected to adhere to these standards without exception. Any breach of publication ethics will be investigated and addressed in accordance with COPE guidelines.
The editor is responsible for deciding which manuscripts submitted to the journal will be accepted for publication.
This decision is based solely on the scientific merit, originality, clarity, methodological validity and relevance of the manuscript to the journal's scope.
Manuscripts are evaluated without regard to the authors' race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, nationality, citizenship or political affiliation.
Current legal requirements regarding libel, copyright infringement and plagiarism are taken into account in all publication decisions.
The editor and all members of the editorial team are committed to ensuring that the peer-review process is conducted fairly, objectively and without discrimination.
Editorial decisions are never influenced by commercial, financial or personal interests.
The journal's editorial independence is maintained at all times and is not subject to interference from the publisher, the institution or any external body.
The editor and all editorial staff are required to maintain strict confidentiality regarding submitted manuscripts.
Information about a submitted manuscript must not be disclosed to anyone other than the corresponding author, assigned reviewers, potential reviewers, editorial advisers and the publisher, as appropriate.
This obligation of confidentiality extends to the content, findings and status of manuscripts under review.
The editor and members of the editorial board must recuse themselves from any editorial decision in which they have a conflict of interest, whether personal, financial, intellectual or institutional.
Unpublished material disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used by the editor or any member of the editorial board for their own research purposes without the explicit written consent of the corresponding author.
The editor is responsible for investigating all allegations of research misconduct, publication misconduct or ethical violations relating to manuscripts submitted to or published in the journal.
Where misconduct is confirmed or strongly suspected, the editor will take appropriate action in accordance with COPE guidelines.
Such action may include the publication of a correction, the issuance of an expression of concern, or the retraction of the published article.
Peer review assists the editorial team in making informed publication decisions and provides authors with constructive feedback to improve the quality of their manuscripts.
Reviewers are expected to conduct their assessments with diligence, objectivity and professionalism.
Reviewers who feel insufficiently qualified to assess a submitted manuscript, or who are unable to complete a review within the agreed timeframe, are requested to notify the editorial office promptly so that an alternative reviewer may be identified without unnecessary delay.
All manuscripts received for review must be treated as strictly confidential documents.
The content of the manuscript, the reviewer's assessment and all related correspondence must not be disclosed to or discussed with any third party without the explicit authorisation of the editor.
This obligation continues after the review has been completed.
Reviews must be conducted objectively and on the basis of scientific merit alone.
Personal criticism of the authors is not appropriate.
Reviewers must express their assessments clearly, with specific supporting arguments and constructive suggestions for improvement.
Reviewers must not assess manuscripts in which they have a conflict of interest arising from competitive, collaborative, personal or institutional relationships with any of the authors or institutions associated with the manuscript.
Privileged information or ideas obtained through the peer-review process must be kept strictly confidential and must not be used for personal or professional advantage.
Reviewers who identify a potential conflict of interest must inform the editorial office and decline the review assignment.
Authors of original research articles are required to present an accurate, complete and objective account of the work performed and an honest discussion of its significance.
Underlying data must be represented accurately in the manuscript.
Sufficient methodological detail and references must be provided to enable other researchers to replicate the work.
Fabrication, falsification or misrepresentation of data constitutes research misconduct and is unacceptable under any circumstances.
Authors must submit only original work that has not been previously published and is not under consideration for publication elsewhere.
The work and words of others must be appropriately cited or quoted.
Publications that have been influential in shaping the reported work must be acknowledged.
Plagiarism in any form, including the unattributed reproduction of text, data, images or ideas, constitutes a serious breach of publication ethics and will not be tolerated.
Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal simultaneously constitutes unethical publishing behaviour and is unacceptable.
Manuscripts describing essentially the same research should not be published in more than one journal.
Manuscripts that have been published elsewhere as copyrighted material may not be submitted to this journal.
Manuscripts under review by this journal must not be submitted to other publications during the review period.
Authorship must be limited to individuals who have made a genuine and significant contribution to the conception, design, execution or interpretation of the reported research.
All individuals who have made such contributions must be listed as co-authors.
The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that all appropriate co-authors are included in the author list, that no individuals without a qualifying contribution are included, and that all co-authors have reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript prior to submission.
Any changes to the author list after submission, including the addition, removal or reordering of authors, must be approved by all listed authors and communicated to the editorial office in writing, along with a clear explanation for the proposed change.
All authors must declare any financial or other substantive conflicts of interest that could be construed to have influenced the results or interpretation of their manuscript.
All sources of financial support for the research must be disclosed in the manuscript.
Where no conflicts of interest exist, this must also be explicitly stated.
In accordance with the updated ICMJE guidelines (2023), authors are required to declare any use of artificial intelligence (AI) or AI-assisted writing tools in the preparation of their manuscript.
AI tools may not be listed as authors or co-authors.
The use of AI tools for data analysis, text generation, language editing or any other purpose must be disclosed in the Methods section or the Acknowledgements section of the manuscript, with a clear description of the tool used and the nature of its application.
Responsibility for the accuracy, integrity and originality of the submitted work remains entirely with the human authors.
When an author identifies a significant error or inaccuracy in their own published work, it is the author's obligation to notify the editor or publisher promptly.
The author must cooperate fully with the editor to issue a correction, retraction or erratum as appropriate.
Failure to notify the editorial office of a known error in a published article constitutes a breach of publication ethics.
Pacific Journal of Medical and Health Sciences is committed to maintaining editorial independence and diversity of authorship in accordance with internationally accepted standards for academic publishing.
The journal actively encourages submissions from researchers and institutions worldwide and does not give preferential treatment to manuscripts submitted by authors affiliated with Pacific Medical University or members of the editorial team.
To safeguard editorial independence and prevent excessive endogeny, the following policy applies:
This policy is reviewed annually by the editorial team to ensure ongoing compliance with COPE guidelines and the standards of relevant indexing bodies.
Pacific Journal of Medical and Health Sciences is committed to maintaining the accuracy and integrity of the scholarly record.
Where errors or ethical concerns are identified in published articles, the journal will take prompt and transparent corrective action in accordance with COPE retraction guidelines.
All corrections, retractions and expressions of concern will be published as standalone notices and clearly linked to the original article.
The original article will be retained in the online archive with a clear notice of the correction or retraction attached.
Pacific Journal of Medical and Health Sciences endorses and adheres to the principles set out in the COPE Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors and the COPE Retraction Guidelines.
The editorial team consults COPE flowcharts and guidance when addressing allegations of misconduct, disputes regarding authorship, concerns about data integrity and other ethical matters arising in connection with submitted or published manuscripts.
For further information on COPE guidelines, visit: https://publicationethics.org
For further information on ICMJE guidelines, visit: https://www.icmje.org
