Publication Ethics

Ethical Foundation

The Journal of AI-Integrated Medical Sciences (JAIMS) is committed to maintaining the highest standards of integrity, transparency, accountability, and responsibility throughout the research, editorial, peer-review, and publication processes. The journal considers publication ethics an integral component of the scientific record and expects authors, editors, reviewers, editorial staff, and other participants in the publication process to act honestly, objectively, and professionally.

JAIMS applies internationally recognized principles of responsible scholarly publishing and follows the recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) and established publication-ethics practices. The journal also uses appropriate procedures for identifying, investigating, correcting, and documenting suspected breaches of research or publication integrity.

Authorship and Contributorship

JAIMS follows the ICMJE authorship framework. Authorship should be based on substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work, or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data; participation in drafting the work or critically revising it for important intellectual content; approval of the final version; and accountability for the work and its integrity.

Individuals who contribute to a study but do not meet the criteria for authorship should be acknowledged appropriately where their contribution permits. All listed authors should have participated sufficiently in the work to take responsibility for the portions attributed to them and should approve the final manuscript.

The author group is responsible for resolving authorship order, inclusion, and contribution disputes. JAIMS does not ordinarily arbitrate disputes concerning authorship entitlement and may refer unresolved disputes to the relevant institution or research organization for investigation.

Research Involving Human Participants

Research involving human participants, identifiable human data, human biological materials, or other forms of human-subject research must comply with applicable ethical and regulatory requirements. Authors must obtain approval from an appropriate research ethics committee, institutional review board, or equivalent competent body where required.

Manuscripts must include an appropriate statement identifying the approving ethics body and approval or reference number where applicable. Where formal ethical review was not required, authors should explain the basis for that determination.

Authors must protect participant privacy and confidentiality and must not publish identifiable information without appropriate consent or another lawful and ethically justified basis.

Informed Consent and Privacy

Where required, informed consent must be obtained from participants before participation and must be appropriately documented. For case reports, clinical images, identifiable information, or other material through which an individual could reasonably be identified, authors must obtain appropriate consent for publication unless a recognized ethical or legal exception applies. The journal may request evidence of consent where necessary to protect participants and the integrity of the publication.

Research Involving Animals

Research involving animals must comply with applicable institutional, national, and international standards governing the ethical use of animals in research. Authors must provide appropriate information regarding ethical approval and animal welfare procedures and should use accepted reporting standards applicable to the study design. JAIMS may request documentation of ethical approval or compliance where appropriate.

Clinical Trials and Study Registration

JAIMS expects applicable clinical trials to be registered in a publicly accessible clinical-trial registry that meets recognized registration requirements. Where applicable under ICMJE recommendations and relevant regulatory requirements, registration should occur prospectively and before enrollment of the first participant.

Authors must provide the trial registration identifier and registry information in the manuscript where applicable. Failure to comply with applicable registration requirements may affect editorial consideration or publication.

Originality and Duplicate Publication

JAIMS considers only manuscripts that are submitted with the understanding that the work is original and is not simultaneously under consideration for publication elsewhere, except where the journal has explicitly agreed to a recognized form of secondary publication.

Duplicate publication, redundant publication, substantial undisclosed overlap, inappropriate fragmentation of research findings, and undisclosed prior publication may constitute publication misconduct. Authors must disclose relevant related manuscripts, preprints, conference reports, datasets, or previous publications that could affect the assessment of originality.

Plagiarism and Unattributed Use

JAIMS does not tolerate plagiarism, substantial unattributed copying, appropriation of another person's ideas or work, or misrepresentation of authorship. Submitted manuscripts may be screened using appropriate similarity-detection and editorial assessment procedures. A similarity result is not, by itself, a determination of misconduct; editors assess the nature, extent, source, context, and significance of identified overlap.

Research Integrity and Data Reliability

Authors are responsible for the accuracy, integrity, and appropriate presentation of their research data. Fabrication, falsification, manipulation of results, deceptive image alteration, selective reporting intended to mislead, or intentional misrepresentation of research findings constitutes serious research misconduct.

Figures, Images, and Data Presentation

Adjustments to images or other research data must not obscure, remove, introduce, or misrepresent information relevant to the interpretation of the research. Where image processing is appropriate, authors should describe material adjustments in the manuscript or figure legend. The journal may request original files, underlying data, laboratory records, or other supporting material when concerns regarding data integrity arise.

Conflicts of Interest and Disclosure

Authors, reviewers, editors, and editorial staff must disclose financial and non-financial relationships or activities that could influence, or reasonably be perceived to influence, their judgment. Disclosure is intended to allow readers and editors to evaluate potential sources of bias transparently.

Authors should disclose relevant employment, consultancy, financial interests, grants, honoraria, patents, personal relationships, academic competition, or other interests where applicable. Reviewers and editors must disclose relevant conflicts and should recuse themselves when a conflict could compromise impartiality.

Funding and Sponsor Role

Authors must disclose financial support for the research and identify the role of each funding source in study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, manuscript preparation, and the decision to submit the work for publication. Funding arrangements must not compromise authors' access to relevant data or their ability to report scientifically justified findings.

Peer-Review Ethics

Peer reviewers must evaluate manuscripts objectively, maintain confidentiality, disclose relevant conflicts of interest, and decline assignments where their independence could reasonably be questioned. Reviewers must not use unpublished information obtained through peer review for personal, professional, or competitive advantage.

Reviewers should provide constructive, evidence-based assessments and should not use the review process to promote personal, institutional, or commercial interests. Editorial decisions remain the responsibility of the journal's designated editors.

Editorial Conflicts and Recusal

Editors and editorial staff must recuse themselves from handling manuscripts where a personal, professional, financial, academic, or other relationship could compromise impartiality. Manuscripts submitted by editors, editorial board members, or individuals closely associated with the journal must be handled through an appropriately independent editorial process.

Artificial Intelligence and Generative AI

JAIMS recognizes that artificial intelligence and generative artificial intelligence tools may be used in research and manuscript preparation. Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, integrity, attribution, and ethical acceptability of their submitted work. AI tools must not be listed as authors because they cannot assume responsibility for the work.

Where AI tools have materially contributed to manuscript preparation, analysis, image generation, coding, or other components relevant to the published work, authors should disclose the tool and its role in accordance with the journal's AI policy and applicable reporting requirements. Confidential manuscript information must not be entered into AI systems in a manner that violates confidentiality, privacy, copyright, or applicable data protection obligations.

Artificial Intelligence in Peer Review and Editorial Work

Reviewers and editors must protect the confidentiality of unpublished manuscripts. Manuscript content, reviewer reports, editorial communications, and other confidential information must not be submitted to external AI systems where doing so could compromise confidentiality or intellectual property. Any permitted use of AI-assisted tools must remain subject to human oversight, confidentiality obligations, and the responsibility of the reviewer or editor for the resulting assessment.

Research and Publication Misconduct

JAIMS treats allegations of research or publication misconduct seriously. Potential misconduct may include, but is not limited to, fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, duplicate or redundant publication, manipulated images, fraudulent authorship, undisclosed conflicts of interest, inappropriate data manipulation, unethical research involving humans or animals, interference with peer review, citation manipulation, and other conduct that materially compromises the integrity of the scholarly record.

Allegations may be raised by authors, reviewers, readers, institutions, whistleblowers, or other persons with relevant information. JAIMS may conduct an initial editorial assessment and may seek clarification, supporting documentation, institutional investigation, or other appropriate evidence before reaching a decision.

Handling Allegations of Misconduct

When a credible concern is received, JAIMS will assess the matter proportionately and impartially. The journal may contact the corresponding author for an explanation, request documentary evidence, consult independent experts, or contact the relevant institution, ethics committee, funder, or other competent authority where appropriate.

The journal will distinguish between honest errors, disputes, questionable practices, and serious misconduct. Where an institutional investigation is appropriate, JAIMS may defer substantive conclusions until the responsible institution or competent authority has completed its investigation.

Corrections, Expressions of Concern, and Retractions

JAIMS is committed to maintaining an accurate and reliable scholarly record. Published articles may be corrected when an error affects the accuracy or interpretation of the work. Retraction or an expression of concern may be considered when substantial problems undermine the reliability, ethical validity, or integrity of a publication.

Post-publication notices will be linked clearly to the affected article and will preserve an appropriate record of the editorial action. Articles will not ordinarily be removed from the scholarly record solely because a correction or retraction is issued.

Complaints and Appeals

Authors may appeal an editorial decision where they believe that a material error, misunderstanding, procedural irregularity, or relevant information was not appropriately considered. Appeals should provide specific reasons and supporting information rather than simply disagreeing with the editorial judgment.

Complaints concerning editorial conduct, peer review, publication ethics, conflicts of interest, or journal procedures will be considered through the journal's designated complaints process. JAIMS will seek to handle such matters fairly, confidentially, and without retaliation against individuals who raise concerns in good faith.

Confidentiality

Information obtained during manuscript evaluation, peer review, editorial deliberation, or investigation of an ethical concern will be handled confidentially to the extent reasonably possible. Confidential information will not be disclosed unnecessarily and will be shared only where required for legitimate editorial, ethical, legal, or investigative purposes.

Citation and Reference Integrity

Authors are expected to cite relevant prior research accurately and proportionately. Citations must not be manipulated to artificially increase citation counts, journal metrics, author metrics, or the visibility of particular individuals or publications. Editors and reviewers must not require citations solely to increase citations to themselves, the journal, or associated publications.

Responsibilities of Editors and Editorial Board Members

Editors and editorial board members are expected to protect the integrity of the journal, apply the journal's policies consistently, maintain confidentiality, identify and manage conflicts of interest, ensure appropriate peer review, and take reasonable action when ethical concerns arise. Editorial responsibilities must be exercised independently and in the interests of the integrity of the scholarly record.

Sponsorship and Commercial Influence

Sponsorship, advertising, institutional support, publication charges, or other commercial relationships must not determine editorial decisions. Commercial arrangements are kept separate from the scientific assessment and editorial evaluation of manuscripts. Where financial relationships are relevant to a publication, appropriate disclosure will be required.

Integrity of the Scholarly Record

JAIMS considers the integrity of the scholarly record to be a shared responsibility. Authors, reviewers, editors, editorial staff, institutions, and other participants are expected to act transparently, disclose relevant interests, protect research participants, respect intellectual property, and respond appropriately to concerns affecting the reliability or ethical validity of published research.

JAIMS develops and maintains its publication-ethics practices with reference to the current recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), established publication-ethics principles, and applicable standards for responsible scholarly publishing. The journal may update this policy when relevant professional, ethical, regulatory, or publishing standards are revised.