ACMM Publication Ethics Policy

Introduction & Purpose

This policy outlines the expected ethical behavior for all parties involved in the process of manuscript publishing. including the authors, reviewers, editors, editorial board members, and the publisher. The policy is written in adherence to the principles and guidelines set by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), and the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME).

 

Authors' Criteria, Roles, and Responsibilities:

Authorship is restricted to those who made a substantial contribution to the conception or design of the work; acquisition of data, its analysis, and/or interpretation. All co-authors must participate in the initial drafting and subsequent revising of the work submitted.

The Corresponding Author should ensure that all co-authors have reviewed and approved the final manuscript and agree to its submission. The corresponding author is also responsible for manuscript submission to the journal and for responding to reviewer’s comments.

Other Contributors to the research: are individuals who do not meet the above four authorship criteria. They are listed in the “Acknowledgments section” with a description of their contribution.

The final list of all authors must be provided when submitting the manuscript. The corresponding author must ensure that the authorship information on the manuscript (the title page) matches the information entered in the journal's submission system. If any inconsistency is found, the information on the title page will be taken into account. Any addition, deletion, or change in the order of authors must be formally requested and justified by the corresponding author during the review process. All co-authors must confirm their agreement to this change in writing. No changes are allowed after the manuscript has been accepted and approved.

 

Upon submitting a manuscript to ACMM, the authors must confirm that:

  • The manuscript is the product of original work of the authors and has not been published previously nor is currently under review in other journals.
  • The use of any third-party data, text, ideas, imaging is appropriately cited/acknowledged. Authors are fully responsible for any breach of copyright or intellectual property law (all submissions will be screened using plagiarism detection software).
  • A precise description of the work conducted is provided. The manuscript should accurately represent and critically discuss the data. Including enough information and references is essential to enable others to reproduce the research.
  • Digital images were not manipulated in a way that distorts the scientific meaning (Adjustments, if required, must be applied to the entire image and be clearly disclosed in the methods section).
  • There is no conflict of interest whether financial, personal, professional, or other that could be perceived as inappropriately influencing the work.  A declaration of competing interests (or a statement of their absence) will be published with each article.
  • The use of AI tools is kept to minimum. Authors should not use AI tools to produce significant portions of their manuscript.

Ethical consideration of research:

  • Human Subjects Research: authors must confirm that the research was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. The manuscript must include a statement confirming approval by an appropriate institutional ethics committee and that informed consent was obtained from all participants.
  • Animal Studies: Studies involving animals must report compliance with international guidelines for the care and use of laboratory animals.
  • Consent for Publication: Case reports and images that could identify a patient require explicit written consent for publication. This consent must be made available to the journal upon request.
  • The ethical approval decision number and date must be included in the material and method section of the manuscript.

 

Peer Review Process

  • Reviewers must treat received manuscripts as confidential documents. They must not share, discuss, or use the information for their own advantage.
  • Reviews should be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate.
  • Reviewers must decline to review a manuscript if they have a significant conflict of interest.
  • Reviewers should respond to invitations and submit reviews within the agreed timeframe.

Editorial Responsibilities

  • Handling Editors are responsible for evaluating the manuscripts scientifically. Editors and editorial staff must maintain confidentiality of manuscripts and the review process.
  • If conflict of interests for editors is anticipated, the decision regarding the manuscript will be delegated to another member of the editorial board.
  • The Editor-in-Chief holds ultimate responsibility for the journal's content and publication decisions, guided by the journal's policies and the recommendations of peer reviewers.

Publisher’s Role

The publisher, the University of Mosul, is committed to working closely with the editorial team to ensure best practices in ethical publishing, maintain the digital archive, and ensure the accessibility and permanence of the published record.