Publication Ethics & Research Integrity
Authorship and contributorship
Authorship should be limited to individuals who made substantial scholarly contributions and who accept responsibility for the submitted work. Contributions that do not meet authorship criteria should be acknowledged. Authors should provide complete affiliations and disclose relevant contributor roles where requested.
Originality, plagiarism and redundant publication
Submitted work must be original and must not be under simultaneous consideration elsewhere. IJMHR's similarity policy accepts reports generated through Metrifind or Turnitin. The overall similarity index must be below 15% after excluding bibliography/references, properly cited material and correctly formatted quotations. The journal may conduct an independent similarity check during editorial assessment.
Research misconduct
Fabrication, falsification, inappropriate manipulation of data or images, duplicate publication, undisclosed conflicts, citation manipulation and misrepresentation of authorship are inconsistent with IJMHR policy. Concerns may be investigated before or after publication and authors may be asked to provide supporting records or explanations.
Human participants, animals and informed consent
Research involving human participants should identify the relevant ethics committee/institutional review board and approval information where applicable. Informed consent should be obtained when required. Identifiable patient information or images require appropriate consent for publication. Research involving animals should report applicable ethical approval and welfare standards.
Clinical trials and reporting standards
Prospective clinical trials should be registered in an appropriate publicly accessible trial registry in accordance with accepted medical-journal practice. Authors should use study-design reporting guidance where relevant, including CONSORT, PRISMA, STROBE, STARD, CARE, ARRIVE or other appropriate EQUATOR Network guidance.
Conflicts of interest and funding
Authors, reviewers and editors should disclose financial, professional or personal interests that could reasonably be perceived to influence the work or editorial process. Funding sources and grant information should be reported where applicable.
Data and reproducibility
Authors should provide a data-availability statement when applicable and retain source data and research records sufficient to support the reported work. Requests for supporting information may be made during editorial assessment or after publication when integrity questions arise.
Use of generative AI and AI-assisted technologies
AI tools cannot be listed as authors. Authors remain responsible for the accuracy, originality, confidentiality and appropriate attribution of all submitted material and should disclose relevant use of generative AI or AI-assisted technologies. Reviewers and editors should not upload confidential manuscripts into external AI systems where confidentiality cannot be assured.
Corrections, retractions and post-publication concerns
When a published record requires amendment, IJMHR may issue a correction, retraction, expression of concern or other appropriate notice according to the nature and seriousness of the issue. The purpose is to maintain a clear and reliable scholarly record.
Complaints and appeals
Authors or readers may raise an editorial complaint or appeal by writing to editor@ijmhr.com with the manuscript/article identifier and a clear description of the concern. The journal will review the matter separately from routine editorial correspondence and communicate the outcome in writing.