Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement
IJMIE is committed to upholding the highest standards of publication ethics and takes all possible measures against publication malpractice. This statement is based on the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Core Practices and applies to all parties involved in the act of publishing: authors, editors, reviewers, and the publisher.
Duties of Editors
- Publication decisions — editors are responsible for deciding which submissions are published, based solely on academic merit, validity, and relevance to the journal's scope.
- Fairness — manuscripts are evaluated without regard to the authors' race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, nationality, or political philosophy.
- Confidentiality — editors must not disclose information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than authors, reviewers, and the publisher, as appropriate.
- Conflicts of interest — editors recuse themselves from manuscripts in which they have a competing interest.
- Integrity — editors take reasonable steps to identify and prevent publication of misconduct, and are willing to publish corrections, clarifications, retractions, and apologies when needed.
Duties of Reviewers
- Contribute to editorial decisions through objective, constructive, and confidential review.
- Report promptly if unqualified to review or unable to meet deadlines.
- Treat manuscripts as confidential documents and not use privileged information for personal advantage.
- Identify relevant published work not cited, and flag any substantial similarity to other works.
- Declare conflicts of interest arising from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships with the authors.
Duties of Authors
- Originality & plagiarism — authors must ensure their work is entirely original and properly cite the work of others. Plagiarism in any form is unacceptable (see Plagiarism Policy).
- Data integrity — data must be accurate, and fabrication or falsification constitutes serious misconduct. Authors should retain raw data and provide access where reasonable (see data availability).
- Originality of submission — manuscripts must not be under consideration elsewhere, and redundant or duplicate publication is not permitted.
- Authorship — authorship is limited to those who made a significant contribution; all co-authors must approve the final version (see authorship criteria).
- Acknowledgement of sources — proper acknowledgement of the work of others must always be given.
- Disclosure & conflicts of interest — all sources of financial support and any conflicts of interest must be disclosed.
- Errors — authors must promptly notify the editor of any significant error in their published work and cooperate to correct or retract it.
Duties of the Publisher
- Safeguard editorial independence and support editors in maintaining ethical standards.
- Maintain the integrity of the academic record and preserve published content (see Archiving Policy).
- Take no role in editorial decisions on individual manuscripts.
Handling Allegations of Misconduct
All allegations of research or publication misconduct — including plagiarism, data fabrication or falsification, image manipulation, redundant publication, authorship disputes, and undisclosed conflicts of interest — are investigated in accordance with COPE flowcharts. Outcomes may include correction, retraction, an expression of concern, or notification of the authors' institutions. Detailed procedures for corrections and retractions are set out in our Editorial Policies.
Complaints & Appeals
Complaints concerning any aspect of the journal's ethics or process may be addressed to the editorial office and will be handled promptly and fairly.
