ETHICAL GUIDELINES FOR AUTHORS

The following ethical guidelines are mandatory for all authors submitting manuscripts to the Al-Najam Journal of Medical and Life Sciences (ANJMLS). Any violation of these guidelines may result in editorial action, including but not limited to manuscript rejection, suspension, withdrawal, or other appropriate publishing restrictions.

1. Reporting Standards

Authors are responsible for ensuring that research findings, methods, analyses, and data are reported accurately, clearly, and in sufficient detail to allow readers to understand, evaluate, and replicate the work where applicable. All sources of information must be properly cited, and appropriate references must be provided. Fabricated, falsified, misleading, or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical conduct and are strictly unacceptable.

2. Originality and Plagiarism

Authors must ensure that submitted manuscripts are original and that all ideas, data, text, figures, and other material derived from the work of others are appropriately acknowledged and cited. Plagiarism, including self-plagiarism, duplicate text reuse, inappropriate paraphrasing, and unattributed reproduction of previously published material, is prohibited. Any material reproduced verbatim must be clearly identified and appropriately cited.

3. Declaration

Authors must submit a declaration confirming that the manuscript represents original work and is not simultaneously under consideration for publication elsewhere. Manuscripts previously presented in abstract form, conference proceedings, institutional reports, or similar limited-distribution formats may be considered where appropriate and where full disclosure is provided. For multi-authored manuscripts, the corresponding author must confirm that all listed authors have made substantial contributions, approved the final manuscript, agreed to the authorship order, and consented to submission.

4. Multiple, Redundant, and Concurrent Publication

Authors must not submit the same or substantially similar manuscript to more than one journal simultaneously. Previously published research may only be considered for further publication where there is a legitimate scholarly justification, substantial revision or additional analysis, and appropriate disclosure of the original publication. Any secondary publication must clearly acknowledge the original work and comply with applicable copyright and editorial requirements.

5. Acknowledgment of Sources

All sources of information, data, concepts, and ideas used in the manuscript must be appropriately acknowledged, except where information constitutes established common knowledge. Individuals or organizations providing technical assistance, writing assistance, institutional support, financial support, or other contributions that do not meet authorship criteria should be appropriately recognized in the Acknowledgments section. Authors are responsible for conducting an appropriate literature review and citing relevant prior research.

6. Authorship Credit

Authorship should be limited to individuals who have made substantial intellectual or scientific contributions to the conception, design, conduct, analysis, interpretation, or writing of the research. All listed authors must approve the final manuscript and agree to its submission. Honorary, guest, gift, or coercive authorship is not acceptable. Individuals who contributed to the work but do not satisfy authorship requirements should be acknowledged appropriately.

7. Privacy of Participants

Authors must protect the privacy, confidentiality, dignity, and rights of research participants. Personal or identifiable information must not be disclosed without appropriate informed consent. Only information necessary for scientific understanding should be included. Where an individual may be identifiable from clinical information, photographs, videos, or other research materials, appropriate consent for publication must be obtained.

8. Data Access and Retention

Authors should be prepared to provide relevant underlying data, supporting documentation, protocols, or methodological information to the Editor when legitimate questions arise concerning the accuracy, validity, or integrity of the research. Research data should be retained for a reasonable period after publication in accordance with institutional, regulatory, ethical, and funding requirements.

9. Images

Authors must ensure that images, figures, photographs, microscopy images, radiological images, graphs, and other visual materials are presented accurately and have not been inappropriately manipulated. Image processing or enhancement must not misrepresent the underlying data. Where relevant, authors should disclose significant image-processing procedures and retain original source files for verification.

10. Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest

All authors must disclose financial, personal, professional, institutional, intellectual, or other relationships that could influence the research or its interpretation. Potential conflicts may include employment, consultancy, honoraria, patents, grants, sponsorship, institutional relationships, or academic interests. All sources of financial or material support must be disclosed, together with the role of the funding organization in study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, manuscript preparation, or publication.

11. Copyright

Authors must comply with the journal's copyright, licensing, and publication policies. Where required, authors may be asked to complete an appropriate publication or licensing agreement granting the journal the necessary rights to publish, distribute, archive, and reproduce the article in accordance with the applicable open-access licensing terms.

12. Prior Publication & Preprint Policy

ANJMLS requires submitted manuscripts to represent original work that is not concurrently under consideration or previously published elsewhere. However, posting a manuscript on a recognized, non-commercial preprint repository or institutional repository does not by itself constitute prior journal publication. Authors must disclose any existing preprint during submission and provide the relevant persistent identifier or repository link. Following publication in ANJMLS, authors should update the preprint record, where applicable, with a link to the final published article.

13. Manuscript Acceptance, Rejection, and Editorial Timeline

Each manuscript submitted to ANJMLS undergoes an initial editorial assessment followed, where appropriate, by peer review. The overall review and publication process may take several weeks or longer depending on reviewer availability, manuscript complexity, revisions, and editorial requirements. Authors may contact the Editorial Office for reasonable status updates during the process. Editorial decisions may include acceptance, minor revision, major revision, rejection, or other appropriate outcomes. Revised manuscripts must be accompanied by a clear response to reviewers' comments and may undergo additional evaluation. Authors may appeal an editorial decision by submitting a reasoned written appeal to the Editor.