IMAGE INTEGRITY POLICY

Data Retention & Image Quality

Authors are responsible for retaining the original, unprocessed image files and relevant metadata associated with all figures submitted to the Al-Najam Journal of Medical and Life Sciences (ANJMLS). Original files may be requested by editors or reviewers to verify image authenticity, acquisition conditions, processing history, or underlying findings.

Authors should preserve sufficient original image data throughout the editorial and peer-review process and for a reasonable period after publication in accordance with applicable institutional, regulatory, and research-data requirements. Failure to provide requested original files without an adequate explanation may result in additional editorial investigation or delay in publication.

Color Images Recommended minimum resolution: 300 dpi.
Grayscale Images Recommended minimum resolution: 600 dpi.
Line Art Recommended minimum resolution: 1200 dpi.

Image Processing & Manipulation Standards

ANJMLS recognizes that legitimate image processing may be required for visualization, measurement, annotation, or publication-quality presentation. Any processing that could affect the interpretation of scientific findings must be transparently described in the manuscript.

Authors should report relevant software, imaging systems, acquisition procedures, processing methods, and substantive adjustments applied to images. Processing should be applied consistently and must not selectively enhance, suppress, remove, or introduce information in a manner that could misrepresent the underlying data.

Permitted Processing
Reasonable adjustments to brightness, contrast, color balance, cropping, or image size may be acceptable when they do not obscure, remove, or selectively emphasize relevant scientific information. Adjustments should normally be applied consistently across the relevant image and should be disclosed where they may affect interpretation.
Prohibited Manipulation
Fabrication, falsification, selective alteration, inappropriate cloning, object removal, duplication of features, selective enhancement, undisclosed splicing, or any manipulation that changes or misrepresents the underlying scientific evidence is prohibited.

Microscopy, Histopathology & Clinical Images

Microscopic and histopathological images should accurately represent the observations described in the manuscript. Authors should avoid selecting or combining fields in a manner that could create a misleading representation of the study findings.

  • • Representative microscopic fields should be selected using scientifically justified criteria.
  • • Multiple fields should be provided where necessary to demonstrate reproducibility or distribution of an observed finding.
  • • Scale bars, magnification information, staining procedures, and relevant imaging conditions should be provided where applicable.
  • • Composite panels should be clearly labeled, and boundaries between separately acquired images should be identifiable where applicable.
  • • Clinical photographs must be appropriately anonymized and comply with applicable informed-consent and patient-privacy requirements.

Image Documentation & Figure Legends

The Methods section and relevant figure legends should provide sufficient information to understand how images were acquired, processed, and presented. Depending on the study, authors should report the imaging platform, acquisition settings, software, staining or preparation methods, magnification, scale bars, and substantive image-processing procedures.

Original Files: Editors may request original, unprocessed images, raw image sequences, metadata, or other supporting files at any stage of peer review or after publication. Authors are expected to cooperate with reasonable requests intended to verify image integrity.

Composite Figures, Splicing & Image Assembly

Composite figures may be used to present related findings, provided that their construction does not misrepresent the data. Images originating from different fields, experiments, time points, patients, or acquisition sessions must be clearly distinguished where such information is scientifically relevant.

Any non-obvious splicing, joining, or assembly of image components should be clearly indicated in the figure or figure legend. Authors must not use image assembly to conceal discontinuities, selectively exclude unfavorable observations, or create the appearance of a single continuous experiment when the images originate from separate sources.

Handling Suspected Image Manipulation

Concerns regarding image integrity may be raised by editors, reviewers, readers, or other credible sources. When a concern is identified, ANJMLS may request the corresponding author to provide an explanation, original image files, acquisition data, processing history, laboratory records, or other relevant documentation.

The journal will assess the available evidence and may seek additional expert advice where appropriate. Minor, honest, and correctable presentation errors may be addressed through replacement figures or a correction, provided that the underlying data remain reliable and the integrity of the scientific record is not compromised.

Serious Misconduct: Where deliberate or substantial image manipulation, fabrication, or falsification is established, ANJMLS may reject the manuscript, suspend publication, issue a correction or expression of concern, retract the published article, and/or notify the appropriate institution or responsible authority in accordance with applicable publication-ethics procedures.

Authors' Responsibility

Authors are responsible for ensuring that all submitted images accurately represent the underlying observations and that no image has been manipulated in a manner that could mislead readers. Authors should maintain appropriate records of image acquisition and processing and should ensure that all co-authors are aware of and approve the final figures.

By submitting a manuscript to ANJMLS, authors confirm that the submitted figures and images have been prepared in accordance with responsible research and publication practices and that supporting original files can be provided when reasonably requested by the Editorial Office.