The editorial policy of this journal will adhere to the standards and requirements of
COPE – Committee on Publication Ethics
ICMJE – International Committee of Medical Journal Editors
STM – International Association of Scientific, Technical & Medical Publishers
WAME – World Association of Medical Editors
This Journal has an independent ethics committee made up of 5 editors whose duty is to resolve matters that violate the editorial policy. Under the guidelines of COPE, ICMJE, STM and WAME the committee will judge any events of misconducts, give recommendations and sanctions as they deem it fit.
An individual qualifies to be an author if he/she has made significant contribution to the production of the manuscript. ICMJE1 recommends that authorship of a manuscript follow the four criteria listed below:
The support and funding provided by any organization or institution should be noted under the acknowledgement section. Similarly, any individual who contributes to the completion of the manuscript but does not meet the criteria of authorship should be acknowledged.
If there is a need for a change in authorship this change will be effected using the COPE specification. Change to authorship can only be made by a corresponding author and can be done by writing to the editorial board of this journal.
Before submission of a manuscript the following requirements should be met:
Authors should be conversant with the instructions on the guide to author page before submitting a manuscript; this therefore means that manuscripts should be developed based on the style and specifications of this journal.
All authors should meet the criteria for authorship as listed above.
All authors should read the final version and give their approval of the manuscript before submission.
Authors should supply accurate contact information on the manuscript. Contact details such as:
surname/other names, affiliation, emails, and phone numbers should be clearly stated.
Authors must declare any conflicts of interest on the manuscript.
According to WAME 2 “Conflict of interest (COI) exists when there is a divergence between an individual’s private interests (competing interests) and his or her responsibilities to scientific and publishing activities such that a reasonable observer might wonder if the individual’s behavior or judgment was motivated by considerations of his or her competing interests”
Author(s) are required to declare any financial, religious, personal or relevant interest that may affect the development of the manuscript. Likewise reviewers/editors are required to decline the review or processing of a manuscript if there is a conflict of interest. In such a case, the manuscript will be designated to another editor or reviewer.
All submitted manuscripts are regarded confidential; therefore the journal will release submitted manuscripts to none other than all involved in the preparation of the manuscript before publication. These include the editorial staff, the reviewers (potential and actual) and corresponding authors. Notwithstanding, if there is a reason for suspicion of violation of editorial policy, the manuscript may be disclosed to the ethics committee, institutions or organizations to resolve any issues.
The review process allows the editors to make the decision on whether the manuscript is worthy of publication in this journal. It also gives the author an opportunity to improve on the manuscript. For a completely unbiased review, any detail suggesting the identity of the author is removed to ensure a blind peer review process. Details removed include: name of the authors, location of study, address of the authors, phone number and email address. The manuscript submitted for review is released to the members of the editorial board and reviewers. The reviewers will submit their review report by filling a manuscript review form.
The role of the editors is to make final decisions on a manuscript submitted. All editors and editorial board members are to abide by the COPE Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors.
Meddlement with editorial freedom is totally forbidden. Any actions that suggest interference with editorial freedom will be forwarded to the journal ethics committee.
An editorial board member should be a holder of a doctorate degree and have expertise aligning with the aims and scope of this journal. The board member should have research experience and published papers in this area of expertise. Editorial board members will have a specified time to evaluate manuscripts and should work within this time limit.
Individuals who wish to be members of the editorial board will meet the above specifications. The editorial board will be reviewed intermittently and existing members will be required to submit their updated resumes. Therefore, existing members are required to remain actively involved on the board. To apply to become a member, an individual will submit a resume to the editor or the current editorial board members.
Misconduct includes: any attempt to threaten the integrity of the publication process and any bridge of the editorial policy, publication ethics, or the guidelines stipulated by COPE, WAME, ICMJE, and STM. Any suspected misconduct will be addressed by the ethics committee of this journal. The committee will deal with such matters according to COPE guidelines.
Retraction: When inevitable, articles will be retracted based on the COPE guidelines.
Corrections: Published articles can be corrected with the permission of the editors. If corrections made are minor corrections they will be made directly on the published work but if corrections are major, the initial article (remains unchanged) will be linked to a corrected version with a statement giving reason for the changes. Please note that the immensity of the corrections; as per whether major or minor will be determined by the editor.
This editorial policy will be reviewed periodically.