Publication ethics

Misurata Medical Sciences Journal (MMSJ) adheres to the guidelines established by
prominent organisations, including the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the
Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing (a joint
statement by COPE, DOAJ, OASPA, WAME), and the ICMJE Recommendations for
the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical
Journals. These rules are crucial for maintaining transparency, integrity, and optimal
practices in academic publication.
Medical research involving human subjects must adhere to the WMA Declaration of
Helsinki (2013), guaranteeing informed consent, privacy protection, and participant
safety. The journal complies with WAME's Recommendations on Publication Ethics
for Medical Journals, which encompass conflicts of interest, research misconduct, and
the peer review process, all designed to uphold the highest standards of integrity and
transparency.
Approval from the Ethics Committee and Informed Consent Ethical standards are
maintained in both human and animal research. Authors must produce proof of
endorsement from a local Ethics Committee when necessary. Animal research must
be performed ethically, with transparent documentation of anaesthetics and analgesics
administered. Ethical standards must conform to the WMA’s Code of Ethics
(Declaration of Helsinki) for human research and EU Directive 2010/63/EU for
animal studies. According to the ICMJE Recommendations, a declaration of ethics
committee approval must be incorporated in the 'Materials and Methods' section. The
journal will reject any manuscript considered ethically improper.
Manuscripts submitted to the Annals of Medical Research lacking ethics committee
approval will be evaluated in accordance with COPE's guidelines for Research, Audit,
and Service Evaluations. This guideline assists the journal in evaluating the risks and
ethical issues associated with publishing research that lacks ethics committee
approval, ensuring that the paper adheres to ethical norms despite the absence of
formal endorsement.
Authors must furnish detailed information regarding the ethical treatment of animals
in their research, including explicit measures implemented to mitigate pain and
suffering.
A checklist is advisable to assist authors in conveying this information clearly and
comprehensively.
In research involving human subjects, a statement must certify that written and/or
verbal informed consent was acquired from all participants. These consent forms must
be archived for future reference. When research involves individuals under 18 years
of age, agreement must be acquired from a parent or guardian, as minors may not
fully understand the associated risks and advantages of participation in the study. In
instances of surveys or interviews, authors must verify that participants provided
informed consent, including consent for the recording of personal information, if
relevant. All identifiable quotations or statements must be anonymised unless specific
authorisation for attribution is secured. The Methods section must furnish
comprehensive details regarding the informed consent process, as well as other
relevant study processes. Authors must guarantee the secrecy and privacy of
participants, particularly regarding images that could disclose their names. Consent
papers for images must be signed, and publishing approval must be recorded in the
Methods section. Plagiarism and Ethical Violations
All contributions are subjected to rigorous evaluation during the peer review and/or
production phases, incorporating similarity detecting algorithms. Authors must ensure

that any prior works are accurately cited when referenced. Reproducing text, tables, or
graphics from any source (including journal articles, books, theses, electronic media,
etc.) and claiming them as original work constitutes plagiarism, irrespective of the
inclusion of a reference. Citing a source in the References section does not absolve
authors of accountability for plagiarism. Authors are strongly urged to refrain from
any instances of plagiarism or ethical misconduct, encompassing, but not limited to,
the following:
• Citation Manipulation: This entails the artificial inflation of citation metrics using
methods such as self-citation, excessive referencing of a singular publication, or
citation stacking, all of which distort the representation of academic
acknowledgement. Self-Plagiarism (Text Recycling): This denotes the reuse of
segments or sentences from an author's prior work without appropriate citation,
constituting a variant of plagiarism.
• Salami Slicing: This unethical practice entails the publication of many papers
derived from the same data set, assumptions, and methodologies of a single study,
resulting in redundant publications.
• Data Fabrication: The generation of fictitious data lacking empirical backing,
regarded as a grave violation of research integrity.
• Data Manipulation/Falsification: Entails the alteration of data, including the
modification of images or the elimination of outliers, to deceive or falsify results.
In instances of alleged misconduct (e.g., plagiarism, citation manipulation, or data
fabrication), the Editorial Board shall adhere to COPE principles to guarantee
equitable, transparent, and uniform management of accusations.
Ensuring the Credibility of Information and Accuracy of Scientific Knowledge
A fundamental principle of scientific research is that researchers must present the
methodology used in their studies. This allows others to replicate the experiment and
verify its results. Researchers must not fabricate, manipulate, or alter data to support
their hypotheses, nor should they conceal observations to persuade readers of their
conclusions. Careful preparation and meticulous editing of studies before publication
are essential to avoid errors.
Information Sharing
Researchers are encouraged to share their raw data with other researchers. This
practice ensures the reliability of research findings. Researchers should collaborate
with peers and provide access to collected data upon request while ensuring the
removal of any personal information that could identify participants. It is also
necessary to agree on the methods of data usage and result dissemination, considering
the moral rights of all parties involved.
Duplicate Publication
A study should not be published in two separate sources as if it were two independent
original studies. Such duplication may falsely suggest the existence of new findings
that reinforce previous results. However, it is permissible to republish previous
research findings in a new study for scientific purposes, provided that the repeated
material remains minimal compared to the new text. The researcher must clearly cite
the original study and specify the information derived from it.
 
Protection of Intellectual Property and Respect for Authors' Rights
-Intellectual Property Laws

Intellectual property belongs to individuals who have made significant contributions
to a scholarly work and are willing to take responsibility for its publication.
Significant contributions in research include defining the research problem,
formulating hypotheses, designing research tools, analyzing results, and drafting
sections of the text. These contributors must be acknowledged in the authorship data.
Authors hold both moral and financial rights over their intellectual output, protected
by national laws and international agreements under intellectual property laws. For
work to be protected, it must be original, containing new and unique ideas, regardless
of its value, type, form of expression, or purpose. Notably, laws do not protect ideas
themselves but rather their expression. Intellectual property protection covers written
and recorded oral works, images, artistic creations, and more.
Exceptions to protection typically include:
-Laws, regulations, judicial rulings, administrative decisions, international treaties,
and other official documents issued by governmental bodies;
-News reports published, broadcast, or publicly communicated, as they are not
considered original works but merely information dissemination.
Intellectual property laws safeguard both moral and financial rights. Moral rights
include the author's right to be credited for their work, the right to decide on its
publication, the right to object to any distortion or modification that may harm their
reputation, and the right to withdraw their work from circulation if altered
inappropriately. These rights are perpetual and remain in effect indefinitely.
Therefore, researchers must properly cite any excerpts or ideas borrowed from others
without distorting the original meaning, even if the work is old or in the public
domain.
As for the economic rights, they include the author’s right to benefit from their work,
achieved by commercially exploiting the creative work through copying, publishing,
broadcasting, performing, displaying, translating, and other means. In this regard, the
journals published by the University of Misurata are open-access journals, where
research is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License (CC BY 4.0), unless otherwise stated in the research. This
license allows others to copy, modify, and distribute the published works, provided
that the author is appropriately credited.
 
Ensuring and Protecting Research Participants' Rights
Obtaining Participants' Consent
Researchers must inform relevant parties (institutions under study, interview
participants, etc.) about the study's objectives, research methods, and intended use of
results. Participants' consent must be obtained voluntarily, without coercion or undue
pressure.
Ensuring Privacy and Avoiding Harm
If a researcher employs a case study approach, they must not disclose confidential or
personal information that could identify individuals or institutions. Researchers
should share reports with participants before publication to seek approval.
Additionally, non-essential details should be omitted to ensure anonymity. Under no
circumstances should information be published in a way that could harm research
participants.
Conflicts of Interest  
Scientific research conclusions should be based on unbiased analyses and
interpretations. Researchers must not have personal relationships with subjects that

may compromise the objectivity of their studies. Any potential conflicts of interest
that could affect impartiality must be disclosed.
 

Participants
A conflict of interest exists when an author (or their institution), reviewer, or editorial
board member has financial or personal relationships with individuals or entities that
may inappropriately influence – or be perceived to influence – their judgments or
conclusions.
The mere existence of a potential conflict does not imply a lack of integrity. However,
disclosure is a necessary step to ensure transparency and scientific integrity. Financial
relationships (e.g., employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid
activities, or patents) are among the most apparent forms of conflicts of interest and
are also the most likely to undermine the journal's credibility, the researchers'
reputation, or the
 Reporting Conflicts of Interest
All authors are required to complete and sign the Unified Declaration Form:
Publication Ethics and Conflict of Interest either by downloading the form or by
filling out the required information through the electronic submission portal.
Each author is responsible for the accuracy and completeness of their disclosed
information. The corresponding author must include a Conflicts of Interest statement
within the submitted manuscript (not the form itself). The statement must list all
authors and specify any conflicts of interest (if applicable).