Editorial Policy

Editorial policy

 

General Conditions

Jordan Medical Journal (JMJ) accepts papers written in English. The articles should be properly written linguistically and be comprehensible to the journal's readers.  The manuscript should be checked for grammar and vocabulary as well as formatting. It is recommended that non-native English authors utilize a professional language editing service before submission.

 

All manuscripts are subject to editorial review.  All articles published in our journal are open access and freely available online, immediately upon publication. Authors will not be asked to pay the article processing charges (APC) as they are covered by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research.

 

Authorship

In regards to authorship, JMJ follows the recommendation of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/roles-and-responsibilities/defining-the-role-of-authors-and-contributors.html).  In order for someone to be considered a co-author, each author must be prepared to take public responsibility for the article. In addition, the following criteria must be met:

 

  1. Substantial contribution to the concept and design of the article and/or data analysis or interpretation,

And

 

  1. Approval of the final version of the article to be published

 

 

Plagiarism

Plagiarism, whether intentional or not, is not acceptable by JMJ. Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to, copying or reusing text, ideas, images, or data from other sources without clear referencing or credit.  It is therefore the responsibility of all authors to avoid this unethical action.  It is also the responsibility of the editors and reviewers to examine submitted manuscripts for plagiarism and inform JMJ of any concerns related to it.  If plagiarism is detected at any stage before publication, the manuscript may be rejected or authors may be requested to re-submit after modification.  If plagiarism is confirmed after publication, the paper will be retracted and authors may be barred from submitting any future studies to JMJ.  In addition, JMJ reserves the right to inform the authors' institutions.

 

Duplicate submission and prior publication

Authors should not submit the same manuscript, part of a manuscript, or part of data, in any language, to JMJ and another journal simultaneously.  In addition, JMJ does not publish material that has been published elsewhere. This includes full manuscripts published in conference proceedings or online. In addition, authors should not release information from the manuscript into the public domain once a manuscript is submitted and before reaching a final decision.  If there is considerable overlap with another document, it should be clearly stated in the cover letter and cited in the manuscript, if appropriate. 

 

Statements

All submitted manuscripts must contain the following statements after the main body of the text, but before the reference list.

 

Funding

The authors are required to state the source of funding of the study as well as a reference to the official approval, such as the grant number.

 

Conflict of interest statement

Authors are required to disclose any potential conflict of interest at the time of submission. A conflict of interest may constitute all forms of financial support and involvement as well as nonfinancial connections that may potentially influence or jeopardize the accuracy of the study. Any role of the funding body in study design, collection, analysis, and interpretation of data and writing of the report must be clearly stated. 

 

Author contributions statement

A short statement detailing the contributions of each co-author should be mentioned. If a coauthor does not fulfill the criteria listed in the Authorship section (see above), the name can be credited in the Acknowledgement section. Removal or addition of a co-author after manuscript submission must be explained in an official statement signed by all co-authors approving this action along with an explanation. 

 

Acknowledgments

Authors are encouraged to acknowledge anyone who contributed to the article or study but did not meet the criteria listed in the aforementioned Authorship section.

 

Ethical considerations

JMJ pays considerable attention to the ethical conduct of research involving human subjects, data, specimens, and animal research.  All such research must comply with internationally accepted ethical standards such as the Declaration of Helsinki. In addition, the research must be approved by an accredited ethics committee or institutional review board (IRB).  Documents must be referenced in the methodology section accompanied by the name and affiliation of the ethics committee, approval number, and date of approval.  If concerns are raised after publication, the manuscript may be subject to retraction, and JMJ reserves the right to inform the authors' institutions. If ethics approval is not required, or if the study has been granted an exemption from requiring ethics/IRB approval, this should also be mentioned in the manuscript, including the name of the committee who made that decision).

 

Studies involving human subjects

Authors must ensure that all identifiable information is removed.  If  required by the ethics committee or IRB, written informed consent of participants (or their parent/legal guardian, where appropriate) should be obtained in compliance with the Declaration of Helsinki and the International Council of Harmonization Good Clinical Practice.  A statement detailing this should appear in the manuscript.  For studies involving vulnerable participants, such as children or participants at risk of potential coercion such as refugees, detailed information regarding the steps taken to ensure informed consent must be provided. If consent is not obtained, the authors must explain the reason for that and whether this was approved by the ethics/IRB committee.  

 

If the study is a case report and identifying information is presented in the report, it must be stated that written informed consent was obtained from 1) the patient(s), 2) a person next of kin if the patient has died, or 3) the parent/legal guardian if the patient is a minor. 

 

Studies involving animals

Authors must provide information regarding the facility where such research was conducted.  The method leading to animal sacrifice must be clearly stated. 

 

Data Sharing Policy

The Editor-in-Chief (EIC) may request that the authors share their original data with the EIC and reviewers during the review process.