Publication Ethics

Editors’ responsibilities

• Editors define the scope and policy of the journal and are accountable for the quality of the articles published
• They organize journal content according to the journal’s publication style and editorial policy, and define the roles and responsibilities of reviewers and authors
• Editors coordinate, monitor and ensure a quality, transparent and timely peer-review process, inviting two or more reviewers with relevant subject expertise for each manuscript
• A manuscript may be rejected without external review if it is outside the journal’s scope, does not meet quality standards, has limited scientific merit or lacks originality
• Editors evaluate and consolidate reviewer comments and communicate the decision (acceptance or rejection) to authors together with the reviewers’ comments
• Editors ensure there is no conflict of interest with authors, reviewers, editorial board members or editorial assistants
• They protect the confidentiality of authors’ work and ensure the same from reviewers and editorial assistants
• Editors describe and implement policies for handling ethical issues or misconduct by reviewers or authors
• A correction or erratum is published if significant errors are found; retractions or expressions of concern are handled appropriately

Reviewers’ responsibilities

• Reviewers are leading scientists who volunteer their time and subject expertise to help editors reach a final decision
• They should notify the editor immediately if unavailable to review, whether for reasons of time or a subject-expertise mismatch, and may suggest a suitable alternative reviewer
• Reviewers must declare any potential conflict of interest with the authors and decline to review in such situations
• They must maintain the confidentiality of the review process, never contacting authors or sharing the manuscript’s contents with others
• Review reports should be impartial, constructive, informative and timely, considering scientific accuracy and originality
• Recommendations are one of: Accept without changes · Accept with minor revision · Major revision required · Reject
• Reviewers also check ethical issues in the work (such as the use of humans, animals or genetically modified organisms, and significant similarity with published papers) and report them to the editor

Authors’ responsibilities

• Manuscripts should be well organized technically and grammatically, prepared per the Guide for Authors; submissions failing format requirements may be rejected
• The manuscript must not be submitted elsewhere or under consideration by any other journal
• Online submission is encouraged; manuscripts may be emailed to editor@ijmstpublications.com with the signed ethics statement if the online system is unavailable
• The corresponding author is responsible for the originality of the manuscript and its data; manipulated, fabricated or falsified content will be acted upon
• Co-authors must have made a significant technical contribution; other support (manuscript preparation, English corrections, analyses) belongs in the acknowledgments
• All references cited should be appropriate and significant to the scholarly content
• Authors must disclose personal or financial conflicts of interest, mention funding sources in the acknowledgments, and supply supporting data if required by the editor
• Use of humans, animals or genetically modified organisms must follow international norms and be acceptable to the respective regulatory agencies
• Permission must be obtained from copyright owners for any copyrighted material reproduced
• Revised manuscripts should be returned within the specified timeline with a detailed response or rebuttal to reviewer comments in a separate file
• Galley proofs of accepted manuscripts must be returned within 24–48 hours; if no reply is received, the paper is assumed suitable for publication in its present form