Journal of Clinical and Applied Medical Sciences (JCAMS)

The Journal of Clinical and Applied Medical Sciences (JCAMS) is committed to maintaining the highest standards of publication ethics, transparency, and academic integrity. This policy outlines the journal’s ethical principles regarding plagiarism, fabrication, corrections, retractions, citation practices, and publication misconduct.

JCAMS follows internationally accepted ethical standards and adheres to the recommendations and best practices provided by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

1. Fabrication, Falsification, and Misrepresentation

Authors are required to submit accurate, authentic, and original scientific work. Any form of fabricated data, manipulated results, misleading claims, or falsification of research findings is considered serious academic misconduct.

Examples of misconduct include:

• Fabricated or altered clinical or experimental data
• Manipulated medical images, charts, or figures
• False claims regarding ethical approval or patient consent
• Misrepresentation of authorship or institutional affiliations
• Submission of intentionally misleading scientific information

If such misconduct is identified, the journal may:

• Reject the manuscript during peer review
• Retract the article after publication
• Notify affiliated institutions or funding bodies when necessary
• Restrict future submissions from the responsible authors

All ethical concerns will be managed in accordance with COPE guidelines and editorial best practices.

2. Corrections and Retractions

JCAMS recognizes that genuine errors may occasionally occur in published work. Identified errors will be evaluated according to their scientific significance and impact on the integrity of the publication.

Major Corrections

Major errors may include:

• Errors affecting scientific interpretation or conclusions
• Incorrect author information or affiliations
• Undisclosed conflicts of interest or funding sources
• Clinical or methodological inaccuracies

In such cases, the journal may:

• Publish an official correction notice
• Update the online article version
• Link the correction notice to the original article
• Add an explanatory note within the article

Minor Corrections

Minor typographical, formatting, or grammatical errors that do not affect the scientific meaning of the article may be corrected directly in the online version along with a brief editorial note.

Retractions

Articles may be retracted if:

• Plagiarism or unethical research practices are discovered
• Data is found to be fabricated, falsified, or unreliable
• Serious ethical violations compromise the integrity of the publication
• Authorship disputes significantly affect publication credibility

Retracted articles will remain accessible for scholarly record purposes but will be clearly marked as “Retracted” along with an official retraction notice.

3. Withdrawal of Articles in Press

Articles accepted for publication but not yet assigned to a final issue may be withdrawn under exceptional circumstances.

Grounds for withdrawal may include:

• Plagiarism or duplicate submission
• False authorship declarations
• Violation of originality or ethical policies
• Submission to multiple journals simultaneously

In such situations:

• The article files may be removed from publication processing
• A withdrawal statement may replace the article record
• The reason for withdrawal may be formally documented

4. Plagiarism and Redundant Publication

All manuscripts submitted to JCAMS must be original and unpublished work. The journal uses plagiarism detection systems to evaluate manuscript originality.

Authors must:

• Avoid submitting the same manuscript to multiple journals simultaneously
• Properly cite previously published work, including their own research
• Clearly distinguish new findings from earlier publications
• Obtain permission for reused tables, figures, or copyrighted material

If plagiarism or redundant publication is identified:

• The manuscript may be rejected immediately
• Published articles may be retracted
• Authors may face future submission restrictions

Minor reuse of methodological descriptions must still include proper citation and acknowledgment.

5. Conference Paper Policy

JCAMS may consider manuscripts that were previously presented at scientific conferences or published as conference abstracts, provided that:

• The conference publication is properly cited
• The submitted manuscript contains substantial new content or analysis
• Necessary copyright permissions are obtained
• The prior presentation is clearly disclosed in the cover letter

Failure to disclose previous conference publication may result in rejection or retraction.

6. Citation Manipulation

All individuals involved in the publication process are expected to maintain ethical citation practices.

Unethical citation behavior includes:

• Adding irrelevant references solely to increase citation metrics
• Coercive citation requests for personal or editorial benefit
• Excessive self-citation without scholarly justification

If citation manipulation is detected:

• The manuscript may be corrected or rejected
• Editorial action may be taken against responsible parties
• Future submissions may be subject to additional scrutiny

7. Use of COPE Guidelines

JCAMS follows the international ethical standards and procedural guidance established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) for handling issues related to:

• Plagiarism
• Duplicate publication
• Research misconduct
• Authorship disputes
• Fabricated or falsified data
• Ethical concerns in scientific publishing