1. Ethics & Policies (Overview)

The Iranian Journal of Medical Microbiology (IJMM) is committed to upholding the highest standards of integrity, transparency, and ethical conduct in scholarly publishing. The Journal adheres to internationally recognized best practices and ethical guidelines to ensure the reliability and credibility of the scientific record.

IJMM’s publication policies are aligned with the principles and recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), and other relevant international standards. These policies govern all stages of the publication process and apply to authors, reviewers, editors, and the publisher.

The Journal’s ethical and publication framework includes, but is not limited to, clear policies on authorship and contributorship, conflicts of interest, data sharing and reproducibility, peer review, handling allegations of misconduct, corrections and retractions, appeals and complaints, and ethical approval and informed consent for research involving humans or animals.

Detailed policies are provided in the sections below to promote transparency, accountability, and trust in the publication process. Compliance with these policies is a prerequisite for manuscript submission, review, and publication in IJMM.


2. Authorship and Contributorship

2.1 Authorship Criteria:

Authorship is strictly based on meeting all four ICMJE criteria:

1. Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work, or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; AND

2. Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content; AND

3. Final approval of the version to be published; AND

4. Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work, ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

All individuals designated as authors must meet all four criteria, and all who meet the four criteria must be identified as authors. Contributors who do not meet all four criteria should be acknowledged in the Acknowledgments section.

2.2 Responsibilities of All Authors:
Authors should be able to identify which co-authors are responsible for specific parts of the work and should have confidence in the integrity of their co-authors' contributions.

2.3 The Corresponding Author:
The corresponding author assumes primary responsibility for communication with the journal, ensuring all administrative requirements are met, and confirming that all co-authors are aware of and approve the manuscript’s status at all stages.

2.4 Use of AI and AI-Assisted Technologies:
The use of AI or AI-assisted technologies in writing or data analysis must be transparently declared in the Methods or Acknowledgements section. AI cannot be listed as an author because it cannot meet the criteria for accountability. Authors remain fully responsible for all content produced with AI assistance.

2.5 Authorship Changes:
Any request to add, remove, or reorder authors after submission must include a signed statement of agreement from all original and proposed authors, explaining the justification for the change.

2.6 Diversity and Inclusion in Authorship:
The journal encourages diversity and inclusion in research teams and authorship.

2.7 Author Contributions and CRediT Taxonomy:

To enhance transparency, authors must include a detailed Author Contributions section specifying the roles of each author. This should:

• List each author by initials.

• Describe contributions clearly and specifically.

• Indicate who had primary responsibility for key aspects of the work.

Sample Format:

“A.B. and C.D. conceptualized the study; A.B. and E.F. developed the methodology; C.D. conducted the formal analysis; E.F. and G.H. performed the investigation; A.B. acquired funding; G.H. created visualizations; A.B. supervised the project. All authors reviewed and edited the manuscript.”

CRediT Roles (optional but recommended):

• Conceptualization

• Methodology

• Software

• Validation

• Formal Analysis

• Investigation

• Resources

• Data Curation

• Writing – Original Draft

• Writing – Review & Editing

• Visualization

• Supervision

• Project Administration

• Funding Acquisition

• Group Authorship

For multi-author groups or consortia, all individuals listed as authors must meet the four ICMJE criteria. The corresponding author must explicitly list the individual authors who meet the criteria and, if applicable, the group name.
 

3. Conflicts of Interest (COI) Policy

A conflict of interest (CoI) is any financial or non-financial interest that could be perceived to compromise the objectivity, integrity, or value of a publication.

3.1 Author Obligations:

• All authors must disclose all financial and non-financial relationships and activities that might bias, or be perceived to bias, their work.

• Authors are required to complete the ICMJE Disclosure Form for potential conflicts of interest.

• All sources of financial support for the research must be explicitly declared.

• The presence of a conflict does not automatically preclude publication; however, failure to disclose conflicts constitutes a serious breach of ethical standards.

• Disclosure statements must be included in a dedicated section of the manuscript at the time of submission.

3.2 Peer Reviewer Obligations:

• Reviewers must declare any potential conflicts of interest that could influence their evaluation of a manuscript.

• They must recuse themselves from reviewing any manuscript where such conflicts exist, including:

            1. Recent collaborations with any author within the last three years
            2. Personal or professional relationships with authors
            3. Direct financial or institutional interest related to the manuscript's subject matter

• Reviewers must not use knowledge of a manuscript under review to further their own interests before publication.

3.3 Editor and Editorial Board Obligations:

• Editors and editorial board members must disclose relevant relationships or activities that could present a CoI.

• They must recuse themselves from handling manuscripts where a conflict exists.

• Editorial staff are prohibited from using information gained through manuscript handling for personal or financial gain.

• Disclosure statements of the Editor-in-Chief and editorial board members are regularly updated on the journal website or are available upon request.

3.4. Transparency and Accountability:

• The journal is committed to maintaining impartiality, transparency, and trust in the publication process.

• All conflicts of interest, if present, will be clearly disclosed in the published article.

• Editorial board members confirm that they have no financial, institutional, or personal conflicts of interest related to their role in the journal.

Additional Information:
For more details on the journal’s disclaimer and policies, please visit the publisher’s page:
➡️ https://farname-inc.com/post-31/2dee151/#disclaimer