Publication Ethics

Publication Ethics and Integrity

The International Journal of Body, Mind and Culture (IJBMC) is committed to maintaining the highest standards of publication ethics, academic integrity, and editorial responsibility. The journal expects authors, reviewers, editors, and editorial staff to act in accordance with recognized principles of ethical scholarly publishing, including the principles of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and, where applicable, relevant recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).

Authorship and Originality

Authors must ensure that submitted work is original and has not been published previously, in whole or in substantial part, nor is it under consideration elsewhere.

All persons listed as authors must have made substantial scholarly contributions to the work and must approve the final version of the manuscript before submission. All significant contributors who do not meet authorship criteria should be acknowledged appropriately.

Authors must provide proper citation and reference to the work of others and must accurately acknowledge all sources used in the preparation of the manuscript.

Plagiarism and Textual Overlap

IJBMC does not tolerate plagiarism in any form, including direct plagiarism, paraphrasing without attribution, mosaic plagiarism, duplicate publication, and inappropriate self-plagiarism.

All submitted manuscripts may be screened using similarity-detection software. Similarity reports are evaluated by the editorial team in context, and editorial decisions are based not only on the level of textual overlap but also on the nature, extent, and location of the overlap.

If plagiarism or inappropriate textual reuse is identified, the journal may take appropriate action, including requesting revision, rejecting the manuscript, or, in the case of published articles, issuing a correction, retraction, or other post-publication notice as appropriate.

Data Integrity and Research Conduct

Authors are responsible for the accuracy, reliability, and integrity of their research and must present findings honestly and transparently. Fabrication, falsification, selective misrepresentation of data, and inappropriate manipulation of images or results are unacceptable.

Authors should provide sufficiently clear descriptions of research methods, materials, and procedures to allow readers to understand how the study was conducted and how conclusions were reached.

Human and Animal Research Ethics

Research involving human participants must comply with recognized ethical standards, including the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki where applicable. Manuscripts reporting research involving human participants must state that approval was obtained from an appropriate ethics committee or institutional review board and that informed consent was obtained from participants, where required.

Research involving animals must comply with relevant institutional, national, and international guidelines for the care and use of animals. Authors must provide relevant ethical approval information where applicable.

Conflict of Interest

Authors, reviewers, and editors must disclose any financial, personal, academic, institutional, or other relationships that could create a potential conflict of interest or influence the objectivity of the research, review, or editorial decision-making process.

Conflict of interest disclosures must be provided at the time of submission. Such disclosures do not necessarily preclude publication, but they must be transparently declared and managed appropriately. If a manuscript is accepted, relevant disclosures may be published with the article.

Peer Review and Confidentiality

Reviewers are expected to evaluate manuscripts objectively, fairly, and constructively, with attention to scholarly merit, methodological rigor, ethical compliance, and relevance to the journal’s scope.

Reviewers must treat manuscripts as confidential documents and must not share, use, or disclose any part of a manuscript outside the peer review process without permission from the journal. Reviewers should promptly inform the editors if they identify ethical concerns, significant overlap, undisclosed conflicts of interest, or possible misconduct.

Editorial Responsibilities

Editors are responsible for handling submissions fairly, objectively, and confidentially. Editorial decisions must be based on scholarly merit, relevance to scope, methodological and ethical standards, and the quality of the manuscript.

Editors must avoid conflicts of interest and must not be influenced by commercial considerations, fee status, waiver requests, or non-scholarly factors when making editorial decisions.

Corrections, Retractions, and Expressions of Concern

If errors, ethical concerns, or evidence of misconduct are identified in submitted or published work, the journal will take appropriate action in accordance with accepted publication ethics principles.

Where appropriate, the journal may issue a correction, retraction, or expression of concern. Such notices will be published transparently and linked to the relevant article in order to preserve the integrity of the scholarly record.

Reporting Ethical Concerns

Reviewers, readers, authors, or other concerned individuals who identify possible ethical misconduct, plagiarism, duplicate publication, or other serious concerns are encouraged to contact the editorial office.

All reports will be handled confidentially and assessed by the editorial team in accordance with the journal’s policies and relevant ethical guidance.