The Journal of Community Medicine and Health Sciences (JCMHS) is fully committed to maintaining the highest ethical standards in publication. This Publication Ethics Statement defines the ethical principles that govern the conduct of authors, editors, reviewers, and publishers involved in the publication process. JCMHS aligns its policies with the guidelines established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), and the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME).

Ethical publishing is the foundation of scholarly integrity. All participants in the editorial process are expected to adhere to these principles of honesty, transparency, and accountability.

1. Core Ethical Principles

JCMHS enforces the following core principles for ethical publication:

Integrity: All research must be conducted and reported honestly.
Transparency: Disclosure of authorship, funding, and conflicts of interest is mandatory.
Objectivity: Editorial decisions are based on scientific merit alone.
Accountability: Authors, editors, and reviewers share collective responsibility for maintaining ethical standards.

2. Responsibilities of Authors

Authors must ensure that their manuscripts comply with the following ethical obligations:

Submit only original, unpublished work that is not under review elsewhere.
Acknowledge all sources of data, methods, and prior publications.
List all individuals who made significant intellectual contributions as co-authors.
Include statements on ethics approval and informed consent for research involving human or animal participants.
Disclose any financial or personal conflicts of interest that could influence results.
Cooperate with editors in correcting or retracting work if ethical breaches are discovered post-publication.

3. Responsibilities of Editors

Editors are accountable for ensuring fairness, confidentiality, and integrity in the publication process. Editorial responsibilities include:

Making impartial decisions regardless of gender, ethnicity, or institutional affiliation.
Maintaining confidentiality of submissions and review communications.
Preventing conflicts of interest that could influence editorial judgment.
Acting swiftly upon suspicions of plagiarism, data fabrication, or misconduct.
Ensuring the peer-review process remains objective and timely.
Publishing corrections, clarifications, or retractions when required.

4. Responsibilities of Reviewers

Reviewers play a critical role in maintaining publication quality. Their ethical duties include:

Providing objective, evidence-based, and constructive feedback.
Maintaining confidentiality and anonymity during the review process.
Disclosing conflicts of interest prior to accepting review assignments.
Refraining from using unpublished data for personal or professional gain.
Reporting suspected ethical breaches to editors immediately.

5. Responsibilities of the Publisher

As the publisher, Peertechz Publications Pvt. Ltd. ensures that JCMHS upholds ethical publishing principles by:

Maintaining editorial independence and avoiding interference with editorial decisions.
Supporting the journal’s adherence to COPE, ICMJE, and WAME standards.
Providing the digital infrastructure for transparent and secure peer review via OJS.
Preserving all published content through trusted archiving partners (Portico and LOCKSS).
Ensuring correction, retraction, or removal of unethical or invalid material when necessary.

6. Human and Animal Rights

Authors must confirm that all human research complies with the Declaration of Helsinki (2013) and that animal studies conform to recognized ethical guidelines (ARRIVE). Manuscripts must include the name of the approving ethics committee and informed consent statements where applicable.

7. Data Integrity and Research Misconduct

JCMHS has a zero-tolerance policy toward data fabrication, falsification, or image manipulation. Authors are required to:

Maintain original data for at least five years after publication.
Provide access to datasets upon request for verification.
Ensure that figures and images accurately represent data.

8. Conflicts of Interest

All stakeholders must declare potential conflicts that could influence objectivity. Examples include:

Financial relationships (grants, stock ownership, honoraria).
Institutional affiliations or personal connections.
Ideological or competitive interests.

Authors must disclose conflicts in a “Competing Interests” section. Editors and reviewers must recuse themselves from handling papers where conflicts exist.

9. Plagiarism and Duplicate Publication

JCMHS uses iThenticate to screen for plagiarism. Manuscripts showing over 15% similarity (excluding references) are returned to authors for revision or rejected outright. Duplicate submissions and redundant publications violate ethical norms and lead to sanctions or retraction.

10. Corrections, Retractions, and Expressions of Concern

If ethical issues or major errors are discovered post-publication, JCMHS follows COPE’s retraction framework:

Correction: For factual or typographical errors not affecting conclusions.
Retraction: For unreliable data, fabrication, or plagiarism.
Expression of Concern: When an ongoing investigation requires transparency.

11. Confidentiality

Information obtained during manuscript handling is confidential. Editors and reviewers must not share, reproduce, or discuss manuscript content outside the review process. All personal data collected through OJS are managed per the journal’s Privacy Statement and GDPR standards.

12. Editorial Independence and Transparency

Editorial decisions are made independently of the publisher or external funding bodies. JCMHS guarantees that commercial, institutional, or political interests do not influence editorial outcomes or content acceptance.

13. Ethical Oversight and Investigations

Allegations of misconduct are investigated using COPE’s flowcharts. The process includes:

Preliminary inquiry by the editorial office.
Author notification and opportunity for response.
Consultation with institutional ethics committees if needed.
Publication of retraction or correction upon confirmation of misconduct.

14. Reporting Ethical Concerns

Anyone may report potential ethical violations by contacting the Editor-in-Chief at [email protected]. All reports are treated confidentially and investigated with fairness and impartiality.

15. AI and Automated Tools in Research

JCMHS acknowledges the growing role of AI in research but requires authors to disclose AI use transparently. AI cannot be listed as an author and may only be used for language editing, data visualization, or statistical assistance with full human oversight.

16. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

The journal promotes diversity and inclusion in authorship, editorial representation, and peer review. Manuscripts are evaluated solely on scientific merit, without discrimination based on nationality, gender, ethnicity, or religion.

17. Publisher’s Ethical Assurance

Peertechz Publications Pvt. Ltd. supports ethical publishing by:

Providing editors with continuous COPE-based training.
Maintaining transparent editorial and peer-review records.
Ensuring permanent digital archiving through Portico and LOCKSS.
Regularly auditing journal processes to detect ethical deviations.

18. Sanctions for Ethical Violations

Depending on severity, violations may result in:

Manuscript rejection or retraction.
Notification to the author’s institution or funder.
Temporary or permanent submission ban.
Public disclosure of ethical misconduct cases when warranted.

19. Ethical Education and Capacity Building

JCMHS actively educates early-career researchers through online resources and editorial workshops on responsible authorship, peer review, and research ethics.

20. Annual Review of Ethical Policies

The editorial board reviews this Publication Ethics Statement annually to align with updates from COPE, ICMJE, and emerging global standards.

“Ethical publishing is not only about compliance — it is about preserving the trust that science builds with society.”