Research and Publication Ethics

The Journal of Experimental and Integrative Medicine (JEIM), published by Gesdav, is committed to maintaining the highest standards of ethics in research, editorial decision-making, and scholarly publishing. JEIM follows the principles and recommended practices of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and promotes transparency, accountability, and integrity across all stages of publication.

All submissions are screened and evaluated for compliance with JEIM’s ethical policies. If ethical concerns arise at any time—including after acceptance or publication—JEIM may take appropriate corrective actions, including revisions, corrections, expressions of concern, retractions, or withdrawal of the manuscript, in order to protect the reliability of the scientific record.

1. Publication Ethics Declaration

JEIM upholds ethical publishing through:

  • Transparent authorship and contribution practices

  • Disclosure and management of conflicts of interest (COI)

  • Fair, confidential, and unbiased peer review

  • Ethical oversight of studies involving humans, animals, biological materials, or sensitive data

  • Responsible handling of allegations of misconduct

When ethical issues are suspected or confirmed, JEIM (and Gesdav as the publisher) investigates promptly, communicates transparently with relevant parties, and applies COPE-consistent remedies to maintain trust in the published literature.

2. Core Ethical Principles

JEIM applies the following principles:

  • Prevention & Detection: Ethical risks are identified early through editorial screening and reviewer/editor vigilance.

  • Neutrality & Fairness: All concerns are handled impartially and consistently.

  • Transparency: Communication is clear and documented; outcomes are explained where appropriate.

  • Accountability: Authors, editors, and reviewers share responsibility for maintaining integrity.

3. Author Responsibilities

Authors must:

  • Report research honestly, accurately, and without fabrication, falsification, or inappropriate manipulation.

  • Ensure the manuscript is original and not under consideration elsewhere.

  • Use appropriate authorship criteria and ensure that all listed authors have made genuine contributions.

  • Disclose funding sources, sponsor involvement, and any potential conflicts of interest.

  • Provide sufficient methodological detail to support reproducibility and, where appropriate, share underlying data.

  • Include required ethical statements (human/animal ethics approvals, informed consent, trial registration where applicable).

Authorship and Contributions

JEIM follows widely accepted authorship standards (e.g., ICMJE-style criteria). All authors must approve the final manuscript and agree to submission. Authorship disputes or changes require written agreement from all authors; where necessary, institutional clarification may be requested.

Use of AI Tools

If AI tools were used for language support, figure preparation, or other permitted tasks, authors must disclose this appropriately. AI tools do not qualify for authorship and authors remain fully responsible for content accuracy, originality, and compliance.

4. Plagiarism, Duplicate Submission, and Redundant Publication

JEIM has a zero-tolerance policy for plagiarism and unethical duplication.

  • Plagiarism (copying text, ideas, data, images, or results without proper attribution) is prohibited.

  • Self-plagiarism / redundant publication (reusing one’s previously published content without citation or justification) is prohibited.

  • Duplicate submission (submitting the same work to multiple journals simultaneously) is prohibited.

JEIM may use plagiarism-detection tools during screening and at any stage of review. Outcomes may include rejection, correction, or retraction depending on severity.

5. Data Fabrication and Falsification

JEIM does not permit fabrication, falsification, selective reporting, or manipulation of data intended to mislead.

Authors are encouraged to retain essential raw data for a reasonable period (commonly at least five years, or longer if required by institutions/funders) and to provide data for editorial review where necessary. Where relevant, preregistration of clinical trials or study protocols is encouraged.

6. Image Integrity and Manipulation

Images must accurately represent original data.

Unacceptable practices include:

  • Altering, adding, removing, or obscuring image content

  • Splicing/combining images without clear labeling

  • Adjustments to brightness/contrast that misrepresent findings

  • Misleading duplications or reuse across panels/figures

Where concerns arise, JEIM may request original images or raw files. Serious breaches may lead to rejection, correction, retraction, and/or notification of the authors’ institutions.

7. Research Ethics for Human and Animal Studies

For studies involving humans, authors must confirm:

  • Ethics committee approval (or exemption, where applicable)

  • Informed consent (and assent where relevant)

  • Protection of participant privacy and confidentiality

For animal studies, authors must confirm:

  • Ethical approval and compliance with recognised welfare standards

  • Justification of animal use and humane endpoints where appropriate

Clinical trials should include registration details where required.

8. Conflicts of Interest (COI) and Funding Transparency

JEIM requires all authors to disclose any financial or non-financial relationships that could influence the research, including:

  • Employment, consultancies, honoraria

  • Stock ownership or patents

  • Grants, paid expert testimony

  • Institutional, personal, or academic conflicts

All manuscripts must contain a COI statement. If none exist, authors should state:
“The authors declare no conflict of interest.”

Authors must also disclose funding sources and describe the sponsor’s role (if any) in study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, or publication decisions.

9. Intellectual Property and Copyright

JEIM publishes open-access content under the journal’s licensing terms (e.g., CC BY 4.0, where applicable). Authors retain copyright while granting JEIM the right of first publication and distribution.

If authors reuse third-party material (figures/tables/text), they must obtain permission where required and provide proper attribution. Some third-party content may not be covered by the journal’s license.

10. Preprints and Patents

JEIM permits submissions that have been posted as preprints, provided authors disclose this at submission.

Authors should address patent and intellectual property matters before submission. JEIM generally does not delay editorial processing due to unresolved patent issues.

11. Citation Integrity

Authors must ensure that citations are:

  • Accurate and properly attributed

  • Based on sources actually read and evaluated

  • Relevant (avoid excessive self-citation or preferential citations)

  • Free from citations to advertisements/advertorials or non-scholarly sources (unless essential and clearly justified)

12. Research Data Policies and Data Availability

JEIM supports responsible data sharing and encourages adherence to FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable), while respecting ethical/legal constraints.

Data Availability Statement

All manuscripts must include a Data Availability Statement, such as:

  • Data available in a public repository (include DOI/URL)

  • Data available upon reasonable request (state conditions)

  • Restricted data (state ethical/legal reason)

  • Third-party data (state how access can be obtained)

  • No new data generated (as applicable)

Where data cannot be made public, authors should still preserve data securely and provide access for editorial evaluation when requested.

13. Ethical Guidelines for Reviewers and Editors

JEIM expects Editors, Editorial Board Members, Guest Editors, and Reviewers to:

  • Disclose conflicts of interest and decline assignments when conflicted

  • Maintain confidentiality and avoid sharing manuscripts

  • Provide objective, constructive, respectful assessments

  • Report suspected misconduct (plagiarism, data manipulation, unethical research practices)

Editors do not handle decisions on their own submissions. Such manuscripts are reassigned to independent editors without conflicts.

14. Comments, Complaints, and Allegations

Concerns about published articles may be submitted to the JEIM Editorial Office. Complaints are investigated by the Editorial Office and, where necessary, the Editorial Board. External experts and/or institutions may be consulted.

JEIM may issue:

  • Corrections (minor or major)

  • Retractions (for severe errors or misconduct)

  • Expressions of Concern (when investigations are ongoing or outcomes uncertain)

Complainant confidentiality is respected where possible. Final decisions are made by the Editor-in-Chief/Editorial leadership, consistent with COPE principles.

15. Updating Published Papers

JEIM follows a transparent policy for post-publication updates:

  • Minor corrections: non-scientific changes (typographical or formatting)

  • Major corrections: scientific changes requiring a formal notice

  • Retractions: articles remain accessible with clear labeling and retraction notice

  • Expression of Concern: published when an issue is credible but unresolved

Complete removal of an article is rare and occurs only under exceptional circumstances (e.g., legal requirements or serious public safety issues).