Publication Ethics

Ethics Statement

  • Where applicable, the Journal of Associated Medical Sciences requires that authors provide an Ethics statement detailing the relevant ethical standards met when conducting the research.
  • Ethics statements are required whenever research is conducted on humans or animals, or when institutional review board approval is required.
  • In addition to providing an Ethics statement upon submission, this statement must be included in the “Materials and methods” section of the manuscript, detailing complete information regarding approval (including the name of the granting organization, the approval reference number, and the date of approval). However, if an approval reference number is not provided, written authorization must be submitted as a confidential supplemental file upon submission.

Human Rights and Informed Consent

All individuals have the right to protect themselves from infringement. Individual participants in research studies have the right to decide how their personally identifiable information, as well as any interview materials or photographs, is used. Researchers should not use identifying details such as personal names, dates of birth, biometric characteristics (facial features, fingerprints, handwriting, DNA, or other distinguishing characteristics), geolocation information, or the health status of research subjects without the subjects' or guardians' permission. In some circumstances, consent is not required if you do not collect personally identifiable information. However, masking the eye region in participants' photographs is inadequate for protecting anonymity, and informed consent is required. Exceptions to the need for consent may include anonymized radiographic images, ultrasound images, or pathology slides.

Consent and Already Available Data and Biologic Materials

Whether the material is collected from living or dead subjects, written permission must be obtained from the subjects, their families, or guardians if written premortem consent has not yet been provided.

Data Protection, Confidentiality, and Privacy

When biological material is donated, or data are generated as part of a research project, authors should ensure, as part of the informed consent procedure, that participants are fully aware of what information will be used, how it will be used, and for what purpose. If data are acquired through a biobank, authors must strictly follow the biobank's data protection policy and obtain Institutional Review Board approval for the ethics of this type of data collection.

Consent to Participate

For all research involving human subjects, freely given, informed consent to participate in the study must be obtained from participants (or their parents or legal guardians in the case of children under 18 years old), and a statement to this effect should appear in any published paper. In the case of articles describing human transplantation studies, authors must include a statement declaring that no organs or tissues were obtained from prisoners and must also name the institution(s)/clinic(s)/department(s) via which organs or tissues were obtained.

Consent to Publish

Individuals may participate in the study but refuse to have their data published in a journal article. Authors should seek consent from participants to publish their data before submitting the manuscripts.

Summary of Requirements

The above statement should be summarized and included in an appropriate publication section where data or information is used.

Plagiarism

Plagiarized content will not be considered for publication. The manuscripts may be rejected if plagiarism is detected during the peer review. If plagiarism is detected after publication, we may issue a correction or retract the paper as appropriate. We reserve the right to inform authors' institutions about plagiarism detected before or after publication.

The Journal of Associated Medical Sciences uses Turnitin, supported by Chiang Mai University, and CopyCatch by ThaiES, TCI, to screen submitted content for originality. Plagiarism is suspected when the similarity index percentage exceeds 25%. In such cases, the Editor-in-Chief will be informed. Clear indications of plagiarism will result in immediate rejection.

 

Consent for Disclosure of Personal Data under PDPA

As part of the editorial workflow, manuscripts are screened for plagiarism using standard software, which requires disclosing the corresponding author's name, affiliation, and email address. Therefore, authors must indicate their consent in the checklist.

 

A CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy)

The author(s) statement provides a standardized way to acknowledge the specific contributions of each author to a research article. It lists each author's name and the CRediT roles they fulfilled, ensuring accurate recognition of individual roles. Please refer to Author Guidelines > Manuscript Formatting Guidelines > Main Manuscript Structure.

 

Publication Ethics

Duties of Authors

  1. Originality and Prior Publication: Authors must ensure that their submitted manuscript is entirely original and has not been previously published in any language or in any other journal.
  2. Data Integrity and Authenticity: Authors must present an accurate account of the research performed. All data must be authentic and free from manipulation, fabrication, or intentional misrepresentation.
  3. Acknowledgement of Sources and Citations: Authors must ensure that the work, ideas, and words of others are appropriately cited or quoted. Plagiarism in all its forms constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is strictly unacceptable.
  4. Adherence to Submission Guidelines: Manuscripts must be prepared in strict accordance with the journal’s "Submission Preparation Checklist" and "Author Guidelines" to ensure technical and formal consistency.
  5. Criteria for Authorship: Authorship should be limited to individuals who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. All those who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors.
    Note: Each research work may have only one first author and one corresponding author, except for research projects conducted in collaboration with international researchers that require data from multiple sources, large-scale research programs with a joint implementation agreement, or large-scale research projects that necessitate interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary approaches. In such exceptional cases, provide supporting evidence for consideration, along with a clear and accurate specification of the roles and responsibilities of all collaborators.
  6. Disclosure of Funding Sources: Authors must clearly identify and acknowledge the institutions or individuals that provided financial support or research grants for the study.
  7. Ethical Approval and Informed Consent: For research involving human subjects, authors must provide the formal ethical approval code from an Institutional Review Board (IRB) and affirm that informed consent was obtained from all participants.
  8. Animal Welfare Statement: For research involving animal subjects, authors must include a clear statement affirming that all experimental procedures were conducted in compliance with relevant laws and institutional guidelines for animal welfare.
  9. Conflict of Interest: Authors must disclose any potential conflicts of interest or vested interests (financial or otherwise) that could be perceived to influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript.

Note:

  1. The names and number of authors, the first author, the corresponding author, and the funding sources cannot be changed after acceptance for publication.
  2. Authors cannot withdraw their manuscript once it has been peer-reviewed and accepted for publication.   

 

Duties of Editors

  1. Editorial Responsibility and Quality Assurance: Editors are responsible for evaluating the academic quality and rigor of all manuscripts submitted for publication, ensuring they meet the journal's standards.
  2. Confidentiality and Anonymity: Editors must maintain strict confidentiality throughout the assessment process. They are prohibited from disclosing the identities of both authors and reviewers to any unauthorized parties, adhering to the journal’s double-blind peer-review policy.
  3. Objectivity in Decision-Making: The final decision to accept or reject a manuscript must be based solely on its intellectual merit, scientific validity, and alignment with the journal’s established policies and scope.
  4. Originality and Prior Publication: Editors must ensure that the journal does not publish any work that has been previously published elsewhere, in whole or in significant part, to maintain the integrity of original research.
  5. Evidence-Based Evaluation: Editors must not reject a manuscript based on mere suspicion or uncertainty. If any part of the submission is in doubt, editors must conduct a thorough investigation and secure concrete evidence before making a final decision.
  6. Impartiality and Conflict of Interest: Editors must remain impartial and must not act in their own personal interest or the interests of authors, reviewers, or the administrative board. Any potential conflict of interest must be disclosed and managed appropriately.
  7. Plagiarism Prevention: Editors are responsible for ensuring the originality of submitted work by using reliable plagiarism-detection software and tools to identify potential academic misconduct.
  8. Handling Research Misconduct: If plagiarism or other ethical concerns are detected, the editorial process must be suspended. The editors must immediately contact the corresponding author to request a formal explanation. A final decision on the manuscript (acceptance or rejection) will only be made after a comprehensive review of the author’s response and the evidence provided

 

Duties of Reviewers

  1. Confidentiality. Reviewers must maintain strict confidentiality regarding all information contained within the submitted manuscript. Under no circumstances may any part of the manuscript be disclosed to, or discussed with, individuals outside of those explicitly authorized in the editorial and review process.
  2. Conflict of Interest. Upon receiving a manuscript, reviewers must immediately disclose any potential conflicts of interest to the editors. This obligation applies, but is not limited to, situations where the reviewer maintains a personal or professional relationship with the author(s), is a co-author, or possesses a vested interest in the research. In such instances, the reviewer must recuse themselves from the evaluation process.
  3. Objectivity and Expertise. Reviewers are encouraged to accept only those manuscripts that fall within their specific areas of expertise. The evaluation must be conducted with utmost objectivity, focusing on the manuscript’s intellectual merit, methodological rigor, and substantive contribution to the field. Reviewers must avoid personal bias or unfounded judgments and provide constructive, evidence-based feedback.
  4. Acknowledgement of Sources and Similarity. Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors. Any statement that an observation, derivation, or argument had been previously reported should be accompanied by the relevant citation. Furthermore, reviewers are urged to notify the editors if they detect substantial similarities or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published papers or studies.