Editorship

AJCIDM adheres to internationally recognized standards of editorial conduct and best practices. Editors and all individuals involved in the publication process are expected to uphold fairness, professionalism, transparency, and ethical responsibility at every stage.

Editorial decisions are made objectively and are based solely on the academic merit, clinical significance, and relevance of the submitted work.

Ethical Standards

All research articles submitted to AJCIDM must comply with rigorous ethical standards. The journal expects authors, reviewers, and editors to follow accepted international guidelines for responsible authorship, clinical research reporting, and editorial decision-making.

Principles of Transparency and Best Practice

The journal is committed to promoting transparency, inclusivity, accessibility, and scholarly merit. Editorial decisions must not be influenced by nationality, ethnicity, religion, race, gender, political beliefs, or institutional affiliation.

AJCIDM ensures that all editorial policies are fair, unbiased, and clearly communicated to all stakeholders.

Plagiarism Policy

All submissions are screened for originality using standard plagiarism detection tools. Any form of plagiarism or unethical reuse of content is strictly prohibited.

Key Expectations:

• Submitted work must be original
• Proper citation of all sources is mandatory
• Unauthorized reuse of text, figures, or ideas is unacceptable
• Suspected misconduct may lead to rejection or further investigation

Informed Consent

For research involving human participants, authors must obtain appropriate informed consent.

Authors must ensure that:

• Participants are fully informed about the use of their data
• Written and legally valid consent is obtained
• Special care is taken when involving vulnerable populations
• Privacy and data protection standards are strictly maintained

Anonymity should be preserved wherever possible without compromising scientific accuracy.

Particular considerations

• Names, initials, dates of birth, and identifying numbers should not be used unnecessarily
• Images should only be used where scientifically necessary and explicitly permitted
• Changes made to protect anonymity must not distort scientific meaning

Images that are unidentifiable

• Formal consent may not be required for fully anonymized scientific images without identifying marks
• Complete anonymity cannot always be guaranteed in case reports, so consent is strongly expected
• Blurring faces or using eye bars alone is generally insufficient where identification remains possible

Confidentiality

All manuscripts are treated as confidential documents. Editors and reviewers must not disclose any information about submissions except to those directly involved in the editorial process.

Unpublished data must not be used for personal, academic, or professional advantage.

Role of Funding Sources

Authors must clearly identify all sources of financial support and describe the role of funding agencies in study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, and publication decisions.

Protection of Human and Animal Subjects

Research involving human participants must comply with recognized ethical standards and include appropriate approvals and informed consent.

Research involving animals must follow institutional and national guidelines for care and use.

Studies involving public health, digital health data, or ecosystems must demonstrate ethical responsibility and compliance with relevant regulations.

Data Availability and Reproducibility

AJCIDM encourages transparency and reproducibility in research.

Authors should provide a clear data availability statement, indicating whether data are:

• Available in public repositories
• Included in supplementary materials
• Available upon reasonable request

Appeals and Complaints

Authors may appeal editorial decisions if they believe there has been an error in the review or evaluation process. Appeals must include clear justification.

The editorial board will review the appeal and may:

• Uphold the original decision
• Seek an independent additional review
• Reconsider the manuscript based on merit

All appeal decisions are final.

Citation Practices

Authors, editors, and reviewers share responsibility for maintaining accurate and appropriate citation practices.

Authors must ensure that:

• All claims are supported by reliable references
• Original sources are cited wherever possible
• Citations are relevant and not excessive
• Unverified or unread sources are avoided

Citation manipulation is considered unethical and strictly prohibited

Reviewer Suggestions

Authors may suggest potential reviewers or request exclusion of certain individuals. Suggested reviewers must be independent, qualified, and free from conflicts of interest.

Availability of Data and Materials

Reproducibility is central to scientific credibility. Authors should clearly state the availability of data, materials, and methods used in their research.

Post-Publication Corrections

The published article constitutes the final Version of Record. Where necessary, post-publication changes may be made following careful editorial review in order to preserve the integrity, reliability, and transparency of the scholarly record

Corrections

Corrections issued when errors affect interpretation or publication details but do not invalidate the research.

• A correction notice may be linked to the Version of Record
• The notice may be paginated and published in the journal issue
• Minor typographical issues with no material impact may not require correction

Retractions

Retraction is used to correct the literature and inform readers where major concerns arise about the validity, reliability, or integrity of an article.

Issued in cases of major errors, misconduct, plagiarism, or invalid findings. Retracted articles are clearly marked and accompanied by a retraction notice.

• The published article may carry a retracted watermark
• A separate retraction statement may be issued
• The retraction notice may be linked to the article record

Expressions of Concern

Expressions of Concern may be published to alert readers to serious unresolved concerns about a publication while investigations or editorial follow-up are still ongoing.

These notices are linked to the relevant article record and may later be followed by a correction, retraction, or other editorial action depending on the outcome of the case.