A conflict of interest occurs when a secondary interest (such as money - jobs, contracts, stocks or shares, fees, patents, and paid expert opinions or personal ties) may affect the professional judgment regarding a primary interest like the well-being of patients or the quality of research). A conflict of interest is not necessarily unethical, but it should be disclosed and made clear. All authors should report any conflicts of interest in their cover letter and in the “Conflicts of Interest” section before the references in the manuscript file. Authors who have no conflicts of interest to report should explicitly say so. The policy of Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences (MUK) is that its editors should not have any financial ties with any biomedical company.
Ethical approval of research/Publication Ethics
All journals affiliated with MUK strictly adhere to the guidelines set forth by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and its Best Practice Guidelines.
We prioritize addressing any claims of publication misconduct, whether they arise before or after the publication process. Should the need arise, we retain the authority to communicate with an author's institution, funding agency, or relevant regulatory bodies. Upon uncovering definitive evidence of misconduct, we are committed to rectifying the scientific record, which might involve issuing a correction or initiating a retraction.
Authors are anticipated to be well-versed in publication ethics, encompassing aspects like authorship, avoiding simultaneous submissions, plagiarism, ensuring integrity in figures, declaring competing interests, and upholding research ethics standards. In situations hinting at misconduct, we will align with the principles and practices outlined by COPE and may solicit guidance from the COPE forum when necessary.
Ethical Approval Statement
For each research article submission, it's imperative to provide a declaration confirming that the study secured ethics clearance. This should either explicitly state the approval obtained (or justify why it wasn't necessary), mention the specific ethics committee(s) or institutional review board(s) involved, reference the approval number/ID, and affirm that participants provided informed consent before their involvement. Even if a research ethics committee or review board has granted approval, editors retain the discretion to request further specifics regarding the study's ethical considerations from the authors.
Informed Consent and Patient Confidentiality
For any article containing personal medical details of a recognizable living individual, we mandate explicit consent from the patient prior to publication. We require patients to sign our consent form, confirming their review of the article.
In instances where consent isn't feasible due to an inability to locate the patient, we'll only consider publication if the data is adequately anonymized. True anonymization ensures that neither the patient nor anyone else can definitively identify the individual.
If the patient is deceased, authors must endeavor to obtain consent from a family member, adhering to both courtesy and ethical standards. If family members cannot be reached, our decision to publish without their consent will hinge on evaluating the significance of the case, the risk of identification, and potential harm if identified.
Regarding the use of patient images, our policy aligns with our overarching commitment to patient confidentiality. If there's any potential for patient identification through an image, caption, or accompanying text, we necessitate the patient's written consent for the MUK publication.
However, specific images—like x-rays, ultrasounds, or pathology slides—can be utilized without explicit consent if appropriately anonymized, devoid of any identifying features, and not paired with descriptive text that might inadvertently reveal the patient's identity.
Research reporting guidelines
Authors should adhere to the appropriate research reporting standards for their study type as recommended by the EQUATOR Network. Doing so ensures that you furnish adequate details for editors, peer reviewers, and readers to comprehend the research methodology and assess the reliability of the results.
Systematic reviews and meta-analyses: PRISMA and MOOSE guidelines
Epidemiological observational studies: STROBE and MOOSE guidelines
Diagnostic accuracy studies: STARD guidelines
Quality improvement studies: SQUIRE guidelines
Clinical trial registration
In alignment with the recommendations set forth by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), a clinical trial is defined as any research endeavor that assigns individuals or groups to an intervention, with or without concurrent comparison or control groups, in order to investigate the cause-and-effect relationship between a health-related intervention and a health outcome.
Consistent with the ICMJE guidelines, journals under MUK will not entertain reports of clinical trials unless they have been registered prospectively before the recruitment of any participants.
Trial Registration
For journals under MUK, as a prerequisite for publication consideration, all trials must be registered in a public trials registry approved by the ICMJE. This includes any registry recognized as a primary platform of the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) available at www.who.int/ictrp/network/primary/en/index.html or on ClinicalTrials.gov, which collaborates with the WHO ICTRP.
Plagiarism detection
Journals affiliated with MUK utilize the iThenticate software, a plagiarism detection tool, to ensure the authenticity of submitted content before it undergoes publication. Should any instances of plagiarism emerge, we will adhere to the guidelines set by COPE.
Plagiarism encompasses, but is not restricted to:
· Directly copying text from other sources
· Copying ideas, images, or data from other sources
· Reusing text from your own previous publications
· Using an idea from another source with slightly modified language
If plagiarism is detected during the peer review process, the manuscript may be rejected. If plagiarism is detected after publication, we reserve the right to issue a correction or retract the paper, as appropriate. We reserve the right to inform authors' institutions about plagiarism detected either before or after publication.
