Publication Ethics

Al-Mansour Journal (AMJ) and its editorial team are fully dedicated to following the policies of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)

Editors' Duties and Responsibilities

• The Editorial Board is responsible for publishing approval on manuscripts submitted to AMJ.
• The Editorial Board is responsible for the entire manuscript’s integrity.
• The Editorial Board is responsible for assessing the legitimacy of publishable research.
• The Editor-in-Chief and Editorial members should keep all information relating to submitted manuscripts and peer review confidential until the work is published.
• The Editor-in-Chief and editorial members of the Editorial Board should reveal and avoid any conflicts of interest.
• The Editorial Board should acknowledge if any self-citation exists.
• The Editorial Board should advise peer reviewers to avoid misconduct and ethical issues in submitted manuscripts.
• The Editorial Board should be informed by peer reviewers about plagiarism and duplicate submissions or publications.
• All peer reviewers’ comments should be forwarded to the author by the Editorial Board, except those that include insulting or libelous issues.
• The Editorial Board should consider all precautions to ensure that all manuscripts meet the standards of the published content, considering that some sections have different standards and purposes.
• The Editorial Board and Editor-in-Chief have the final decision on whether submitted manuscripts can be published.

Reviewers' Duties and Responsibilities

• Reviewers are allowed to assist the Editorial Board in making decisions on the submitted manuscripts.
• Reviewers should approach the peer review process constructively, meaning that their comments and suggestions should come from above-board reasoning. Personal criticism is not an acceptable practice and should be avoided.
• Reviewers are encouraged to recommend other peer reviewers if, for some reason, they cannot review the manuscript.
• Reviewers are required to keep all submitted manuscripts anonymous.
• Reviewers are required to be equitable and unbiased without favoring or disfavoring manuscripts.
• Reviewers should inform the Editorial Board if an author does not adhere to the journal's requirements for publication.
• Reviewers must notify the Editorial Board of any unethical behavior related to the submitted manuscript.
• Reviewers must avoid using research ideas or approaches from manuscripts they have reviewed for their personal benefit.
• Reviewers should reveal any potential conflicts of interest that would preclude an unbiased review.
• Reviewers are required to inform the Editorial Board of any significant relationship or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any published work known to the reviewer.

Authors' Duties and Responsibilities

• Submit only entirely original works, and appropriately cite or quote the work and/or words of others. Publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the reported work should also be cited.
• Manuscripts must be submitted only in English or Arabic and should be written according to sound grammar and proper terminology.
• Manuscripts must be submitted with the understanding that they have not been published elsewhere and are not currently under consideration by another journal published by or any other publisher.
• The corresponding author ensures that all contributing co-authors and no uninvolved persons are included in the author list and is responsible for ensuring that all the other co-authors have approved the manuscript article's publication.
• The author's responsibility is to ensure that the manuscripts emanating from a particular institution are submitted with the approval of the necessary institution.
• It is a condition for submitting a manuscript that the authors permit editing of the paper for readability.
• Authors are requested to identify who provided financial support for the conduct of research and/or preparation of the manuscript and briefly describe the role of the founder/sponsor in any part of the work.
• All authors should include a statement disclosing any financial or other substantive conflicts of interest that may be construed to influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript.
• All authors agreed to allow the corresponding author to correspond with the editorial office to review the edited manuscript and proof.
• All authors must know that the submitted manuscripts under review or published with MJS are subject to screening using Plagiarism Prevention Software. Plagiarism is a serious violation of publication ethics.
• Authors of original research reports should present an accurate account of the work performed as well as an objective discussion of its significance.
• Underlying data should be represented accurately in the paper. A paper should contain sufficient detail and references to permit others to replicate the work. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behavior and are unacceptable.
• By submitting a manuscript, the author(s) retain the rights to the published material. In case of publication, they permit the use of their work under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
• Authors could be asked to provide the raw data of their study together with the paper for editorial review and should be prepared to make the data publicly available if practicable.
• When the author(s) discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published work, the author must promptly notify the journal editor or publisher to retract or correct the manuscript.
• In the case of an authorship dispute, the Journal will not be in a position to investigate. Authors will be asked to resolve the dispute themselves. If they are unable, the Journal reserves the right to withdraw a manuscript.
• To sustain the peer review system, authors have an obligation to participate in the peer-review process.
• The Journal reserves the right to reject a paper even after acceptance if serious problems with content or policy violations are discovered.
• Articles can only be withdrawn before their acceptance, except in cases containing errors or duplicate submission.
• Articles may be withdrawn if found to infringe ethical codes such as multiple submissions, plagiarism, fraudulent data, etc.
• For studies involving humans, informed consent should be obtained from all participants.
• Ethical approval must be obtained before conducting the research for all studies involving humans and animals.
• All authors must ensure that all authors read the submission final checklist before submission to AMJ.

Publishers’ Duties and Responsibilities

• The journal commits to ensuring that the Editorial Board’s decisions are final for submitted manuscripts.
• The journal ensures decisions are independent from financial interests and are based solely on scientific evaluation.
• The journal ensures the integrity of the scholarly and scientific record.
• The journal monitors the ethics of all participants in the publication process.
• The journal has zero tolerance for plagiarism and/or data falsification.
• The journal will correct, issue notes, and retract submissions as needed for transparency.

Violation of Publication Ethics

Plagiarism: Copying any part of another's work without proper citation will be treated as plagiarism. All submissions are checked with plagiarism detection software (Turnitin via CrossCheck).

Data Fabrication and Falsification: Making up or altering data constitutes misconduct.

Simultaneous Submission: Submitting a manuscript under review elsewhere is prohibited.

Duplicate/Redundant Publication: Publishing similar content without proper reference is unethical.

Improper Author Contribution: All authors listed must have contributed substantially to the work.

Citation Manipulation: Excessive unrelated citations to boost metrics is misconduct.

Sanctions: Violations will be addressed according to COPE guidelines.

Handling Cases of Misconduct

• The Section Editor informs the Editor with evidence for author explanation.
• If unsatisfactory, the case is referred to the Editorial Board.
• Minor infractions may result in a warning letter.
• Serious cases may result in retraction, bans, and institutional notification.
• Retractions will be publicly marked with the date and linked to the article.