NRMJ follows the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing (September 2022) for Conflict of Interest in Peer-Reviewed Medical Journals, Study Design and Ethics, Authorship, Peer Review, Editorial Decisions, Originality, Plagiarism, and Responding to Allegations of Possible Misconduct, which are recommended by The World Association of Medical Editors (WAME)
(https://www.wame.org/).
NRMJ follows the Recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) (https://www.icmje.org/) (Jan. 2024), for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals.
- Authorship and contributorship
NRMJ journal's policy on authorship and contributorship follows the guidelines of WAME (https://publicationethics.org/authorship)
NRMJ editors are not in a position to investigate or adjudicate authorship disputes before or after publication. Such disagreements if they cannot be resolved amongst the authors should be brought up to the relevant institutional authority.
-Changes to authorship
The authors are requested to consider the list and order of their names carefully before submitting their manuscript. Any rearrangement; addition, or deletion of the author names in the authorship list should be made only before the manuscript is being accepted, and it must be approved by the NRMJ Editor. To edit such a change; the corresponding author must provide the Editor with the following items: (a) the reason for such a change in the authors list, and (b) a written consent through an e-mail or a letter from all the contributing authors confirming that they agree with the re-arrangement, addition, or removal from the authors list. In case of the addition or removal of an author, the author being added or removed must confirm his/ her consent. Under exceptional cases only; the NRMJ Editor will consider the re-arrangement, addition, or deletion of authors after the manuscript has been accepted. In case of the manuscript has been already published online throughout the journal's website; an approval of a request by the NRMJ Editor will lead to a corrigendum.
-Complaints and appeals
The NRMJ will handle the complaints and appeals following the guidelines of WAME (https://publicationethics.org/appeals)
Please send any author's complaints to the journal's Editor-in-Chief E-mail address: adelkamelmadbouly@yahoo.com
-Plagiarism and fabrication
Plagiarism is unacknowledged copying or an attempt to misattribute original authorship, whether of ideas, text, or results. Plagiarism can be said to have clearly occurred when large chunks of text have been cut and pasted without appropriate and unambiguous attribution. Such manuscripts would not be considered for publication in NRMJ. Text recycling or reuse of parts of a text from an author's of previous research publication is a form of self-plagiarism. When reusing text, whether from the author's own publication or that of others, appropriate attribution and citation is necessary to avoid creating a misleading perception of unique contribution for the reader. Duplicate publication occurs when an author reuses substantial parts of his/ her own published work without providing the appropriate references.
When plagiarism becomes evident after publication, we may correct or retract the original publication depending on the degree of plagiarism, context within the published article, and its impact on the overall integrity of the published study.
-Duplicate publication
Materials submitted to NRMJ must be original and not published or submitted for publication elsewhere. This rule applies to the materials submitted elsewhere while the NRMJ contribution is still under consideration.
Authors submitting a contribution to NRMJ, who have related material under consideration or in press elsewhere should upload a clearly marked copy at the time of submission, and draw the editors' attention to it in their cover letter. If part of a contribution that an author wishes to submit to NRMJ has appeared or will appear elsewhere, the author must specify the details in the covering letter accompanying the NRMJ submission.
-Conflict and Competing interests
NRMJ journal's policy on conflicts of interest/ Competing interests follows the guidelines of WAME (https://publicationethics.org/competinginterests)
NRMJ is pleased to consider submissions containing material that has previously formed as part of a Ph.D. or other academic thesis, which has been published according to the requirements of the institution awarding the qualification.
NRMJ allows the publication of meeting abstracts before the full contribution is being submitted. Such abstracts should be included with the NRMJ submission, and should be referred to in the cover letter accompanying the manuscript.
NRMJ is pleased to consider submissions containing material that has previously formed and continues to form, a part of an online scientific collaboration; provided that the information has not been publicized outside the scientific community, and is not publicized until the publication date of this work in NRMJ.
If an author of a submission is re-using a figure or figures published elsewhere or that is copyrighted, the author must provide documentation that the previous publisher or copyright holder has given permission for this figure(s) to be re-published.
-Data sharing and reproducibility
NRMJ journal's policy on data sharing and reproducibility follows the guidelines of WAME (https://publicationethics.org/data)
-Confidentiality
Editors, authors and reviewers are required to keep confidentially all details of the editorial and peer review processes of the submitted manuscripts. Unless otherwise declared as a part of open peer review, the peer review process is confidential and conducted anonymously, which means that the identities of reviewers are not released. Reviewers must maintain the confidentiality of the manuscripts.
If a reviewer wishes to seek advice from colleagues while assessing a manuscript, the reviewer must consult with the editor and should ensure that confidentiality is maintained and that the names of any such colleagues should be provided to the journal with the final report. Regardless of whether a submitted manuscript is eventually published or not; correspondence with the journal, referees' reports, and other confidential material must not be published, disclosed or otherwise publicized without prior written consent. Reviewers should be aware that it is NRMJ policy to keep their names confidential, and that the journal does its utmost to ensure this confidentiality.
NRMJ reserves the right to contact funders, regulatory bodies and the authors’ institutions in cases of suspected research or publishing misconduct.
-Ethical oversight
NRMJ journal's policy on ethical oversight follows the guidelines of WAME (https://publicationethics.org/oversight)
-Ethical approval statement and Informed Consent Policy
The authors must provide an ethical institution approval statement for the articles involving research works on humans or animals.
Studies on patients or volunteers require Ethics Committee Approval, Informed Consent, and a Statement of protection of patient's privacy, which should be documented in the paper.
The patients have a right to privacy that should not be violated without their informed consent. Identifying information, including names, initials, or hospital numbers, should not be published in written descriptions, photographs, or pedigrees unless the information is essential for scientific purposes, and the patient (or parent/ or guardian) must give written informed consent for publication.
Informed consent for this purpose requires that an identifiable patient be shown the manuscript to be published. Authors should disclose to these patients whether any potential identifiable material might be available via the internet as well as in print after publication. Patients consent's should be written and archived with the journal, the authors, or both, as dictated by the local regulations or laws.
NRMJ decides that patient's confidentiality is better guarded by having the authors archive the consent and/ or instead providing the journal with written statements, which attest that they have received and archived written patient's consents. When informed consent has been obtained, it should be indicated in the published article.
Patient identifiers will not be published in NRMJ, unless written informed consent is given, and the content is essential for the scientific purpose and merit of the article.
-NRMJ policy on dealing with allegations of research misconduct
NRMJ will handle the allegations of research misconduct following the guidelines of WAME (https://publicationethics.org/misconduct).
Anyone may inform the Editor-in-Chief at any time of a suspected unethical behavior and/ or any type of misconduct, by giving the necessary credible information evidence to start an investigation.
The Editor-in-Chief makes the decision regarding the initiation of an investigation.
During an investigation, any evidence should be treated as confidential and only made available to those strictly involved in the process.
The accused will always be given the chance to respond to any charges made against them.
If it is judged at the end of the investigation that misconduct has occurred, then it will be classified as either minor or serious.
Minor misconduct with no influence on the integrity of the paper and the journal, for example, when it comes to misunderstanding or wrong application of publishing standards, will be dealt with directly with the authors and reviewers without involving any other parties. Outcomes include:
In the case of serious misconduct, the Editor-in-Chief may adopt different measures including:
The above actions may be taken separately or jointly. If necessary, in the process of resolving the case; relevant expert organizations, bodies, and/ or individuals may be consulted.
-The process for handling cases involving; Corrections, Retractions, and Editorial Expressions of Concern
The NRMJ journal's policy for post-publication discussions, corrections and retractions follows the guidelines of WAME (https://publicationethics.org/postpublication)
NRMJ aims to ensure the integrity of the academic record of all published or potential publications. Whenever it is recognized that a significant inaccuracy, misleading statement, or distorted report has been published, it must be corrected promptly and with due prominence. If, after an appropriate investigation, an item proved to be fraudulent, it should be retracted. The retraction should be clearly identifiable to the readers and the indexing systems.
NRMJ editorial expressions of concern
Where substantial doubt arises as to the honesty or integrity of a submitted or published article, the journal editors may consider issuing an expression of concern. However, an expression of concern should only be issued if an investigation into the problems relating to the article has proven inconclusive, and if there remain strong indicators that the concern is valid.
Under some rare cases, an editorial expression of concern may also be issued when an investigation is underway but a judgment will not be available for a considerable time. The expression of concern will be linked back to the published article it relates to.
NRMJ policy on intellectual property
NRMJ journal's policy on intellectual property follows the guidelines of WAME (https://publicationethics.org/intellectualproperty)
NRMJ follows the WAME Recommendations on ChatGPT and Chatbots concerning Scholarly (Publications (https://wame.