Ethical Statement

IIUM Journal of Orofacial and Health Sciences is committed to compliance with and upholding codes of ethical practice at all levels of the publication process. These include the following issues:

Authority:

Authorship should be limited to those who have played an important part in the research. All authors have to agree with the submission and signed the IJOHS Copyright Transfer and Authorship Form.

Plagiarism and Originality:

Submissions must be entirely original works from the author(s) and findings from other studies must be properly cited or quoted. IJOHS utilized a plagiarism check for all manuscript submissions using Turnitin (the acceptable range is 25 % and below).

Conflict of Interest Disclosure:

The authors shall clearly reveal any possible conflict of interest.

Release Several, Redundant or Simultaneous Submissions:

Concurrent submissions are strictly not allowed.

Publication Ethics

The publication ethics of IJOHS is in compliance with the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines. The following responsibilities are deemed necessary for all relevant parties. The following responsibilities are considered essential for all involved parties.

Responsibilities of Editors

  • To perform their expected duties in an unbiased, equitable, and impartial manner, without discriminating based on authors' gender, religious or political beliefs, or ethnic or geographical background.
  • To refrain from being influenced by commercial interests or conflicts of interest, and to assess all submissions solely on their academic and scientific value.
  • To handle and address complaints of any nature, adhering to the Journal's established policies and following reasonable procedures.
  • To provide authors with ample opportunity to respond to complaints they receive.
  • To investigate any complaint, regardless of the publication date of the article in question.
  • To systematically document, compile, and keep records of all complaints.

Responsibilities of Reviewers

  • To conduct an objective and timely review of the manuscript, providing the editor with an appropriate decision and upholding the quality standards of articles published in the journal.
  • To maintain complete confidentiality regarding any information received during the review process, ensuring that the manuscript remains solely for the reviewer's evaluation and is not shared or retained in any form.
  • To promptly notify the editor if there are suspicions of plagiarism or if relevant published work has not been appropriately cited. Additionally, to disclose any potential conflicts of interest between the author and the reviewer and keep the editor informed of any relevant developments.

Responsibilities of Authors

  • To ensure that they have made substantial contributions to the research, properly cited all relevant references, and acknowledged financial support received from funding agencies.
  • To maintain accurate records of the data associated with their submitted manuscript and provide or grant access to these data upon reasonable request.
  • To confirm that the submitted manuscript is not concurrently under consideration or accepted for publication elsewhere.
  • To acknowledge and cite sources whose content overlaps with the submitted paper.
  • To ensure that any studies involving human or animal subjects comply with national, local, and institutional laws and regulations.  Authors should attest that full and written informed consent was obtained from human subjects and that the work was performed in accordance with the humane and ethical principles of research outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki. Statement on the approval from institutional review attests to the approval of that institution of the protocol for all aspects of the investigation should be presented in any manuscript involving humans or animals.
  • To disclose any potential conflicts of interest that could influence the interpretation or perception of the work.
  • To promptly notify the journal editor or publisher if a significant error is detected in their published work, submit an erratum, addendum, or corrigendum notice, or consider retracting the paper if necessary.

Responsibilities of Publisher

The IIUM Journals under the IIUM Press is responsible for ensuring IJOHS adherence to the aforementioned standards and promoting good practices.

Publication Malpractice Statement:

The following protocols are employed for addressing unethical publication malpractice:

Identification of unethical behavior

  • Any reports of misconduct or unethical behavior should be brought to the attention of the editor or publisher, with strict confidentiality maintained regarding the complainant's information and identity.
  • Sufficient information and evidence should be provided to facilitate a thorough investigation of the alleged misconduct, and all allegations should be treated seriously and fairly.

Investigation

  • The editor will initially assess the reported misconduct and may seek guidance or consultation from the publisher, editorial board, or relevant experts, if necessary.
  • The investigation process will involve collecting evidence while maintaining the utmost confidentiality.

Minor breaches

  • Minor misconduct cases may be addressed directly by the editor, who will provide the accused author or reviewer with an opportunity to respond to the allegations.

Serious breaches

  • In cases of serious misconduct, the editor, in consultation with the publisher, editorial board, and experts, will determine an appropriate course of action based on the severity of the offense.

Outcomes (listed in increasing severity and may be applied individually or collectively)

  1. Informing or educating the author or reviewer if they have misunderstood acceptable standards.
  2. Issuing a warning letter to the author or reviewer found responsible for misconduct.
  3. Publishing a formal notice that details the misconduct.
  4. Publishing an editorial that addresses the misconduct.
  5. Sending a formal letter to the employer or funding agency of the author or reviewer involved.
  6. Formally retracting or withdrawing the publication from the journal, including notifying Abstracting & Indexing services and the journal's readership.
  7. Imposing a temporary ban on contributions from the author or reviewer for a specific duration.
  8. Reporting the case and its outcome to a professional organization or higher authority for further investigation and necessary action.

Ownership and Management:

IJOHS is owned by IIUM and its management is overseen by the IIUM Journals office, along with a team of Editorial members.

Copyright Notice:

Consent to publish: The Author(s) agree to publish their articles in the IIUM Journal of Orofacial and Health Sciences under IIUM Press.

Declaration: The Author(s) declare that the article has not been published before in any form. It is not concurrently submitted to another publication, and it does not infringe on anyone's copyright. The Author(s) holds the IIUM Press and Editors of the journal harmless against all copyright claims.

Transfer of copyright: The Author(s) hereby agree to transfer the article's copyright to IIUM Press, which shall have the exclusive and unlimited right to publish the article in any form, including in electronic media. For the article with more than one author, the corresponding author confirms that he/she is authorized by his/her co-author(s) to grant this transfer of copyright.

The IIUM Journal of Orofacial and Health Sciences follows the Open Access policy.

All articles published with open access will be immediately and permanently free for everyone to read, download, copy, and distribute.

IIUM Journal of Orofacial and Health Sciences at https://journals.iium.edu.my/ktn/index.php/ijohs/index is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.