POLICY ON RESEARCH AND PUBLICATION ETHICS

JIIMC promotes the research integrity and adherence to the basic values of research including honesty, objectivity, openness, and accountability. The researchers interested in submitting their manuscripts to JIIMC are expected to follow the culture of responsible research. JIIMC follows the core practices of COPE and deals with the research and ethical misconduct as per COPE guidelines. We also follow the guidelines of  International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICJME), World Association of Medical Editors (WAME) and higher Education Commission of Pakistan (HEC) to meet the standards of publication ethics.  
Research Approval from Ethical Committees/Boards

• It is mandatory for the authors of original research to submit the permission/exemption by institutional ethical review board/committee  at the time of the submission of manuscript.
• Authors will submit the permission of  the head of institution where research was conducted, if required.
• When reporting experiments on human subjects, indicate whether the procedures were followed in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional or regional) and with the latest version of Helsinki Declaration. Anonymity of the patients will be ensured by avoiding the use of patient's name, initials, or hospital record numbers, especially in illustrative material.
• When reporting experiments on animals, indicate whether the institution’s or a national research council’s guide, or any national law on the care and use of laboratory animals was followed.

PROTECTION OF RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS: HUMAN AND ANIMAL RIGHTS POLICY

• JIIMC expects from the research authors to ensure the safety and protection of the research participants by adhering to national and international guidelines.
• The authors of research articles will submit a testimony related to any issue with human and animal rights that may be inherent in their submissions.
• Articles under consideration that experiment on human subjects/animals in research are required to have institutional review committee/board approval in accordance with ethical standards set forth in the ICMJE- Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals.

 HUMAN RIGHTS POLICY 

• JIIMC follows  ICMJE Recommendations on Protection of Research Participants and World Medical Association  (WMA) Declaration of helsinki – ethical principles for medical research involving human subjects. 
• When reporting experiments on human subjects, indicate whether the procedures were followed in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional or regional) and with the latest version of Helsinki Declaration.
• In case of doubts, authors will explain the justification for their approach and exhibit that the institutional review committee approved the doubtful aspects of research.

INFORMED CONSENT & CONFIDENTIALITY OF RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS

• In case of research on human subjects, in addition to ethical approval certificate an undertaking that “informed consent to participate” was taken from adult participants and/or from parents/guardians of participants under 16 years of age will be submitted by the authors. This should also be mentioned in material and methods section.
• Consent must be obtained for all Case Reports, Clinical Pictures, and Adverse Drug Reactions.
• Authors should avoid identifying patient information, including patients' names, initials, or hospital numbers, in written descriptions, photographs, and pedigrees unless the information is essential for scientific purposes and the patient (or parent/ guardian) gives written, informed consent for publication.

• Consent might be required by the editor on images from participants in the study. Consent form must be made available to the Editor on request, and will be treated confidentially.
• Informed consent should be obtained if there is any doubt that anonymity can be maintained, e.g. masking the eye region in photographs of patients is inadequate protection of anonymity.”
• Masked Study Participants- If identifying characteristics are altered to protect anonymity, such as in genetic malformations, authors should provide written assurance to the editors that alterations do not distort scientific meaning.
• Authors are suggested to follow the CARE guidelines for case reports.

ANIMALS’ RIGHTS POLICY

• A research conducted on animals is published in JIIMC. The research contributors are expected to strictly follow the national and international guidelines for the care and use of laboratory animal in research.
• Authors can take guidance on animal research ethics  from  WMA statement on animal use in biomedical research , International Association of Veterinary Editors’ Consensus Author Guidelines on Animal Ethics and Welfare  and Guide for the care and use of laboratory animals 
• In addition to ICMJE recommendations, JIIMC also supports the principles of  3Rs  (Replacement, Reduction and Refinement) for humans and animals usage in research. These principles are as follows:
  Replacement: approaches which avoid or replace the use of animals
  Reduction: approaches which minimize the number of animals used per experiment
  Refinement: approaches which minimize animal suffering and improve welfare

• To verify compliance with the above policies, the authors must fulfill the following requirements:

• Ethical review committee/board’s approval certificate indicating that the study protocol was in accordance with international, national, and/or institutional guidelines.
• Declare that the experiments on animals were conducted in accordance with local Ethical Committee laws and regulations in regard of care and use of laboratory animals.
• A signed letter certifying that legal and ethical requirements were met with regards to the humane treatment of animals described in the study.
• Mention in the Methods (experimental procedures) section that appropriate measures were taken to minimize pain or discomfort, and details of the care provided to the animals.

INFORMED CONSENT: Authors are required to submit the undertaking that informed consent was taken from the client if they involved the client-owned animals.