International Journal of Medical Laboratory

Ethics of studies
Ethics of Scientific Publishing: The respected authors are needed to sincerely observe the following points:

• No publication or submission of the manuscript, all or part(s) of it, in another journal as the transgression will be liable to "duplicate submission sanctions"
• Acknowledging the authorship criteria addressed by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) including the following elements: 
  • Active contribution of all authors to the study regarding the design of the work, analysis of the data, as well as the interpretation of the results (authenticity of the data is of crucial importance and will be certified by the Editor-in-Chief)
  • Specifying any cooperation in writing or revising the work
  • Approving the final version of the research
  • Accountability in terms of accuracy or integrity
• Approval of the work by the relevant Ethics Committee of the institution/college/university and supplying the ethical code (following the ethical standards of the Helsinki Declaration, as revised in 2013 and available at: www.wma.net/en/30publications/10policies/b3/  
• Quoting each and every source of the material used because plagiarism (copying from a previously published work of others or even your own) is a serious offence to the journal and the journal editorship has every right to prosecute the fraudulent officially
• Obtaining the copyright holder's permission if previously published tables, illustrations, figures, or photos are included
• Omission of the details possibly disclosing the identity of the subjects under the study (Photographs need to be adequately clipped to prevent human subjects being identified.)
• Avoiding any fabrication or "intentional misrepresentation of the results" as the author(s) may be demanded to provide the raw data for further investigations
• Avoiding falsification or "manipulation of the research materials, equipment, or processes, or changing or omission of the data or results". If the case is identified, the journal will consider the issue and acts accordingly. 
• Checking the work by using iThenticate prior to submission to screen the manuscript for any plagiarism as the editors will undertake this responsibility while processing the work
• Obtaining the informed consent from all human participants in experimental investigations and supplying them on demand
• Complying with the National Institute of Health guidelines in maintaining, caring, and using laboratory animals
• Informing us about any kinds of financial, personal, political, or academic conflict of interest that would potentially affect our judgment. Authors are preferably asked to fill the uniform disclosure form available from  (http://ijml.ssu.ac.ir/page/21/Submission-Instruction)
• Agreement on the order, addition, or deletion of the names in advance as any change in authorship requires explanation by the corresponding author, signed by all contributors and emailed to the Editor-in-Chief

 
Committee on Publication Ethics: The journal remains to be a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), but we are committed to implement the principles of it in an attempt to be a member in the future.
Retraction Policy: The IJML uses the COPE flowchart for retraction of a published article. http://publicationethics.org/resources/guidelines
 
Complaint Procedures
The complaint, if any, will be put on the agenda immediately. In any case, the complainant is needed to be aware that the investigation of the subject fails to be processed unless the corresponding author/author and possibly the institution or university at which the research took place be informed about the complaint. The following procedures are followed:
 
How to Make a Complaint
·       The best way to contact us is by email hhadin@ssu.ac.ir. Complaints should clearly contain the topic, person, or event related to the IJML.
·       Whenever possible, complaints will be processed by the relevant member of the Editorial Board. If that person cannot deal with the complaint, it will be relegated to the Editorial Board of IJML.
·       Complaints not under the control of the IJML Editorial Board will be sent to Paramedical School Research Ethic Committee. Finally, if complaints are not appropriately addressed by the School committee, Shahid Sadoughi University Research Ethics Committee will be responsible to resolve the issue.
·       Within four weeks a full response will be made. If this is not possible, an interim response will initially be given in four weeks and other interim responses will be provided until the complaint is resolved.
·       In the case the complainant remains unhappy, complaints will be sent to the chancellor of Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, whose decision ends the procedure.
·       If a complainant remains unhappy after the chancellor’s final decision, he/she may complain to the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). The Committee on Publication Ethics publishes a code of practice for editors of scientific, technical, and medical journals http://www.publicationethics.org. It will consider complaints when a journal cannot reach an agreement through its own procedures.