Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement
The Journal of Biomedical Informatics (BMI) adheres to the standards of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) regarding publication ethics. Submission of an article to BMI implies agreement with the following responsibilities and principles:
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Editor Responsibilities
Accountability:
Editors are accountable for deciding which manuscripts submitted to BMI should be published. Decisions are guided by the journal’s editorial policies and constrained by applicable legal requirements regarding libel, copyright infringement, and plagiarism. Editors may consult with other editors or reviewers when making final decisions.
Fair Play:
Manuscripts are evaluated solely on their intellectual merit, without discrimination based on race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy of the authors.
Confidentiality:
Editors and editorial staff must not disclose information about submitted manuscripts to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, editorial advisers, and the publisher, as appropriate.
Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest:
Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must remain confidential and not be used for personal advantage. Editors and reviewers must avoid handling manuscripts where conflicts of interest exist due to competitive, collaborative, or other relationships with the authors, institutions, or companies involved.
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Reviewer Responsibilities
• Reviewers must declare any conflicts of interest to BMI.
• Manuscripts under review must be treated as confidential documents.
• Reviewers should alert the Editor-in-Chief to any ethical concerns or reasons that may justify rejection.
• Reviews must focus on the intellectual content of manuscripts, providing objective and constructive feedback.
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Author Responsibilities
Reporting Standards:
Authors must present results clearly, honestly, and without fabrication, falsification, or inappropriate data manipulation. Methods should be described unambiguously to allow replication and verification.
Originality, Plagiarism, and Acknowledgement of Sources:
Submitted work must be original, unpublished, and free from plagiarism. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements are unacceptable. Proper citation and acknowledgment of others’ contributions are required.
Data Access and Retention:
Authors may be asked to provide raw data for editorial review and should retain such data for a reasonable period after publication.
Ethics:
Research must be conducted ethically and responsibly, in compliance with relevant legislation and institutional guidelines.
Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest:
Authors must disclose any financial or substantive conflicts of interest that could influence the results or interpretation of their work. All sources of funding must be acknowledged.
Authorship of the Paper:
Authorship should be limited to individuals who made significant contributions to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the study. All contributors should be properly acknowledged. The corresponding author must ensure that all co-authors approve the final manuscript and agree to its submission.
Multiple, Redundant, or Concurrent Publication:
Authors must not submit the same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently, nor publish substantially similar research in multiple outlets.
Fundamental Errors in Published Works:
If authors discover significant errors in their published work, they must promptly notify the editor or publisher and cooperate in correcting or retracting the paper.
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Notice
All manuscripts submitted to BMI will be screened for plagiarism using Turnitin.com. Papers will only be accepted if the plagiarism rate is 20% or less.
In addition, manuscripts will be evaluated for AI-generated content. Submissions must demonstrate originality and scholarly contribution, with AI-generated text limited to 25% or less of the manuscript.
This policy ensures academic integrity, originality, and compliance with international publication ethics standards.
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References
Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). (2011, March 7). Code of Conduct and Best-Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors. Retrieved from: http://publicationethics.org/files/Code_of_conduct_for_journal_editors_Mar11.pdf
