GMPC-Policy on Allegation of Misconduct

GMPC journals publish original papers and must not be under consideration for publication elsewhere. Also, serious forms of scientific misconduct, such as plagiarism (copying of ideas, data, or words without attribution), fabrication (invention of data or cases), and falsification (wilful distortion of data or results), are not acceptable in GMPC. GMPC journals follow the COPE guidelines in response to the allegation of misconduct.

Plagiarism. Copying language, concepts, ideas, photos, or data, even from one's own publications, without properly crediting the original author is plagiarism. GMPC journals use the industry-standard Software iThenticate to identify plagiarism. Articles will be rejected if the plagiarism of text is more than 20% (excluding bibliography). Permission from the copyright holder is sometimes required (please see citation). GMPC journals also consider non-formally-published work in plagiarism in any format, such as preprints, tutorials, manuals, and articles. Additionally, redundant publication or self-plagiarism is considered a serious violation of the GMPC publications policy. The adoption of 'Artificial intelligence (AI) raises key ethical issues around accountability, responsibility, and transparency, COPE Guidelines

Data fabrication and falsification. GMPC journals reject any manuscript that contains inappropriately selected, manipulated, enhanced, or fabricated data if detected and confirmed. This includes, but is not limited to, falsifying data, excluding specific data to increase the relevance of conclusions, selecting findings that support a particular conclusion, and intentionally choosing analysis tools or methodologies to promote a particular conclusion.

Image manipulation. GMPC journals do not accept irregularly manipulated images that could lead to incorrect interpretation compared with the original image. Examples of irregular manipulation are: i) gathering together images that ought to be displayed independently (such as specific parts of the same western blot, PCR, SDS-PAGE, or various western blot, PCR, SDS-PAGE), ii) adding, modifying, shifting, or deleting elements from the original image, iii) removing or enhancing some information by adjusting the contrast, brightness, or color balance. The manuscript could be rejected if improper manipulation of fotos is recognized. After publication, if irregular manipulation is recognized, the paper may be corrected or retracted according to the Editorial-office decision.

Misrepresentation. GMPC policy considers the author's misrepresentation a serious ethics violation. Examples of misrepresentation are the addition of authors who do not fulfill the authorship criteria or omitting authors who did contribute significantly to the work without informing them or getting approval from them.

Last updated: 15-Feb-2023