Publication Ethics

Publication Ethics

Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

GJCCPH follows the COPE Core Practices, current ICMJE Recommendations where applicable, the DOAJ Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing, and relevant WAME guidance. These standards inform the journal’s policies but do not replace applicable law or institutional ethics requirements.

Editors

  • Protect editorial independence and make decisions based on scholarly merit.
  • Maintain confidentiality and handle competing interests through recusal and reassignment.
  • Assess allegations of misconduct fairly and document significant integrity decisions.

Authors

  • Are responsible for the accuracy, originality, ethical conduct, and integrity of their work.
  • Must disclose funding, competing interests, relevant prior dissemination, and required ethics or trial-registration information.
  • Must not submit the same manuscript simultaneously to another journal.
  • Must cooperate with reasonable integrity investigations and post-publication corrections.

Reviewers

  • Maintain confidentiality, declare conflicts, and provide objective, constructive assessments.
  • Must not upload confidential manuscript content to AI systems unless expressly permitted and confidentiality can be assured.

Misconduct and Integrity Concerns

Concerns may include fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, image manipulation, duplicate publication, citation manipulation, authorship misconduct, undisclosed conflicts, unethical research, or other serious breaches of publication standards. The journal follows COPE procedures and may seek information from authors, institutions, ethics committees, or other relevant parties. Full procedure is set out in the Research Misconduct Policy.

Outcomes
Depending on the evidence and seriousness of the issue, the journal may request correction, issue an expression of concern, reject a manuscript, or retract a published article. An author response is normally requested before a decision.

Appeals and Complaints

Authors may appeal editorial decisions or raise concerns about journal processes under the Appeals & Complaints Policy.