The International Journal of Research in General Medicine and Health (IJRGH) is committed to maintaining the highest standards of publication ethics, research integrity, and academic transparency. The journal follows internationally recognized ethical guidelines to ensure the credibility, reliability, and quality of scholarly publishing in the fields of medicine, healthcare sciences, clinical research, and public health.

IJRGH expects all authors, reviewers, editors, and publishers involved in the publication process to adhere to ethical standards and avoid any form of academic misconduct including plagiarism, duplicate submission, data fabrication, falsification, unethical clinical practices, and research misconduct.

Manuscripts containing plagiarized or copied material will not be considered for publication. If plagiarism or unethical conduct is detected during the review process or after publication, the manuscript will be rejected, corrected, or retracted immediately according to the severity of the issue. Authors are strictly advised not to submit the same manuscript to multiple journals simultaneously.

Ethical Guidelines for Authors

Originality and Plagiarism

Authors must ensure that their submitted manuscripts are entirely original works. Any content, ideas, clinical findings, or words taken from other publications must be properly cited and referenced.

Plagiarism in any form, including copying text, paraphrasing without citation, falsifying medical data, or presenting others’ research as one’s own, is considered unethical publishing behavior and is strictly prohibited.

Multiple or Concurrent Submissions

Authors must not submit the same manuscript to more than one journal simultaneously. Submitting a manuscript to another journal while it is under review with IJRGH is considered unethical and unacceptable.

Reporting Standards

Authors should provide an accurate, clear, and objective description of the research work performed, along with a meaningful discussion of its significance in medical or healthcare practice.

The manuscript should include sufficient detail and references to allow other researchers or healthcare professionals to replicate the study.

Authorship Criteria

Authorship should be limited to individuals who have made significant contributions to the research work, including:

• Concept and study design
• Clinical data collection and analysis
• Interpretation of results
• Drafting or revising the manuscript

All authors must approve the final version of the manuscript before submission. Contributors who do not meet authorship criteria should be acknowledged appropriately.

Acknowledgment of Sources

Authors must properly acknowledge the work of others. All influential publications, references, clinical guidelines, and sources used in the research must be clearly cited.

Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest

Authors must disclose any financial or non-financial conflicts of interest that may influence the results or interpretation of their research.

Sources of funding, grants, sponsorships, or institutional support must also be clearly stated.

Data Access and Retention

Authors may be requested to provide the raw data supporting their research findings for editorial review.

Clinical data, datasets, and research records should be retained for a reasonable period after publication to allow verification by the academic and healthcare community.

Hazards and Human or Animal Subjects

If the research involves hazardous materials, medical procedures, human participants, or animals, authors must clearly identify these in the manuscript.

Research involving human participants or animals must comply with institutional, national, and international ethical guidelines and include statements regarding approval from relevant ethics committees or institutional review boards.

Patient confidentiality and informed consent must be maintained wherever applicable.

Fundamental Errors in Published Works

If authors discover significant errors in their published work, they must promptly inform the journal editors and cooperate in correcting or retracting the article if necessary.

Ethical Guidelines for Reviewers

Reviewers play an important role in maintaining the quality and integrity of the journal’s peer review process.

Confidentiality

Reviewers must treat all manuscripts as confidential documents and must not disclose any information about the manuscript to anyone without permission from the journal.

Objectivity

Reviews should be conducted objectively and constructively, providing clear, professional, and well-supported feedback to improve the manuscript.

Conflict of Interest

Reviewers should decline to review manuscripts in which they have personal, professional, institutional, or financial conflicts of interest.

Timeliness

Reviewers should complete their reviews within the agreed time frame. If additional time is required, the journal must be notified promptly.

Ethical Concerns

If reviewers suspect plagiarism, duplicate publication, unethical clinical practices, manipulated data, or research misconduct, they must inform the editorial office immediately.

Duties of Editors

Fair Play and Editorial Independence

Editors evaluate submitted manuscripts solely on the basis of academic merit, originality, scientific quality, clarity, ethical compliance, and relevance to the journal’s scope, without discrimination based on race, gender, nationality, religion, institutional affiliation, or professional background.

Confidentiality

Editors and editorial staff must maintain the confidentiality of all submitted manuscripts and must not disclose any information to unauthorized individuals.

Conflict of Interest

Editors must not use unpublished information from submitted manuscripts for personal research purposes and must recuse themselves from handling manuscripts where conflicts of interest exist.

Publication Decisions

The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for deciding which manuscripts are accepted for publication based on:

• Peer review recommendations
• Academic and clinical significance of the research
• Compliance with ethical standards
• Relevance to the journal’s scope

Handling Ethical Concerns

If ethical concerns arise regarding a submitted or published manuscript, the editorial team will conduct a fair and thorough investigation.

Depending on the outcome, the journal may issue corrections, expressions of concern, or retractions.

Duties of the Publisher

Handling Unethical Publishing Behavior

In cases of suspected scientific misconduct, plagiarism, unethical clinical practices, or fraudulent publication, the publisher will work closely with the editorial board to investigate the issue and take appropriate action, including correction or retraction of the article.

Access to Journal Content

The publisher of IJRGH is committed to ensuring the long-term availability and preservation of scholarly medical and healthcare research.

The journal supports open access and ensures that published articles remain accessible to researchers, clinicians, healthcare professionals, and the global academic community.

Commitment to Research Integrity

The publisher and editorial team will take all reasonable steps to prevent the publication of manuscripts involving research misconduct, unethical practices, falsified data, patient confidentiality violations, or academic fraud.

The International Journal of Research in General Medicine and Health (IJRGH) is dedicated to maintaining ethical publishing standards, transparency, research integrity, and academic excellence, ensuring that all published medical and healthcare research contributes positively to the global scientific and healthcare community.