Journal Policies

1. Editorial Independence

Editorial decisions are based on:

Scientific quality
Originality
Methodological rigour
Ethical compliance
Relevance to the journal
Clarity of reporting
Contribution to knowledge

Editorial decisions are not influenced by commercial interests, author nationality, institutional prestige, personal relationships, political views, or the journal’s financial arrangements.

The publisher supports editorial independence and does not interfere with individual manuscript decisions.

2. Peer-Review Policy

QES MedPharm Journal uses a double-anonymous peer-review process for research and review manuscripts.

Under this model:

Reviewer identities are not disclosed to authors
Author identities are not disclosed to reviewers
Editors may know the identities of both parties
Review reports are treated as confidential
The final editorial decision rests with the editor

Manuscripts may be rejected without external review when they:

Fall outside the journal’s scope
Lack sufficient originality
Contain major methodological weaknesses
Fail to meet ethical requirements
Are poorly prepared
Contain plagiarism or duplicate publication
Do not meet minimum reporting standards

Normally, manuscripts sent for review are evaluated by at least two independent reviewers where feasible.

3. Reviewer Selection

Reviewers are selected based on:

Relevant expertise
Publication record
Methodological knowledge
Absence of competing interests
Ability to complete the review on time
Professional conduct
Previous review quality

Editors should avoid assigning reviewers with recent collaborations, close institutional relationships, personal relationships, or financial interests involving the authors.

4. Reviewer Responsibilities

Reviewers must:

Treat manuscripts confidentially
Provide objective and constructive comments
Disclose competing interests
Decline when lacking appropriate expertise
Complete reviews within the assigned deadline
Avoid personal or discriminatory comments
Avoid citation coercion
Report suspected misconduct confidentially
Not use unpublished information for personal advantage

Reviewers must not upload confidential manuscripts to public AI systems or third-party platforms that retain submitted content.

5. Editorial Decisions

Possible editorial decisions include:

Accept submission
Minor revision
Major revision
Resubmit for review
Decline submission
Transfer or resubmit elsewhere, where appropriate

The editor evaluates reviewer recommendations but is not required to follow them automatically.

When reviewer opinions conflict, the editor may:

Seek an additional review
Consult a statistical or methodological editor
Request clarification
Make an independent decision based on the evidence

6. Appeals

Authors may appeal an editorial decision when they believe:

A major factual error affected the decision
Reviewer comments were misunderstood
A significant conflict of interest existed
Editorial procedure was not followed
The manuscript was evaluated unfairly

An appeal should:

Be submitted by the corresponding author
Identify the manuscript clearly
Explain the basis of the appeal
Address the decision respectfully
Provide evidence supporting reconsideration

Disagreement with the reviewers alone does not guarantee reconsideration.

Appeals are reviewed by an editor who was not solely responsible for the original decision where possible.

7. Complaints

Complaints may concern:

Editorial conduct
Peer-review delays
Conflicts of interest
Ethical handling
Website information
Publication procedures
Staff behaviour
Policy application

Complaints should be submitted to the editorial office.

Complaints involving the Editor-in-Chief should be referred to the publisher or another independent senior editor.

8. Authorship Policy

Authorship must reflect genuine intellectual contribution.

Gift, honorary, coercive, and ghost authorship are prohibited.

The corresponding author is responsible for:

Confirming author approval
Ensuring accurate authorship information
Managing communication
Responding to editorial queries
Coordinating revisions and proofs

Disputes about authorship should normally be resolved by the authors’ institution. The journal may pause processing while a dispute is investigated.

9. Contributorship Policy

The journal encourages transparent contribution statements.

Contributor roles may include:

Conceptualisation
Methodology
Software
Validation
Investigation
Resources
Data curation
Analysis
Writing
Visualisation
Supervision
Project administration
Funding acquisition

Contributorship does not automatically qualify an individual for authorship.

10. Competing-Interests Policy

Authors, reviewers, and editors must disclose interests that could influence or appear to influence their judgement.

Competing interests may be:

Financial
Personal
Professional
Academic
Institutional
Political
Intellectual

Editors with a competing interest must not manage the manuscript.

Reviewer conflicts should be disclosed before accepting the assignment.

11. Funding Disclosure Policy

Authors must identify all sources of support.

The role of the funder should be disclosed in:

Study design
Data collection
Analysis
Interpretation
Manuscript preparation
Publication decision

Financial support does not guarantee publication.

12. Human Research Ethics Policy

Research involving humans must comply with recognised ethical standards and applicable law.

Manuscripts should provide:

Ethics committee name
Approval number
Informed-consent statement
Privacy safeguards
Registration details where applicable

The journal may reject studies that lack appropriate ethical oversight.

13. Patient Privacy and Consent

Identifiable patient information must not be published without written permission.

Authors should remove unnecessary identifying details but should not alter data in a way that compromises scientific integrity.

Consent for treatment does not automatically constitute consent for publication.

14. Clinical-Trial Policy

Clinical trials should be registered prospectively in a recognised public registry where required.

The journal may request:

Trial protocol
Registration record
Statistical-analysis plan
CONSORT checklist
Explanation for delayed registration

Selective reporting of outcomes is not acceptable.

15. Animal Research Ethics Policy

Animal studies must follow recognised welfare standards.

The journal expects:

Ethical approval
Appropriate housing
Humane procedures
Suitable anaesthesia and analgesia
Defined humane endpoints
Appropriate euthanasia
Justification of sample size
ARRIVE-compliant reporting

16. Research Integrity Policy

The journal does not tolerate:

Fabrication
Falsification
Plagiarism
Image manipulation
Duplicate publication
Undisclosed conflicts
Citation manipulation
Inappropriate authorship
Peer-review manipulation
Ethical non-compliance

Concerns may be investigated before or after publication.

17. Plagiarism Policy

Submissions may be checked using plagiarism-detection software.

Editors consider:

Extent of copied text
Original source
Context
Attribution
Whether the overlap concerns methods, ideas, or results
Whether duplication affects scientific integrity

A similarity percentage alone does not determine misconduct. Editorial judgement is required.

18. Text Recycling

Limited reuse of standard methodological wording may be acceptable when transparent and properly cited.

Recycling of substantial portions of the Introduction, Results, Discussion, or Conclusions without disclosure is not acceptable.

19. Duplicate and Redundant Publication

Authors must disclose related manuscripts, conference abstracts, preprints, and previous publications.

Submitting substantially the same work to more than one journal at the same time is prohibited.

Secondary publication may be considered only when justified, transparent, authorised, and appropriately referenced.

20. Data Fabrication and Falsification

Fabrication means inventing data or results.

Falsification includes manipulating:

Data
Methods
Instruments
Images
Records
Analyses

Suspected fabrication or falsification may be referred to the relevant institution.

21. Image Integrity

Authors must retain original image files and provide them on request.

Unacceptable practices include:

Adding or removing features
Selectively enhancing one part of an image
Combining images without clear disclosure
Reusing images to represent different experiments
Hiding relevant background
Misleading adjustment of contrast or colour

Permitted adjustments must be applied consistently and must not alter interpretation.

22. Data Availability and Reproducibility

Authors are encouraged to share:

De-identified data
Protocols
Statistical code
Analytic plans
Study materials
Supplementary methods

Data should be deposited in recognised repositories where possible.

Restrictions should be explained when data cannot be shared.

23. Data Retention

Authors should retain original data and supporting records for a period consistent with institutional, funder, legal, and disciplinary requirements.

The journal may request access to data during review or after publication.

24. Artificial Intelligence Policy

AI tools cannot be authors.

Authors must disclose relevant use of AI in:

Writing
Editing
Translation
Coding
Data analysis
Image generation
Figure preparation

Authors remain responsible for all content.

AI-generated or AI-altered scientific images must not be presented as original experimental evidence.

25. Preprint Policy

Posting a manuscript on a recognised preprint server does not necessarily prevent submission.

Authors should:

Disclose the preprint
Provide the DOI or link
Update the preprint after publication where appropriate
Avoid presenting the preprint as peer-reviewed evidence

26. Citation Policy

Citations should be included because they are relevant, not to influence metrics.

The journal prohibits:

Coercive citation
Citation cartels
Irrelevant self-citation
Excessive citation of the journal
Reviewer requests for unnecessary citations

27. Corrections

A correction may be issued when an error affects the accuracy, understanding, or indexing of an article but does not invalidate the main conclusions.

Corrections should:

Identify the original article
Explain the error
Present the corrected information
Be linked to the original article
Remain permanently accessible

28. Retractions

Retraction may be considered when:

Findings are unreliable
Data were fabricated or falsified
Plagiarism occurred
The work was published elsewhere without justification
Ethical approval was absent or invalid
Peer review was manipulated
Authorship or legal concerns invalidate publication

Retracted articles should remain accessible with a clear retraction notice.

29. Expressions of Concern

An Expression of Concern may be issued when serious questions exist but the investigation is incomplete, disputed, or delayed.

It should not be used as a punishment.

30. Withdrawal

Authors may request withdrawal before acceptance.

The journal may decline a late withdrawal request where significant editorial work has been completed without adequate justification.

Once formally published, an article is not normally removed except in exceptional legal, privacy, or safety circumstances.

31. Version of Record

The final published article is the Version of Record.

Any correction, retraction, or update must be linked transparently to this version.

32. Open Access Policy

QES MedPharm Journal provides immediate open access to published content under its stated licensing terms.

Readers may access articles without subscription or mandatory registration.

Open access does not remove the requirement to acknowledge authorship and source.

33. Copyright Policy

Authors retain copyright unless a different arrangement is explicitly agreed.

Authors grant the journal the right to publish, distribute, preserve, index, and promote the article.

Third-party material remains subject to its original copyright.

34. Licensing Policy

The journal should display the applicable Creative Commons licence clearly on:

Policy pages
Article pages
PDF files
Metadata
Copyright statements

Use CC BY 4.0 only when formally adopted.

35. Article Processing Charges

All fees must be disclosed clearly before submission.

The journal should state:

Whether submission fees apply
Whether APCs apply
Exact fee
Currency
Tax information
Waiver policy
Refund policy
Payment timing

Editorial decisions must remain independent of the author’s ability to pay.

36. Waiver Policy

Where APCs apply, waiver decisions should be made separately from editorial decisions.

Waiver information should be kept confidential from reviewers.

37. Advertising Policy

Advertising must not influence editorial decisions.

Advertisements should be clearly distinguishable from editorial content.

The journal should not accept misleading, unethical, or scientifically unsupported advertisements.

38. Sponsorship Policy

Sponsorship must not influence:

Reviewer selection
Editorial decisions
Article conclusions
Publication timing
Policy enforcement

Sponsorship should be disclosed transparently.

39. Editorial Board Policy

Editorial board members should:

Have suitable qualifications
Maintain active academic or professional involvement
Support peer review
Promote ethical standards
Disclose conflicts
Avoid misuse of the journal’s name
Participate in periodic review of journal policies

Board membership does not guarantee acceptance of submitted manuscripts.

40. Editor Conflicts of Interest

Editors must recuse themselves when they:

Are authors
Work closely with the authors
Have recent collaborations
Have personal relationships
Hold financial interests
Have strong competing academic interests

The manuscript should be reassigned to an independent editor.

41. Special Issues

Special issues must follow the same standards as regular issues.

Guest editors must:

Disclose conflicts
Follow journal policies
Avoid handling their own manuscripts
Maintain peer-review independence
Work under journal oversight

Sponsored special issues must be clearly identified.

42. Reviewer Confidentiality

Review materials are confidential.

Reviewers must not:

Share manuscripts
Contact authors directly
Use unpublished findings
Retain unnecessary copies
Upload manuscripts to unsecured AI systems

43. Reviewer Recognition

The journal may recognise reviewers through:

Certificates
Annual acknowledgements
Verified reviewer services
Editorial invitations

Recognition must not compromise reviewer anonymity.

44. Privacy Policy

Personal information is collected only for journal operations, including:

Submission
Peer review
Publication
Communication
Indexing
Legal and ethical compliance

Information should not be sold or used for unrelated marketing without consent.

45. Digital Preservation

The journal should maintain arrangements for long-term preservation of published content.

Possible preservation mechanisms include:

LOCKSS
CLOCKSS
PKP Preservation Network
Institutional repositories
Trusted archival services

The website should state only the preservation services actually activated.

46. Archiving Policy

Authors may archive permitted versions of their work subject to the journal’s licence and policy.

The journal may deposit articles in repositories, indexing databases, and preservation systems.

47. Metadata Policy

The journal publishes structured metadata to support:

Search engines
DOI registration
Indexing
Citation tracking
Library discovery
Long-term preservation

Authors are responsible for accurate names, affiliations, titles, abstracts, keywords, and references.

48. DOI Policy

DOIs should be displayed only after registration through an authorised registration agency.

A DOI shown in OJS but not registered is not considered active.

49. Publication Schedule

QES MedPharm Journal publishes according to its stated frequency.

The website should specify whether publication is:

Quarterly
Biannual
Annual
Continuous

The journal should avoid announcing a schedule it cannot maintain.

50. Indexing and Abstracting

The journal must list only databases in which it is formally included.

Do not claim:

PubMed indexing
MEDLINE indexing
Scopus indexing
Web of Science indexing
DOAJ inclusion
Impact factor

until officially confirmed.

51. Metrics Policy

Article and journal metrics must be reported accurately.

The journal will not display:

Fabricated impact factors
Misleading citation scores
Unverified rankings
Deceptive badges
Unofficial indexing claims

52. Publication Misconduct Investigation

When misconduct is suspected, the journal may:

Conduct a preliminary assessment
Request clarification and original data
Contact all authors
Consult reviewers or specialists
Contact the author’s institution
Issue a correction, concern, or retraction
Inform affected journals or organisations where justified

Investigations should be fair, confidential, and evidence-based.

53. Sanctions

Depending on the seriousness of a confirmed breach, the journal may:

Reject the manuscript
Retract the article
Ban future submissions for a defined period
Inform institutions
Inform funders
Correct the public record
Remove editorial or reviewer roles

Sanctions should be proportionate and documented.

54. Policy Updates

Journal policies may be updated to reflect:

Ethical guidance
Legal requirements
Publishing standards
Technical developments
Indexing requirements
Operational experience

Contact for Policy Questions

Questions, appeals, or complaints may be sent to:

Editorial Office
QES MedPharm Journal
Email: info@qesmedpharm.com