Publication Ethics

DUJMS adheres to the ethical guidelines strictly recommended by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).

1. Human and Animal Rights:

All research involving human subjects must be conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. Approval from an Institutional Review Board (IRB) or Ethics Committee must be stated in the "Methods" section, along with a statement regarding informed consent obtained from patients.

2. Plagiarism Policy:

The journal has a zero-tolerance policy for plagiarism. All submissions are checked using plagiarism detection software (e.g., Turnitin/iThenticate). Similarity index 20% may result in immediate rejection.

3. Authorship Criteria:

Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study.

4. Conflict of Interest:

All authors, reviewers, and editors must disclose any financial or non-financial conflicts of interest that could be viewed as influencing the research.

Derna University Journal of Medical Sciences requires all parties involved in the publication process (authors, reviewers, and editors) to declare any potential conflict of interest. A conflict of interest exists when professional judgment concerning a primary interest (such as the validity of research) may be influenced by a secondary interest (such as financial gain).

1. For Authors:

 All authors must disclose any financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that could inappropriately influence (bias) their work. Examples include:

Financial: Employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications/registrations, and grants or other funding.

Non-Financial: Personal or professional relationships, affiliations, knowledge or beliefs in the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript.

Authors must include a "Conflict of Interest" statement at the end of their manuscript. If no conflict exists, they must state: "The authors declare no conflict of interest."

Sample Statements for Authors

   Case 1: No Conflict

English: "The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper."

   Case 2: Financial Conflict

English: "Author A has received research grants from Company X. Author B owns stock in Company Y. The other authors declare no conflict of interest."

2. For Reviewers:

 Reviewers must not consider manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the papers. If a reviewer realizes a conflict exists, they must notify the editor immediately and decline the invitation to review.

3. For Editors:

 Editors who make final decisions about manuscripts must have no personal, professional, or financial involvement in any of the issues they might judge. An editor must recuse themselves from handling a manuscript if a conflict of interest exists (e.g., the author is a close colleague or family member), and delegate the responsibility to another member of the Editorial Board.