Publication Ethics

Publication Ethics

1. Purpose and Scope

Birat Journal of Health Sciences (BJHS), published by Birat Medical College and Teaching Hospital, Nepal, is committed to maintaining the integrity, accuracy, transparency, fairness, and credibility of medical and health sciences research.

This policy applies to authors, reviewers, editors, editorial board members, and all individuals involved in the publication process.

2. Responsibilities of Authors

Authors must:

  • Submit original, accurate, and ethically conducted research.

  • Avoid simultaneous submission and duplicate publication.

  • Report research methods, findings, and conclusions honestly.

  • Properly cite and acknowledge all sources.

  • Disclose funding sources and conflicts of interest.

  • Obtain necessary ethical approvals and informed consent.

  • Ensure the accuracy and integrity of clinical and scientific data.

  • Report significant errors discovered before or after publication.

3. Authorship and Contributorship

Authorship must reflect substantial contributions to research conception, design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, or manuscript preparation.

All authors must approve the submitted and final versions and accept responsibility for their contributions.

Guest, honorary, gift, purchased, or fraudulent authorship is prohibited.

Changes in authorship require appropriate justification and agreement from all authors.

4. Use of Artificial Intelligence Tools

Artificial intelligence tools cannot be listed as authors.

Authors remain responsible for the originality, accuracy, references, and integrity of AI-assisted content.

Substantial AI assistance in manuscript preparation, data analysis, or image generation must be appropriately disclosed.

AI-generated fabricated references, research findings, images, or clinical data are strictly prohibited.

5. Originality, Plagiarism, and Duplicate Publication

All manuscripts must be original and must not be under consideration elsewhere.

BJHS does not permit:

  • Plagiarism and self-plagiarism.

  • Duplicate or redundant publication.

  • Fabrication or falsification of research findings.

  • Inappropriate image or data manipulation.

  • Citation and peer-review manipulation.

Suspected plagiarism may result in manuscript rejection, correction, or retraction.

6. Data Integrity and Research Transparency

Authors must ensure that all scientific findings, clinical observations, statistical analyses, and research records are accurate and reliable.

The editorial team may request original datasets, statistical outputs, research instruments, laboratory records, or supporting documentation when necessary.

Authors should provide data-availability statements where applicable while protecting confidential patient information.

7. Ethical Oversight

Research Involving Human Participants

Research involving patients, human participants, clinical records, or identifiable information must receive appropriate ethical approval where required.

Authors must provide relevant institutional ethics committee approval details and informed consent statements.

Patient confidentiality and privacy must be protected.

Research Involving Animals

Animal research must receive appropriate ethical approval and follow recognized animal welfare standards.

Clinical Trials

Clinical trials should be registered in a recognized publicly accessible registry in accordance with applicable requirements. Registration details should be included in the manuscript.

8. Conflicts of Interest and Funding

Authors, reviewers, and editors must disclose financial, institutional, personal, or professional relationships that may influence the research or publication process.

All funding sources and the role of funding organizations must be clearly declared.

9. Responsibilities of Reviewers

Reviewers must:

  • Provide fair, objective, and constructive evaluations.

  • Maintain confidentiality.

  • Disclose conflicts of interest.

  • Evaluate manuscripts according to scientific merit.

  • Identify relevant ethical concerns.

  • Report suspected research misconduct to the editor.

  • Avoid unauthorized use of unpublished research.

10. Responsibilities of Editors

Editors are responsible for maintaining editorial independence and ensuring fair publication decisions.

Editorial decisions must be based on originality, scientific validity, methodological quality, ethical compliance, and relevance to medical and health sciences.

Editors must manage conflicts of interest and protect the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts.

11. Confidentiality

BJHS protects the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts, reviewer identities, editorial correspondence, research documentation, and ethical investigations.

Confidential information must not be disclosed except where necessary for legitimate editorial, ethical, or legal purposes.

12. Research and Publication Misconduct

BJHS takes allegations of misconduct seriously, including:

  • Plagiarism and duplicate publication.

  • Data fabrication or falsification.

  • Image manipulation.

  • Authorship disputes or manipulation.

  • Peer-review manipulation.

  • Undisclosed conflicts of interest.

  • Unethical human or animal research.

  • Breaches of patient confidentiality.

Allegations will be assessed fairly, and appropriate editorial action may be taken based on available evidence.

13. Complaints and Appeals

Authors, reviewers, and readers may submit complaints concerning editorial procedures, peer review, publication delays, research ethics, or published content.

Authors may appeal editorial decisions by providing clear academic justification and supporting evidence.

Appeals should be reviewed fairly by the Editor-in-Chief or an appropriately independent editor.

14. Corrections, Retractions, and Expressions of Concern

BJHS supports the integrity of the published scientific record through appropriate post-publication actions.

Corrections: Issued when published articles contain errors that do not invalidate the main findings.

Expressions of Concern: Published when serious questions regarding research integrity remain unresolved.

Retractions: Issued when substantial evidence demonstrates unreliable findings, serious plagiarism, fabricated data, unethical research, or other major publication misconduct.

Retraction notices should remain publicly accessible and clearly identify the affected article.

15. Post-Publication Discussion

BJHS welcomes responsible scientific discussion, academic criticism, and evidence-based commentary concerning published research.

Readers may report significant concerns, errors, or ethical issues through the journal's official editorial communication channels.

16. Intellectual Property and Copyright

Authors must respect intellectual property rights and obtain necessary permissions for copyrighted materials.

BJHS supports author copyright retention and publishes articles under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) License.

Published materials may be shared and reused with appropriate attribution.

17. Sanctions for Ethical Violations

Depending on the seriousness of a violation, BJHS may:

  • Request clarification or manuscript revision.

  • Reject or suspend manuscript consideration.

  • Withdraw an acceptance decision.

  • Publish corrections or expressions of concern.

  • Retract published articles.

  • Notify relevant institutions or authorities where appropriate.

  • Take proportionate measures to protect the scholarly record.

18. Policy Review

Birat Journal of Health Sciences (BJHS) may periodically review and update this Publication Ethics Policy to reflect developments in medical research ethics, publication standards, and recognized scholarly publishing guidelines.