Allegation of Research Misconduct

Alleged Research Misconduct The Excellent Midwifery Journal (EMJ) takes all allegations of research misconduct seriously and is committed to upholding high standards of publication ethics. Research misconduct includes, but is not limited to, data fabrication, data falsification, plagiarism, undisclosed conflicts of interest, and ethical violations involving human subjects.

In handling allegations of research misconduct, EMJ strictly follows the guidelines and flowcharts established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) (https://publicationethics.org/ )

Handling Process:

  1. Reporting Allegations: Anyone (readers, reviewers, or other researchers) may report an alleged misconduct by contacting the Editor-in-Chief via email, accompanied by detailed evidence.
  2. Preliminary Assessment: The Editorial Board will conduct a preliminary investigation to evaluate the validity of the report. This process will be kept strictly confidential.
  3. Right to Respond: If the evidence is deemed strong, the Editor will contact the corresponding author to notify them of the allegation and give the author an opportunity to respond and provide clarification.
  4. Resolution and Action:
    • If the author’s explanation is satisfactory and no violation is found, the case will be closed.
    • If a violation is proven before the manuscript is published, the manuscript will be immediately rejected.
    • If a violation is proven after the manuscript is published, the journal will take appropriate action, which may include publishing an Erratum or Correction, issuing an Expression of Concern, or formally retracting the article.
    • In cases of serious misconduct, EMJ reserves the right to notify the authors’ affiliated institutions or research funding agencies.