Publication Ethics

Archives of Family and Biomedicine (Arch FBM) strongly upholds research integrity and follows the principles of transparency and best practices in scholarly publishing, as recommended by leading organizations such as the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), World Association of Medical Editors (WAME), Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), Council of Science Editors (CSE), Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA), and Pakistan Association of Medical Editors (PAME).

Article Assessment

Every article submitted to Arch FBM undergoes a rigorous evaluation process assessing validity, accuracy, relevance, literature review, and research methodology quality. This process follows a blind peer-review system, where author identities are concealed to ensure impartial evaluation. An editorial panel of experts carefully examines all submissions. Articles may be accepted, accepted with revisions, or rejected.

Plagiarism

Authors must not use the words, figures, or ideas of others without proper attribution. All references must be cited where used. Reuse of text should be minimal and properly referenced. Manuscripts found to be plagiarized—whether from published or unpublished sources—will be rejected, and authors may be required to revise their submission.

Duplicate Submission

Submitting the same manuscript to multiple journals simultaneously is prohibited. It wastes editorial and reviewer time, and publishing the same work in more than one journal can damage the reputation of both the authors and the journals.

Redundant (Salami) Publication

Publishing multiple manuscripts from the same data or experiment is not allowed. Editors may reject papers suspected of such practice.

Citation Manipulation

Including citations solely to increase citation counts or manipulate metrics is unethical. Violations may result in sanctions for editors or journals, including removal from editorial roles or citation indexes.

Fabrication and Falsification

  • Fabrication: Making up data or experiments that were never conducted.

  • Falsification: Manipulating research data or results dishonestly.

Authorship and Acknowledgements

All listed authors must meet authorship criteria and be accountable for their contributions. Substantial intellectual contributions must be acknowledged. Contributors not qualifying for authorship should be listed in the acknowledgements section.

Conflict of Interest

Conflicts may arise from financial, personal, or professional interests that could influence research conduct or reporting.

Authors:

  • Must fully disclose all potential conflicts, financial or non-financial, when submitting.

  • Should report conflicts affecting research execution or presentation.

  • Declared conflicts are reviewed by editors and included in published articles.

Editors and Reviewers:

Fair Play:
Editors must act impartially and must not favor authors based on race, gender, religion, ethnicity, citizenship, or political ideology.

Confidentiality:
Editors, board members, and staff must keep manuscript information confidential and share it only with authors, reviewers, potential reviewers, and the publisher when necessary.

Disclosure:
Editors must not use unpublished materials in submitted manuscripts for personal research without written permission from the author.

Recusal:
Editors or reviewers must decline involvement if:

  • They have current or recent submissions with any of the authors.

  • They have current or recent affiliations with authors.

  • They are collaborating or have recently collaborated with authors.

  • They share personal relationships with authors.

  • They have financial interests in the subject matter.

Sanctions

Violations of publication ethics may result in:

  • Rejection of the manuscript and any other submissions by the author(s).

  • Suspension of submission privileges for 1–3 years.

  • Prohibition from serving as an editor or reviewer.

  • Additional sanctions for serious ethical breaches.

Investigations

The ethics committee may request authors to provide raw data and images, engage with editors, or contact institutions for inquiries regarding ethical concerns.

Corrections and Retractions

Errors in published articles will be addressed through:

  • Corrigendum: For author-related errors.

  • Erratum: For publisher-related errors.

Authors will be asked to acknowledge the content of the correction notice.

Image Manipulation

Arch FBM promotes submission of original images. All images are checked for inappropriate alterations. Authors may be asked to provide original data for verification if manipulation is suspected.