Publication Ethics

1. Introduction

MLHI adheres to the highest standards of publication ethics as outlined by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). All stakeholders—authors, editors, reviewers, and the publisher—must comply with these guidelines to ensure the integrity of scholarly research.

2. Responsibilities of Stakeholders

A. Authors’ Responsibilities

  1. Originality & Plagiarism:

    • Submissions must be original works with proper citations.

    • Plagiarism (text, data, or ideas) will result in immediate rejection or retraction.

  2. Authorship Criteria:

    • All listed authors must have made significant intellectual contributions to the research.

    • Changes to authorship post-submission require written consent from all co-authors.

  3. Disclosures & Conflicts of Interest:

    • Declare all funding sources, financial ties, or competing interests.

  4. Data Integrity & Reproducibility:

    • Provide raw data if requested during peer review.

    • Fabrication or falsification of data is unacceptable.

  5. Ethical Approvals:

    • Studies involving humans/animals must include ethics committee approval and comply with the Helsinki Declaration or ARRIVE guidelines.

  6. Duplicate Submission:

    • Concurrent submission to multiple journals is prohibited.

  7. Appeals:

    • Appeals to editorial decisions must be submitted in writing with evidence.

B. Editors’ Responsibilities

  1. Fair Evaluation:

    • Manuscripts are assessed solely on scientific merit, without bias toward affiliation, gender, or ethnicity.

  2. Confidentiality:

    • Protect reviewer and author identities; unpublished content must not be disclosed.

  3. Conflict of Interest:

    • Editors with conflicts must recuse themselves from decision-making.

  4. Corrections & Retractions:

    • Address errors promptly via errata, corrigenda, or retractions as needed.

C. Reviewers’ Responsibilities

  1. Expertise & Timeliness:

    • Accept invitations only if qualified and able to meet deadlines.

  2. Constructive Feedback:

    • Provide objective, evidence-based critiques.

  3. Confidentiality:

    • Do not share or exploit manuscript content.

  4. Conflict of Interest:

    • Decline reviews where personal/professional conflicts exist.

D. Publisher’s Responsibilities

  1. Editorial Independence:

    • Commercial interests (advertising, sponsorships) do not influence editorial decisions.

  2. Archiving & Accessibility:

    • Ensure permanent digital preservation (e.g., via CLOCKSS or Portico).

  3. Misconduct Investigations:

    • Collaborate with editors to address ethical violations (plagiarism, data fraud).

3. Handling Violations

  • Minor breaches: Corrected via errata or editorial notices.

  • Major breaches (e.g., plagiarism, data fabrication): Result in retraction with a public notice.

  • Recidivism: May lead to blacklisting from future submissions.

4. Reporting Concerns

  • Suspected ethical violations should be reported to the Editor-in-Chief via editor@mlhi.org

  • All complaints are investigated confidentially under COPE guidelines.