Ethical Guidelines

Editorial Policies

The International Journal of Maternal and Child Health and AIDS relies on the integrity and honesty of its Editors to publish the best manuscript that conforms to the ethical standards and meets all the requirements as per the mission of the journal for publication. International Journal of Maternal and Child Health and AIDS encourages its editors to follow the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) "Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors".

International Journal of Maternal and Child Health and AIDS adheres to the professional and industry guidelines and best practices in scientific publications, including the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals (ICMJE) and Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing documented in the (Joint Statement by COPE, DOAJ, WAME, and OASPA.)

Redundant or Concurrent Publication

Research manuscripts that describe work already published elsewhere will not be considered. The submission of the same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently is considered to be unethical practice. This does not prevent journals from considering articles that have been rejected by other journals or that were not previously published in full (e.g. abstracts or posters presented at scientific meetings).

When submitting, authors should declare any previous submissions or reports that might be regarded as redundant or duplicate publication. Copies of any such related articles should be included with the submitted manuscript to assist editorial decision-making. If the redundant publication is attempted or occurs, editorial action will be taken, including probable rejection or publication of a notice of redundant or duplicate publication.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is "to steal and pass off the ideas or words of another as one's own," "use another's production without crediting the source," or "present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source." The International Journal of Maternal and Child Health and AIDS also considers "self-plagiarism" as a form of plagiarism. An example of self-plagiarism would be when an author borrows from his or her own previously published work without the proper citation within the newly submitted manuscript. We have plagiarism check software (iThenticate) available on our Editors and Reviewer’s panel in the manuscript management system. We encourage our editors and reviewers to use the plagiarism check. The manuscript’s found to have plagiarism is rejected.

Peer Review

International Journal of Maternal and Child Health and AIDS relies on the single-blind peer review process to assess the quality of the manuscript to be published. International Journal of Translational Medical Research and Public Health follows a single-blind review process, in which the author identities are visible to the reviewers; however, the reviewer identities are concealed to the authors, throughout the review process. The Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines on the peer review process can be found here and Guidelines for the reviewers can be found here.

Policy for Handling Errata, Retractions, Withdrawals, and Expressions of Concern

The International Journal of Maternal and Child Health and AIDS abides by COPE Retraction Guidelines.

It is important to establish clear ethical guidelines to ensure that all content is produced and distributed in a responsible and ethical manner.

1. Accuracy and Fact-Checking: We strive to publish accurate and truthful content, and we take all necessary steps to fact-check information before publication. We correct any errors promptly and transparently.

2. Editorial Independence: We maintain editorial independence and do not allow advertisers, sponsors, or any external parties to influence our content in any way.

3. Transparency: We disclose any conflicts of interest and relationships with external parties that may influence our content, and we provide clear attribution for sources and contributors.

4. Respect for Diversity and Inclusivity: We respect and celebrate diversity in all its forms, and we strive to represent diverse perspectives and voices in our content.

5. Protection of Personal Information: We respect individuals’ right to privacy and we protect personal information in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.

6. Copyright and Intellectual Property: We respect the intellectual property rights of others and do not infringe on any copyrights or trademarks in our content.

7. Non-Discrimination: We do not publish content that discriminates against any individual or group based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, or any other protected characteristic.

8. Responsibility for Content: We take responsibility for all content published under our name, and we promptly address any complaints or concerns related to our content.

These guidelines are intended to provide a framework for ethical behaviour and decision-making. We expect all contributors, and partners to adhere to these guidelines and uphold the highest standards of ethical conduct.

Errata: An erratum is a correction of a factual error that does not alter the overall conclusions of a published work. When an error is identified, we will promptly correct the error and publish an erratum that clearly identifies the correction and its implications, such changes are communicated to the respective indexing agencies and the Digital Object Identifier (DOI) records are updated.

Retractions: A retraction is a notice that a published work is no longer valid or reliable. Retractions may be necessary when a work contains serious errors, plagiarism, or other forms of misconduct. The publisher and the editorial team of the journal will investigate any concerns raised about published content and, if necessary, issue a retraction that clearly explains the reasons for the retraction, such changes are communicated to the respective indexing agencies and DOI records are updated.

Process for issuing a retraction statement
When the decision is taken to retract and the article to be retracted is the Version of Record (i.e. it has been published as Online First or within an issue of a journal), GHEP recommends issuing a retraction statement which should be published separately and should be linked to the article being retracted. A "retracted" watermark should also be added to the article; however, the article as first published should be retained online to maintain the scientific record. Issuing a retraction statement will mean the following:

1. The retraction will appear on a numbered page in a prominent section of the journal;
2. The retraction will be listed in the contents page and the title of the original article will be included in its heading;
3. The text of the retraction should explain why the article is being retracted; and
4. The statement of retraction and the original article must be clearly linked in the electronic database so that the retraction will always be apparent to anyone who comes across the original article.

Withdrawals: A withdrawal is a notice that a published work is being removed from circulation because of ethical concerns or legal issues. Withdrawals may be necessary when a work contains fraudulent or unethical research or when legal issues arise. We will investigate any concerns raised about published content and, if necessary, issue a withdrawal that clearly explains the reasons for the withdrawal.

Any manuscript before or post acceptance can be withdrawn with a clear reason and the editorial team of the journal takes appropriate action. GHEP, as a publisher, does not interfere in any decision making during this process. The DOI is assigned only at the time of online publication.

Expressions of Concern: An expression of concern is a notice that a published work is being reviewed for potential problems, but no decision has been made about whether to retract or correct the work. Expressions of concern may be necessary when there are concerns about the validity or reliability of a published work. The publisher and the editorial team will investigate any concerns raised about published content and, if necessary, issue an expression of concern that clearly explains the reasons for the concern and the steps being taken to address the issue.

These policies are intended to provide a framework for addressing issues that may arise with published content. We will follow these policies with care and transparency, and communicate clearly with all stakeholders throughout the process.

Complaint’s Procedure
To challenge a retraction or a related issue, the International Journal of Maternal and Child Health and AIDS adheres to the following procedure:

1. The complaint may be submitted via the journal editor at submissions@mchandaids.org or technical.team@editorialassist.com
2. The investigation involves reviewing all correspondence relating to the case in question and, if necessary, obtaining further written responses to queries from the parties involved;
3. The purpose of the investigation is to establish that the correct procedures have been followed, that decisions have been reached based on academic criteria, that personal prejudice or bias of some kind has not influenced the outcome, and that appropriate sanctions have been applied where relevant; and
4. 4. Complainants may choose to take their complaint to the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Conflicts of Interest

The International Journal of Maternal and Child Health and AIDS (IJMA) requires the authors to sign a disclosure form at the time of manuscript submission. Author/authors are expected to disclose any conflicts or financial interests impacting the outcome of the study in which he/she or they are involved. If the manuscript is accepted, the Conflict of Interest information will be communicated in a published statement. The journal follows the COPE guidelines on conflict of interest which can be found here. 

Journal Policy on In-House Submissions

(IJMA) allows its editors and editorial board members to contribute to the journal in order to spur research and break new grounds. The journal follows COPE guidelines on handling in-house submissions. In-house submissions that contain the work of any editorial board member, are not allowed to be reviewed by that editorial board member and all decisions regarding this manuscript are made by an independent editor. In addition, these manuscripts are reviewed by the two external reviewers.

Permissions To Reproduce Previously Published Material

Permission is required to reproduce material (such as illustrations) from the copyright holder. Articles cannot be published without these permissions.

Patient Consent Forms

Potential participants should make their own decision about whether they want to participate or continue participating in research. This should be done through a process of informed consent in which individuals (1) are accurately informed of the purpose, methods, risks, benefits, and alternatives to the research, (2) understand this information and how it relates to their own clinical situation or interests, and (3) make a voluntary decision about whether to participate. A statement to the effect that such consent had been obtained must be included in the 'Methods' section and under Compliance with Ethical Considerations section of your manuscript. If necessary the Editors may request a copy of consent forms or study instruments.

Ethics Committee Approval

All studies that involve the humans need to have approval for the study from the respective Institutional Review Board (IRB) for the human studies. These guidelines may vary from country to country and country specific guidelines need to be followed. The IRB number and protocol number should be stated in the manuscript.

If the World Medical Association (WMA) Declaration of Helsinki ethical principles for medical research involving human subjects were followed, they should be stated in the method section of the manuscript. (See here for more information.)

If the study involves a Drug under investigation such as in clinical trial, its approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or equivalent authority must be obtained and stated in the manuscript. (See here for more information.)

Any study involving the animals for research should have approval of the protocol from the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) or other relevant bodies with oversight function on animal research.

Compliance with Core Publishing Practices by COPE

Privacy

The International Journal of Maternal and Child Health and AIDS (IJMA) is owned and published by Global Health and Education Projects, Inc. Our privacy is guided by the policies of the journal publisher and journal owner. GHEP publications platform and websites include the various components referred to above including all journal content products, services, features, functionalities, content related sites, and other information accessible through the IJMA Network portal [whether provided by GHEP or any third party], related sites include IJMA on Facebook, IJMA on Twitter, IJMA on Linkedin, e-mail addresses and other personal information. The GHEP websites and IJMA portal are committed to preserving site visitors' privacy of personal information. The IJMA portal does not collect personal information from a site visitor unless that visitor explicitly and intentionally provides it.

Collection, retention, and use of personal information about site visitors will occur if you choose to interact with the GHEP. For example, you can choose to subscribe to IJMA and/or the IJMA resources, receive e-mail notifications regarding tables of contents, topic collections, and article alerts whether or not you are a subscriber, or learn about new offerings from the GHEP. Depending on the type of product or service that you request, you may be asked to provide different personal information. The IJMA portal may require your name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, credit card number, Internet protocol (IP) address, and/or other identifying information. Please refer to the appropriate online form for a specific listing of the type of personal information collected.

The GHEP portal may use your personal information collected via the sites (in addition to the e-mail address information use outlined above) for the following purposes:

1. Provide access to journal content.
2. Process, fulfill, and follow up on orders.
3. Answer your e-mails.
4. Send information you request.
5. Send and process surveys.
6. Ensure the GHEP Publications are relevant to your needs.
7. Recommend content that suits you.
8. Notify you about new products/services, special offers, upgrades, and other related information from IJMA and other GHEP Publications.
9. All e-mail alerts contain an "unsubscribe" option in case you want to discontinue the alert(s) at any time.

The GHEP portal also occasionally hires other companies to provide limited services on our behalf, including, but not limited to, packaging, mailing, and delivering purchases, answering customer questions about products or services, sending postal mail, and processing event registration. We will provide those companies only the information they need to deliver the service, and they are prohibited from using that information for any other purpose.

The GHEP portal may disclose your personal information if required to do so by law or in the good-faith belief that such action is necessary to: (a) conform to legal requirements or comply with legal process served on GHEP; (b) protect and defend the rights or property of GHEP; or (c) protect the personal safety of GHEP personnel or members of the public in urgent circumstances.

In addition to the uses identified above, if the site visitor changes his or her personal information on the GHEP portal, that information may be incorporated into the GHEP database commonly known as the GHEP database.

Advertising
The GHEP websites and portal use third parties to serve advertisements and analyze related data. Non-identifiable website visitor data may be collected and used in aggregate to determine the type of advertisement to be seen by site visitors while on the IJMA portal. Advertisements use persistent cookies (defined below) to identify the number of unique computers from which viewers have viewed an advertisement and to manage the number of times a viewer will see an advertisement and similar advertising efficiencies. No personally identifiable information is collected from the persistent cookie.

Website Analytics
Non-identifiable website visitor data may be collected and used in aggregate to help shape and direct the creation and maintenance of content.

Cookies
A cookie is a small file stored on the site user's computer or Web server and is used to aid Web page navigation. Session cookies are temporary files created when a user signs in on the website or uses personalized features such as purchasing temporary access to an article or site-wide access. Session cookies are removed when a user logs off or when the browser is closed. Persistent cookies are permanent files and must be deleted manually. Persistent cookies are used on the GHEP portal (1) when a user asks to save the user name and password to prevent the need to enter this information again; (2) by advertisements to identify the number of unique computers from which viewers have viewed an advertisement and to manage the number of times a viewer will see an advertisement and similar advertising efficiencies; (3) by quiz and poll features to determine when an individual has already responded or voted; (4) to retain article preference settings; and (5) to maintain shopping cart items. No personally identifiable information is collected from the latter persistent cookie, and only the user name and password are collected for the former persistent cookie and the session cookie; (3) Electronic Store Shopping Cart; and (4) Web Analytics measuring time or site and number of visits.

E-mail messages
E-mail messages sent to or from a website may not be secure. Confidential information should not be sent by e-mail. Site visitors sending e-mail accept the risk that a third party may intercept e-mail messages.

You may opt-out of any future contacts from us at any time. Contact us via the phone number or contact form on our website at any time to:

1. See what data we have about you if any;
2. Change/correct any data we have about you;
3. Ask us to delete any data we have about you; and/or
4. Opt-out of some or all future communications from us.
5. If you have any additional questions or concerns about this privacy policy, please contact us via the phone number listed on this website.

User-Generated Content
Any data or personal information that You submit to us as user-generated content becomes public and may be used by GHEP in connection with GHEP network/friends our digital applications, and other IJMA publications in any media.

Policy Revisions
As the GHEP portal evolves, this Privacy Policy is expected to change as well. The GHEP reserves the right to amend this Privacy Policy at any time, for any reason. We will post a notice that this Policy has been amended by revising the "last updated" date at the top of the Privacy Policy.

Online Policy
This Privacy Policy applies ONLY to information collected via The GHEP portal by the organization or those that it may hire to provide limited services on our behalf.

Credit card privacy
All credit card transactions are conducted over a secure system. Only authorized personnel with specific identification and passwords can access credit card information solely to perform adjustments or refunds at the customer's request.

Limitation of Liability. Neither GHEP, nor any of their subsidiaries or affiliate entities, agents, employees, or subcontractors shall be liable for any direct, indirect, special, incidental, consequential, punitive, or exemplary damages,

including lost profits (even if we are advised of the possibility) arising in any way from the information contained in this Web site or any information transmitted via this web site. GHEP is not liable for any damages or losses that may be caused to any equipment and other software due to any viruses, defects, or malfunctions in connection with access or use of the IJMA portal websites.

Contact us. We welcome your feedback. If you have questions or comments about our Privacy Policy, please contact us at submissions@mchandaids.org