Publication Ethics

Authorship

Being an author, NRMJ do not require all authors of a research paper to sign the cover letter, nor do they impose an order on the list of authors. Submission to NRMJ means that all the listed authors have agreed to all of the contents, including the author list and author contributions statements. The corresponding author is responsible for having ensured that this agreement has been reached, that all authors have agreed to be so listed and approved the manuscript submission to the journal, and for managing all communications between the journal and all co-authors, before and after publication. Any changes to the author list after submission, such as a change in the order of the authors or the deletion or addition of authors, needs to be approved by every author.

NRMJ editors are not in a position to investigate or adjudicate authorship disputes before or after publication. Such disagreements if they cannot be resolved amongst authors should be brought up to the relevant institutional authority. The primary affiliation for each author should be the institution where the majority of their work was done. If an author has subsequently moved, the current address may also be stated. NRMJ also allows one set of up to six co-authors to be specified as having contributed equally to the work or having jointly supervised the work.

Plagiarism and fabrication

Plagiarism is unacknowledged copying or an attempt to misattribute original authorship, whether of ideas, text or results. Plagiarism can be said to have clearly occurred when large chunks of text have been cut-and-pasted without appropriate and unambiguous attribution. Such manuscripts would not be considered for publication in NRMJ. Text recycling or reuse of parts of a text from an author's of previous research publication is a form of self-plagiarism. When reusing text, whether from the author's own publication or that of others, appropriate attribution and citation is necessary to avoid creating a misleading perception of unique contribution for the reader. Duplicate publication occurs when an author reuses substantial parts of his or her own published work without providing the appropriate references.

When plagiarism becomes evident after publication, we may correct or retract the original publication depending on the degree of plagiarism, context within the published article and its impact on the overall integrity of the published study.

Competing interests

Competing interests are defined as financial and non-financial interests that could directly undermine or be perceived to undermine the objectivity, integrity and value of a publication, through a potential influence on the judgments and actions of authors with regard to objective data presentation, analysis and interpretation.

-Financial competing interests

Funding: Research support by organizations that may gain or lose financially through this publication.

Employment: Recent, present or anticipated employment by any organization that may gain or lose financially through this publication.

Personal financial interests: Shares in companies that may gain or lose financially through publication; consultation fees or other forms of remuneration from organizations that may gain or lose financially, patents or patent applications (awarded or pending) filed by the authors or their institutions whose value may be affected by publication.

-Non-financial competing interests:

 Non-financial competing interests can take different forms, including personal or professional relations with organizations and individuals. Examples of non-financial competing interests include:

Unpaid membership in a government or non-governmental organization,

Unpaid advisory position in a commercial organization,

Writing or consulting for an educational company.

Duplicate publication

Material submitted to NRMJ must be original and not published or submitted for publication elsewhere. This rule applies to material submitted elsewhere while the NRMJ contribution is under consideration.

Authors submitting a contribution to NRMJ who have related material under consideration or in press elsewhere should upload a clearly marked copy at the time of submission, and draw the editors' attention to it in their cover letter. If part of a contribution that an author wishes to submit to NRMJ has appeared or will appear elsewhere, the author must specify the details in the covering letter accompanying the NRMJ submission.

NRMJ is happy to consider submissions containing material that has previously formed part of a Ph.D or other academic thesis which has been published according to the requirements of the institution awarding the qualification.

NRMJ allows publication of meeting abstracts before the full contribution is submitted. Such abstracts should be included with the NRMJ submission and referred to in the cover letter accompanying the manuscript.

NRMJ is happy to consider submissions containing material that has previously formed and continues to form, part of an online scientific collaboration, provided that the information has not been publicized outside the scientific community, and is not publicized until the publication date of the work in NRMJ.

If an author of a submission is re-using a figure or figures published elsewhere or that is copyrighted, the author must provide documentation that the previous publisher or copyright holder has given permission for the figure to be re-published.

Confidentiality

 Editors, authors and reviewers are required to keep confidential all details of the editorial and peer review process on submitted manuscripts. Unless otherwise declared as a part of open peer review, the peer review process is confidential and conducted anonymously which means that identities of reviewers are not released. Reviewers must maintain confidentiality of manuscripts.

If a reviewer wishes to seek advice from colleagues while assessing a manuscript, the reviewer must consult with the editor and should ensure that confidentiality is maintained and that the names of any such colleagues are provided to the journal with the final report. Regardless of whether a submitted manuscript is eventually published, correspondence with the journal, referees' reports and other confidential material must not be published, disclosed or otherwise publicized without prior written consent. Reviewers should be aware that it is NRMJ policy to keep their names confidential and that we do our utmost to ensure this confidentiality.

NRMJ reserves the right to contact funders, regulatory bodies, journals and the authors’ institutions in cases of suspected research or publishing misconduct.