Journal of Forensic Medicine Science & Law (JFMSL)
Publication Ethics and Publication Malpractice Statement

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The publication of an article in this peer-reviewed journal is one of the crucial steps in the progress of an intelligible and esteemed web of information. It is suggestive of the level of authenticity and credibility of the work of authors and organisations where it was conducted. Articles published in this journal after peer review may help the readers aware of the scientific method employed and results obtained.
The following publication ethics are followed by all the stakeholders including author, editors of the journal, peer reviewers, the publisher and  organisation sponsoring journals pertaining to publishing of this journal.

• Duties of JFMSL Editors

1.1 Fair-mindedness and editorial freedom
Evaluation of the manuscript by the JFMSL editors is purely on the academic quality of the manuscript which includes the vitality, authenticity, lucidity and rationality of the manuscript. The manuscript submitted to be as per the scope of journal and it does not take into consideration the author’s race, gender, sexual orientation, cultural origin, religion, political binding or affiliation to any institution. Editor in chief has complete authority to decide the complete editorial content of the journal as well the timing of the publication of the journal. Any influence by external agencies like governments or any organisation in the decision of accepting or rejecting the manuscript is strictly prohibited.
1.2 Content Secrecy
Editors shall not disclose the information available in submitted manuscript to anyone except peer reviewers, corresponding authors, other editors and publishers.
1.3 Conflicts of interest
Editors and editorial board members have policy of not indulging in process of utilising the information obtained in submitted manuscript for their own research purposes without having prior consent from the authors. Data or concepts received by the editors from the submitted manuscripts will be kept secret and shall not to be utilised for personal gains. Editors shall refrain from handling manuscripts where there is presumed to be competing interest with the authors, sponsors or institutions and shall request other board members to handle the manuscript.
1.4 Publication decisions
All the manuscript submitted to this journal shall be subjected to peer review at least by two reviewers from the selected panel who are having ample amount of experience in the field. The final decision of acceptance of the article for publication will be taken by editor in chief after consultation with the editorial board members based on the quality of the paper, innovative ideas, utility to the readers, copyright contravention and plagiarism.
1.5 Participation and assistance in investigations
In cases where there are any ethical issues in relation to the submitted or published manuscripts, editors in combination with the publisher and/or association will take necessary steps even if, it is revealed after many years of publication. COPE flowcharts are being utilised by the editors for handling the cases of alleged delinquency. Subsequent to the accomplishment of the enquiry, if ethical concerns are pertaining to the submitted manuscripts, the necessary rectification, withdrawal or any other method as found correct shall be displayed in the next issue of the journal.

• Duties of JFMSL Reviewers

2.1 Involvement in the decisions of Editors.
The peer reviewer assists the editor for reaching to decisions of acceptance of submitted manuscript as well as enhancing the quality of paper by giving directions to the authors. Peer review process is heart of entire review process and is vital need for deciding the acceptance of submitted manuscript. The reviewers also handle the authors and their submitted manuscript in very aesthetic manner while commenting. Reviewer need to encourage improvements and can give suggestions for quality research.
2.2 Values of Impartiality & Competing Interests.
Reviewer has to be impartial while reviewing the submitted manuscript and comments should be given with justification. Reviewers needs to refrain from accepting the submitted manuscript if there are competing interest with authors, institutions or sponsors.
Reviewers should consult the Editor before agreeing to review a paper where they have potential conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the papers.
2.3 Swiftness
Reviewers should quickly inform to the editor about the inability to review the article as the editor can approach other reviewers instantly.
2.4 Content secrecy.
All the manuscript and other documents if received to be kept confidential and information obtained not to be utilised for personal research work. The information can be utilised only once the article is published with proper acknowledgement. Reviewers should not indulge in any conversation with the authors directly.
2.5 Vigilance in respect to Ethical concerns
If reviewer confronts with probable ethical concerns comprising of similar of same articles with minor changes etc, it should be brought to the notice of the editors at the erliest. It should be supported by valid proofs of literature available.
2.6 Common Guidelines to reviewer

• Fill out the review form with your comments, providing a rating for each aspect of the article. You may also make comments on the research publication/review article by simply highlighting your comments in yellow; or by typing your comments in red font.
• All research publication/review article/Case Study submitted to The Journal of Forensic Medicine, Science and Law (JFMSL) are subject to peer review and it is mandatory to reviewers to maintain confidentiality of the review process. Submission of declaration on statement of conflict of interest is mandatory before accepting the article for review.
• Reviewer requested to submit the review report in 03 working days.
• Duties of Authors

3.1 Uniqueness of the submitted manuscript.
Maintaining the originality of the manuscript is the prime responsibility of the author and any lapse found will result to the guilty of the authors. If authors use any part of manuscript for personal publication work, it should be acknowledged properly.
Plagiarism will be considered as big dent in the trust on authors by the editors of this journal. Our journal can have strict action against the authors doing the plagiarism in any form. Plagiarism can be in form of text, quotations and images from published or unpublished material without acknowledgement. If the plagiarism is detected in the submitted manuscript using plagiarism software, editor in chief after consultation with the other editors and peer reviewers has right to reject or ask for modification of the article.
3.2 Submitted manuscript authorship.
Authorship should be awarded only to those who have done substantial contribution to the conception, design, execution or interpretation of the study. While the individuals have assisted in the manuscript preparation in form of writing or grammar etc should be provided space in acknowledgement. All the authors have to share the responsibility of the submitted manuscript and shall be held liable for any lacunae or wrongdoing in the article. The sequence of the authors in the article should be acceptable by all the authors and declaration of the same should be given at the time of submission of the article. Deviations in the sequence or deletion or addition of the authors should be done only in special circumstances with proper justification and prior approval of all authors.
It is the prime responsibility of the corresponding author to confirm that all those authors who have contributed are included in the submitted manuscript. The corresponding author also have duty of submission of the manuscript and fulfilling the other necessary documents needed for publication in the article. Any changes or revisions recommended by the editors should be handled by the corresponding author. 
3.3 Image integrity
When the results of the studies are presented in the form of images, modification of the images may cause distortion of the facts and leading to wrong conclusions. Hence, appropriate care should be taken in this regards.
3.4 Data storage and accessibility
Data pertaining to the article to be published has to be provided to the editors as and when asked and should be stored for considerable amount of time as per the standard guidelines.
3.5 Ethical committee approval
The manuscript submitted has to get approved by the ethical committee of the respective institution and if possible, the letter number of the approval letter to be provided at the time of submission.
3.6 Simultaneous or multiple submission of the articles.
The author should not submit the article in two or more journals at the same time or the time till the decision about the acceptance of the article is given by the editors. Similarly, the authors should not submit article published in one journal in another journal. This can be considered as unethical behaviour on the part of authors.
3.7 Conflict of Interests.
It is mandatory on the part of authors to declare conflict of interests as well as source of funding for the research work. If funding is present for the research work, it should be clearly stated that there is no role of the sponsors in obtaining results and drawing conclusions. Any kind of influence of the sponsor to be considered as an unethical behaviour.
3.8 Source of funding
Authors has to clearly mention about funding received for the study. If it is received, the source of funding has to be given. It also has to stated that, the funding agencies have no influence on the results or the procedure of the study performed.

3.9 Harm to study participants   

It is responsibility of the author to clearly specify in the declaration that whether any hazardous procedure was deployed during the study. If it is done, then it is mandatory on the part of author to state that it is as per the concerned laws and prior approval of the institutional ethical committee has been taken. Any substance or instrument which can cause harm to the participants during the study has to be mentioned. For the study on experimentation on humans, it has to be conducted as per Declaration of Helsinki. If the study involves animals, the procedure has to be done as per the “ The Committee for the Purpose of Control and Supervision of Experiments on Animals (CPCSEA)”, Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, Breeding of and Experiments on Animals (Control and Supervision) Rules, 1998 as well as prior approval of Institutional Animal Ethics committee.  Proper record of the documents related to consent and experimentation to be maintained and provide when needed.

• Duties of the publishers

4.1 Freedom of expression
The publishers have freedom to express their views and avoid publication of false studies to preserve the reputation of the journal as well as of the author.
4.2 Transparency
The journal adheres to COPE principles of transparency and also motivate the publishers to follow the same.

5. Journal of Forensic Medicine Science and Law – Review Process
http://www.mlam.in/journal.htm
Journal of Forensic Medicine Science & Law (JFMSL) follows all standard norms of double blind peer review process. Appropriate confidentiality maintained with complete anonymity in regards to the article review process. Declaration of conflict of interest, if any is mandatory for every reviewer prior to accept articles for review. The researchers/ authors need to submit the manuscript files abiding the JFMSL author guidelines as a complete manuscript word file on email – mlameditor@gmail.com

• Average time for initial editorial review – 02 to 03 days.
• Average time for Blind review process – 07 to 15 days.
• Average time for acceptance of article after revision – 30 days.

For further details visit JFMSL Officisl webpage http://www.mlam.in/journal.htm