International Journal of Medical Toxicology and Forensic Medicine (IJMTFM) is committed to maintaining the highest standards of scientific quality, research integrity, publication ethics, editorial independence, and transparency. The journal follows internationally recognized principles and best practices in scholarly publishing and expects all authors, reviewers, editors, and other participants in the publication process to comply with these standards.
Editorial decisions at IJMTFM are made independently by the Editor-in-Chief and the Editorial Board based on the scientific quality, originality, validity, significance, relevance, and ethical integrity of submitted manuscripts.
Editorial decisions are not influenced by commercial interests, financial relationships, political considerations, institutional affiliations, nationality, gender, ethnicity, religion, or other external pressures.
The Editor-in-Chief has ultimate responsibility for editorial decisions concerning manuscripts submitted to IJMTFM.
IJMTFM uses a rigorous single-blind peer-review process to evaluate submitted manuscripts.
Manuscripts that meet the journal's initial editorial and technical requirements are evaluated by qualified and independent reviewers with appropriate expertise in the relevant subject area.
Under the single-blind peer-review model, the identities of the authors are disclosed to the reviewers, while the identities of the reviewers are kept confidential from the authors.
Reviewers are expected to evaluate manuscripts objectively, independently, confidentially, and constructively. Reviewers must disclose any potential conflict of interest before accepting an invitation to review and should decline the review assignment if such a conflict could affect their impartiality.
The number of reviewers assigned to a manuscript may vary depending on the nature, complexity, and subject of the manuscript. The Editorial Board may seek additional reviews when necessary.
The final decision regarding acceptance, revision, or rejection rests with the Editor-in-Chief or a designated editor and is based on the scientific quality, originality, validity, significance, ethical standards, and overall suitability of the manuscript.
The peer-review process is independent of any commercial interests, advertising, sponsorship, or payment of publication fees. Payment of any applicable Article Processing Charge (APC) does not influence the editorial or peer-review decision.
All submitted manuscripts undergo an initial editorial assessment before external peer review.
The editorial team may evaluate the manuscript for:
Scope and relevance to IJMTFM;
Originality and scientific significance;
Methodological quality and validity;
Ethical compliance;
Completeness of required documentation;
Compliance with the journal's Author Guidelines;
Plagiarism and inappropriate textual overlap;
Potential research or publication misconduct; and
Overall suitability for peer review.
Manuscripts that are outside the journal's scope, substantially deficient, ethically problematic, or otherwise unsuitable may be rejected without external peer review.
IJMTFM is committed to maintaining the integrity of the scientific record and to preventing and addressing research and publication misconduct.
The journal does not tolerate:
Plagiarism;
Fabrication of data;
Falsification of data;
Inappropriate or deceptive manipulation of images;
Duplicate or redundant publication;
Simultaneous submission to multiple journals;
Improper authorship or undisclosed changes in authorship;
Undisclosed conflicts of interest;
Citation manipulation;
Peer-review manipulation;
Misappropriation of another person's work, data, or ideas; or
Any other form of research or publication misconduct.
When concerns regarding research or publication misconduct arise, IJMTFM may conduct an editorial investigation and may request relevant data, documentation, ethical approvals, consent forms, institutional information, or other supporting materials from the authors.
Where appropriate, the journal may contact the authors' institutions or other relevant authorities and may publish a correction, expression of concern, retraction, or other appropriate notice in accordance with recognized publication-ethics principles.
IJMTFM follows internationally recognized authorship principles.
All individuals listed as authors must meet all four of the following criteria:
Make substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data.
Draft the work or revise it critically for important intellectual content.
Provide final approval of the version to be published.
Agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work and to ensure that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.
All authors must have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for appropriate portions of its content.
The individual contributions of all authors must be clearly stated in the Author Contributions section of the manuscript.
Individuals who contributed to the work but do not meet all four authorship criteria should not be listed as authors and should instead be appropriately acknowledged, with their permission.
Any request to add, remove, or change the order of authors after submission must be justified and approved by all authors. The journal may request written confirmation from all affected authors before approving such changes.
All authors, reviewers, and editors must disclose relationships or circumstances that could influence, or could reasonably be perceived to influence, their judgment concerning a manuscript.
Potential conflicts of interest may include financial relationships, employment, consultancies, institutional affiliations, personal relationships, intellectual interests, or other relevant competing interests.
Authors must disclose all relevant conflicts of interest at the time of submission.
Reviewers and editors should decline involvement in the evaluation of manuscripts when a conflict of interest could compromise their objectivity.
Authors must disclose all sources of financial or material support for the research.
Funding information should include the name of the funding organization and, where applicable, the grant, project, or award number.
If a funder had any role in the study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, manuscript preparation, or decision to submit the manuscript, this should be clearly stated.
Research involving human participants must comply with applicable ethical standards and regulations and should receive approval from an appropriate ethics committee or institutional review board where required.
Where applicable, informed consent must be obtained from research participants.
For case reports and manuscripts containing identifiable patient information, appropriate consent for publication must be obtained.
Authors must provide relevant information concerning ethical approval and informed consent in the manuscript where applicable.
Research involving animals must comply with relevant institutional, national, and international standards for the ethical treatment and welfare of animals.
Authors should provide information regarding ethical approval, institutional oversight, and applicable animal welfare standards where required.
IJMTFM encourages authors to promote transparency and reproducibility by making relevant research data, materials, protocols, analytical methods, and other supporting information available whenever ethically and legally appropriate.
Authors should provide a Data Availability Statement where applicable.
Data containing confidential, personal, or otherwise sensitive information must not be publicly disclosed unless appropriate authorization and ethical safeguards are in place.
Authors may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to assist with language improvement, editing, translation, formatting, or other appropriate aspects of manuscript preparation.
AI tools cannot be listed as authors or credited with authorship.
Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, integrity, and scientific validity of the submitted manuscript, including any content generated, modified, or assisted by AI tools.
Where AI tools have been used substantially in the preparation of the manuscript, authors should disclose their use in the appropriate section of the manuscript in accordance with the journal's requirements.
AI tools must not be used to fabricate or falsify data, generate misleading references, manipulate research findings, create deceptive images, or otherwise compromise research or publication integrity.
All submitted manuscripts may be screened for plagiarism and inappropriate textual overlap using appropriate similarity-detection methods.
The presence of substantial unattributed textual overlap may result in rejection of the manuscript or further investigation, depending on the nature and extent of the overlap.
Authors are responsible for ensuring that all sources are appropriately cited and that material derived from other works is used in accordance with applicable copyright and ethical requirements.
Manuscripts submitted to IJMTFM must not have been published previously or be under consideration by another journal.
Authors must disclose any closely related manuscripts, reports, conference publications, preprints, or other publicly available materials that could constitute substantial overlap with the submitted manuscript.
The Editorial Board will determine whether any previous or concurrent publication constitutes duplicate or redundant publication.
IJMTFM recognizes the importance of maintaining an accurate and reliable scientific record.
When an error is identified in a published article, the journal may publish an appropriate correction or other post-publication notice.
Corrections may be issued when an error affects the accuracy or interpretation of the published work but does not invalidate the principal findings.
Authors should promptly notify the journal if they identify a significant error in their published work.
A published article may be retracted when there is clear evidence that its findings are unreliable because of major errors, fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, serious ethical violations, or other significant forms of publication misconduct.
An Expression of Concern may be published when serious concerns exist regarding a published article but an investigation has not yet reached a definitive conclusion.
Retractions and other post-publication notices will be clearly identified and linked to the original article in order to preserve the integrity and transparency of the scholarly record.
Authors may appeal an editorial decision when they believe that the decision resulted from a significant misunderstanding, factual error, procedural problem, or inappropriate evaluation of the manuscript.
Appeals should provide a clear, specific, and evidence-based explanation of the grounds for appeal.
Complaints concerning editorial procedures, peer review, publication ethics, conflicts of interest, or other aspects of the publication process may be submitted to the editorial office.
IJMTFM will consider complaints and appeals fairly, objectively, and confidentially and will take appropriate action when a legitimate concern is identified.
Manuscripts submitted to IJMTFM are treated as confidential documents.
Editors and reviewers must not disclose, copy, use, distribute, or otherwise exploit unpublished manuscript content without appropriate authorization.
Reviewers must not use information obtained through the peer-review process for personal, professional, or financial advantage.
Reviewers are expected to:
Maintain the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts;
Provide objective, constructive, and evidence-based assessments;
Evaluate the scientific validity, methodology, originality, and significance of the manuscript;
Identify significant methodological, ethical, or reporting concerns;
Disclose potential conflicts of interest;
Decline review assignments when they lack sufficient expertise or have a relevant conflict of interest;
Avoid inappropriate or coercive citation recommendations;
Not use unpublished information obtained through peer review for personal or professional purposes; and
Complete reviews within the agreed timeframe whenever possible.
Editors must disclose relevant conflicts of interest and should not participate in editorial decisions involving manuscripts in which they have a personal, professional, financial, or institutional interest.
When appropriate, responsibility for handling such manuscripts will be transferred to another qualified editor.
Editorial decisions at IJMTFM are independent of advertising, sponsorship, commercial relationships, and other revenue-generating activities.
Advertisers, sponsors, and commercial partners do not influence peer review, editorial decisions, acceptance decisions, or publication content.
IJMTFM is committed to providing immediate and unrestricted online access to its published research in accordance with its Open Access policy.
The journal's copyright and licensing arrangements are described separately in the Copyright and Licensing Policy.
Any applicable Article Processing Charges (APCs), publication fees, or other charges are clearly communicated to authors.
Payment of an APC does not guarantee acceptance of a manuscript and does not influence the peer-review or editorial decision-making process.
Editorial decisions are made independently of an author's ability or willingness to pay publication charges.
Members of the Editorial Board are expected to uphold the scientific and ethical standards of IJMTFM, maintain confidentiality, disclose relevant conflicts of interest, and ensure that editorial decisions are based on scholarly merit and ethical considerations.
The Editorial Board is responsible for maintaining the quality, integrity, transparency, and editorial independence of the journal.
Corrections, retractions, expressions of concern, and other post-publication notices will be published promptly when necessary to maintain the accuracy and integrity of the scientific record.
Where appropriate, such notices will clearly identify the affected article and will remain permanently associated with the original publication.
IJMTFM regularly reviews its editorial policies and publication procedures to ensure that they remain consistent with evolving international standards and best practices in scholarly publishing.
The journal may update these policies when necessary to address developments in research methodology, publication ethics, artificial intelligence, data transparency, peer review, copyright, and other areas relevant to scientific publishing.