The International Journal of Organ Transplantation Medicine (IJOTM) is committed to maintaining the highest standards of integrity, transparency, and ethical responsibility in scholarly publishing. The journal expects authors, reviewers, editors, and editorial staff to uphold accepted principles of ethical research and publication practice throughout submission, peer review, editing, and publication.
IJOTM considers ethical compliance to be an essential condition of publication. All submitted manuscripts must be original, scientifically honest, ethically conducted, and prepared in accordance with recognized standards of responsible research and publication.
General Principles
Submission of a manuscript to IJOTM implies that the work is original, has not been published previously in its final form, and is not under consideration for publication elsewhere in any language or medium. The same study or substantially similar material must not be submitted to or published in more than one journal.
The journal expects all participants in the publication process to act responsibly and in good faith. Allegations or evidence of misconduct, whether before or after publication, will be handled seriously and fairly. In cases of suspected ethical misconduct, plagiarism, duplicate publication, data fabrication, image manipulation, authorship disputes, or other concerns affecting the integrity of the scientific record, the journal follows established COPE guidance and flowcharts when investigating and resolving such matters.
Ethical Responsibilities of Authors
Authors are responsible for ensuring that their submission is an honest and accurate report of original work. The data presented in the manuscript must be real, authentic, and not misleading. Fabrication, falsification, selective omission of results, or any deliberate misrepresentation of data is unacceptable.
All listed authors must have made a significant scholarly contribution to the work and must satisfy accepted authorship criteria. Each author should be able to take public responsibility for the content of the manuscript. Individuals who contributed to the work but do not meet authorship criteria should be acknowledged appropriately.
Authors must ensure that the manuscript is written entirely in their own words, except where properly quoted and cited. Verbatim or close reproduction of text from previously published work, including the authors’ own prior publications, is not acceptable unless clearly indicated and appropriately referenced. Authors are also responsible for ensuring that the manuscript does not substantially overlap with previously published or simultaneously submitted work.
Authors should disclose on the title page all relevant sources of financial support, grants, equipment, drugs, institutional assistance, or other forms of support related to the work. Any conflicts of interest, whether financial, personal, academic, or institutional, that could influence the conduct, interpretation, or reporting of the study must also be declared.
Authors are expected to participate actively and responsibly in the peer review process. When revisions are requested, authors should respond to all reviewer and editorial comments in a timely, complete, and professional manner. If an important error is identified in a submitted, accepted, or published manuscript, authors are obliged to inform the journal promptly and cooperate fully in issuing a correction, clarification, or retraction where necessary.
Where previously published material, including text, tables, figures, or images, is reused, authors must obtain permission from the copyright holder when required and provide the necessary written documentation to the journal.
Originality and Exclusive Submission
Manuscripts submitted to IJOTM must represent original work. Submission to the journal indicates that the manuscript has not been published previously and is not being considered elsewhere. Redundant publication, duplicate publication, salami publication, or simultaneous submission to multiple journals is not permitted.
Authors may be asked to confirm originality and exclusive submission as part of the submission process. Any breach of these principles may result in rejection, withdrawal of the manuscript, notification to relevant institutions, or post-publication action if misconduct is identified after publication.
Screening for Plagiarism
IJOTM does not permit plagiarism in any form. Manuscripts must not contain unattributed copied text, ideas, data, images, or other material from published or unpublished sources. The use of verbatim text from other works without quotation, attribution, and proper citation is prohibited. Unacceptable textual overlap may also include self-plagiarism or recycling of substantial portions of an author’s previously published writing without appropriate disclosure.
The journal reserves the right to screen submissions for plagiarism and textual overlap at any stage of the editorial process. If plagiarism or unacceptable overlap is suspected or confirmed, the journal will act in accordance with COPE recommendations and may reject the manuscript, request revision, notify the authors’ institutions, or take appropriate corrective measures after publication.
Human Subjects, Patient Rights, and Informed Consent
Research involving human participants must be conducted in accordance with accepted ethical standards and with appropriate approval from a recognized ethics committee or institutional review board where required. The manuscript should clearly indicate that ethical approval was obtained when applicable.
All patients and research participants should be adequately informed about the objectives of the study, the nature of the procedures involved, and any possible risks, side effects, or implications of participation. Written informed consent must be obtained from participants or from their legal guardians when required. The journal reserves the right to request supporting ethical documentation, including ethics approval letters and consent forms.
Authors must protect patient privacy and confidentiality. Identifying information should not be included in manuscripts, figures, radiographs, scans, photographs, or supplementary files unless essential for scientific purposes and accompanied by explicit written consent for publication.
Animal Research
Research involving animals must be conducted in accordance with institutional, national, and international standards for animal welfare and ethical treatment. Manuscripts should indicate that appropriate approval was obtained from the relevant ethics or animal care committee where applicable. Authors should provide sufficient information to show that efforts were made to minimize suffering and to use appropriate study design and humane procedures.
Data Integrity, Falsification, and Fabrication
IJOTM requires accurate and honest reporting of research data. Falsification includes manipulation of research materials, equipment, processes, images, or data in a way that misrepresents the true findings of the study. Fabrication includes making up data, results, cases, experiments, or observations and presenting them as genuine.
Both falsification and fabrication are serious forms of scientific misconduct and are strictly prohibited. If concerns arise regarding the authenticity or reliability of submitted data, the journal may request clarification, raw data, original files, ethics documents, or institutional verification. Proven misconduct may lead to rejection, retraction, notification of institutions, or other appropriate action.
Image Integrity and Image Manipulation
Authors are encouraged to retain and, when requested, provide the original image files underlying submitted figures. All digital images in accepted manuscripts may be reviewed for inappropriate manipulation.
No specific feature within an image may be selectively enhanced, obscured, moved, removed, or introduced. Adjustments to brightness, contrast, or color balance are acceptable only when they are applied to the entire image, are scientifically justified, and do not alter or misrepresent the original information, including the background. Composite images, spliced gels, or edited panels must be clearly disclosed when used appropriately.
If image irregularities are suspected, the editors may request the original, uncropped, and unprocessed image files and may seek further explanation from the authors. Failure to provide satisfactory clarification may result in rejection or post-publication correction or retraction.
Peer Review Ethics and Reviewer Responsibilities
Reviewers play an essential role in maintaining the scientific quality of the journal. Reviewers are expected to assess manuscripts objectively, fairly, and confidentially. Personal criticism of the authors is inappropriate. Comments should be evidence-based, constructive, and directed toward improving the scientific quality, clarity, and integrity of the manuscript.
Reviewers should accept review invitations only when the manuscript falls within their expertise and they can provide a timely review. They must declare any conflicts of interest that could affect their judgment, including personal, professional, academic, or financial conflicts involving the authors, institutions, or funders.
Manuscripts under review must be treated as confidential documents. Reviewers should not share, discuss, or use the manuscript or its contents for personal advantage or for any purpose unrelated to the editorial process. Reviewers should alert the Editor to relevant published work not cited by the authors and should notify the journal confidentially of any suspected plagiarism, duplicate publication, ethical concern, or data irregularity.
Reviewers act as expert advisors to the Editor. The final decision regarding acceptance, revision, or rejection remains with the Editor.
Editorial Responsibilities
The Editor-in-Chief and the editorial team are responsible for ensuring a fair, objective, and confidential editorial process. Editorial decisions are based on the scholarly merit of the manuscript, including originality, scientific quality, clarity, ethical compliance, relevance to the journal, and importance to the field of transplantation medicine.
Editors should manage manuscripts without discrimination and without regard to the authors’ race, gender, nationality, institutional affiliation, religion, or political beliefs. Editors must not handle manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest. In such cases, the manuscript should be reassigned to another qualified editor.
The journal preserves the confidentiality of the peer review process and protects reviewer anonymity in accordance with its single-blind peer review model. Editors may seek additional opinions, including statistical or methodological review, where necessary to ensure a sound editorial decision.
When errors, ethical concerns, or misconduct are identified, the Editor has the authority and responsibility to take appropriate action, including requesting clarification, rejecting a submission, publishing a correction, issuing an expression of concern, or retracting a published article when warranted.
Corrections, Clarifications, and Retractions
IJOTM is committed to preserving the accuracy of the scholarly record. When a significant error or ethical concern is identified in a published article, the journal may publish a correction, clarification, expression of concern, or retraction, depending on the nature and seriousness of the issue.
Corrections are used when part of the article remains reliable but a significant error requires formal amendment. Retractions are issued when the findings are unreliable because of major error, fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, unethical research, or other serious breaches of publication ethics. The journal follows COPE guidance in evaluating and handling such cases.
Conflicts of Interest
All participants in the publication process should disclose relevant conflicts of interest. Authors must declare any interests that could influence the design, conduct, interpretation, or reporting of their work. Reviewers and editors must also disclose conflicts and recuse themselves when such conflicts may impair objective judgment.
Disclosure of a conflict of interest does not necessarily prevent publication or participation in review; however, failure to disclose a relevant conflict may itself be considered an ethical concern.
Copyright and Use of Third-Party Material
Authors are responsible for ensuring that all material included in the manuscript is either original, properly licensed, or used with permission. If a manuscript includes previously published figures, tables, images, questionnaires, or substantial text, it is the authors’ responsibility to obtain any necessary written permission from the copyright holder before publication.
Authors must also ensure that reused material is clearly acknowledged and cited appropriately.
Journal Response to Misconduct
Suspected breaches of publication ethics are evaluated carefully and confidentially. The journal may request explanations, original files, ethical approval documents, authorship clarification, funding information, or institutional input as part of an investigation. If misconduct is confirmed, actions may include manuscript rejection, suspension of review, retraction, publication of a correction or notice, or notification of institutions or relevant authorities, as appropriate.
IJOTM follows COPE principles and flowcharts in addressing ethical complaints and misconduct at both the pre-publication and post-publication stages.