Code of Ethics

IPMM applies its own published editorial policies, informed by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidance and, where relevant, the Recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). IPMM is not a member of COPE or ICMJE, and reference to their guidance does not imply endorsement or certification. This code should be read with the journal’s specific policies on review, competing interests, research misconduct, authorship, plagiarism and corrections.

Editors

Editors decide on publication fairly, based on originality, methodological validity, clarity, relevance and ethical and legal requirements. They protect confidentiality, manage competing interests and do not use unpublished manuscript material for their own work without written permission. Sponsorship does not determine acceptance.

Reviewers

Reviewers accept assignments only when competent and able to act promptly and independently. They treat manuscripts as confidential, provide objective and respectful reports, disclose conflicts, identify significant overlap and do not use privileged information for personal benefit.

Authors

Authors report original research accurately, provide adequate methods and data where appropriate, cite relevant work, avoid simultaneous or redundant submission and identify all qualifying coauthors. They declare funding and competing interests, obtain required ethics approval and consent, and promptly inform the journal of significant errors after publication. Data sharing must respect participant confidentiality and institutional rights.

Concerns and the record

Suspected misconduct is handled fairly under the Research Misconduct Policy. Corrections, expressions of concern and retractions are published transparently when warranted. The journal does not silently alter the published record.