Publication Ethics and Editorial Policies

Version 1.0 | Effective date: 1 January 2027

1. Commitment to Publication Ethics

GEM (Journal of General, Emerging, and Multidisciplinary Medicine) is guided by a small set of enduring principles: scientific integrity, editorial independence, transparency, fairness, diversity and inclusiveness in scholarship, and the welfare of the patients and populations that medical research ultimately serves. These principles inform every policy in this document.

GEM follows the core principles set out by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). All parties involved in publishing with GEM — authors, reviewers, editors, and editorial staff — are expected to adhere to these standards throughout the editorial process.

GEM's editors are responsible for deciding which submissions are published, guided by the validity of the work and its relevance to readers, without regard to the authors' race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy.

2. Editorial Independence

Editorial decisions are made solely on the basis of scientific merit, originality, methodological soundness, ethical standards, and relevance to the journal's scope. Editorial decisions are independent of the journal's owner, sponsors, advertisers, or any other commercial interest.

GEM does not currently publish commercial advertising. Should this change in the future, advertising sales and placement will remain fully separated from, and will have no influence over, editorial decisions.

3. Peer Review Policy

All research articles, reviews, and case reports submitted to GEM undergo double-blind peer review. Author identity is withheld from reviewers and vice versa throughout the review process.

3.1 Process

  • Initial editorial screening for scope, originality, and basic quality standards.
  • Assignment to at least two independent reviewers with relevant subject expertise.
  • Reviewers evaluate scientific validity, methodology, originality, and clarity.
  • The handling editor makes a decision based on reviewer recommendations: accept, minor revision, major revision, or reject.
  • Target first-decision time: 6–8 weeks from submission.

3.2 Reviewer Conduct

Reviewers are expected to provide objective, constructive, and timely feedback, to maintain the confidentiality of manuscripts under review, and to declare any conflicts of interest that might bias their judgment. Reviewers who feel unqualified to review a manuscript, or who cannot complete a review within the requested timeframe, should notify the editor promptly.

4. Authorship Criteria

GEM follows the ICMJE recommendations for authorship. Authorship credit should be based on all of the following four criteria:

  • Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work, or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data.
  • Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content.
  • Final approval of the version to be published.
  • Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to its accuracy or integrity are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Individuals who contributed to the work but do not meet all four criteria should be acknowledged, not listed as authors. Corresponding authors must confirm that all listed authors meet these criteria at the time of submission. Submission requirements for authors, including ORCID identifiers, are detailed in the Author Guidelines.

5. Conflicts of Interest

Authors, reviewers, and editors must disclose any financial, personal, or professional relationships that could be perceived to influence their work. This includes but is not limited to funding sources, employment, consultancies, honoraria, patents, and personal relationships.

Authors must include a Conflicts of Interest statement in every submitted manuscript, even when there is none to declare ("The authors declare no conflicts of interest"). Editors and reviewers with a conflict of interest regarding a specific manuscript must recuse themselves from the review process.

6. Funding Statement

All manuscripts must include a Funding statement, separate from the Conflicts of Interest statement, identifying all sources of financial support for the research described, including grant numbers where applicable. If no external funding was received, authors must state this explicitly ("No external funding was received for this study").

7. Plagiarism and Research Integrity

All submissions to GEM are screened for textual similarity using plagiarism-detection software prior to peer review. Manuscripts with a high degree of textual overlap with previously published work, without proper citation, will be returned to the authors or rejected.

GEM defines research misconduct to include, but is not limited to: fabrication or falsification of data, plagiarism, duplicate submission or publication, and improper manipulation of images or results. Suspected misconduct is investigated in accordance with COPE guidelines and may result in rejection, retraction, or notification of the authors' institution.

8. Use of Artificial Intelligence

GEM permits the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools by authors and reviewers as an assistive tool, subject to disclosure and human accountability.

8.1 For Authors

  • AI tools may not be listed as authors, as they cannot take responsibility for the content or accept accountability for the work.
  • Any use of generative AI in the writing process (e.g., for language editing or drafting assistance) must be disclosed in the Methods or Acknowledgments section, specifying the tool used and its purpose.
  • Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, and integrity of the content, including any text or analysis produced with AI assistance.
  • AI-generated images, figures, or datasets must be explicitly disclosed and must not misrepresent research findings.
  • AI tools must not be used to generate or falsify research data, images, or results.

8.2 For Reviewers

  • Reviewers may not upload confidential manuscript content to public generative AI tools, as this may breach author confidentiality.
  • Any assistive use of AI in preparing a review report must not compromise the objectivity or confidentiality of the review process.

9. Preprint Policy

GEM permits submission of manuscripts that have been previously posted on recognized preprint servers (such as medRxiv, bioRxiv, or Research Square). Authors must disclose the preprint's location (including DOI, if available) at the time of submission, and are encouraged to update the preprint record with a link to the published version once the article has been accepted by GEM.

10. Data Availability

GEM encourages authors to make the data underlying their research findings openly available, where ethically and legally permissible. Manuscripts should include a Data Availability Statement describing where the data can be accessed, or explaining why data cannot be shared (e.g., for patient confidentiality reasons).

11. Clinical Trial Registration

In accordance with ICMJE policy, GEM requires that all clinical trials be registered in a publicly accessible, WHO- or ICMJE-recognized trial registry (e.g., ClinicalTrials.gov) before enrollment of the first participant. The trial registration number must be included in the abstract of the submitted manuscript.

12. Human and Animal Research Ethics

12.1 Human Subjects

Research involving human participants must have been conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and must have received approval from an appropriate institutional review board or independent ethics committee. Manuscripts must state the approving body and approval reference number, and confirm that informed consent was obtained from participants (or their guardians).

12.2 Animal Research

Research involving animals must comply with relevant institutional, national, and international guidelines for the ethical treatment of animals. Manuscripts must state the approving body and confirm adherence to applicable animal welfare guidelines (e.g., ARRIVE guidelines).

13. Corrections, Retractions, and Expressions of Concern

GEM follows COPE guidelines on retractions. Published articles may be corrected, retracted, or accompanied by an expression of concern in cases of honest error, research misconduct, duplicate publication, plagiarism, or unethical research.

  • Minor errors that do not affect the overall interpretation of the work are addressed through a formal correction notice, linked to the original article.
  • Retractions are issued for major errors or misconduct that invalidate the work's conclusions, and are clearly marked as retracted while remaining accessible in the archive.
  • Expressions of concern may be issued while an allegation is under investigation.

Authors retain copyright of their published work. Articles published in GEM are distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

15. Open Access Policy

GEM is a diamond open access journal: all content is freely available to readers immediately upon publication, and no article processing charge (APC) is levied on authors. This policy reflects the journal's commitment to removing financial barriers on both sides of publication.

16. Archiving Policy

GEM is committed to the long-term preservation of its scholarly record.

16.1 Current

All published content is permanently archived on the journal's own platform and mirrored via institutional backup.

16.2 Future

As the journal establishes indexing eligibility, GEM intends to pursue inclusion in recognized digital preservation networks, including LOCKSS, CLOCKSS, and the PKP Preservation Network (PKP PN).

17. Appeals and Complaints

Authors may appeal an editorial decision by submitting a reasoned, written appeal to the editor, explaining the grounds for reconsideration. Appeals are evaluated by the editor, in consultation with an independent editorial board member where appropriate. Complaints regarding the conduct of authors, reviewers, or editors may be submitted to editor@gemmedicine.org and will be handled in accordance with COPE guidelines.

18. References

  • Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) — publicationethics.org
  • International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) — icmje.org
  • Declaration of Helsinki — World Medical Association
  • ARRIVE Guidelines — Animal Research: Reporting of In Vivo Experiments
  • Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0)

GEM is committed to maintaining the highest standards of scientific integrity, editorial independence, transparency, and ethical publishing. These policies are reviewed annually and updated as international standards evolve.

For questions regarding these policies, contact editor@gemmedicine.org.