Editorial Policies
The Journal of Medical and Oral Biosciences (JMOB) is committed to maintaining the highest standards of publication ethics and follows the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), and the GPP3 recommendations for authorship and responsible research reporting. Submission of a manuscript to the journal confirms that all listed authors have read and approved the final version of the manuscript, agree with its content, and confirm that the work complies with the journal’s ethical and editorial policies.
JMOB is committed to an independent, fair, and confidential peer-review process. The journal does not accept advertisements or commercial promotions from third parties, in order to protect editorial integrity and avoid conflicts of interest.
Affiliations
All authors and co-authors must provide their current institutional affiliations, clearly indicating where the research or scholarly work was conducted, supported, and, where applicable, approved. If an author has moved to a new institution after completing the work, the affiliation at the time the research was conducted should be listed as the primary affiliation, and the current affiliation should be given as a present address. Authors who do not have a current institutional affiliation should be identified as independent or non-affiliated at the time of submission.
Appeals and complaints
JMOB follows the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) in handling complaints, appeals, and potential cases of publication misconduct. The journal is committed to addressing concerns related to editorial processes, peer review, and publication ethics in a fair, transparent, and confidential manner.
Complaints
Complaints may relate to:
• editorial decisions
• delays in manuscript processing
• peer review quality
• breaches of confidentiality
• author or reviewer conduct
• research or publication ethics concerns
Complaints should be submitted in writing to the editorial office by email at . Complainants should provide full details, including their name, affiliation, manuscript reference number (if applicable), and a clear description of the issue. Receipt of the complaint will normally be acknowledged within 4 working days. The complaint will be reviewed fairly by the Editor-in-Chief or by an appropriate representative not involved in the matter. A written response will normally be provided within 2 working weeks, where possible. More complex cases may take longer, in which case the complainant will be kept informed. All complaints will be handled confidentially, and the information provided will be used only for the purpose of resolving the matter.
Appeals
Authors may submit an appeal if they believe that an editorial decision was based on a misunderstanding, a procedural error, or concerns that were not adequately addressed during review. Appeals must be submitted in writing to the editorial office at , clearly stating the reasons for the appeal and providing any relevant supporting information. Appeals will be reviewed by the Editor-in-Chief or another appropriate editor not involved in the original decision. The outcome of the appeal will be communicated in writing, and the journal’s decision after appeal will be considered final.
Acknowledgments
JMOB requests that authors acknowledge all individuals who contributed to the development of the manuscript but do not meet the criteria for authorship, including those who provided technical, editorial, or administrative support. In addition, all organizations and institutions that provided financial support, funding, or other resources for the conduct of the study should be clearly acknowledged.
Authorship
JMOB recognizes authorship as an important means of giving appropriate credit and ensuring responsibility and accountability for published work. Authorship should be limited to individuals who have made substantial contributions to the conception or design of the study, or to the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data; participated in drafting the manuscript or critically revising it for important intellectual content; approved the final version to be published; and agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work.
All authors must approve the submission of the manuscript to JMOB, and authorship credit should be based only on significant intellectual contribution. Any changes to authorship, before or after publication, must be approved by all authors and justified in writing by the corresponding author. Post-publication authorship changes will be addressed through an official correction notice. Requests that do not meet the journal’s authorship criteria or are not supported by sufficient documentation may be rejected.
Author Contributions
JMOB requests that all contributors clearly describe their specific roles in the preparation of the manuscript. Contributions may include study conception and design, intellectual content, literature review, clinical or experimental work, data acquisition, data analysis, manuscript preparation, editing, and critical revision.
Example:
(Author initials 1) and (Author initials 2) designed the study. (Author initials 3) collected and analyzed the data. (Author initials 1) and (Author initials 2) drafted and revised the manuscript. All authors reviewed and approved the final version.
Citations
To maintain the standards of JMOB, authors must ensure that all references are relevant, accurate, and appropriate to support the statements made in the manuscript. Authors are responsible for ensuring that cited sources directly support the associated claims.
Authors must avoid citation manipulation, including excessive self-citation or the inappropriate addition of references intended primarily to increase citation counts rather than support the scholarly content of the manuscript.
Non-research articles, such as review articles or opinion pieces, should present a fair and balanced overview of the relevant literature and should not rely on references that are unduly selective or biased.
If authors are uncertain about reference suitability or citation practice, they may contact the editorial office at for guidance.
Conflicts of Interest
To uphold JMOB standards for high-quality, evidence-based research, authors must follow these disclosure rules:
• Mandatory Declaration: All authors must disclose any actual or perceived competing interests relevant to their work.
• Defining Interests: Report any financial, professional, or personal relationships (including those involving employers, sponsors, or family) that could influence research findings or interpretation.
• Total Transparency: Both financial and non-financial associations must be declared to ensure unbiased scholarly discourse and support the journal's goal of improving human health.
Corrections, Expressions of Concern, and Retraction Policy
JMOB may issue post-publication updates when necessary to maintain the accuracy and integrity of the scholarly record. Such actions are taken following editorial assessment and, where appropriate, in line with COPE guidance.
Corrections
Minor errors that do not affect the overall results, interpretation, or conclusions of the article, such as typographical errors, minor data inaccuracies, or author details, may be corrected through an official correction notice. The correction notice will be published online and linked to the original article.
Expressions of Concern
An expression of concern may be issued when serious questions are raised about the integrity, reliability, or ethical conduct of a published article, but the available evidence is not yet sufficient to support a correction or retraction. The notice will be linked to the original article while the matter is under investigation.
Retractions
If substantial errors, plagiarism, data fabrication, ethical breaches, or other forms of research misconduct are identified that significantly affect the validity, reliability, or integrity of the published work, the article may be retracted. A retraction notice will explain the reason for the retraction and will remain linked to the original article, which will be clearly marked as retracted.
Manuscript Withdrawal Before Publication
Authors may request withdrawal of a manuscript before publication if valid reasons are provided, such as major errors or duplicate submission. Once an article has been published, withdrawal is no longer possible; any necessary post-publication action will be handled through correction, expression of concern, or retraction, as appropriate.
Confidentiality
JMOB treats all submitted manuscripts as confidential documents. Manuscripts will not be disclosed to anyone other than individuals directly involved in the editorial assessment and peer-review process, including editorial staff, editors, and reviewers. In cases of suspected research or publication misconduct, the journal may share relevant information with appropriate ethics committees, institutions, or other responsible bodies where necessary to investigate and resolve the matter. JMOB follows relevant COPE guidance in maintaining confidentiality, integrity, and appropriate editorial procedures throughout the publication process.
Copyright, Licensing, and Access
Who Can Submit?
Any individual may submit an original manuscript to JMOB, provided that they hold the copyright to the work or have obtained permission from the copyright holder(s). Authors retain copyright of their work prior to publication, except where copyright has been assigned to an employer or institution under specific agreements.
Copyright
Authors retain copyright of their work published in JMOB. By submitting and publishing with the journal, authors grant JMOB the right to publish, distribute, and make the work available as part of the journal’s content, while ensuring appropriate attribution to the original authors.
Licensing
All articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0) license. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided that the original work is appropriately credited and any derivative works are distributed under the same license.
Open Access Policy
JMOB is a fully open-access journal, meaning that all articles are freely and immediately available online to all users upon publication. Users are permitted to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, and link to the full texts of articles, in accordance with the terms of the CC BY-SA 4.0 license, without financial, legal, or technical barriers.
To support the costs of open-access publishing, JMOB charges an article processing charge (APC) for Iraqi authors, while publication is free of charge for authors from other countries; see the Author Guidelines page for further details.
Data Sharing Policy
JMOB encourages the responsible sharing of research data to support transparency, reproducibility, and scientific integrity, while respecting ethical, legal, and privacy requirements. Authors are encouraged to make the data supporting their findings openly available whenever possible in a form that allows verification and reuse.
As part of the journal’s updated policy, all new submissions must include a Data Availability Statement indicating where the supporting data can be accessed or explaining any restrictions on access.
Acceptable statements include:
• The data are available in a public repository with a persistent link.
• The data are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
• No datasets were generated or analyzed in this study.
Manuscript Desk Rejection Policy
JMOB conducts an initial editorial screening process to ensure that submitted manuscripts meet the journal’s scope, ethical standards, and basic quality requirements before peer review. A manuscript may be rejected at the desk review stage for the following reasons:
1. Out of Scope: The subject of the manuscript is not relevant to the aims and scope of the journal.
2. Ethical Concerns: The manuscript shows evidence of publication ethics concerns, failure to follow accepted ethical or reporting standards, or plagiarism. Submissions with a similarity index greater than 20% may be subject to further review and may be rejected where significant overlap or plagiarism is identified. Similarity scores are assessed alongside editorial judgment.
3. Limited Scientific Contribution: The study does not demonstrate sufficient scientific relevance or does not contribute meaningful new knowledge to the field.
4. Methodological Flaws: The study contains significant weaknesses in design, methods, analysis, or interpretation that affect the validity or reliability of the findings.
5. Unclear Objectives: The research objectives or hypotheses are not clearly stated or justified.
6. Incomplete or Poorly Organized Manuscript: The submission lacks essential sections, contains inadequate structure, or presents incomplete information.
7. Language and Writing Quality: The manuscript contains substantial problems in language, clarity, or grammar that impede understanding.
8. Non-compliance with Author Guidelines: The manuscript does not follow the journal’s submission, formatting, or policy requirements.
Manuscripts that do not meet these criteria may be returned to the authors without external peer review.
Duplicate Submission and Publication Policy
JMOB requires that all manuscripts submitted for consideration are original and not under review or published elsewhere. Authors must formally declare, at the time of submission, that the manuscript has not been submitted to another journal. Detection of duplicate submission or prior publication is considered a serious breach of publication ethics and may result in rejection or further action.
This policy applies to all forms of duplicate publication, including articles previously published in another language. In cases of acceptable secondary publication (e.g., translation of a previously published article), authors must follow the recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). Authors are required to obtain permission from the publisher and copyright holder of the original article and inform the Editor of JMOB about the publication history. Furthermore, the published manuscript must clearly state that it is a translated or secondary version and include a full citation of the original source.
Funding Policy
JMOB requires authors to clearly disclose all sources of funding and financial support related to their research in the submitted manuscript. This includes grants, institutional support, and any other financial contributions that may have influenced the study.
Authors must also describe the role of the funding organization or sponsor(s), if any, in all stages of the research process, including study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, and manuscript preparation or submission. If the sponsor(s) had no involvement in these aspects, this should be explicitly stated.
All funding information must be accurate, transparent, and compliant with the requirements of the funding bodies. Failure to disclose funding sources or potential influences may lead to rejection of the manuscript or other appropriate actions in accordance with the journal’s ethical standards.
Images and Figures Policy
JMOB requires that all images, figures, and graphical materials included in a manuscript are directly relevant to the study and add scientific value to the work. Authors should avoid the use of purely illustrative or decorative content that does not contribute to the scholarly quality or interpretation of the research.
Authors are responsible for ensuring that all visual materials comply with ethical and legal standards. Where images, tables, figures, or any other materials are owned by a third party, authors must obtain written permission from the copyright holder before submission. This includes, but is not limited to, proprietary text, illustrations, tables, datasets, audio or video content, screenshots, film stills, and supplementary materials. Evidence of permission may be requested by the journal informed consent.
Misconduct
JMOB is committed to maintaining the integrity of the scholarly record and will investigate allegations of research, publication, and peer-review misconduct in accordance with relevant COPE guidance and accepted editorial standards. Appropriate action may be taken where misconduct is identified.
Examples of misconduct include:
• Plagiarism and redundant publication, including text recycling, duplicate submission, and misrepresentation of authorship or affiliations;
• Data or image manipulation, including fabrication, falsification, or deceptive alteration of research materials or results;
• Peer-review or publication-process manipulation, including inappropriate influence on the review or editorial process;
• Citation manipulation, including the inappropriate addition of references intended primarily to inflate citation counts;
• Ethical or legal breaches, including research conducted without appropriate ethical standards or the unauthorized use of third-party material;
• Undisclosed competing interests, where relevant financial or non-financial interests are not properly declared.
Handling Allegations of Misconduct
JMOB takes all allegations of research, publication, or peer-review misconduct seriously, whether they arise before or after publication. Allegations will be assessed by the editorial office and the Editor-in-Chief, and may be handled in accordance with relevant COPE guidance. Where necessary, the journal may request explanations, supporting documentation, or clarification from the authors or other parties involved, and may also contact the relevant institution, ethics committee, or other appropriate body for further investigation.
If concerns are substantiated, JMOB may take appropriate editorial action, including rejection of the manuscript, publication of a correction, expression of concern, or retraction, depending on the nature and seriousness of the case. All cases will be handled as fairly, confidentially, and transparently as possible.
Publication Ethics
JMOB is committed to maintaining high standards of publication ethics and integrity in accordance with the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME). The journal ensures transparency, fairness, and accountability throughout the editorial and peer-review process.
Duties of Editors
1. Editors make publication decisions based on scientific value, originality, relevance, and reviewer recommendations.
2. Editorial decisions comply with legal and ethical standards related to libel, copyright, and plagiarism, in accordance with the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME).
3. Decisions are unbiased and not influenced by the authors’ nationality, ethnicity, race, religion, or political beliefs.
4. Editors maintain strict confidentiality of all submitted manuscripts during the review process.
5. Information about manuscripts is disclosed only to the corresponding author, reviewers, and editorial advisers.
6. Unpublished materials must not be used in personal research without the author’s written consent.
7. Editors ensure transparency by requiring disclosure of funding sources and sponsor involvement.
8. Editors promote a fair, objective, and timely peer-review process.
9. Policies are applied to manage submissions from editorial board members to ensure unbiased review.
10. Clear guidance on authorship and ethical responsibilities is provided to authors.
11. Editors encourage reviewers to identify ethical issues, misconduct, plagiarism, and redundant publication.
12. Reviewer comments are shared with authors unless they are offensive or inappropriate.
13. Reviewer contributions are acknowledged, and poor or delayed reviews are addressed.
14. Editors ensure the scientific quality, integrity, and accuracy of published content.
15. Ethical approval for research involving humans or animals must be confirmed when required.
16. Editors monitor intellectual property issues and address potential ethical or legal breaches.
17. Editors must disclose any actual or potential conflicts of interest and recuse themselves from handling manuscripts where such conflicts could affect, or reasonably be perceived to affect, their impartiality.
18. Errors, misleading statements, or inaccuracies are corrected promptly and transparently.
Duties of Reviewers
1. Reviewers assist the editorial board in making informed and objective publication decisions.
2. Reviews are conducted fairly, objectively, and supported with clear and constructive comments.
3. Feedback should help authors improve the scientific quality and clarity of their manuscripts.
4. Personal criticism of authors is inappropriate and should be avoided.
5. Reviewers must inform the editor if they are unqualified to review the manuscript.
6. Reviewers should decline review if they cannot complete it within the required time.
7. Reviewers must disclose any conflicts of interest and recuse themselves when necessary.
8. Manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents.
9. Information obtained through peer review must not be used for personal or professional advantage.
10. Reviewers should identify relevant published work not cited by the authors.
11. Proper citation of previously published work should be recommended when necessary.
12. Reviewers must report any suspected plagiarism, redundant publication, or data duplication.
13. Reviewers should alert editors to any substantial similarity between the manuscript and other published work.
14. Reviewers are expected to follow ethical and professional standards in line with the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME).
Duties of Authors
1. Authors must present accurate, clear, and honest reports of their research.
2. Data and results should be reported truthfully and discussed objectively.
3. Authors should keep and provide raw data when requested and retain it for at least two years after publication.
4. Fabrication, falsification, or knowingly inaccurate statements are unethical and unacceptable.
5. Authors must ensure that their work is original and properly cite all sources.
6. Authors must disclose the use of generative AI or AI-assisted tools in accordance with the journal’s AI policy.
7. Plagiarism in any form is unacceptable. Authors must avoid inappropriate citation practices, including excessive or manipulative self-citation.
8. Submitting the same or similar manuscript to more than one journal at the same time is unethical.
9. Authors must disclose all financial support and funding sources.
10. Any potential conflicts of interest must be clearly declared.
11. Individuals who meet the journal’s authorship criteria should be listed as authors.
12. The corresponding author must ensure that all co-authors approve the final manuscript and agree to submission.
13. Contributors who do not meet authorship criteria should be acknowledged appropriately.
14. Authors must promptly inform the editor if significant errors or inaccuracies are found after publication.
15. Authors should cooperate with the journal to correct or retract the article when necessary, in line with the principles of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)World Association of Medical Editors (WAME).
Peer Review Process
JMOB follows a double-blind peer-review process to ensure the quality, validity, and integrity of the research it publishes.
1. Initial Editorial Screening
All submitted manuscripts are first assessed by the editorial office and the Editor-in-Chief, or an appropriate editor, to determine whether they fall within the journal’s scope and meet the journal’s basic quality, ethical, and formatting requirements.
2. Desk Rejection or Peer Review
Manuscripts that do not meet the journal’s requirements may be rejected without external peer review. Manuscripts considered suitable for further evaluation are sent for peer review.
3. Reviewer Assignment
Suitable manuscripts are sent to independent reviewers with relevant subject expertise. The journal operates a double-blind peer-review system, in which the identities of authors and reviewers are concealed from each other.
4. Peer Review Evaluation
Reviewers assess the manuscript for scientific quality, originality, methodological soundness, clarity, relevance to the journal’s scope, and compliance with ethical standards. Reviewers provide comments and recommendations to assist the editorial decision-making process.
5. Editorial Decision
Based on the reviewers’ reports and editorial assessment, the Editor-in-Chief or handling editor will make a decision, which may include acceptance, minor revision, major revision, or rejection.
6. Revision and Resubmission
If revisions are requested, authors should revise the manuscript in response to the reviewers’ and editors’ comments and resubmit the revised version within the requested timeframe.
7. Further Review Where Necessary
Revised manuscripts may be sent for further editorial assessment and, where appropriate, returned to the original or additional reviewers for further evaluation.
8. Final Decision
A final decision on the manuscript is made by the Editor-in-Chief or the appropriate editor after completion of the review and revision process.
All manuscripts are handled as confidential documents throughout the peer-review and editorial process.
Plagiarism
JMOB is committed to maintaining the integrity of the scholarly record and has a strict policy against plagiarism and redundant publication. All submitted manuscripts are screened using iThenticate (Crossref Similarity Check) during the initial editorial evaluation.
Similarity reports are used as a screening tool and are assessed by the editors in context. A similarity score alone does not determine the presence of plagiarism.
Manuscripts may be rejected or returned to the authors for revision where:
• there is evidence of plagiarism, text recycling, or inappropriate overlap with previously published work;
• the similarity level is considered excessive and cannot be justified by standard scientific writing (e.g., methods, references, or commonly used phrases).
As a general guideline, manuscripts with a similarity index above 20% may be subject to further editorial review and may be rejected where significant overlap is identified.
Authors are responsible for ensuring that their work is original, properly cited, and compliant with ethical standards. All sources must be appropriately acknowledged.
Confirmed cases of plagiarism, duplicate publication, or unethical reuse of content will be handled in accordance with the journal’s Misconduct and Corrections and Retraction Policy, and may result in rejection, retraction, or notification of the authors’ institutions where appropriate.
Use of Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies
JMOB recognizes that generative artificial intelligence (AI) and AI-assisted technologies may be used in limited ways during manuscript preparation. Their use must be transparent, responsible, and consistent with the principles of research integrity, confidentiality, and ethical publishing.
Use of AI by Authors
Authors may use generative AI or AI-assisted tools for limited support functions, such as improving language, grammar, readability, or manuscript organization. Such tools must not be used in place of essential scholarly judgment or intellectual contribution. In particular, they must not be relied upon to generate research concepts, interpret scientific findings, analyze data, or produce conclusions without appropriate human oversight and verification.
Any AI-assisted use must remain under the full control of the authors. Authors are responsible for reviewing, correcting, and approving all content before submission and must ensure that the manuscript is accurate, original, properly referenced, and free from misleading, biased, or erroneous material. Responsibility for the submitted work remains entirely with the authors.
Generative AI tools cannot be named as authors or co-authors, as they cannot assume responsibility for the integrity, accuracy, or accountability of the work.
Disclosure of AI Use
Authors must disclose the use of generative AI or AI-assisted technologies where such tools have made a substantive contribution to the wording, content, or preparation of the manuscript. This disclosure should be included in the manuscript and should identify the tool used and describe its role.
Routine tools that do not generate substantive content (e.g., spelling or grammar correction tools) do not require disclosure in the manuscript.
All authors must complete and sign the journal’s Generative AI Declaration Form as part of submission, confirming whether generative AI or AI-assisted tools were used in the preparation of the manuscript and, where applicable, describing their role.
Responsible Use, Privacy, and Confidentiality
Authors must ensure that the use of AI tools complies with applicable standards of privacy, confidentiality, copyright, and data protection. Confidential, sensitive, unpublished, or third-party copyrighted material should not be entered into external AI systems unless the authors have the necessary rights, permissions, and appropriate safeguards in place.
Figures, Images, and Research Data
Generative AI must not be used to create, modify, enhance, or manipulate figures, images, or other visual materials in a way that could misrepresent the underlying research, observations, or findings. Where AI-based tools are used legitimately as part of the research methodology, such as in image analysis or data processing, this use must be described clearly and transparently in the manuscript, including the name of the tool and the manner in which it was applied.
Use of AI in Peer Review
To protect the confidentiality and integrity of the peer-review process, reviewers must not upload submitted manuscripts, in whole or in part, to generative AI or external AI-assisted tools for summarizing, evaluation, translation, or report drafting. Peer review requires independent expert assessment and human judgment, and reviewers remain fully responsible for the content, fairness, and quality of their reports.
Policy Review
JMOB will continue to monitor developments in generative AI and related technologies and may update this policy when necessary to maintain appropriate standards of research integrity, confidentiality, and ethical publishing.
Preprints Policy
JMOB allows authors to post and share preprints of their manuscripts before submission and during the review process. Posting a manuscript as a preprint will not be considered prior publication and will not prevent the manuscript from being considered for publication in the journal.
Upon acceptance and publication, authors should update the preprint record to include a link to the final published article using its official DOI.
Protection of Patients' Rights to Privacy
JMOB is committed to protecting the privacy and dignity of patients and research participants.
1. Anonymity and Identifiable Information
Identifying information, including names, initials, photographs, scans, pedigrees, or other personal details, must not be published unless it is essential for scientific purposes and written informed consent for publication has been obtained from the patient or the patient’s parent or legal guardian.
2. Informed Consent for Publication
Manuscripts containing identifiable patient information or images must include a statement confirming that informed consent for publication was obtained. Authors should ensure that patients are informed that material may be published online as well as in print.
3. Author Responsibility
Authors are responsible for obtaining and securely retaining the relevant consent forms in accordance with applicable laws and institutional requirements. Consent forms should not be submitted routinely to the journal, but the journal may request them if necessary for editorial or ethical review.
Research Ethics and Consent
All research submitted to JMOB must comply with applicable ethical, legal, and institutional standards.
General Requirements
1. All studies involving humans, animals, plants, biological materials, protected or non-public datasets, or collections must include an Ethics Approval Statement in the manuscript.
2. The statement must identify the relevant ethics committee, institutional review board, or other approving authority, and include the approval number or reference ID where applicable.
3. Authors must confirm that ethical approval was obtained before the study was conducted, where required.
Human Studies
1. Research involving humans must comply with the Declaration of Helsinki and other applicable ethical standards.
2. Authors must state that informed consent was obtained from all participants, or from their parent or legal guardian where appropriate.
3. Participant privacy and confidentiality must be protected at all times.
4. Studies should use the terms sex and gender appropriately where relevant.
Animal Studies
1. Animal research must comply with applicable institutional, national, and international ethical and legal requirements.
2. Authors must provide ethics approval and any required licensing details.
3. The use of animals and the selected species must be scientifically justified.
4. Information on housing, care, welfare, anesthesia, analgesia, and euthanasia must be reported where relevant.
5. Authors should describe measures taken to minimize animal suffering.
6. Manuscripts that do not meet ethical or welfare standards may be rejected.
7. Authors are encouraged to report animal studies in line with the ARRIVE Guidelines, where applicable.
Plant Studies
1. Plant research must comply with applicable institutional, national, and international regulations.
2. Required permits, approvals, or licenses must be stated where applicable.
3. Authors must comply with relevant requirements relating to protected species, including the Convention on Biological Diversity and CITES , where applicable.
Informed Consent
For studies involving human participants, authors must include a clear statement in the manuscript confirming that informed consent was obtained before participation. Where identifying information is included and publication of such material is scientifically necessary, separate written consent for publication must also be obtained.
Special Issues and Appointment of Guest Editors
Special Issues
1. Topics for special issues are identified and approved by the editorial team of JMOB and are announced through the journal’s official communication channels.
2. A call for papers for special issues is issued and promoted through the journal’s official communication channels.
3. All submissions to special issues must follow the same author guidelines, ethical standards, and peer-review procedures as regular issues of the journal.
4. Manuscripts are submitted through the journal’s online system and undergo initial editorial screening, followed by a double-blind peer-review process where appropriate.
5. Final publication decisions are made by the Editor-in-Chief based on reviewer recommendations and editorial evaluation.
Appointment of Guest Editors
1. Guest Editors are selected based on academic expertise, professional reputation, and relevant editorial or research experience. Nominations may be proposed by the editorial board, current editors, or through self-nomination. All nominations are reviewed and approved by the Editor-in-Chief.
2. Guest Editors may assist in defining the scope of the special issue, preparing the call for papers, coordinating the editorial process, and supporting peer review in accordance with the journal’s policies.
3. Guest Editors must act in accordance with the journal’s ethical standards and must declare any actual or potential conflicts of interest. Where a conflict exists, they must not be involved in the editorial handling of the affected manuscript.
4. Final acceptance decisions remain the responsibility of the Editor-in-Chief.
5. The journal ensures that all special issues maintain the same transparency, integrity, ethical standards, and publication quality as regular issues.
Publication Timing
JMOB accepts manuscript submissions throughout the year and publishes quarterly (four issues per year). Manuscripts are considered for publication once they have successfully completed peer review and are ready for publication, regardless of the submission date. All issues, including special issues, follow the same editorial standards, ethical policies, and double-blind peer-review procedures in accordance with the journal’s author guidelines.
Standards of Reporting
JMOB requires authors to present their research clearly, accurately, and with sufficient detail to allow readers and reviewers to understand, assess, and, where appropriate, replicate the work.
Use of Third-Party Material
Authors must ensure that any third-party material, including images, tables, figures, or other copyrighted content, is used lawfully and with appropriate permission where required. It is the authors’ responsibility to obtain written permission from the copyright holder for any material reproduced from other sources and to provide proper acknowledgment.