LMDAJ is the journal of the Liberia Medical & Dental Association. Our readers use what we publish to care for patients, so trust is essential. We expect honesty, accountability and respect for patients and participants from everyone involved: authors, reviewers, editors and the publishing team. LMDAJ follows the recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) and the guidance and core practices of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Ethical expectations apply equally to all, and we support authors in Liberia and West Africa in meeting them.
Ethical approval and research involving people or animals
- Research on human participants or identifiable human data must have approval, or a formal waiver, from an appropriate research ethics committee or institutional review board. State the committee and approval number in the Methods.
- Where no formal ethics committee exists, authors must explain why and show that the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki were followed. Editors may ask for documentation.
- Authors must describe how informed consent was obtained (written or oral) or why it was waived. Authors may not decide for themselves that research is exempt; they must cite the rule or body that decided.
- Clinical trials must be registered in a public registry before enrolment of the first participant, and the registration number reported.
- Animal research must follow national and international guidelines (such as ARRIVE) and have committee approval.
- Research must protect the privacy and dignity of communities. Authors should consider community consent and local context.
- Research done abroad must be done fairly with local partners; local researchers who meet authorship criteria must be included as authors.
Patient consent and confidentiality
- Patients have a right to privacy. Identifying details (names, initials, hospital numbers, dates, photographs, or any detail that could identify someone) must be removed unless essential and consented.
- Written consent to publish is required for any identifiable description, photograph or video, from the patient, or a parent or guardian for minors, or a relative if the patient has died or lacks capacity (see Appendix A).
- Authors should offer patients the chance to see what will be published.
- Case reports require consent or a documented waiver and are checked by the editor.
- De-identifying data by omitting detail is acceptable; altering data is not.
Research integrity and misconduct
Misconduct includes fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, image manipulation, undisclosed duplicate submission or publication, fake peer review, citation manipulation, and unethical research.
- Plagiarism: presenting other people’s ideas, text or results as one’s own, including text recycling without citation. Manuscripts are screened with similarity-checking software. Work with substantial uncited copying will be rejected.
- Duplicate and redundant publication: work must be original and not under consideration elsewhere. Authors must disclose related papers, posted preprints and prior presentations at submission.
- Image integrity: images must represent the original data. Only minimal adjustments are acceptable. Editors may request original files.
- Data: authors should keep the raw data and provide it to editors on request.
- Salami publication, citation manipulation and paper mills are treated as misconduct.
- Reporting standards: authors should follow EQUATOR guidelines (CONSORT, STROBE, PRISMA, CARE and others) and the journal’s checklist.
Funding, sponsors and independence
- Authors must state all sources of funding and the role of the funder in the study design, analysis, writing and decision to publish.
- The Association, advertisers and sponsors have no influence over which manuscripts are accepted. Editorial decisions are independent of commercial and membership considerations.
- Advertising is clearly distinguished from editorial content.
Editors’ ethical responsibilities
- Decisions are made on scientific merit and relevance only, not on the authors’ nationality, gender, ethnicity, religion, institution, seniority, membership of the Association or ability to pay.
- Editors and editorial board members who submit to LMDAJ are handled by an independent editor and are excluded from all decisions on their own work.
- Editors keep confidential all information about submissions.
- Editors act on complaints, concerns and allegations promptly and document what they do.
- Editors do not use unpublished material in their own work without the author’s consent.
Reviewers’ ethical responsibilities
Reviewers keep manuscripts confidential, declare conflicts, review objectively and report suspected misconduct, as described in the Peer Review Policy and Reviewer Resources. Reviewers must not use AI tools with confidential manuscripts (AI Policy).
Authors’ ethical responsibilities
Authors must submit honest, original and accurate work; follow authorship criteria; declare competing interests; obtain approvals and consents; share data on request; cooperate with investigations; and correct errors promptly. AI use must be disclosed as set out in the AI Policy.
Handling concerns and suspected misconduct
Anyone may raise a concern, before or after publication, through the Contact the Editorial Office page.
- Receipt: the editorial office acknowledges the concern within 5 working days.
- Assessment: the Chief Editor (or an independent editor if conflicted) decides whether it warrants investigation, following COPE flowcharts.
- Inquiry: the editors ask the authors for an explanation, and request original data, ethics approvals or images where needed. Authors have a fair chance to respond.
- Institution: where serious, the editors may contact the authors’ institution, funder, ethics committee or regulator.
- Outcome: possible actions include no action, request for correction, editorial expression of concern, retraction, rejection, and notification to the authors’ institution. Authors may be barred from submitting for a period.
- Confidentiality: investigations are confidential as far as possible. Anonymous concerns are considered if they include evidence.
- Appeal: a decision may be appealed once to an editor not involved. See the Peer Review Policy.
Complaints about the journal
Complaints about editors, reviewers or the process go to the Chief Editor via the Contact the Editorial Office page. If unresolved, the complainant may contact the Association or COPE.
Privacy and data protection
LMDAJ handles authors’, reviewers’ and readers’ personal data lawfully and only for editorial and publishing purposes. See our Privacy Policy.
Languages and equity
Ethical standards apply equally in English and French. Authors writing in an additional language are not disadvantaged in the assessment of integrity.
Review of this policy
The Editorial Board reviews this policy annually and after significant cases.
Appendix A: Patient consent to publish (outline)
I, [name], agree that [description of information, photographs or video] about me [or my child or relative] may be published in LMDAJ (print and online, open access, worldwide, including translations). I understand that it may be seen by the public, that the journal cannot guarantee anonymity, and that I can withdraw consent before publication but not after. ☐ I have seen the material. Signature, date, witness.
Appendix B: Ethics checklist for authors
- ☐ Ethics approval or waiver (committee, number)
- ☐ Informed consent described
- ☐ Trial registered
- ☐ Patient consent to publish
- ☐ Funding and competing interests declared
- ☐ Similarity check passed
- ☐ Related papers disclosed
- ☐ Images unaltered
- ☐ Reporting guideline checklist
- ☐ AI use disclosed
- ☐ All authors meet criteria