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Code of Conduct

The OncoDaily Medical Journal (ODMJ) is dedicated to disseminating high-quality oncology research that adheres to the strictest standards of academic integrity, transparency, and ethical conduct. This Code of Conduct outlines the responsibilities and expected behaviors of editors, reviewers, authors, and the publisher. The policies draw upon the guidance and best practices established by leading organizations, including  Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME), the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT), and other relevant EQUATOR Network guidelines.

This living document is regularly reviewed to reflect evolving standards in biomedical publishing, including developments in artificial intelligence, open science, data sharing, and global diversity.

Duties of Editors

Editorial Independence and Integrity

Editors at ODMJ operate with full independence and make decisions based solely on the scientific merit, methodological rigor, ethical compliance, and relevance of submitted manuscripts. Decisions are never influenced by commercial interests, advertising, or reprint revenue.

Peer Review Management

ODMJ employs a rigorous double-blind peer-review system for original research. Editors must:

  • Select reviewers with relevant subject matter expertise and no conflicts of interest.
  • Ensure reviews are thorough, timely, and constructive.
  • Detect and prevent fraudulent peer reviewer identities or coercive citation practices.

Editors must be vigilant for signs of manipulation of the peer review process, including the use of fictitious reviewers, unverifiable email addresses, or unusual reviewer behavior (e.g., very rapid acceptance, vague reports, similarities across reports). Editors should verify suggested reviewer identities and use conflict-of-interest tools when available.

Fairness and Transparency

All submissions are evaluated impartially, without regard to the authors’ nationality, gender, institutional affiliation, ethnicity, or political belief. Editors are responsible for establishing transparent editorial policies and ensuring they are consistently

Confidentiality and Data Protection

Editors must treat manuscripts as confidential material and may not share or discuss content with anyone outside the editorial process. Confidentiality extends to reviewer identities and correspondence.

Handling of Misconduct

Editors are responsible for addressing allegations of scientific misconduct. Following COPE guidelines, they must investigate reported concerns, contact relevant institutions when appropriate, and coordinate the publication of retractions, corrections, or expressions of concern as needed. Editors should follow a structured protocol in handling complaints or suspicions regarding misconduct, including:

  • Contact the corresponding author to seek an explanation.
  • Keeping complainant identities confidential unless disclosure is required.
  • Gathering evidence and seeking clarification from all involved parties
  • Consulting institutional officials, ethics boards, and, if necessary, legal counsel.
  • Maintaining fairness, objectivity, and confidentiality throughout the investigation.
  • Considering actions such as retraction, expression of concern, or correction, depending on findings.

Editorial Conflicts of Interest

Editors must disclose all conflicts of interest and recuse themselves from handling any manuscript in which they have a personal or professional stake. Editors are prohibited from participating in decisions regarding their work or that of close colleagues or family members.

Duties of Authors

Authorship and Accountability

Authorship must conform to ICMJE criteria:

  • Substantial contributions to study conception, design, data acquisition, or analysis
  • Drafting or critically revising the manuscript
  • Final approval of the version to be published
  • Accountability for all aspects of the work

Authors must ensure all listed contributors meet these criteria and that no ghost, guest, or honorary authors are included. Cases of authorship misrepresentation, such as gift or ghost authorship, are considered serious ethical violations.

Disclosure of Assistance

Any medical writing, statistical support, or other material assistance must be transparently acknowledged in the manuscript.

Originality and No Prior Publication

Submitted work must be original and not under review elsewhere. Preprints and abstract presentations are acceptable but must be disclosed. Duplicate or redundant publication is not allowed, except with full disclosure and permission, in cases where it is necessary (e.g., translated versions).

Research Ethics and Approvals

Authors must affirm that studies involving human or animal subjects received appropriate ethics committee approval. Informed consent must be documented for all identifiable patient data or images. Research involving human participants must adhere to the ethical principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki and comply with local or international regulations, including obtaining informed consent and ethics committee oversight.

Authors must also disclose if their manuscript contains patient photos or identifiable human images.  Studies involving human biological materials (e.g., tissues, blood, organs) must clearly state the source of the material, evidence of donor consent, and approval from an appropriate ethics review board.

For studies involving animals, authors must confirm compliance with recognized standards for humane care and use of animals in research, such as the ARRIVE guidelines, and national regulations (e.g., Directive 2010/63/EU, U.S. PHS Policy, or local equivalents). Authors should state the specific protocol number and the institutional oversight body.

Image Integrity

All images must reflect the original data truthfully. Authors must:

  • Avoid manipulation that misrepresents results
  • Clearly state any adjustments (e.g., brightness, contrast)
  • Retain original data and metadata for editorial inspection upon request
  • Refrain from using AI or graphic software to enhance, obscure, or falsify image content

Data Sharing and Transparency

Authors of clinical trials must submit a data-sharing statement and register a plan during trial registration. Data from microarray or high-throughput experiments must be deposited in public repositories (e.g., GEO, ArrayExpress). Data used must be accessible, traceable, and retained for peer verification.

Duties of Reviewers

Objectivity and Constructiveness

Reviewers must evaluate submissions fairly, constructively, and professionally. Criticism should focus on the content and quality of the manuscript and must avoid personal remarks. Reviews should provide clear, evidence-based reasoning for any suggestions or decisions and help authors improve the quality of their work.

Confidentiality

All materials under review are confidential. Reviewers must not share, distribute, or discuss manuscripts with unauthorized parties. Uploading content into AI tools or third-party applications without editorial consent is strictly forbidden.

Conflicts of Interest

Reviewers must disclose any potential conflicts of interest, such as collaborations, institutional affiliations, or personal relationships with the authors, that may bias their judgment. If a conflict exists, they should decline the invitation to review.

Ethical Vigilance

Reviewers play a key role in detecting misconduct. They must report suspicions of plagiarism, data manipulation, unethical experiments, or image falsification. Reviewers should also verify whether appropriate credit has been given to prior work and if the research meets ethical guidelines.

Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies

For Authors

Authors may use generative AI tools solely to improve grammar and readability. They must:

  • Disclose the specific tools used (e.g., ChatGPT, Grammarly), including the version and purpose
  • Maintain full responsibility for reviewing and correcting all AI-generated content
  • Avoid the use of AI to generate, alter, or fabricate research findings, including figures or images
  • Do not attribute authorship to AI systems or cite AI as a source.

The use of generative AI to create or alter images, figures, or scientific diagrams is strictly prohibited unless it is part of the research methodology. In such cases, a clear explanation must be provided in the Methods section, including tool names, parameters, and access to raw image data.

For Reviewers and Editors

To protect confidentiality and intellectual property, authors, reviewers, and editors must not upload unpublished manuscripts, reviews, or sensitive data into external AI systems in a way that could compromise privacy, confidentiality, or proprietary rights.

Clinical Trials and Registration

ODMJ aligns with ICMJE requirements for trial registration. All clinical trials must be registered in a publicly accessible, WHO/ICMJE-accepted registry before the first participant is enrolled, and the registry name and registration number must be reported in the manuscript. Consistent with the ICMJE’s expanded definition of clinical trials, this requirement applies to eligible trials that began enrolling on or after 1 July 2008, including pilot and feasibility studies where applicable..

Conflicts of Interest and Financial Disclosures

All authors, editors, and contributors must disclose actual or potential conflicts of interest:

  • Authors must submit conflict of interest forms and declare all financial ties, personal relationships, or professional affiliations that could affect the interpretation of the work.
  • Review articles and commentaries must be authored by individuals without significant financial interests in related commercial entities.

Disclosure statements are published with all accepted manuscripts. ODMJ may decline submissions where conflicts raise concerns over impartiality.

Post-Publication Policies

ODMJ is committed to maintaining the integrity of the scholarly record. When concerns arise, the journal may issue corrections, expressions of concern, retractions, or other updates as appropriate. Full procedures are described in ODMJ’s Corrections & Retractions Policy.

Copyright, Licensing, and Access

ODMJ is an open-access journal. All research articles are freely available online immediately upon publication and are licensed to allow broad reuse, in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). Full details are provided on the ODMJ Copyright and Licensing page.

Contact

Editorial Office: [email protected]
Ethics Inquiries: [email protected]