Publication Policy

The Atlas University Journal of Medicine and Health Sciences is committed to upholding the highest ethical standards in publishing and adheres to established international guidelines. All individuals involved in the publication process—Editors, Reviewers, Authors, and Publishers—must comply with these ethical standards without exception. Every manuscript submitted to the journal undergoes evaluation through the iThenticate plagiarism detection software. Manuscripts exhibiting a similarity index greater than 20% will not be accepted for publication. The journal aligns with the World Medical Association's (WMA) Declaration of Helsinki – Ethical Principles for Medical Research Involving Human Subjects (2013) and the WMA Statement on Animal Use in Biomedical Research (2016), incorporating these ethical standards into its practices. Additionally, the journal follows the recommendations set forth by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) throughout its editorial processes.
For clinical and experimental research, drug trials, and certain case reports, authors must provide an Ethics Committee report in line with the aforementioned international standards. The manuscript must clearly state the name and approval number of the ethics committee involved. If necessary, the journal may request the Ethics Committee report or an equivalent official document from the authors. When reporting experimental studies involving human participants, the authors should include a statement confirming that informed consent was obtained after thoroughly explaining the procedures to the subjects. For studies involving animals, the article must detail the measures taken to minimize pain, suffering, and discomfort. It is the authors' responsibility to ensure the confidentiality of patients' identities. For any photographs that could reveal a patient's identity, signed consent from the patients or their legal representatives must be submitted.
The Editor or Editorial Board Member reserves the right to reject manuscripts that do not adhere to the journal's guidelines or editorial policies, to return them to the authors for revisions, or to edit them for formatting. The Editor or Editorial Board Member may also consult external experts for manuscript evaluations. A request for revisions does not guarantee publication. The authors retain full ethical, scientific, and legal responsibility for the articles published in the journal. Manuscript materials will not be returned to authors, regardless of whether they are accepted for publication. No royalties will be provided for articles published in the journal.

Ethical Principles

The Atlas Journal of Medicine is a peer-reviewed scientific publication that maintains rigorous ethical and editorial standards. There are no fees associated with submitting articles or other processes related to the journal, and all accepted articles are available for free reading and downloading. The journal adheres to the principles established by ICMJE (International Committee of Medical Journal Editors), BOAI (Budapest Open Access Initiative), and DOAJ (Directory of Open Access Journals). All editors, reviewers, authors, and journal staff must be familiar with and comply with the relevant ethical guidelines set by COPE.
Permission from the Ethics Committee or Institutional Review Board is mandatory for all studies involving human participants and test animals. Authors must upload any required documents and information related to studies needing ethics committee approval. Ethics committee approvals should be submitted in PDF or JPEG format (this is not required for case reports or review articles). In case reports, authors must include a statement confirming that informed consent was obtained. For studies necessitating ethics approval, details regarding the approval (committee name, date, and approval number) should be included in the Materials and Methods section as well as on the first or last page of the article. Additionally, the Materials and Methods section should contain a declaration stating that the study adhered to international guidelines.
Ethical Guidelines for Editors
• Editors should accept articles that contribute meaningfully to the journal’s focus areas.
• Editors must avoid any conflicts of interest related to accepted or rejected manuscripts.
• Editors hold the complete authority to accept or decline submissions.
• It is the responsibility of editors to maintain the confidentiality of both peer reviewers and authors.
• Only articles that will significantly advance the field should be considered for publication.
• If an error is identified, editors should facilitate its correction or retraction.
• Editors are tasked with managing the pre-review, peer review, editing, and publication processes in an efficient and timely manner.
• Editors should not appoint individuals who do not contribute to the journal as editorial board members or associate editors.
Ethical Guidelines for Authors
• Submissions must be original and based on thorough research.
• All individuals listed as authors or co-authors must have made significant contributions to the work. It is unethical to include individuals without academic contributions as authors or to rank authors based on non-scientific criteria such as title, age, or gender, irrespective of their contributions.
• For articles with multiple authors, the specific contributions of each author to various stages of the work should be clearly outlined.
• Articles must not be submitted to multiple journals simultaneously or have been previously submitted to another journal. If a manuscript is found to have been sent elsewhere, the publication process will be terminated.
• Authors submitting to the journal are assumed to have read and accepted its publication and writing guidelines, thereby committing to these standards.
• All citations and references must be complete and accurate.
• Plagiarism and falsification of data must be strictly avoided.
• The similarity index from plagiarism checks should not exceed 20% for the peer review process to commence.
• The corresponding author has the responsibility to inform the journal editor of any potential conflicts of interest.
Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers
• Peer reviewers should recognize their vital role in ensuring the academic quality of articles submitted to the journal and engage in the review process with a commitment to enhancing scholarly standards.
• Reviewers should only accept to evaluate manuscripts in areas where they possess the necessary expertise. They must also respect the confidentiality of the blind peer review process and safeguard the details of the article at all times.
• After completing the review, any information regarding the manuscript should not be shared with anyone under any circumstances.
• Reviewers should focus solely on assessing the accuracy of the content and its conformity to academic standards. Personal disagreements with the article's arguments should not influence the review.
• Peer review reports must be objective and specific. Language that is defamatory, derogatory, or accusatory should be strictly avoided.
• Reviewers should refrain from making vague or unfounded statements in their evaluations. If the review leads to a negative outcome, a thorough explanation should be provided.
• Reviewers are expected to complete their evaluations within the designated timeframe. If they cannot fulfill the review, they should notify the journal promptly.
• Reviewers should identify any relevant published works that the authors have not cited. Any assertion that a particular observation, derivation, or argument has been previously documented must be accompanied by the appropriate citation. Reviewers should also inform the editor of any significant similarities or overlaps between the manuscript under review and other published works they are aware of.