Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

The Journal of Ayurveda and Holistic Medicine (JAHM) is committed to maintaining high standards of integrity, transparency, accountability, and ethical conduct in scholarly publishing.

JAHM follows internationally accepted principles of publication ethics and expects authors, reviewers, editors, and publishers to uphold these standards throughout the research and publication process.

The journal follows and/or refers to the ethical and publication standards of the following organizations:

Where applicable, authors must also comply with relevant national ethical and regulatory requirements.

1. Ethical Approval for Research Involving Human Participants

All research involving human participants, identifiable human material, or identifiable human data must have received prior approval from an appropriately constituted Institutional Ethics Committee (IEC), Institutional Review Board (IRB), or equivalent ethics committee, as applicable.

Research involving human participants must be conducted in accordance with applicable national regulations and internationally accepted ethical principles, including the WMA Declaration of Helsinki.

The manuscript must clearly state:

  • Name of the approving Ethics Committee/IRB;

  • Approval/reference number, wherever applicable;

  • Date of approval, where applicable; and

  • Whether written informed consent was obtained from participants or their legally authorized representatives.

Ethical approval must ordinarily be obtained before initiation of the study and before recruitment of participants. Retrospective ethical approval will not normally be considered sufficient unless appropriately justified and permitted by the relevant ethical/regulatory framework.

If a study has been formally exempted from ethical review, authors should state the basis for exemption and provide documentation from the competent Ethics Committee/IRB when requested by the journal.

2. Informed Consent

For research involving human participants, authors must obtain voluntary and appropriately documented informed consent unless the requirement has been formally waived by a competent Ethics Committee/IRB in accordance with applicable regulations.

Participants must be provided adequate information regarding the purpose of the research, procedures involved, potential risks and benefits, confidentiality, voluntary participation, and their right to withdraw, as applicable.

Where participants cannot provide legally valid informed consent, consent must be obtained from a legally authorized representative in accordance with applicable ethical and legal requirements.

3. Policy on Research Involving Vulnerable Populations

The Journal of Ayurveda and Holistic Medicine (JAHM) requires additional ethical safeguards for research involving vulnerable individuals or populations.

Vulnerable populations may include, but are not limited to, children and adolescents, persons with impaired decision-making capacity, seriously ill patients, institutionalized individuals, economically or socially disadvantaged persons, individuals in dependent or hierarchical relationships, and other groups considered vulnerable under applicable ethical or regulatory guidelines.

Research involving vulnerable populations must:

  1. Have a clear scientific and ethical justification for inclusion of the vulnerable population.

  2. Receive prior approval from an appropriate Institutional Ethics Committee (IEC), Institutional Review Board (IRB), or equivalent ethics body.

  3. Ensure that participation is voluntary and free from coercion, exploitation, or undue influence.

  4. Minimize foreseeable risks, discomfort, and burden to participants.

  5. Provide additional safeguards appropriate to the vulnerability of the participants.

  6. Maintain privacy, confidentiality, dignity, and welfare throughout the study.

  7. Clearly report the ethical approval, informed-consent process, and safeguards used for vulnerable participants in the manuscript.

Research Involving Children and Adolescents

For research involving minors:

  • Prior ethical approval must be obtained.

  • Written informed consent must be obtained from the parent or legally authorized guardian, as applicable.

  • Age- and competence-appropriate assent from the child or adolescent should also be obtained wherever applicable.

  • The child's refusal or dissent should be respected in accordance with applicable ethical and legal requirements.

  • Investigators must take additional measures to minimize risk, discomfort, coercion, and undue influence.

  • The manuscript must clearly state the procedures followed for parental/guardian consent and child assent.

Participants With Impaired Decision-Making Capacity

Where participants are unable to provide valid informed consent because of impaired decision-making capacity, consent must be obtained from a legally authorized representative in accordance with applicable ethical and legal requirements.

Where feasible, the participant's own wishes, assent, preferences, and dissent should also be respected.

Economically or Socially Vulnerable Participants

Researchers must ensure that financial incentives, healthcare benefits, institutional relationships, or socioeconomic circumstances do not constitute coercion or undue influence.

Compensation, where provided, should be reasonable and should not compromise the voluntary nature of participation.

Editorial Requirements

JAHM may request supporting documentation, including:

  • Ethics Committee/IRB approval;

  • Participant information sheets;

  • Informed-consent forms;

  • Parental/guardian consent forms;

  • Assent forms; and

  • Other documentation demonstrating appropriate protection of vulnerable participants.

Manuscripts may be rejected if adequate ethical safeguards for vulnerable participants are not demonstrated.

JAHM expects research involving vulnerable populations to comply with applicable national regulations and internationally accepted ethical principles, including the Declaration of Helsinki and relevant institutional ethics requirements.

4. Privacy, Confidentiality and Consent for Publication

Authors must protect the privacy and confidentiality of research participants and patients.

Personally identifiable information, including names, initials, hospital numbers, photographs, pedigrees, or other identifying details, should not be published unless scientifically necessary and appropriate written consent for publication has been obtained.

For case reports, case series, clinical images, or other material in which an individual could potentially be identified, authors must obtain appropriate written informed consent for publication from the patient or legally authorized representative.

Masking the eyes in a photograph alone may not be sufficient to ensure anonymity.

5. Clinical Trial Registration

JAHM supports prospective registration of clinical trials in a publicly accessible and recognized clinical trial registry.

Clinical trials conducted in India should comply with applicable requirements concerning registration with the Clinical Trials Registry–India (CTRI):
https://ctri.nic.in/

Trials conducted outside India should be registered with an appropriate recognized public trial registry, as applicable.

Authors must provide the trial registration number and registry name in the manuscript.

Where prospective registration is required, registration should occur before enrolment of the first participant.

Any discrepancy between the registered protocol and submitted manuscript, including changes in outcomes, sample size, intervention, comparator, study duration, or other important methodological elements, must be transparently explained.

6. Animal Research

Research involving animals must comply with applicable institutional, national, and international standards for the ethical use and welfare of animals.

Animal studies must have received prior approval from an appropriate Institutional Animal Ethics Committee (IAEC), Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC), or equivalent competent authority, as applicable.

For animal research conducted in India, authors should comply with applicable requirements of the Committee for Control and Supervision of Experiments on Animals (CCSEA) https://ccsea.gov.in and other relevant regulatory requirements.

The manuscript should clearly state:

  • Name of the approving committee;

  • Approval/reference number;

  • Relevant ethical/regulatory framework followed; and

  • Measures taken to minimize pain, suffering, distress, and unnecessary use of animals.

7. Research Integrity and Scientific Misconduct

JAHM does not tolerate research or publication misconduct.

Misconduct includes, but is not limited to:

  • Fabrication;

  • Falsification;

  • Plagiarism;

  • Manipulation or misrepresentation of data;

  • Inappropriate image manipulation;

  • Duplicate or redundant publication;

  • Undisclosed conflicts of interest;

  • Misrepresentation of authorship;

  • Citation manipulation; and

  • Deliberate violation of accepted ethical standards.

Suspected misconduct will be investigated in accordance with appropriate editorial procedures and, where relevant, guidance from COPE.

Depending upon the circumstances, the journal may request clarification or original data, contact authors' institutions, reject a manuscript, publish a correction, expression of concern, or retraction, or take other appropriate editorial action.

8. Plagiarism and Originality

Submitted manuscripts must represent original work and must not contain plagiarized material.

Authors are responsible for appropriately acknowledging and citing the work, ideas, data, figures, tables, or text of others.

Manuscripts may be screened using plagiarism/similarity-detection software.

Detection of plagiarism, substantial unattributed overlap, duplicate publication, or inappropriate text recycling may result in rejection or other editorial action in accordance with the journal's policies.

9. Duplicate and Redundant Publication

Authors must not submit substantially the same manuscript simultaneously to more than one journal.

Previously published work should not be republished unless it meets accepted criteria for legitimate secondary publication and all relevant permissions, disclosures, and citations have been provided.

Authors must disclose related manuscripts, preprints, conference abstracts, previous reports, or overlapping publications where relevant.

10. Authorship and Contributorship

Authorship should reflect substantial intellectual contribution to the work.

JAHM follows the principles of the ICMJE Recommendations regarding authorship and contributorship.

All listed authors should:

  • Have made substantial contributions to the conception or design or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data.

  • Participate in drafting or critically revising the manuscript;

  • Approve the final version for publication; and

  • Agree to be accountable for their contributions and the integrity of the work.

Individuals who contributed to the work but do not meet authorship criteria should be appropriately acknowledged with their permission.

Guest, honorary, and ghost authorship are unacceptable.

11. Conflicts of Interest

Authors, reviewers, and editors must disclose financial and non-financial relationships or activities that could reasonably be perceived as influencing the research, interpretation, peer review, or editorial decision.

Authors must provide a conflict-of-interest statement even when no conflict exists.

Funding sources and the role of funders or sponsors in study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, manuscript preparation, and publication decisions should be transparently reported.

12. Data Integrity and Availability

Authors are responsible for the accuracy, authenticity, and integrity of the data presented in their manuscripts.

The journal may request raw data, study protocols, ethics documentation, trial-registration records, or other supporting information when necessary to assess the integrity of submitted or published work.

Authors should retain research records in accordance with applicable institutional and regulatory requirements.

Data-sharing statements should be provided when required by the journal, study type, funder, registry, or applicable guideline.

13. Peer Review Ethics

Peer reviewers must:

  • Maintain confidentiality of manuscripts and associated material;

  • Declare relevant conflicts of interest;

  • Provide objective, constructive, and evidence-based assessments;

  • Refrain from using unpublished information for personal advantage;

  • Respect intellectual property and confidentiality; and

  • Inform the editor of suspected plagiarism, duplication, fabrication, ethical concerns, or other potential misconduct.

Reviewers should decline assignments when they lack appropriate expertise or cannot provide an impartial and timely review.

14. Editorial Responsibilities and Independence

Editors are responsible for making editorial decisions based on the scientific quality, relevance, originality, methodological rigor, ethical acceptability, and suitability of manuscripts for the journal.

Editorial decisions must not be influenced by authors' nationality, institutional affiliation, gender, religion, political beliefs, commercial interests, or other irrelevant personal characteristics.

Editors must maintain confidentiality and disclose conflicts of interest.

Where an editor has a relevant conflict concerning a manuscript, editorial responsibility should be transferred to another qualified editor.

The journal is committed to editorial independence and to preventing commercial, institutional, personal, or other inappropriate influences on editorial decisions.

15. Corrections, Retractions and Expressions of Concern

JAHM is committed to maintaining the integrity of the scholarly record.

When significant errors or concerns are identified after publication, the journal may publish:

  • A correction;

  • An erratum or corrigendum;

  • An expression of concern; or

  • A retraction,

depending upon the nature and severity of the issue.

Such actions will be undertaken transparently and, where appropriate, in accordance with COPE guidance and other accepted publication standards.

Retracted articles should remain identifiable in the scholarly record with the reason for retraction clearly indicated.

16. Complaints and Appeals

Authors, reviewers, readers, and other stakeholders may raise concerns regarding editorial decisions, publication ethics, peer review, or published content.

Complaints and appeals will be handled objectively and confidentially by the appropriate editorial authority.

Where necessary, cases involving publication ethics may be considered with reference to COPE, ICMJE, WAME, or other applicable ethical guidance.

17. Post-Publication Concerns

JAHM encourages readers and researchers to report legitimate concerns regarding published articles.

The journal will evaluate concerns relating to data integrity, plagiarism, ethical approval, authorship, conflicts of interest, duplicate publication, participant protection, or other matters affecting the reliability or ethical integrity of published work.

Appropriate corrective action will be taken where warranted.

18. Applicable Ethical Standards

JAHM recognizes that ethical and regulatory requirements may differ according to the country, institution, study design, and participant population.

Authors are responsible for compliance with all applicable institutional, national, and international requirements.

Where different standards apply, the journal may require authors to demonstrate that the research satisfies appropriate ethical protections and internationally accepted principles.

Key External Ethical and Publication Standards

Authors, reviewers, and editors are encouraged to consult the current versions of the following:

COPE – Core Practices
https://publicationethics.org/core-practices

ICMJE – Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals
https://www.icmje.org/recommendations/

WAME – Recommendations on Publication Ethics Policies for Medical Journals
https://wame.org/recommendations-on-publication-ethics-policies-for-medical-journals

World Medical Association – Declaration of Helsinki
https://www.wma.net/policies-post/wma-declaration-of-helsinki/

Clinical Trials Registry–India (CTRI)
https://ctri.nic.in/

ICMR Ethical Requirements for Research in Integrative Medicine (March 2025) -https://ethics.ncdirindia.org//asset/pdf/Ethical_Requirements_Research_Integrative_Medicine.pdf

ClinicalTrials.gov

https://clinicaltrials.gov

Trials conducted outside India should be registered with an appropriate recognized public clinical trial registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov (https://clinicaltrials.gov/) or another recognized registry, as applicable.

JAHM periodically reviews and updates its publication ethics policies to reflect developments in international publication standards, research ethics, and applicable regulatory requirements.