Contents

• Ethical Mission Statement
  • Editor Duties and Responsibilities
  • Reviewer Duties and Responsibilities
  • Author Duties and Responsibilities
• Declaration on Artificial Intelligence
• Malpractice Policy
  • Appeals Process
• Disclaimer

Ethical Mission Statement

The International Journal of Orofacial Myology and Myofunctional Therapy is committed to following best practices for ethical publishing. These practices follow the Code of Conduct from The Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

If you edit, review, or author manuscripts with this journal, you agree to comply with the duties and responsibilities listed below.

Editor Duties and Responsibilities

The Editors of the IJOM (including Guest Editors) follow the Code of Conduct and strive to attain all Best Practices Guidelines provided by the Committee on Publication Ethics.

In brief, the Code of Conduct for Journal Editors specifies that Editors are "accountable for everything published in their journals" and Best Practices further indicate that Editors should undertake initiatives to improve submission, publication, and readership processes. Specific items include:

• Accountability. Editors strive meet the needs of readers and authors, maintain the integrity of the academic record, and improve the journal. The Editor in Chief has full authority over the editorial content of the journal and the timing of its publications.
• Publication Decisions. Editors are responsible for deciding whether manuscripts submitted to the journal should be reviewed and published.
• Editorial independence. Editors will evaluate manuscripts based on the importance, relevance, originality, and scientific integrity of the manuscript. Decisions to reject, revise, and publish are made without regard to the author’s personal characteristics or philosophies, institutional or national affiliation, or any agencies outside of the journal itself.
• Confidentiality. Editors will treat manuscripts as confidential documents and will not disclose any information about submitted manuscripts to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, and other editorial advisers as needed. Further, Editors will not reveal the names and institutions of authors to reviewers or the names of reviewers to the authors (double-blind review).
• Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest. Editors and editorial staff will not use materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript (published or unpublished) for their own research without the author’s written authorization.
• Investigations. Editors will conduct proper and fair investigation into ethical complaints (see additional information about scientific misconduct).
• Quality Assurance. Editors will implement processes to assure the quality of published material.

Reviewer Duties and Responsibilities

Reviewers for the IJOM provide their services on a volunteer basis, and we appreciate their dedication and contribution. They have the right to decline or accept an invitation to review a manuscript at their discretion. If an invitee agrees to review a manuscript, they are expected to follow guidelines for ethical publishing.

• Confidentiality. Reviewers will treat manuscripts as confidential documents and will not disclose any information about submitted manuscripts to anyone other than the inviting editor.
• Conflict of Interest. Reviewers will notify the Editor if there is a real or perceived conflict of interest with the assigned manuscript and recuse themselves from reviewing the manuscript.
• Disclosure. Reviewers will not use materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript (published or unpublished) for their own research without the author’s written authorization.
• Objectivity. Reviewers are expected to provide relatively objective reviews, constructive feedback, clear explanations for criticisms, and sources to support their opinions to the Editor as appropriate. In adherence with the double-blind review process, reviewers will not reveal their identity at any time during the review process.
• Contribution to Editorial Decision. Reviews are important contributions to the editorial decision process. The reviewer’s comments should include clear and justifiable statements that would support the eventual publication or rejection of an article, but should not include a specific recommendation. The reviewer will provide a recommendation regarding suitability for publication privately to the Editor.
• Allegations of Misconduct. If any concerns arise during the review process regarding potential scientific misconduct, the reviewer should inform the Editor promptly.
• Promptness. Reviewers will complete their reviews within the usual stipulated time (usually 14-21 days). If they are unable to provide an adequate review during that time period, they may request an extension from the reviewer or inform the Editor as soon as possible so that the manuscript may be reassigned to another reviewer.

Author Duties and Responsibilities

Authors submitting manuscripts to IJOM must adhere to the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Code of Conduct. Please refer to Author Responsibilities and General Submission Rules under the Journal’s Policies and Guidelines for additional information.

• Authorship Criteria. All authors of a manuscript should meet all of the following authorship criteria, following the guidelines of The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE):
  a) make a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the project
  b) draft or critically revise the manuscript;
  c) view and approve the final version of the manuscript before submission and before publication
  d) agree to take collective responsibility for the work, including accountability for the paper’s accuracy and integrity.
  Any changes to authorship list should only be made prior to the manuscript’s final acceptance and be approved by all of the authors via signed, written confirmation, and by the Editor.
  For articles with more than one author, author contributions (e.g., conceptualization, study design, data collection, data analysis and interpretation, writing, critical revision) must be listed during the submission process; if the article is accepted, these will appear in the publication. Persons who do not meet criteria for authorship but who participated in other aspects of the project (e.g., data entry, scientific writing, language editing, securing funding, general mentorship) may be mentioned in an acknowledgment section.
• Originality and Verification. The IJOM does not consider manuscripts that have been published in the same or essentially the same form elsewhere. [The Editorial Board is currently considering the journal's preprint policy.] Submission of this manuscript implies that the work is original and has not been previously published and is not under consideration for publication elsewhere. Authors should ensure that their submission is entirely original work. If the authors have used the work and/or the words of others, then the authors must ensure the words have been quoted and properly attributed. The IJOM will verify originality with electronic plagiarism software.
• Sole submission. The manuscript must not be submitted concurrently to another journal at any time during the review process with the IJOM.
• Copyright. Authors must own the copyright to the work being submitted or be authorized by the copyright owner or owners to submit the article. As an open-access journal, the IJOM does not hold copyright of its content after publication (Creative Commons license CC-BY-NC-ND).
• Attribution. Authors must properly and accurately acknowledge the work of others.
• Disclosures and Conflicts of Interest. Authors should disclose any financial or other substantive conflict of interest that might influence the results or interpretation of their work. Further, they should acknowledge sources of financial support for the research.
• Data access and availability. Authors may be asked to provide the raw data represented in manuscripts during the review process. In addition, the IJOM requires authors to include a Data Availability Statement, and encourages authors, where possible and applicable, to deposit data that support the findings of their research in a public repository.
• Human Subjects Protection. The rights of human subjects in research must be protected. Authors are responsible for following the rules and regulations for Human Subjects Research according to an Institutional Review Board (IRB). Informed consent by adults and assent from parents and children, as approved by an IRB, must be stated in the Methods section of the research report. Animal research is rare in this journal, but if reported, animal use must also follow standard ethical guidelines and be reported as such.
• Accuracy. Manuscripts should contain an accurate account of the work, and authors should discuss the significance, impact, and implications of the work objectively and fairly.
• Reporting of errors. Authors must notify the Editor of any significant errors or inaccuracies in their published work as soon as they become aware of the issue. This may result in the need to publish an erratum or to retract the paper.

Declaration on Artificial Intelligence

If authors use Artificial Intelligence (AI) in any capacity during the manuscript preparation, they must exercise careful human control and oversight. Authors should disclose AI usage with both within text citations as appropriate and in the reference list. Authors should also disclose the use of AI through the following statement:

“During the preparation of this manuscript, [name of AI technology] was used to [list aspects of paper affected]. Following the use of [name of AI technology], the authors reviewed and edited the content as needed and take full responsibility for the contents of the publication.”

If AI is used to assist in the acquisition or analysis of your data, it must be overtly reported in the methods section and cited appropriately.

Malpractice Policy

The prevention of malpractice in publishing is a key responsibility of the Editorial Review Board, including the Editor in Chief, Editors, Guest Editors, members of the Editorial Review Board and editorial staff. Malpractice includes scientific misconduct, which, according to the U.S. Office of Research Integrity (ORI), is "fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism in proposing, performing, or reviewing research, or in reporting research results."

If misconduct is suspected, it should be reported to the Editor-in-Chief of the journal (), who will assume responsibility to investigate and act upon allegations. The EIC will communicate with the manuscript’s authors by providing a clear description of the allegation but without disclosing the source of the allegation. Authors will be allowed to respond to the allegation within 14 days of receipt of notification. Penalties, if appropriate, will depend upon the response and can range in severity. In cases in which scientific misconduct is deemed to be malicious, the EIC may also communicate with the authors’ institutional leadership and funding or sponsoring groups affiliated with the research for additional investigation. In these cases, the EIC will secure legal counsel through the IAOM before issuing a penalty.

Appeals Process

Authors have the right to appeal an ethics decision. They must submit a statement to the EIC ()

Authors may submit a complaint regarding the EIC’s management of allegations of misconduct to the Executive Coordinator of the IAOM () who will direct the complaint to the IAOM Executive Committee and/or Legal Counsel as appropriate.

Disclaimer

Presentation of information in the IJOM does not imply endorsement of the products, philosophy, or theories advanced by the authors. It is the intent of the IJOM to provide ideas, methods, materials, equipment and points of view that may be presented to orofacial myologists for the advancement of knowledge on an international basis. We recognize that some of these ideas, techniques and materials may be considered controversial or experimental in nature. The fact that these articles are presented in this issue does not necessarily constitute endorsement or approval by IAOM or IJOM. Research results, opinions and statements made in articles contained in IJOM are those of the authors. Accurate referencing/citations is the responsibility of the author/s. IJOM, its editorial staff and the IAOM Board/publishers disclaim responsibility and/or liability for information contained, and the inaccurate, incomplete, or omitted citation/s in this Journal and shall not be liable for any injury or harm resulting from the use of information contained herein.