1. GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF RESEARCH ETHICS

All research submitted to PAMJ must comply with fundamental ethical principles, including:

• Honesty in data collection, analysis, and reporting
• Transparency in methodology, funding, and conflicts of interest
• Objectivity in interpretation and peer review
• Respect for intellectual property and academic freedom
• Accountability for research quality and authorship integrity

Authors are required to declare that their work complies with national and international ethical standards, especially when involving human subjects, data privacy, or institutional affiliations.

2. ETHICS IN HUMAN AND SOCIAL RESEARCH

For studies involving human subjects (surveys, interviews, experiments, etc.), authors must confirm:

• Informed consent was obtained from all participants.
• Anonymity and confidentiality of respondents were respected.
• Research was conducted under the approval of an ethical review board or institutional committee.
• Research adheres to the Declaration of Helsinki or equivalent guidelines for research ethics.

For vulnerable populations (children, refugees, marginalized groups), ethical risk mitigation must be explicitly addressed. Authors must explain how participation was voluntary and how harm was avoided.

3. DATA INTEGRITY AND TRANSPARENCY

Authors must ensure:

• Data reported are accurate, complete, and unaltered.
• Fabrication, falsification, or selective omission of data is strictly prohibited.
• Raw data and supporting materials (questionnaires, codes, tables, etc.) should be made available upon request or stored in reputable repositories.
• Statistical methods should be described in detail and any limitations of the study acknowledged.

Data sharing is strongly encouraged and may be required for certain empirical submissions. Datasets should comply with FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable).

4. AUTHORSHIP AND CONTRIBUTION ETHICS

Authorship must reflect actual intellectual contributions. PAMJ follows ICMJE criteria:

• Substantial contributions to conception, design, data collection or analysis
• Drafting or critically revising the article for important intellectual content
• Approval of the final version before submission
• Accountability for all aspects of the work

Ghost authorship, guest authorship, or honorary authorship are considered unethical practices.

Any contribution that does not meet authorship criteria (e.g., technical editing, data access, funding) should be acknowledged in a dedicated section.

Changes to the authorship list after submission must be justified in writing and approved by all co-authors and the editor-in-chief.

5. PLAGIARISM, REDUNDANCY, AND ORIGINALITY

All submissions must be original and unpublished works. Plagiarism is strictly prohibited and includes:

• Copying others' text without citation
• Paraphrasing without acknowledgment
• Reusing one's own published content without disclosure ("self-plagiarism")
• Submitting identical or substantially similar manuscripts to multiple journals ("duplicate submission")

All manuscripts undergo plagiarism screening using detection software (e.g., iThenticate). Authors found in violation will be subject to sanctions, including rejection, retraction, or blacklisting.

6. CONFLICT OF INTEREST DISCLOSURE

All parties involved in the publication process (authors, reviewers, editors) must fully disclose any potential conflict of interest, financial or otherwise, that might affect the objectivity of the research or editorial process.

Examples include:

• Financial ties to organizations affected by the findings
• Personal relationships with co-authors or editors
• Institutional, political, or ideological affiliations

All conflict of interest disclosures must appear in the published article. Editors will take these into account when assigning reviewers or making publication decisions.

7. ETHICAL GUIDELINES FOR PEER REVIEW

PAMJ relies on rigorous, double-blind peer review to ensure fairness and quality. Reviewers are expected to:

• Provide objective, evidence-based evaluations
• Respect the confidentiality of manuscripts
• Declare any conflict of interest before accepting review
• Refrain from using unpublished information for personal gain

Unethical reviewer behavior—such as delaying reviews to benefit a competing paper, breaching anonymity, or appropriating content—will lead to permanent exclusion from the reviewer pool.

8. HANDLING MISCONDUCT AND RETRACTIONS

In case of suspected misconduct, including plagiarism, data fabrication, or unethical authorship practices, PAMJ will:

• Conduct a preliminary inquiry based on COPE flowcharts
• Inform the corresponding author and allow for a written response
• Involve independent experts if needed
• Publish corrections, retractions, or expressions of concern, as appropriate

In severe cases, PAMJ reserves the right to:

• Notify the author's institution or funding agency
• Ban the author(s) from future submissions
• Publicly document the breach by best practices

9. ETHICS IN SPECIAL ISSUES AND GUEST EDITORSHIP

Special issues must comply with the same ethical standards as regular issues. Guest editors are responsible for:

• Maintaining editorial impartiality
• Avoiding favoritism or conflicts of interest
• Ensuring rigorous peer review
• Disclosing any relationship with authors

All special issues are overseen by a senior member of the editorial board to ensure compliance with PAMJ’s ethical policy.

10. REPORTING AND APPEALS

Authors, readers, and reviewers may report concerns related to ethics via the official PAMJ editorial contact. All complaints are handled confidentially and in accordance with COPE’s guidance.

Appeals of editorial decisions must:

• Be submitted in writing within 30 days of the decision
• Provide clear and evidence-based reasons
• Will be reviewed by a separate editorial committee, whose decision is final