Research Standards and Ethical Guidance

The Journal of Medical and Radiation Oncology (JMRO) maintains rigorous editorial policies that are aligned with the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Core Practices and the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) guidelines.

Research Misconduct Policy

JMRO is dedicated to upholding the highest standards of scholarly publication and will not tolerate any cases of ethical malpractice. Any ethical violations will be promptly investigated by our Editorial Office.
If a reader or reviewer suspects research misconduct in any of our publications, we encourage them to submit a detailed report with specific evidence of the suspected misconduct to the JMRO Editorial Office. The following steps will then be completed:

  1. The Editorial Office, working with the Editorial Board, will conduct a thorough investigation of the allegations.
  2. The corresponding author of the article in question will be contacted to address the concerns and provide supporting documentation. Failure to respond adequately may result in a manuscript’s rejection or a published article’s retraction.
  3. Based on investigation findings, the journal may:
    • Contact the author’s institutional ethics committee
    • Allow revision and resubmission of the manuscript with appropriate changes
    • Issue a formal Correction
    • Retract the publication

The Editorial Office maintains strict confidentiality throughout this process and will provide regular updates to all involved parties, including protecting whistleblower anonymity when requested. We employ robust screening processes and maintain zero tolerance for ethical violations in scientific publishing.

Duplicate and Concurrent Submissions Policy

JMRO considers duplicate publications only in the following cases:

  • Follow-up studies to preliminary reports
  • Guidelines requiring wide dissemination
  • Re-analyses for different audiences
  • The previous publication was only within a preprint platform

Duplicate publications must have the Editorial Office approval and are only allowed if the secondary publication targets a different readership, the content accurately reflects the original work, and the original source is properly cited.
Translated works may be considered if the original publication is cited, all original authors are included, the required permissions are obtained, and the publication history is disclosed.

Authorship Criteria Policy

In order to quality for authorship, each author must meet the following ICMJE authorship
criteria:

  • Substantial contribution to the research and analysis
  • Manuscript drafting and revision
  • Final approval of the manuscript
  • Accountability for accuracy of the research

Those who do not meet all of this criteria, should be acknowledged as a contributor instead.


Special Authorship Considerations

  • AI tools or Large Language Models (LLMs) cannot meet authorship criteria, and the use of AI for manuscript writing must be disclosed at submission
  • Group authorship should follow ICMJE guidelines
  • Changes to authorship that are requested post-publication will require all authors’ approval and will be handled on a case-by-case basis by the Editorial Office

Conflicts of Interest Policy


Author Disclosures

Authors and contributors must disclose any financial or non-financial circumstances that could influence the interpretation of their research. Possible conflicts of interest include, but are not limited to the following:
Non-financial interests:

  • Professional or personal relationships related to the research
  • Institutional affiliations that may affect objectivity
  • Personal beliefs that could influence research interpretation


Financial interests:

  • Current or planned employment with relevant organizations
  • Stock ownership or financial investments
  • Research-related income (consulting fees, honoraria, royalties)
  • Product development involvement that would benefit from the research
  • Advocacy group associations that would benefit from the research


Authors must include a “Conflicts of Interest” statement in their manuscript. Example: “Dr. Smith serves as a consultant for Oncology Corp. Dr. Jones received research funding from Radiation Tech Inc.”


Editorial Team Disclosures

Editorial Board Members must:

  • Disclose any potential conflicts with manuscripts they handle
  • Recuse themselves from manuscripts where conflicts exist
  • Declare any relationships with authors, including current/recent collaborations

Reviewer Disclosures

Reviewers must decline review invitations if they have:

  • Institutional affiliations with authors
  • Recent collaborations (within 3 years)
  • Personal relationships or conflicts
  • Financial interests in the research
  • Other conflicts (ideological, political, etc.)


Any evidence of non-declaration of conflicts of interest will be taken seriously and investigated thoroughly. If misconduct has been found, the manuscript may be rejected or the article may be corrected or retracted, as appropriate.

Plagiarism and Citation Policy

All authors must clearly and accurately cite all sources within the manuscript. JMRO uses plagiarism detection software to determine if any manuscript may contain plagiarized content, such as:

  • Submission of a manuscript that was created by someone else
  • Accidental plagiarism by misquoting a source or negligent citation
  • Self-plagiarism without attribution
  • Direct text copying without credit or quotations
  • Referencing a source that is incorrect or does not exist
  • Improper attribution in which a contributor or author is denied credit for their work


Authors must properly cite all sources and only cite work they’ve reviewed. Excessive self-citation or use of promotional citing should also be avoided. To quote direct text, quotation marks should be used, even when the content is taken from the author’s own previous works.

Policy on Data and Materials Accessibility

JMRO supports research transparency and reproducibility in research, and our policies are aligned with the FAIR principles. (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) data principles.
Therefore, all authors are encouraged to include a Data Availability Statement within their articles that addresses:

  • Location and access methods for supporting data
  • Direct repository links where applicable
  • Access restrictions and justifications


In order to improve reproducibility, we also encourage authors to include within their research articles a detailed methodology and protocols section that includes a complete materials description, and clear explanations of any data access limitations.

Policy on Research Involving Humans or Animals

Human Subjects Research

All research involving human subjects, tissues, or data must comply with the Helsinki Declaration principles (2024 revision) and receive prior approval from an institutional review board (IRB) or equivalent ethics committee. Authors must include the following within their manuscript:

  • IRB/ethics committee approval number
  • Approval date
  • Committee name and institution


Standard consent procedures include written informed consent from all participants or their legal guardian. For surveys and observational research, investigators must disclose research objectives to participants, explain data usage and potential risks, ensure participant confidentiality, obtain necessary ethics approvals. If consent is not required by local legislation or is waived by an ethics committee, this should be explicitly stated in the manuscript.
Authors must additionally follow all relevant institutional and national regulations governing human subjects research in their jurisdiction, which may include:

  • Patient data anonymization
  • Secure handling of identifiable information
  • Explicit consent for publishing personal details
  • Protected storage of sensitive materials

Animal Subjects Research

Authors must ensure that any research that involved animals adheres to applicable national and institutional policies. All research using vertebrates or higher invertebrates requires:

  • Prior ethics committee approval
  • Project approval code/reference
  • Committee name and approval date


If ethics approval is not legally required, authors should obtain formal exemption from relevant committee, include the committee’s name and provide an exemption rationale within the manuscript. These requirements apply to all animal studies, whether conducted in research facilities or clinical settings.

Confidentiality Policy

All manuscript information seen by any individual involved in the review process must remain confidential during and after review. This includes:

  • Manuscript content and findings
  • Review process details
  • Unpublished data or methods


Information cannot be used by involved individuals before the article’s publication, or shared with third parties, without explicit author permission.

Complaints Policy

Readers with concerns about a publication’s scholarly merit or ethical compliance should submit their concerns to JMRO’s Editorial Office. The submission should include a scientifically rigorous critique with supporting evidence and documentation of any previous author correspondence.
Challengers should disclose their identity, declare relevant competing interests, and demonstrate expertise in the topic through their publication history. If requested, and in certain cases, the Editorial Office may protect complainant anonymity.
The investigation process involves collaboration between the Editorial Office, complainant, authors, and the Editorial Board. The Editor-in-Chief makes final decisions after a thorough review, with contested authors given the opportunity to respond. For ethical issues, decisions will be based on the latest COPE guidance and recommendations.
We will thoroughly investigate all legitimate complaints, however, unsubstantiated criticism or hostile communication may result in termination of correspondence. The Editorial Office will provide regular updates throughout the investigation and will notify all parties of the final decision.

Policy on Post-Publication Updates

JMRO maintains rigorous procedures for handling published article updates. Authors, readers, or third parties are encouraged to report any suspected errors that may require a correction or retraction post-publication.


Article Corrections

Significant errors warranting correction include:

  • Scientific content issues that affect the interpretation of results or methodology
  • Author information changes (names, affiliations)
  • The addition or removal of a reference


For such cases, JMRO will publish a formal Correction notice linked to the updated article.
Minor typographical or formatting issues that don’t impact scientific understanding are typically not corrected.


Article Retractions

Following COPE guidelines, JMRO may retract articles due to:

  • Fundamental research errors
  • Data falsification
  • Plagiarism
  • Major protocol breaches
  • Other ethical violations


Retracted articles remain accessible online but are clearly marked as retracted. Retractions maintain original authorship details and include links to the original publication.


Decision Authority

The Editorial Office manages correction requests with Editorial Board oversight and Editor-in-Chief approval. Ethical issues require Editor-in-Chief or Editorial Board determination, potentially involving institutional consultation or legal counsel.