Publication Ethics

1. Commitment to Publication Ethics

The Journal of Pharmaceutical Chemistry (JPC) is committed to maintaining high standards of publication ethics, research integrity, transparency, and responsible scholarly communication. The journal seeks to ensure that all published articles represent original, scientifically sound, ethically conducted, and appropriately reported research.

JPC expects authors, editors, peer reviewers, and the publisher to uphold the principles of honesty, objectivity, accountability, confidentiality, fairness, and respect for intellectual property throughout the submission, peer-review, publication, and post-publication processes.

The journal does not tolerate plagiarism, fabrication or falsification of data, duplicate publication, inappropriate authorship practices, citation manipulation, undisclosed conflicts of interest, unethical experimentation, or deliberate manipulation of the peer-review process.

JPC is committed to investigating credible allegations of research or publication misconduct and taking appropriate action to protect the integrity of the scholarly record. The journal's ethical framework is informed by the recommendations and best practices of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and other relevant research-integrity standards.

2. Responsibilities of Authors

Authors submitting manuscripts to JPC are responsible for ensuring that their research is original, accurately reported, methodologically sound, and conducted in accordance with applicable ethical and regulatory requirements.

Authors must:

·         Ensure that the submitted manuscript represents original work and appropriately acknowledges all sources, ideas, methods, data, and previously published findings.

·         Provide accurate, complete, and reproducible descriptions of research methods, experimental procedures, computational protocols, statistical analyses, and results.

·         Avoid fabrication, falsification, selective reporting, misleading presentation, or inappropriate manipulation of research data, figures, images, spectra, chromatograms, or other scientific evidence.

·         Ensure that all listed authors have made substantial scholarly contributions, have participated appropriately in the preparation or critical revision of the manuscript, have approved the final version, and accept responsibility for their contributions.

·         Obtain the necessary permissions for copyrighted material, previously published figures, tables, or other third-party content.

·         Disclose relevant financial support, funding sources, competing interests, and relationships that could influence the research or its interpretation.

·         Confirm that the manuscript is not under consideration by another journal and has not been published previously in substantially the same form, except where an explicitly permitted exception applies and full disclosure has been made.

·         Respond honestly and constructively to editorial and peer-review comments and provide corrections when errors are identified.

Authors must not knowingly submit misleading, incomplete, or manipulated findings. Any material error discovered after submission or publication should be promptly reported to the editorial office.

3. Originality, Plagiarism, and Redundant Publication

JPC requires all submissions to demonstrate appropriate originality and attribution. Plagiarism includes the unattributed use of another person's words, ideas, data, methods, figures, or other intellectual contributions. This includes verbatim copying, close paraphrasing without proper citation, and inappropriate reuse of previously published material.

Self-plagiarism and text recycling are assessed according to the extent of overlap, the nature of the reused material, the transparency of disclosure, and the applicable scholarly conventions. Reuse of methods or other material must be appropriately cited and must not misrepresent previously published work as new.

Duplicate publication, redundant publication, and simultaneous submission of the same or substantially overlapping manuscript to multiple journals are not permitted without a legitimate, transparently disclosed, and editorially approved exception.

JPC may use plagiarism-detection software and other appropriate screening procedures to identify potentially problematic overlap. Similarity scores are considered alongside editorial assessment and are not, by themselves, definitive evidence of misconduct.

Suspected cases may result in a request for clarification, revision, rejection, notification of relevant institutions where warranted, or post-publication corrective action.

4. Data Integrity, Reproducibility, and Research Transparency

Authors must maintain reliable records of the data and procedures supporting their research conclusions. Data must not be fabricated, falsified, selectively altered, or presented in a manner that materially misrepresents the findings.

Where relevant to the study, authors should retain and provide supporting information, including raw or processed experimental data, analytical spectra, chromatograms, images, computational input files, simulation parameters, software versions, statistical procedures, and validation results.

For pharmaceutical chemistry research, appropriate supporting evidence may include:

·         NMR, IR, UV–Vis, HR-MS, elemental analysis, and other relevant compound-characterization data.

·         Chromatographic data, purity assessments, analytical method validation, and stability results.

·         Biological assay data, experimental controls, replicate measurements, and statistical analyses.

·         Molecular docking protocols, molecular dynamics simulation settings, quantum-chemical calculation details, and relevant computational validation.

·         Formulation composition, physicochemical characterization, dissolution profiles, and drug-release data.

Data-sharing expectations should reflect the nature of the study, applicable privacy and confidentiality obligations, intellectual-property restrictions, and any relevant repository or funder requirements. Authors should provide data availability statements where required or appropriate and explain any legitimate restrictions on data access.

Image processing, spectral presentation, and figure preparation must not distort or conceal scientifically relevant information. Any permitted processing should be applied consistently, appropriately disclosed where necessary, and preserve the integrity of the underlying data.

5. Authorship and Contributorship

Authorship must reflect genuine scholarly contributions to the research and manuscript. Individuals who meet the journal's applicable authorship criteria should be appropriately credited, while contributions that do not justify authorship should be acknowledged where appropriate and with the individual's permission.

Gift authorship, guest authorship without qualifying contributions, ghost authorship, and the exclusion of individuals who have made qualifying contributions are unacceptable.

A corresponding author must ensure that all listed authors have approved the submitted manuscript, agree with the author order, and are aware of the submission and any subsequent revisions.

Changes to authorship, including additions, removals, or changes in author order, require a reasoned explanation and agreement from all affected authors. The journal may request contribution statements or other supporting documentation when necessary.

Editorial decisions must not be influenced by an author's institutional affiliation, seniority, financial status, or personal relationship with members of the editorial team.

6. Conflicts of Interest

Authors, reviewers, and editors must disclose financial, professional, institutional, personal, or other competing interests that could reasonably be perceived to influence their judgment or responsibilities.

Potential conflicts may include employment, consultancy, research funding, patent ownership, equity interests, paid expert services, close personal relationships, academic competition, or direct involvement with a pharmaceutical product or technology evaluated in the manuscript.

Authors should include a clear competing-interest declaration in their submission, even when no relevant conflict exists.

Reviewers must decline assignments where a conflict could compromise impartiality. Editors must recuse themselves from handling manuscripts where a conflict exists and arrange independent editorial oversight when necessary.

Disclosure does not automatically preclude publication; the editorial team will assess the nature and significance of the disclosed interest and determine whether additional measures are appropriate.

7. Ethical Approval and Responsible Research

All research involving human participants, identifiable human data, human biological materials, or experimental animals must comply with applicable ethical standards, institutional requirements, and relevant national and international regulations.

For studies involving human participants or human-derived materials, authors must provide appropriate information about ethics committee approval or exemption, informed consent where applicable, and measures taken to protect privacy and confidentiality.

For animal studies, authors must identify the relevant institutional animal ethics committee or equivalent authority, provide approval details where required, and describe procedures used to minimize pain, distress, and unnecessary animal use.

Research involving potentially hazardous chemicals, biological agents, or other regulated materials must comply with applicable safety and containment requirements.

Studies using natural products should provide appropriate information on source authentication, collection permissions where applicable, and relevant access-and-benefit-sharing requirements. Research involving traditional knowledge or genetic resources must comply with applicable legal and ethical obligations.

Where formal ethical approval is not required, authors should provide an appropriate explanation or documentation of exemption when requested by the editorial team.

8. Standards for Pharmaceutical Chemistry Research

JPC expects pharmaceutical chemistry research to meet standards of evidence appropriate to the methods and claims presented.

Manuscripts reporting newly synthesized compounds should provide sufficient characterization to establish chemical identity and support claims of novelty. Reports of isolated natural products should include appropriate evidence of purity and structural elucidation. Analytical methods should be described and validated in accordance with relevant scientific and regulatory guidance where applicable.

Studies involving biological activity should provide suitable experimental controls, reproducible procedures, and evidence supporting the reported conclusions. Claims regarding therapeutic potential must be proportionate to the level of evidence and must not imply clinical efficacy solely from computational predictions or preliminary in-vitro results.

Computational studies should report sufficient methodological detail to permit evaluation and, where practicable, reproduction of the calculations or simulations. Where biological or pharmaceutical conclusions depend on computational predictions, authors should provide appropriate validation and acknowledge relevant limitations.

The journal may request additional data, methodological clarification, characterization evidence, or validation before reaching an editorial decision.

9. Use of Artificial Intelligence and AI-Assisted Tools

Authors may use artificial intelligence (AI) and related tools for permitted purposes, such as language editing, organization of text, coding assistance, or support with data analysis, provided that their use complies with the journal's requirements and does not compromise research integrity.

AI systems and large language models cannot be listed as authors because they cannot assume responsibility for the accuracy, originality, ethical compliance, or integrity of the work.

Authors must verify AI-assisted content, citations, calculations, code, interpretations, and references. AI tools must not be used to fabricate data, generate misleading scientific evidence, create deceptive images, or misrepresent the methods or findings of a study.

Substantive use of AI in manuscript preparation, image generation or modification, data collection, or data analysis should be transparently disclosed in the appropriate section of the manuscript, such as Methods or Acknowledgements, in accordance with the journal's applicable instructions. Routine spelling, grammar, or language assistance may be treated differently under the journal's specific disclosure policy.

Authors remain fully responsible for the submitted work, including any errors or ethical breaches arising from AI-assisted content.

10. Responsibilities of Editors

Editors are responsible for maintaining the fairness, confidentiality, independence, and integrity of the editorial process.

Editors must:

·         Evaluate manuscripts according to scientific merit, originality, relevance, methodological rigor, ethical compliance, and alignment with the journal's scope.

·         Ensure that editorial decisions are not improperly influenced by commercial interests, publication fees, institutional prestige, personal relationships, or discriminatory considerations.

·         Protect the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts and associated communications.

·         Select appropriately qualified and independent reviewers and manage conflicts of interest.

·         Investigate credible allegations of publication misconduct fairly and confidentially.

·         Provide authors with clear editorial decisions and relevant reviewer feedback.

·         Consider corrections, expressions of concern, or retractions when warranted to protect the scholarly record.

Editors must not use unpublished information from submitted manuscripts for personal research or advantage without appropriate authorization. Editors handling their own submissions, those of close collaborators, or manuscripts involving other significant conflicts must be excluded from the relevant decision-making process.

11. Responsibilities of Peer Reviewers

JPC uses a double-blind peer-review process, under which author and reviewer identities are concealed from one another to the extent supported by the journal's procedures. Manuscripts are assessed by qualified reviewers, and final publication decisions remain the responsibility of the editorial team.

Reviewers are expected to:

·         Provide objective, constructive, evidence-based, and timely assessments.

·         Evaluate scientific originality, methodological quality, validity of conclusions, ethical compliance, and relevance to pharmaceutical chemistry.

·         Maintain strict confidentiality and refrain from sharing or using unpublished manuscript content for personal or professional advantage.

·         Disclose conflicts of interest and decline assignments where impartiality may be compromised.

·         Identify relevant published work that has not been appropriately acknowledged.

·         Alert the editor to suspected plagiarism, duplicated publication, data irregularities, ethical concerns, or other potential misconduct.

·         Avoid personal criticism, discriminatory comments, coercive citation requests, and recommendations motivated by self-interest.

Reviewers must not upload confidential manuscript material to external AI tools or other third-party services where doing so could breach confidentiality, intellectual-property rights, or applicable data-protection requirements.

12. Peer-Review Integrity and Editorial Independence

All manuscripts are subject to editorial assessment before external peer review. Submissions may be returned without review when they fall outside the journal's scope, lack sufficient scientific merit, fail to meet essential submission requirements, or raise substantial ethical concerns.

The journal's stated peer-review procedure is double-blind review. The number of reviewers, review timelines, and decision requirements are governed by the journal's published peer-review policy.

Reviewer recommendations inform but do not independently determine publication decisions. The editor or an appropriately authorized independent editor evaluates the available evidence and makes the final decision.

Attempts to manipulate peer review through fabricated reviewer identities, false institutional email addresses, coercion, undisclosed relationships, or other deceptive practices may result in rejection, investigation, and further action where appropriate.

13. Research Misconduct and Handling Allegations

Research or publication misconduct may include plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, duplicate publication, inappropriate authorship, undisclosed conflicts of interest, unethical experimentation, image manipulation, citation manipulation, or deliberate interference with peer review.

When an allegation is raised, the editorial team will conduct an initial assessment to determine whether the concern warrants further investigation. Where appropriate, the journal may request explanations, original data, laboratory records, ethics documentation, contribution statements, or other supporting materials.

Authors will ordinarily be given a reasonable opportunity to respond to concerns that affect their work. The journal may consult independent experts, institutional research-integrity officers, ethics committees, or the publisher where necessary.

Actions will be proportionate to the evidence and seriousness of the concern. They may include clarification, correction, rejection, publication of an expression of concern, retraction, or notification of relevant institutions or authorities where warranted.

The journal will seek to maintain confidentiality and procedural fairness while taking appropriate steps to protect the integrity of the scientific record.

14. Corrections, Expressions of Concern, and Retractions

JPC recognizes its responsibility to correct the scholarly record when significant errors, unreliable findings, ethical breaches, or other serious concerns are identified.

Corrections may be published when an error can be rectified without invalidating the principal findings or conclusions of an article.

An expression of concern may be considered when substantial questions have arisen about a publication but an investigation is ongoing or the available evidence is inconclusive.

Retraction may be warranted when findings are unreliable because of serious errors, fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, unethical research, or other substantial breaches of publication ethics. Retractions may also be considered where publication or peer-review processes have been seriously compromised.

Correction and retraction notices should clearly identify the affected article, explain the reason for the action to the extent appropriate, and maintain a transparent link to the original publication. The purpose of these measures is to preserve the accuracy and reliability of the scholarly literature, rather than to serve as punishment.

15. Appeals and Complaints

Authors may appeal an editorial decision when they can provide a substantive reason, such as a demonstrable factual error in the assessment, a significant misunderstanding of the manuscript, or evidence of a procedural irregularity or undisclosed conflict of interest.

Appeals should be submitted in writing to the editorial office, clearly identifying the decision being challenged and providing supporting evidence. Repeated appeals without new substantive grounds may not be considered.

Complaints concerning editorial conduct, peer review, authorship, publication ethics, or research integrity should be submitted to the editorial office or the appropriate independent authority within the publisher's organization.

Complaints and appeals will be assessed fairly and, where necessary, by an editor or other individual who was not directly involved in the original decision.

16. Copyright, Permissions, and Intellectual Property

Authors must ensure that their submissions do not infringe copyright, intellectual-property rights, confidentiality obligations, or other legal rights.

Permission must be obtained where required for the reproduction or adaptation of third-party material. Authors must properly acknowledge the original sources of data, figures, tables, methods, and other relevant content.

The journal's applicable copyright, licensing, and open-access terms will govern the publication and reuse of accepted articles. Authors are responsible for ensuring that any required permissions and declarations are complete before publication.

17. Funding Disclosure and Financial Transparency

All sources of financial support, including grants, institutional funding, commercial sponsorship, and industry support relevant to the research, must be disclosed.

Authors should identify the role of the funder, where applicable, in study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, manuscript preparation, and the decision to submit the work for publication.

The journal's editorial decisions must be based on scholarly quality and ethical compliance rather than the availability of funding or the payment of publication-related charges.

18. Post-Publication Discussion and Scientific Accountability

JPC supports responsible scholarly discussion and welcomes substantiated concerns about published research. Readers may raise questions regarding data reliability, methodological limitations, interpretation, or potential ethical issues through the journal's designated communication channels.

The editorial team will assess such concerns in a proportionate and evidence-based manner. Authors may be invited to respond, and independent expertise may be sought where necessary.

When a concern is found to affect the reliability or interpretation of a published article, the journal may issue a correction, an expression of concern, a retraction, or another appropriate editorial notice.

19. Enforcement of Ethical Standards

JPC reserves the right to take appropriate editorial action when authors, reviewers, editors, or other participants in the publication process fail to comply with applicable ethical standards.

Depending on the circumstances and available evidence, measures may include rejection of a manuscript, suspension of peer review, requests for additional documentation, correction or retraction of published work, restriction from future submissions where justified, or notification of relevant institutions, funders, or professional bodies.

All allegations will be assessed according to the seriousness of the concern, the available evidence, applicable policies, and the need to protect the integrity of the scholarly record. The journal will seek to ensure fairness, confidentiality, consistency, and appropriate opportunities to respond.

20. Policy Review and Continuous Improvement

JPC will review its publication ethics policies periodically to reflect developments in scholarly publishing, research-integrity standards, relevant regulations, and recognized guidance from organizations such as COPE.

Authors, reviewers, editors, and readers are encouraged to support a culture of transparency, accountability, responsible research, and constructive scientific exchange.

By submitting a manuscript to JPC, authors acknowledge their responsibility to comply with the journal's applicable editorial, ethical, and publication requirements.