PENALTIES AND SANCTIONS

JMIFR’s Editorial Board has the sole responsibility and authority to determine the proper sanction.

Plagiarism is a scientific misconduct and is an unacceptable violation of publication ethics. JMIFR takes scientific misconduct seriously and will be dealt with promptly and fairly. The Editors-in-Chief, Editorial Boards, and the Reviewers are the primary means of detecting plagiarism in manuscripts submitted to JMIFR. Given the serious nature of a charge of plagiarism, it is required that confidentiality be maintained throughout the process. The charge of plagiarism, supporting materials and outcome are only to be made known to those persons who are involved in the review process.

Due process and confidentiality are important in all cases of alleged plagiarism, falsification and other unethical conduct. Such cases will be handled according to the Publication Code of Ethics of the Editorial Board.

In cases where the Editorial Board determined that an unethical conduct occurred, the manuscript will be rejected. If the article has been published, it will be retracted promptly. The Authors may be barred from submitting to JMIFR for a period of time (one to three years) depending on the nature of the misconduct.

JMIFR reserves the right to evaluate issues of misconduct such as plagiarism and redundancy, etc. on a case-by-case basis.

COMPLAINT ABOUT AN EDITORIAL DECISION

JMIFR supports editorial independence and will not comment on the decision made by a journal editor, unless there is evidence the article was not handled in accordance with best practice.

If your article has been rejected and you believe there are grounds to appeal the decision, such as new evidence or a reviewer’s misunderstanding of your article, you may appeal the editorial decision.

To do this, you must follow the following process:

1. The complaint must be submitted in writing to the Managing Editor at jmifr@usim.edu.my
2. The complaint will be considered by the journal editorial team
3. The complaint will be acknowledged within 10 days of receipt and we aim to resolve it within 60 days
4. The decision will be in writing and will be final. You may not appeal more than once about the same article
5. For further information on JMIFR’s ethics policies, please refer JMIFR’s Ethics and Malpractice policy in the website or contact jmifr@usim.edu.my

COMPLAINT ABOUT THE EDITORIAL MANAGEMENT OF A JOURNAL

If you have concerns about the way that your article was handled or the editorial management of the journal, i.e. how long it took to make a decision on your article, or a concern about the ethics of the journal, you should contact the Managing Editor at jmifr@usim.edu.my

When you make a complaint, JMIFR will treat you professionally with respect, and in return, we would request that you treat JMIFR staff with the same courtesy. Any abuse or harassment of JMIFR staff or editorial teams will not be tolerated, and your complaint may no longer be considered.

We take all complaints extremely seriously and will aim to provide you with an initial response within 10 days of receipt, and we aim to resolve it within 60 days. If we are unable to resolve it within this time, we will communicate this fully (please note that this does not apply in cases where a correction or retraction notice may be required).

If you remain dissatisfied with how your paper was handled, you may make a further complaint by contacting the Committee on Publication Ethics.