Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

The International Journal of Pharmacognosy (IJP) is committed to maintaining the highest standards of publication ethics, transparency and integrity in scholarly publishing. The journal follows ethical publishing practices and takes necessary measures to prevent plagiarism, duplicate publication, data fabrication, falsification, unethical authorship and other forms of publication malpractice.

All manuscripts submitted to IJP are expected to be original, scientifically valid and ethically approved, wherever applicable. Authors, reviewers and editors are required to follow ethical principles throughout the submission, peer-review and publication process.

Authors must ensure that the submitted manuscript has not been published previously and is not under consideration by any other journal. All authors must approve the final version of the manuscript before submission and must take responsibility for the accuracy and integrity of the work.

IJP follows a peer-review process to maintain the quality of published articles. Any ethical concern, complaint, authorship dispute, conflict of interest, plagiarism issue or post-publication error will be handled by the editorial team in accordance with journal policy and accepted publication ethics guidelines.

If ethical misconduct is identified before or after publication, IJP may take appropriate action, including rejection, correction, expression of concern, retraction or notification to the concerned institution or authority, depending on the seriousness of the case.

Human and Animal Ethics Policy

Research involving human participants, human samples, patient data, clinical information or animals must be conducted in accordance with applicable ethical standards and institutional guidelines.

Authors submitting manuscripts based on human or animal studies must clearly mention ethical approval details in the Materials and Methods section. The name of the Ethics Committee, Institutional Review Board, Institutional Animal Ethics Committee or relevant authority, along with approval number and date, should be provided wherever applicable.

For studies involving human participants, informed consent must be obtained from participants or their legally authorized representatives. Patient identity, personal information and confidential data must be protected. Any identifying information should be removed unless written consent for publication has been obtained.

For animal studies, authors must ensure that animal care, handling and experimental procedures were conducted according to approved ethical guidelines and with due concern for animal welfare.

Manuscripts without proper ethical approval, where required, may be returned to the authors, rejected or subjected to further editorial clarification.

External Ethical Guidelines Followed by IJP

The International Journal of Pharmacognosy (IJP) follows internationally accepted ethical principles and publication standards to ensure transparency, integrity and responsible scholarly publishing. The journal follows and refers to the ethical principles and recommendations of recognized national and international organizations wherever applicable.

IJP follows the ethical principles and publication standards recommended by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), World Association of Medical Editors (WAME), World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki, International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), World Health Organization International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (WHO ICTRP), and Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) ethical guidelines, wherever applicable to the submitted manuscript.

Authors, reviewers and editors are expected to follow these ethical standards during manuscript preparation, submission, peer review, editorial decision-making and publication. The journal provides functioning links to the full text or official pages of these guidelines below for reference.

Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Guidance: https://publicationethics.org/guidance

COPE Core Practices: https://publicationethics.org/core-practices

World Association of Medical Editors (WAME) Policies: https://wame.org/policies

World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki: https://www.wma.net/policies-post/wma-declaration-of-helsinki/

Vulnerable Populations Policy

The International Journal of Pharmacognosy (IJP) gives special attention to the ethical protection of vulnerable individuals, groups and communities involved in biomedical, clinical, pharmaceutical, public health, traditional medicine, herbal medicine or related research.

Vulnerable populations may include, but are not limited to, children, neonates, pregnant women, elderly persons, persons with mental illness or cognitive impairment, critically ill patients, economically or socially disadvantaged groups, tribal populations, prisoners, refugees, persons with disabilities, institutionalized persons, students, employees, and any individual or group whose ability to provide free and informed consent may be limited due to social, economic, medical, legal or institutional circumstances.

Research involving vulnerable populations must be scientifically justified and should be conducted only when the research question cannot be appropriately answered in a less vulnerable population, or when exclusion of such groups would be unfair or may worsen existing disparities.

Authors must clearly mention in the manuscript whether vulnerable participants were included in the study. The reason for including such participants, risk minimization measures, consent process, confidentiality protection and expected benefit must be clearly described.

All research involving vulnerable populations must have prior approval from a recognized Ethics Committee, Institutional Review Board or competent authority.

Clinical Trial Policy

The International Journal of Pharmacognosy (IJP) follows accepted ethical and reporting standards for publication of clinical trials involving herbal formulations, phytopharmaceuticals, natural products, dietary supplements, drugs, vaccines, biologics, medical devices, diagnostic agents, interventions, procedures or other healthcare-related research involving human participants.

A clinical trial must be conducted in accordance with applicable ethical guidelines, regulatory requirements and good clinical practice standards. Authors must ensure that the study has received approval from a recognized Ethics Committee, Institutional Review Board or competent authority before enrolment of participants.

All clinical trial manuscripts must include the name of the Ethics Committee or Institutional Review Board, approval number, approval date, trial registration number, name of the trial registry and date of registration, wherever applicable.

IJP expects prospective registration of clinical trials in a recognized public clinical trial registry before enrolment of the first participant, wherever applicable. Clinical trials conducted in India should be registered with the Clinical Trials Registry-India (CTRI), wherever required.

Authors must provide a clear description of study design, participant eligibility criteria, intervention, comparator, sample size, randomization, blinding, outcome measures, statistical analysis, adverse event monitoring and ethical safeguards.

The rights, safety, dignity, privacy and well-being of clinical trial participants must be protected. Written informed consent must be obtained from all participants or legally authorized representatives before participation in the study.