Editorial Policies

Pharmacomoles adheres to the highest standards of publication ethics, editorial transparency, and academic integrity. The journal’s policies align with the guidelines of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), and the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) Best Practice Guidelines to ensure fairness, scientific rigour, and ethical practices throughout the editorial process.

Editorial Independence

All editorial decisions at Pharmacomoles are made independently by the editorial team, without influence from the publisher, sponsors, or external parties. Manuscripts are evaluated solely on their scientific merit, originality, clarity, and relevance to the journal’s scope.

Authorship Criteria

Pharmacomoles follows the ICMJE criteria for authorship. To qualify as an author, individuals must:

  • Contribute significantly to the study’s conception, design, data collection, analysis, or interpretation.

  • Participate in drafting or critically revising the manuscript.

  • Approve the final version for publication.

  • Accept accountability for all aspects of the work.

Each author's specific role must be clearly declared during submission. The journal strictly prohibits guest, honorary, or ghost authorship.

Disclosure of Conflicts of Interest

Authors, reviewers, and editors are required to disclose any financial relationships, academic affiliations, or personal connections that may influence the objectivity of the submitted work. All potential conflicts must be declared during submission or the review process.

Ethical Approval for Human and Animal Research

Ethical clearance is mandatory for all studies involving human participants and/or animals. Authors must provide:

  • The name of the approving ethics committee or institutional review board (IRB).

  • The ethics approval reference number.

  • A statement confirming informed consent from human participants or legal representatives.

For animal studies, adherence to relevant national and international guidelines (such as ARRIVE) and provision of the ethical approval number are required. Submissions lacking proof of ethical approval will be rejected outright.

Peer Review Process

Pharmacomoles employs a double-blind peer review process to maintain objectivity:

  • Author identities are concealed from reviewers, and vice versa.

  • Manuscripts undergo preliminary editorial screening before being sent to at least two independent expert reviewers.

  • Final publication decisions are based on reviewers’ feedback and the Editor-in-Chief’s assessment of scientific quality and relevance.

Submissions that do not meet ethical or scientific standards may be declined at any stage of the review process.

Plagiarism Screening

All submissions are checked using similarity detection tools such as iThenticate, Turnitin, or Crossref Similarity Check. A similarity index of 15% or less (excluding references and methods) is required for consideration.

Plagiarism, data fabrication, falsification, image manipulation, or duplicate publication will result in rejection and potential reporting to the authors’ institution.

Data Sharing and Research Transparency

Authors are encouraged to share datasets, protocols, and analytical code where feasible. Supporting data can be submitted as supplementary materials, deposited in public repositories, or made available upon request to promote transparency and reproducibility.

Post-Publication Corrections and Retractions

Pharmacomoles follows COPE guidelines for handling post-publication concerns:

  • Corrections are issued for minor errors that do not affect the overall findings.

  • Retractions are issued when findings are compromised due to serious errors or research misconduct.

  • Expressions of Concern may be issued when investigations are ongoing.

All post-publication changes are documented transparently.

Digital Preservation and Archiving

To ensure long-term access, Pharmacomoles participates in digital preservation through secure archiving services such as the PKP Preservation Network (PKP PN). This guarantees continued accessibility of all published content, even in the event of technical disruptions.

Open Access and Licensing

Pharmacomoles is an open-access journal, making all content freely accessible to readers worldwide. Articles are published under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license, unless otherwise specified, allowing unrestricted reuse with appropriate citation of the original work.

Editorial Ethics and Integrity

Editors and peer reviewers are expected to act impartially, ethically, and confidentially. Any editor with a conflict of interest will withdraw from handling that submission.

The journal does not accept paid advertising or sponsored content that could compromise editorial independence or decision-making.

AI Use Policy

Authors must declare any use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools (e.g., ChatGPT, Grammarly, or equivalent) in manuscript preparation or analysis. AI tools must not be listed as authors and cannot be credited with authorship.

The use of AI to fabricate data, images, or references is strictly prohibited and will lead to immediate rejection and potential reporting to relevant authorities or institutions.

Redundant, Duplicate, or Concurrent Submissions

Pharmacomoles considers only original manuscripts that are not under review elsewhere and have not been previously published. Submitting the same manuscript to multiple journals simultaneously constitutes a breach of publication ethics and will result in rejection or retraction.