Use of ICMJE URM for ethical guidance - Pubrica
                     USE OF ICMJE 
URM  FOR 
ETHICAL  
GUIDANCE
An Academic presentation by
Dr. Nancy Agnes, Head, Technical Operations, Pubrica 
 Group: www.pubrica.com
Email: [email protected]
Today's Discussion
Outline
In-Brief
Introduction
Use of ICMJE URM for Ethical 
Guidance  Conclusion
In-Brief
The guidelines were established by the International Committee of 
Medical Journal  Editors (ICMJE). To investigate best practises and ethical 
principles in the conduct  and reporting of research and other content 
presented in medical journals and  assist publishers, editors, and those 
interested in peer review and biomedical  publication in developing and 
disseminating reliable, transparent, reproducible, and  impartial medical 
journal articles.
Introduction
These guidelines are specifically for writers who 
consider  sending their work to one of the ICMJE's 
members papers.
Many non-ICMJE publications use theseguidelines
on  their initiative.
The ICMJE supports this practice, but it lacks the 
power to  oversee or execute it.
In both cases, authors may combine these 
guidelines with  the guidance for authors provided 
by specific journals.
Contd...
The ICMJE supports the widespread distribution of these guidelines and 
full reuse of  this document for educational and non-profit purposes 
without respect for copyright.
However, all the recommendations and document can
guide readers to  www.icmje.org for the official, most recent edition.
The ICMJE updates the recommendations regularly as new problems 
emerge.
This paper, formerly known as the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts 
Submitted  to Biomedical Journals, has been published in several editions 
by the ICMJE (URMs).
Contd...
The URM was createdin 1978 to standardize
manuscriptpublicationsupport  formatting and planning through 
journals.
"Recommendations for Scholarly Work in Medical Journals: Conduct, 
Reporting,  Editing, and Publication".
Use of A. DEFINING THE ROLE OF AUTHORS AND 
ICMJE  URM  CONTRIBUTORS
for  Ethical  Authorship bearsa lot of weight in the
Guidance intellectual,  social, and financial 
realms.
Authorship also requires liability and 
transparency for  work that has been written.
The following suggestions are meant to ensure 
that  contributors who have made significant 
intellectual  contributions to a paper are given 
authorship credit.
Contd...
The contributors who are credited as authors are aware of their 
responsibilities and  accountability for what is written.
Since authorship does not specify what contributions qualify a person to 
be an  author, some publications are now requesting and publishing 
information about  each person's contributions identified as a participant 
in a submitted report, at least  for original research.
B. FINANCIAL AND NON-FINANCIAL PARTNERSHIPS AND PRACTICES, AS WELL 
 AS POSSIBLE CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
The transparency in which an author's interactions and activities, 
specifically or  topically relevant to work, are treated during the 
preparation, execution, publishing,  peer review, editing, and publishing of 
scientific work affects a public interest in the  scientific process quality of 
published medical publication support.
Contd...
A clinical opinion on a primary objective (such as patients' health or the 
validity of  research) is affected by a secondary interest.
There is a risk of conflict of interest and prejudice (such as financial gain).
Conflicts of interest beliefs are almost as important as actual conflicts of 
interest.
Financial links (such as jobs, consultancies, equity ownership or options, 
honoraria,  trademarks, and paid expert testimony) are the easiest to spot, 
the ones that are  more commonly viewed as possible conflicts of interest.
Contd...
Contd...
Those other interests, such as personal relationships or rivalries, academic 
rivalry,  and intellectual values, can also reflect or be viewed as disputes.
C. RESPONSIBILITIES IN THE SUBMISSION AND PEER-REVIEW PROCESS
An increasing number of organizations claim to be "scholarly medical 
journals" but  do not operate as such.
These journals (also known as "predatory" or "pseudo-journals") accept 
and print  almost all submissions and charge article processing (or 
"publication") fees, which  are only disclosed to authors after a paper is 
accepted for publication.
Contd...
They sometimes tend to do peer review but do not, and they can have 
titles that are  confusingly similar to well-known journals.
D. JOURNAL OWNERS AND EDITORIAL FREEDOM
The appointment and firing of editors is the responsibility of medical 
journal members.
Owners should provide editors with a contract that explicitly outlines their 
rights and  liabilities, jurisdiction, the basic terms of their appointment, and 
dispute resolution  mechanisms at the time of their appointment.
Contd...
Contd...
The editor's output can generally be measured using agreed-upon 
measures such as  readership, manuscript submissions and handling times, 
and different journal  metrics, among others.
E. PROTECTION OF RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS
Both inspectors can ensure that human research is prepared, performed, 
and  documented in compliance with the Helsinki Declaration, as amended 
in 2013.
All authors should request approval from an independent local, state, or 
national  review body (e.g., ethics committee, institutional review board).
Contd...
The analysis was done in compliance with the Helsinki Declaration, the 
authors  must clarify their reasoning and show that the study's 
questionable aspects were  accepted explicitly by a local, state, or 
national review authority.
The provision for informed consent should be included in the 
journal's  author guidelines.
It should be stated in the written article where informed 
consent has been received.
Conclusion
The ICMJE Recommendations have a limited ability 
to  avoid market prejudice.
Still, they provide helpful safeguards against 
the most  severe possible commercial violations of 
literature,  such as poor statistical requirements, 
guest authorship,  and nondisclosure of industry 
participation.
The Recommendations have since been used to 
develop  research practices, such as study 
registration and  evolving guidance on data 
sharing.
Contd...
The ICMJE must bear a particular responsibility for weaknesses in the 
content of  medical literature, to the degree that these flaws are ignored 
or even promoted by  the ICMJE's criteria.
By urging their continued evolution and asserting the validity of these 
flawed but  necessary guidelines, beneficial effects on science and 
publishing standards,  including in commercial literature.
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