Journal Policies

1. Editorial Policy

The Tripoli Journal of Medical Technologies and Health Sciences (TJMTHS), published by the College of Medical Sciences and Technology – Tripoli, is committed to upholding the highest standards of scientific rigor, editorial integrity, and academic excellence. The Editorial Board exercises full authority over editorial decisions, ensuring that all published work aligns with the journal’s scope, demonstrates high technical quality, and contributes meaningfully to the advancement of health sciences and medical technologies. Editorial decisions are made objectively based solely on scientific merit, originality, clarity, and relevance, without regard to the authors' institutional affiliation, nationality, race, or commercial interests.

2. Open Access Policy

TJMTHS operates as a fully open-access journal under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license. All articles published are made immediately and permanently available online for free to the public, researchers, and global healthcare practitioners upon publication. There are no paywalls, subscription fees, or access barriers. Readers are permitted to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of all articles, provided that appropriate credit is given to the original authors and the primary publication source.

3. Peer Review Process

To ensure rigorous quality control, all submitted manuscripts undergo a thorough double-blind peer-review process. In this process, the identities of both the authors and the reviewers remain mutually anonymous.

  • Initial Desk Evaluation: Every submission is first screened by an Handling Editor for scope, basic structure, formatting, and language suitability.

  • External Peer Review: Manuscripts passing the initial screening are assigned to a minimum of two independent external experts in the specific subject domain for evaluation of scientific validity, methodology, data interpretation, and ethical compliance.

  • Final Editorial Decision: Based on the detailed reviewer reports, the Editor-in-Chief makes the final decision: Accept, Revisions Required (Minor or Major), or Reject.

4. Copyright and Licensing

Authors publishing with TJMTHS retain the full copyright of their work while granting the journal an exclusive license to publish, distribute, and archive the work as the primary publication venue. Authors grant any third party the right to reuse, adapt, and build upon the published work under the conditions defined by the CC BY license, as long as full citation and credit are accorded to the original publication.

5. Authorship Criteria and Responsibilities

Authorship credit must be strictly granted to individuals who have made substantive contributions to the research project. In accordance with international academic standards, every listed author must meet all four of the following conditions:

  1. Significant involvement in the conception, design, acquisition of data, analysis, or interpretation of results.

  2. Contribution to drafting the manuscript or critically revising it for important intellectual content.

  3. Final approval of the manuscript version to be published.

  4. Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Individuals who provided general oversight, administrative support, financial funding, or basic proofreading should be recognized in the Acknowledgments section rather than listed as co-authors.

6. Self-Archiving Policy

TJMTHS supports self-archiving policies that promote research visibility and dissemination. Authors are permitted and encouraged to deposit all versions of their article in institutional, subject, or national open-access repositories (such as ResearchGate, Academia.edu, or institutional digital libraries):

  • Pre-print Version: May be shared prior to peer review.

  • Post-print Version (Accepted Manuscript): May be archived immediately following acceptance.

  • Published PDF (Version of Record): May be archived and shared publicly immediately after online publication without any embargo period, provided a direct link to the published journal URL/DOI is provided.

7. Anti-Plagiarism and Originality Standards

TJMTHS maintains a strict zero-tolerance stance against plagiarism, self-plagiarism, text recycling, data falsification, and duplicate publication.

  • Similarity Screening: Every incoming manuscript is automatically screened using Turnitin software prior to initiating the peer-review process.

  • Threshold Criteria: The overall similarity index must not exceed 20%. Furthermore, similarity from a single external source must not exceed 3%–5% (excluding references, standard methodology descriptions, and generic technical phrasing).

  • Policy Enforcement: Submissions exceeding the 20% threshold, or exhibiting uncredited verbatim blocks of text, will be returned for mandatory revision or rejected outright depending on the severity of the overlap.

8. Conflict of Interest and Disclosures

To maintain transparency and trust in published research, all authors must explicitly declare any financial, commercial, institutional, or personal conflicts of interest that could potentially bias or influence the study outcomes or data interpretation.

This includes funding sources, consultancies, stock ownership, patent applications, or employment relationships relevant to the manuscript. If no conflicts of interest exist, authors must explicitly state: "The authors declare no conflict of interest regarding the publication of this manuscript." Reviewers and editors are also required to recuse themselves from processing any manuscript where a personal or professional conflict of interest exists.

9. Data Sharing and Transparency

Authors are strongly encouraged to make the raw research data, datasets, scripts, analytical codes, and underlying materials supporting their conclusions publicly accessible. Data should preferably be deposited in established, trusted data repositories (such as Zenodo, Figshare, or Dryad) or provided within the manuscript as Supplementary Material. Authors should include a Data Availability Statement in their manuscript indicating where the data can be accessed or confirming that data will be made available upon reasonable request from qualified researchers.

10. Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

TJMTHS adheres to international standards and best-practice guidelines established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

  • Human and Animal Subjects: Research involving human subjects must state compliance with the Declaration of Helsinki and include explicit approval from an appropriate institutional ethics committee or Institutional Review Board (IRB), alongside proof of informed consent from participants. Animal studies must document adherence to recognized institutional or national guidelines for animal care and usage.

  • Handling Scientific Misconduct: Allegations of research misconduct, data fabrication, image manipulation, or unethical practices will be formally investigated in accordance with COPE flowcharts. Confirmed cases of ethical violation will result in rejection, formal correction, or article retraction, accompanied by notification to the author's home institution.

11. Policy on Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies

In alignment with global publishing guidelines, generative artificial intelligence tools, Large Language Models (LLMs), and AI-assisted software (such as ChatGPT, Copilot, or similar technologies) cannot be listed as authors or co-authors on any manuscript. Authorship implies legal responsibility and accountability for the accuracy and scientific integrity of the work, which non-human entities cannot fulfill.

  • Permissible Use: Authors may use AI tools to assist in improving writing style, grammar, language editing, or formatting.

  • Disclosure Requirement: Authors who utilize AI tools in any capacity during manuscript preparation, data collection, image generation, or data analysis must explicitly disclose their usage in the Materials and Methods or Acknowledgments section, detailing the specific tool used and the purpose of its application. Authors remain fully responsible for the factual and scientific accuracy of all AI-generated content.