Duties of Authors

Authors submitting to the Malaysian Journal of Health Promotion (MJHP) must adhere to high standards of research and publication ethics, including obtaining the necessary institutional approvals and informed consent from participants where applicable. Concerns regarding research misconduct, including plagiarism, data fabrication, falsification, and duplicate submission, will be investigated in accordance with established publication ethics procedures.

Submissions to MJHP must be accurate, transparent, and clearly presented, with sufficient information to enable critical evaluation and, where applicable, replication of the research.

Failure to meet these standards may result in manuscript rejection or, where appropriate, the retraction of a published article.

The editorial team reserves the right to request the raw data underlying a manuscript for evaluation purposes. Where practicable, authors are encouraged to deposit research data in a secure repository or provide access upon reasonable request. Authors should retain relevant research data following publication to support verification and independent replication.

MJHP encourages authors to share datasets, analytical code, and supplementary materials, subject to applicable ethical, legal, institutional, privacy, confidentiality, and participant rights requirements.

Manuscripts submitted to MJHP must be original, must not have been previously published in whole or in substantial part, and must not be under concurrent consideration by another publication. Authors must appropriately acknowledge and cite all sources used in their work.

All manuscripts are subject to plagiarism screening. The journal permits a similarity index of up to 30%, provided that the overlapping text is appropriately cited and is not concentrated within a single section. Manuscripts exceeding this threshold, or those containing plagiarism, duplicate publication, or inappropriate text recycling, may be rejected.

Verified plagiarism or other forms of research misconduct may result in appropriate corrective action, including rejection, retraction, and potential notification of the authors' institutions. Authors are responsible for ensuring that their work and data are free from fabrication, falsification, and plagiarism.

Simultaneous submission of the same or substantially similar manuscript to more than one publication constitutes unethical publishing behaviour and is prohibited. MJHP does not accept manuscripts that substantially overlap with previously published work, whether in whole or in part.

Where previously published data or findings are used, authors must clearly cite the original source and explain the distinct and novel contribution of the current manuscript. Confirmed cases of concurrent submission or duplicate publication may result in immediate rejection or retraction, and restrictions may be imposed on future submissions.

Authors must appropriately acknowledge the work of others and accurately cite all sources that have influenced or contributed to the manuscript. Direct quotations, data, figures, concepts, and other materials derived from previous publications must be clearly identified and referenced. Authors are responsible for ensuring that citations correspond to complete and accurate entries in the reference list. Failure to properly acknowledge the contributions of others may constitute academic misconduct and may result in rejection or retraction.

Authorship must be limited to individuals who have made significant intellectual contributions to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the study. Individuals who provide general support, technical assistance, or administrative assistance but do not meet the criteria for authorship should be appropriately recognised in the Acknowledgements section.

The corresponding author is responsible for confirming that all listed co-authors have approved the final manuscript and consented to its submission. The order of authorship should be determined collectively by the authors based on their respective contributions.

Authors must disclose any financial, professional, personal, or institutional relationships that could influence, or reasonably be perceived to influence, the reported research. Potential competing interests may include employment, consultancies, honoraria, expert testimony, research grants, equity ownership, and institutional advisory roles. All sources of research funding must be acknowledged. Where no competing interests exist, an appropriate declaration should be provided. The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that disclosures from all authors are complete and accurate.

Authors are responsible for the accuracy and integrity of their published work. If a significant error or inaccuracy is identified after publication, authors must promptly notify the editor or publisher and cooperate in issuing an appropriate correction or retraction. Where a significant concern is raised by a third party, authors are expected to cooperate with the journal in investigating and resolving the matter.

By submitting a manuscript to the Malaysian Journal of Health Promotion, authors acknowledge their responsibility to uphold the principles of research integrity, transparency, originality, ethical conduct, and responsible scholarly publishing throughout the submission and publication process.