Duties of Editorial Board

The Editorial Board of the Malaysian Journal of Health Promotion (MJHP) is committed to maintaining high standards of publication ethics, academic integrity, and editorial quality. In fulfilling its responsibilities, the Editorial Board follows recognised international principles and best practices, including guidance from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Editorial decisions must be based solely on scholarly merit, originality, quality, and relevance to the journal's aims and scope, without personal, financial, commercial, or institutional influence. The Editorial Board is responsible for safeguarding the academic integrity and overall quality of the journal.

The Editorial Board must oversee a rigorous, timely, and unbiased peer-review process. Appropriate and qualified reviewers should be selected based on their expertise and absence of relevant conflicts of interest. The confidentiality of all manuscripts undergoing peer review must be maintained throughout the editorial process.

The Editorial Board is responsible for maintaining high standards of scientific accuracy, clarity, originality, and scholarly quality. Manuscripts considered for publication must be relevant to the defined aims and scope of MJHP and contribute meaningfully to health promotion and related fields.

Allegations of research or publication misconduct, including plagiarism, data fabrication or manipulation, duplicate publication, and other ethical concerns, must be investigated appropriately. Such matters should be addressed through fair, consistent, and transparent procedures in accordance with applicable publication ethics guidelines.

The Editorial Board should provide clear information to authors, reviewers, and readers regarding the journal's editorial policies, peer-review procedures, publication requirements, and ethical expectations. Where necessary, appropriate corrections, expressions of concern, or retractions should be issued to maintain the integrity of the scholarly record.

The Editorial Board should periodically review and update editorial policies to reflect developments in scholarly publishing and recognised best practices. The Board should also promote initiatives that enhance the journal's quality, visibility, digital discoverability, accessibility, and scholarly impact.

Final authority for determining which manuscripts are published in MJHP rests with the Editor-in-Chief, in consultation with the Editorial Board. Publication decisions are guided by:

Editorial decisions must remain independent of commercial or institutional influence and should focus on advancing scholarship and maintaining the integrity of the academic record.

All manuscripts must be evaluated objectively based on their scholarly merit, originality, relevance, and contribution to the field, without discrimination based on authors' race, gender identity, sexual orientation, religious affiliation, ethnicity, nationality, institutional affiliation, or ideological position. Editorial decisions must remain free from inappropriate personal, financial, or institutional influence.

The Editorial Board must protect the confidentiality of all submitted manuscripts. Information relating to a manuscript should only be disclosed to individuals directly involved in the editorial and peer-review process, such as the corresponding author, reviewers, prospective reviewers, and relevant editorial advisers. Unpublished materials contained in submitted manuscripts must not be used for personal research, teaching, or other purposes without the authors' explicit written permission.

Editors must disclose relevant conflicts of interest and recuse themselves from handling manuscripts where competitive, collaborative, personal, financial, or institutional relationships could compromise their impartiality. Where such a conflict exists, responsibility for the manuscript should be reassigned to an appropriate independent member of the Editorial Board. Unpublished information obtained through submitted manuscripts must not be used without the authors' explicit written permission.

The Editorial Board must respond appropriately to ethical concerns or allegations of misconduct involving submitted or published work. Where necessary, editors should cooperate with the publisher, reviewers, authors, and relevant institutional authorities to ensure a fair and impartial investigation. Authors should be given an appropriate opportunity to respond to concerns raised. Confirmed misconduct may result in corrective action, including an erratum, expression of concern, or retraction, in accordance with applicable COPE guidance.

The Editorial Board is responsible for protecting the integrity, credibility, fairness, and quality of the Malaysian Journal of Health Promotion and for ensuring that editorial decisions are made transparently, ethically, and independently.