Citation Ethics and Self-Citation Policy (NEW)

According to the ethical standards of COPE, ICMJE, and Scopus, the Editorial board of KCMJ adopts a strict policy to ensure that citation practices reflect genuine academic relevance with no citation manipulation or metric inflation.

  1. Ethical Citation Practices
  • All citations have to be relevant and clearly justified by authors of the manuscript.
  • Authors are encouraged to cite a balanced range of high-quality literature, and to avoid over-reliance on any single author, institution, or journal.
  • Promotional or non-academic reasons citations are not allowed
  1. Reviewer and Editor Responsibilities
  • Reviewers and editors must not request or suggest citations of their own work or to the journal’s publications, any other recommended citation must be accompanied by a clear and transparent justification
  • The KCMJ editorial board should strictly prohibit coercive citation practices, including any attempt to pressure authors to cite works as a condition of acceptance.
  • The KCMJ periodically monitored the peer-review reports to identify and prevent any unethical citation behaviors.
  • It is important to note that any form of coercive or promotional citation is prohibited and violates our editorial ethics policy.
  1. Journal Self-Citation Policy
  • The KCMJ aims to keep self-citations below 10% of total yearly citations.
  • Self-citations are permitted only in limited cases for example in follow-up studies, or expansion of prior work.
  • Authors are encouraged to clarify any self-citation in the cover letter provided during initial submission.
  • The KCMJ editorial board reviews citation patterns and issue content regularly to ensure a responsible citation balance.
  1. Transparency and Reporting
  • Authors and reviewers are encouraged to be familiar with COPE’s Ethical Guidelines for Citation Integrity.
  • Any concern discovered by reviewers or editors concerning coercive citation, excessive self-citation, or any editorial bias should be reported confidentially to the Editor-in-Chief.
  1. Commitment to Reform and Continuous Improvement
  • This policy reflects the KCMJ ongoing efforts to enhance academic integrity, editorial transparency, and international compliance. By actively monitoring citation behavior and preventing coercive or excessive self-citation, the journal aims to align fully with Scopus evaluation standards and COPE principles. These measures are part of a continuous strategy to strengthen ethical publishing practices, ensure credibility, and build long-term trust with the global scientific community.

 

Technical Accuracy of Citation Counting
To ensure integrity and accuracy in citation tracking, Al-Kindy College Medical Journal identified that some previous PDF layouts may have caused unintentional, technically inflated self-citations possibly due to automated metadata extraction (e.g., “How to Cite This Article” boxes, clickable DOI links, and footer DOI URLs). Beginning with the upcoming issue, all such elements will be removed, and DOIs are now presented in non-clickable plain-text format. These corrective measures ensure that citation metrics accurately reflect genuine scholarly usage and align with Scopus and COPE best-practice standards.