International Committee Of Medical Journal Editors Research Articles

Authorship and Citizen Science: Seven Heuristic Rules

Citizen science (CS) is an umbrella term for research with a significant amount of contributions from volunteers. Those volunteers can occupy a hybrid role, being both ‘researcher’ and ‘subject’ at the same time. This has repercussions for questions about responsibility and credit, e.g. pertaining to the issue of authorship. In this paper, we first review some existing guidelines for authorship and their applicability to CS. Second, we assess the claim that the guidelines from the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), known as ‘the Vancouver guidelines’, may lead to exclusion of deserving citizen scientists as authors. We maintain that the idea of including citizen scientists as authors is supported by at least two arguments: transparency and fairness. Third, we argue that it might be plausible to include groups as authors in CS. Fourth and finally, we offer a heuristic list of seven recommendations to be considered when deciding about whom to include as an author of a CS publication.

Research integrity in Instructions for Authors in Japanese medical journals using ICMJE Recommendations: A descriptive literature study.

The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) has published Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals. These provide a global standard for writing and editing medical articles, including research integrity. However, no study has examined the research integrity-related content of Japanese medical journals' Instructions for Authors. We therefore compared research integrity content in ICMJE member journals with those in the English- and Japanese-language journals of the Japanese Association of Medical Sciences (JAMS). This was a descriptive literature study. We obtained Instructions for Authors from English- and Japanese-language journals listed on the JAMS website and the ICMJE member journals listed on the ICMJE website as of September 1, 2021. We compared the presence of 20 topics (19 in the ICMJE Recommendations plus compliance with ICMJE) in the Instructions for Authors, and analyzed the content of the conflict of interest disclosure. We evaluated 12 ICMJE member journals, and 82 English-language and 99 Japanese-language subcommittee journals. The median number of topics covered was 10.5 for ICMJE member journals, 10 for English-language journals, and three for Japanese-language journals. Compliance with ICMJE was mentioned by 10 (83%) ICMJE member journals, 75 (91%) English-language journals, and 29 (29%) Japanese-language journals. The ICMJE Conflicts of Interest Disclosure Form was requested by seven (64%) ICMJE member journals, 15 (18%) English-language journals, and one (1%) Japanese-language journal. Although the topics in the JAMS English-language journals resembled those in the ICMJE member journals, the median value of ICMJE-related topic inclusion was approximately one-third lower in JAMS Japanese-language journals than in ICMJE member journals. It is hoped that Japanese-language journals whose conflict of interest disclosure policies differ from ICMJE standards will adopt international standards to deter misconduct and ensure publication quality.

Acknowledgments through the prism of the ICMJE and ChatGPT

The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) guidelines are widely employed as an set of ethical standards for biomedical journals, and thus for biomedical researchers. In this paper, we revisit the topic of acknowledgements in academic papers, noting that the former serve as a lesser form of recognition relative to authorship. We note the possible existence of bias, such as a power imbalance due to a status imbalance, as well as the risk of “ghost” acknowledgements. To further ground our ideas, we turned to ChatGPT-4 for input, noting some curious and informative supplementary findings. Curiously, ChatGPT-4 offered a set of recommendations and guidance, comparable to those of the ICMJE.

The importance of clinical trial protocols

The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) and the World Health Organization (WHO) define a clinical trial as any research that prospectively assigns participants or groups of human subjects to one or more interventions (medicines, procedures, devices, behavioral treatments, dietary supplements and diets, for example). These trials aim to evaluate the effects of interventions on human health. Prospective clinical research is essential for discovering new knowledge, improving the scientific base, solving challenges, and improving clinical practices. The basic principles for a successful researcher include interest, availability, persistence, and honesty. However, it is essential that, first of all, one has complete and detailed knowledge of scientific writing and preparation of the research protocol.

Journal requirement for data sharing statements in clinical trials: a cross-sectional study

ObjectivesData sharing statements are considered routine in clinical trial reporting and represent a step toward data transparency. The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) required clinical trials to publish data sharing statements. We aimed to assess the requirement for data sharing statements of individual participant data by biomedical journals and explore associations between journal characteristics and journal requirements for data sharing statements. Study Design and SettingIn this cross-sectional study, we included all biomedical journals that published clinical trials from January 1, 2019, to December 31, 2022, and that were indexed by the Journal Citation Reports. The study outcome was the journal requirement for data sharing statements. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to assess the relationship between journal characteristics and requirement for data sharing statements. ResultsOf the 3229 biomedical journals included in the analysis, 2345 (72.6%) required authors to include data sharing statements. Journals published in the UK (OR, 3.19 [95% CI, 2.43-4.22]) and endorsing the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (OR, 3.30 [95% CI, 2.78-3.92]) had greater odds of requiring data sharing statements. Journals that were open access, non-English language, in the Journal Citation Reports group of clinical medicine, and on the ICMJE list had lower odds of requiring data sharing statements, with ORs ranging from 0.18 to 0.81. ConclusionDespite ICMJE recommendations, more than 27% of the biomedical journals that published clinical trials did not require clinical trials to include data sharing statements, highlighting room for improved transparency.

ICMJE recommendations update: What’s new?

In January 2024, the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) updated their “Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals.” The updates relate to authorship, artificial intelligence (AI), environmental sustainability, funding, ethics, and referencing.

Influence of a polymorphic genes combination on the risk of developing intestinal infections, induction of regulatory and effector peptides

Background. The high incidence rate, the severity and the occurrence of complications determine the relevance of intestinal infections today. The individual’s immune response, which is controlled by the polymorphism of inflammatory protein genes is significant in the development and course of the disease. This issue in relation to intestinal infections has been understudied and is of interest in researching the influence of gene polymorphism on the development of intestinal infections.The aim. To establish the presence of an associative relationship between the set of IL-2 T330G and TLR-4 ASP299GLY polymorphic genes and the likelihood of developing an acute intestinal infection, as well as the role of a combination of genes in induction of inflammatory proteins.Materials and methods. The study included 108 people with acute intestinal infection and 94 apparently healthy volunteers. To determine the concentration of cytokines, immunoglobulins, we used blood serum and Vector-Best (Koltsovo, Russian Federation) test systems. The polymorphism of the IL-2 T330G and TLR-4 ASP299GLY genes was determined by PCR using Litekh LLC (Moscow, Russian Federation) primers. Statistical analysis was carried out using the ICMJE (International Committee of Medical Journal Editors) principle and SAMPL (Statistical Analyses and Methods in Published Literature) recommendations by MS Excel 2010 (Microsoft Corp., USA) and Statistica 6.0 (StatSoft Inc., USA) software.Results. When constructing the ROC curve, the area under the curve was within 0.77, sensitivity – 0.9, specificity – 0.5 (95% confidence interval: 0.7–0.84; p < 0.001). These results are at a good prognostic level with a high risk of the disease development. Comparing the level of pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines, immunoglobulins between the patients with -299А/А+-330GG haplotype of TLR4 ASP299GLY and IL-2 T330G genes and the carriers of only the dominant allele A of the TLR4 A/A299 genotype or only the minor allele G of IL-2 G/G330 we found no significant differences (p ≥ 0.05).Conclusion. Among carriers of the -299А/А+-330GG haplotype of the TLR4 ASP299GLY and IL-2 T330G genes, the risk of the intestinal infection development increases, but this haplotype does not affect the production of inflammatory molecules.

A simple form could prevent authorship issues in Cochrane manuscripts: A cohort study

AbstractAimWe aimed to investigate authorship issues after the implementation of an authorship declaration form in a Cochrane Review Group.MethodsThe Cochrane Colorectal Group uses an authorship declaration form that consists of three parts: (1) manuscript information, (2) documentation for roles according to the four authorship criteria of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), and (3) identification information of individual authors and signed approval. The manuscripts' contact authors were responsible for collecting the forms from all coauthors. This observational cohort study reports on all authorship issues in authorship declaration forms collected from February 2020 to December 2023.ResultsWe received 276/277 authorship declaration forms or replies from authors (response rate 99.6%) from 44 manuscripts, including 52% protocols and 48% reviews. There were authorship issues present in 14/44 (32%) of the manuscripts, and the most common issue was that not all authors fulfilled all four ICMJE authorship criteria. Six gift authors were removed from by‐lines. Issues in nine of the 14 manuscripts were resolved by the author group when informing them about the ICMJE authorship criteria and guidance from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). The issues in the remaining five manuscripts were unresolved since the manuscripts were transferred or rejected, thus, ceased to be developed by the Cochrane Colorectal Group.ConclusionAuthorship issues were raised in almost one‐third of manuscripts. Most issues were resolved and six gift authorships were prevented. The awareness of authorship criteria is sharpened when all authors are individually asked to fill out and sign a form. This could help decrease the rate of unethical authorships in Cochrane publications and contribute to more ethical and robust evidence production.

Ethically Determining the Authorship of Health Science Research Publications: A Scoping Review

Authorship is a significant aspect of scientific research publications, serving as a primary means of acknowledging the intellectual contributions of individuals and shaping career trajectories. However, determining authorship ethically and fairly in health science research remains a complex and multifaceted issue. This scoping review aims to explore the existing literature surrounding ethical considerations associated with authorship determination in health science research publications, published between 1989 and 2023. A total of 25 studies met the inclusion criteria. The findings revealed that ethical authorship practices in health science research are complex and multifaceted. This review emphasized how crucial it is to have precise rules and guidelines for deciding who is the author in academic journals, research institutes, and societies. The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) has published several ethical principles to address the difficulties associated with authorship determination. Still, there are differences and disagreements in how these rules are interpreted and applied, which could present moral enigmas. The review also examines new ethical issues arising from multidisciplinary and collaborative research, such as the responsibilities and funding of industry collaborations, shared authorship, and acknowledging the contributions of other groups. Maintaining the integrity of health science research and encouraging responsible collaboration requires making sure that authorship determination is transparent, equitable, and accountable. Authors should disclose any conflicts of interest that could influence their judgment or interpretation of the research findings.

Guest Author and Ghost Author: My Experience as an Editor of a Medical Journal

The author (s) of a scientific article should have contributed to a research article in a meaningful and substantive way. A person who contributes to the research but whose name is excluded from the authors’ list is known as a ghost author. Whereas a guest author doesn’t contribute in a meaningful way to the research and preparation of the manuscript, however, appears on the author's byline. Often, guest authors are influential persons invited by the principal author to get favours later. Gift authorship often involves mutual authorship among the articles of colleagues and vice-versa. The Inclusion of ghost authors, guests, or gift authors is common in the district town’s journal of Noakhali. This article was written to express my ten years of experience regarding the malpractices of authorship of a medical journal as an editor of a medical journal. It is a common phenomenon that after a few days of submitting an article to the editor’s office, the principal author requests to insert another author or to change the order of the author’s position. Members of the editorial board and reviewer of the article insert their names as authors violating the ICMJE (International Committee of Medical Journal Editors) guidelines. Course on authorship should be almost important to change the trend of our current culture in publishing articles, especially district medical college Journals.

Adherence to the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors–recommended gender equity policy in nursing journals listed in MEDLINE or PubMed Central: a descriptive study

Purpose: The evolving landscape of nursing research emphasizes inclusive representation. The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) has established guidelines to ensure the fair representation of various demographic variables, including age, sex, and ethnicity. This study aimed to evaluate the adherence of nursing journals indexed in MEDLINE or PubMed Central to the ICMJE’s directives on gender equity, given that journals indexed in MEDLINE and PubMed Central typically adhere to the ICMJE’s guidelines.Methods: A descriptive literature review methodology was employed to analyze 160 nursing journals listed in two databases as of July 28, 2023. The website of each journal was searched, and the most recent original article from each was selected. These articles were then evaluated for their alignment with the ICMJE guidelines on gender equity. Descriptive statistics were applied to categorize and enumerate the cases.Results: Of the articles reviewed from 160 journals, 115 dealt with human populations. Of these, 93 required a description of gender equity. Within this subset, 83 articles distinguished between the genders of human subjects. Gender-based interpretations were provided in 15 articles, while another 68 did not offer an interpretation of differences by gender. Among the 10 articles that did not delineate gender, only two provided a rationale for this omission.Conclusion: Among recent articles published in the nursing journals indexed in MEDLINE and PubMed Central, only 16.1% presented clear gender analyses. These findings highlight the need for editors to strengthen their dedication to gender equity within their editorial policies.

Use of person-centered language in obesity-related publications across sports medicine journals: a systematic review of adherence to person-centered language guidelines in sports medicine.

Stigmatizing language or non-person-centered language (non-PCL) has been shown to impact patients negatively, especially in the case of obesity. This has led many associations, such as the American Medical Association (AMA) and the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), to enact guidelines prohibiting theuse of stigmatizing language in medical research. In 2018, the AMA adopted person-centered language (PCL) guidelines, including a specific obesity amendment to which all researchers should adhere. However, little research has been conducted to determine if these guidelines are being followed. Our primary objective was to determine if PCL guidelines specific to obesity have been properly followed in the sports medicine journals that are interacted with most frequently. We searched within PubMed for obesity-related articles between 2019 and 2022 published in the top 10 most-interacted sports medicine journals based on Google Metrics data. A predetermined list of stigmatizing and non-PCL terms/language was searched within each article. A total of 198 articles were sampled, of which 58.6 % were found to be not compliant with PCL guidelines. The most common non-PCL terms were "obese" utilized in 49.5 % of articles, followed by "overweight" as the next most common stigmatizing term at 40.4 %. Stigmatizing labels such as "heavy, heavier, heaviness," "fat" as an adjective, and "morbid" appeared in articles but at a lower rate. Our study shows that there is a severe lack of adherence to PCL guidelines in the most-interacted sports medicine journals. Negative associations between stigmatizing language and individuals with obesity will only persist if a greater effort is not made to change this. All journals, including the most prestigious ones, should adopt and execute PCL guidelines to prevent the spread of demeaning language in the medical community.

Evaluating individual participant data plans for ICMJE compliance: A case study at University of Michigan

Introduction: The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) requires researchers to post individual participant data (IPD) plans for interventional clinical trials with registration in order to be eligible for publication in member journals. Objectives: We aimed to gain insight into how researchers interpret these requirements and the related prompts for information used by ClinicalTrials.gov. To accomplish this, we explored the contents of the IPD plans that University of Michigan (U-M) researchers submitted with trial registrations for the first 27 months that the 2019 requirement was in effect. Methods: Clinical trial registration data for U-M was downloaded using the ClinicalTrials.gov API. 198 interventional trials were analyzed using a data collection form to categorize their characteristics and responses to the ClinicalTrials.gov IPD fields. Descriptive statistics were used to examine the data.Results: More than two-thirds of trial registrations (138, 70%) answered “No,” they would not share IPD, while an additional 21 (10%) left the question blank or answered “Undecided.” Only 39 trial registrations (20%) indicated plans to share IPD. Most trials that indicated they would share IPD provided additional information in the other fields in the form.Conclusions: The vast majority (90%) of trials provided an acceptable answer that complies with the ICMJE policy. Additional education and resources from ICMJE would help researchers provide more useful responses in the IPD Sharing Statement fields. Future research includes tracking changes to the information provided in IPD plans and examining how the plans are assessed by ICMJE journal editors.

Registering transparency: the making of the international clinical trial registry platform by the world health organization (2004–2006)

BackgroundThis paper examines the events and conditions that led to the creation of the International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) in 2006 by the World Health Organization (WHO), and how the WHO addressed the issue of transparency in global pharmaceutical research. Using historical textual analysis, I trace the scientific debates that advocated for the establishment of official clinical trial registries in medical journals, and the sequence of actions following the GSK Paxil scandal in 2004, identifying the major ethical and scientific arguments that led to the involvement of the WHO as a key actor in trial registration in the context of the Big Pharma business model.ResultsThrough the questions “Why register?” and “Why registries?” as a roadmap, I examine the issues of publication bias and selective reporting by the industry, scrutinizing two ways in which the practice of publication bias damaged transparency in industry-sponsored research. The first involved ethical concerns regarding human subject exploitation and concealing of negative results. The second addresses the deterioration of the certainty of evidence due to incomplete access to trials results. By reviewing the series of events that occurred between 2004 and 2006 –between the Paxil scandal and the launch of the ICTRP—, I analyze the actions taken by the different actors involved: (1) the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) and the creation of the Ottawa Group; (2) the WHO, beginning with the Ministerial Summit on Health Research held in November of 2004, and (3) the responses of the pharmaceutical industry and specifically GSK to the call for transparency and trial registration.ConclusionsThe history of trial registration through the ICTRP as a dataveillance apparatus shows the difficulty of regulating a health enterprise turned into a global business. Moreover, it shows the challenges of globalization and how easier and faster it is to globalize business compared to good practices, raising the question of why it has been so hard to undo these trends. Indeed, the history of the movement for trial registration is not a history of regulation success, or at least not yet.

Follow-up of Artificial Intelligence Development and its Controlled Contribution to the Article: Step to the Authorship?

Follow-up of Artificial Intelligence Development and its Controlled Contribution to the Article: Step to the Authorship?

Race and ethnicity reporting in endometrial cancer literature

ObjectivesThere is evidence that there are differences in survival outcomes among patients with endometrial cancer of different ethnic groups. We aimed to assess the quantity and quality of race/ethnicity reporting...

The Updated World Association of Medical Editors (WAME) Recommendations on Chatbots and Generative AI in Relation to Scholarly Publications and International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals (May 2023)

On January 20, 2023, the World Association of Medical Editors published a policy statement on Chatbots, ChatGPT, and Scholarly Manuscripts: WAME Recommendations on ChatGPT and Chatbots in Relation to Scholarly Publications.1 There were four recommendations, namely: 1. Chatbots cannot be authors; 2. Authors should be transparent when chatbots are used and provide information about how they were used; 3. Authors are responsible for the work performed by a chatbot in their paper (including the accuracy of what is presented, and the absence of plagiarism) and for appropriate attribution of all sources (including for material produced by the chatbot); and 4. Editors need appropriate tools to help them detect content generated or altered by AI and these tools must be available regardless of their ability to pay.1 This statement was spurred in part by some journals beginning to publish papers in which chatbots such as ChatGPT were listed as co-authors.2
 First, only humans can be authors. Chatbots cannot be authors because they cannot meet authorship requirements “as they cannot understand the role of authors or take responsibility for the paper.”1 In particular, they cannot meet the third and fourth ICMJE criteria for authorship, namely “Final approval of the version to be published” and “Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.”1,3 Moreover, “a chatbot cannot understand a conflict of interest statement, or have the legal standing to sign (such a) statement,” nor can they “hold copyright.”1 Because authors submitting a manuscript must ensure that all those named as authors meet ICMJE authorship criteria, chatbots clearly should not be included as authors.1
 Second, authors should acknowledge the sources of their materials. When chatbots are used, authors “should declare this fact and provide full technical specifications of the chatbot used (name, version, model, source) and method of application in the paper they are submitting (query structure, syntax),” “consistent with the ICMJE recommendation of acknowledging writing assistance.”1,4
 Third, authors must take public responsibility for their work; “Human authors of articles written with the help of a chatbot are responsible for the contributions made by chatbots, including their accuracy,” and “must be able to assert that there is no plagiarism in their paper, including in text produced by the chatbot.”1Consequently, authors must “ensure … appropriate attribution of all quoted material, including full citations,” “seek and cite the sources that support,” as well as oppose (since chatbots can be designed to omit counterviews), the chatbot’s statements.1
 Fourth, to facilitate all this, medical journal editors (who “use manuscript evaluation approaches from the 20th century”) “need appropriate (digital) tools … that will help them evaluate … 21st century … content (generated or altered by AI) efficiently and accurately.”1

Human‐ and AI‐based authorship: Principles and ethics

Key points The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) recommendations for authorship are the dominant guidelines that guide who, and under what circumstances, an individual can be an author of an academic paper. Large language models (LLMs) and AI, like ChatGPT, given their ability and versatility, pose a challenge to the human‐based authorship model. Several journals and publishers have already prohibited the assignment of authorship to AI, LLMs, and even ChatGPT, not recognizing them as valid authors. We debate this premise, and asked ChatGPT to opine on this issue. ChatGPT considers itself as an invalid author. We applied the CRediT criteria to AI, finding that it was definitively able to satisfy three out of the 14 criteria, but only in terms of assistance. This was validated by ChatGPT itself.

Nutritional status and factors associated with undernutrition among tuberculosis patients in Sri Lanka

Introduction: Apart from COVID-19, tuberculosis (TB) is the leading cause of death among infectious diseases globally and in Sri Lanka. It is known that the high-risk groups for developing TB are from lower socio-economic groups. Further, there is a close link between TB and nutrition. Objectives: To assess the prevalence and associated factors of undernutrition among TB patients in Sri Lanka Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out using secondary data of a 2020 cohort of TB patients. Results: Out of 4566, the majority were males (65.2%). According to age groups, 55–64-year age group reported the highest proportion of patients (n=1018; 22.3%). According to the classification of body mass index (BMI), 46.3% were underweight. In bivariate analysis, gender (p=0.07), presence of comorbidities (p<0.001), site of TB (p<0.001), use of alcohol (p=0.01), site of TB (p<0.001), treatment category (p<0.001), smoking (p<0.001), alcohol use (p=0.04) and illicit drug use (p<0.001) were associated with patients being underweight. In multivariate analysis, only presence of comorbidities (p<0.001), site of TB (p<0.001), treatment category (p<0.001), smoking (p=0.04) and illicit drug use (p=0.02) were associated with patients being underweight. Conclusions & Recommendations: Creating awareness among clinicians and public health staff is important for them to be vigilant about TB patients with above associated factors. Proper nutritional counselling must be carried out for TB patients. Further, in implementing available nutritional interventions and patient awareness programmes, patients with lower BMI should be given priority although all TB patients are considered in need of nutritious diet.

How Australia prevents male suicides; lessons learnt and implications to Sri Lanka

No abstract available