WAME Professionalism Code of Conduct

Posted May 12, 2016

Medical journal editors are accountable and responsible for what they publish and should:

  • Use rigorous evaluation and peer review in publishing scholarly work that has been ethically conducted, is methodologically sound and clearly and completely reported. Editors should correct or retract publications as needed to ensure the integrity of the scientific record and pursue any allegations of misconduct relating to the research, the reviewer, or editor until the matter is resolved.
  • Pursue lifelong learning and teaching, both formal and informal, and recognize the need to remedy knowledge deficits in themselves and their coeditors.
  • Establish and disseminate clear and transparent policies for editors, authors, and reviewers; identify potential conflicts of interest for editors and reviewers; and prevent conflicts of interest from affecting journal decision making. Editors should maintain respectful relationships with other individuals, maintain their integrity in all professional relationships, and not misuse their positions for personal gain. Editors should preserve the reputation of their journals through their ethical behavior.
  • Ensure the journal is editorially independent from publishers, owners, corporations, industry, and other groups that could present potential conflicts of interest.
  • Publish the best journal they can through careful editing and attention to detail; evaluating journal procedures, reviewing journal manuscript and publication metrics, engaging in regular quality improvement, assessing journal and article impact, responding to author and reader feedback, ensuring the preservation of journal content, and maintaining author, reviewer, and editorial board relationships with experts in fields relevant to their journal.
  • Address medicine and health-related problems, concerns, and injustices that are relevant to the journal’s readers; make the journal accessible to as many readers as possible; and seek representation of authors, reviewers, and editorial board members from low and middle income countries.

Approved by the WAME Board, May 9, 2016