Reporting of Irregularities

The Electronic Medical Journal is committed to maintaining the highest standards of scientific integrity, ethics, and transparency in all editorial processes. To ensure this commitment, the following procedure is established for the submission and handling of reports concerning possible irregularities in published or under-evaluation manuscripts:

1. What is considered an irregularity?
   An irregularity is understood as any conduct that violates the ethical principles of research and scientific publication, such as:
   • Undisclosed plagiarism or self-plagiarism,
   • Fabrication or falsification of data,
   • Unauthorized duplicate or redundant publication,
   • Improper author inclusion (ghost, guest, or gift authorship),
   • Undisclosed conflict of interest that influences results or conclusions,
   • Inappropriate manipulation of images or graphics,
   • Unauthorized use of personal data or patient images,
   • Violation of the peer review process (e.g., unauthorized disclosure of the manuscript).
2. Who may file a report?
   Any person—reader, author, reviewer, editorial committee member, or interested third party—may file a report if they have knowledge or a well-founded suspicion of an irregularity.
3. How to file a report?
   • The report must be submitted in writing to the journal’s official email address: rme.mtz@infomed.sld.cu.
   • It must include:
   • Full name and institutional affiliation of the complainant (anonymous reports will be considered, but will carry less weight if no evidence is provided),
   • Clear identification of the manuscript (title, authors, volume, issue, year, or DOI),
   • Detailed description of the alleged irregularity,
   • Documentary evidence supporting the report (screenshots, links, textual comparisons, analyses, etc.).
4. Handling of the report
   • Every report received will be initially evaluated by the Editor-in-Chief and, if applicable, by the Editorial Committee.
   • The guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) will be applied to investigate and resolve the case.
   • The process will be confidential, and the complainant’s identity will be protected as far as possible.
   • If the report lacks basis or evidence, it will be archived without further action.
   • If the irregularity is confirmed, appropriate measures will be taken, which may include:
   • Publication of a correction (erratum/corrigendum),
   • Formal retraction of the article,
   • Temporary or permanent prohibition of the author from publishing in the journal,
   • Notification to institutions, funding agencies, or indexing databases (such as SciELO or Redalyc).
5. Confidentiality and protection against retaliation
   The journal guarantees the confidentiality of the process and rejects any form of retaliation against those who submit reports in good faith.