Allegations of Misconduct

Health Innovation Reports (HIR) is committed to upholding the highest standards of research integrity and transparency in scientific publishing. In alignment with the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the journal defines research misconduct as including, but not limited to, mistreatment of research subjects, data fabrication or falsification, plagiarism, and unethical authorship practices. HIR follows COPE’s official flowcharts for investigating and resolving allegations of misconduct, whether raised before or after publication. All stakeholders—including authors, reviewers, editors, and readers—are encouraged to report any suspected misconduct to the editorial office.

Fabrication and falsification—defined respectively as making up data or manipulating results—are strictly prohibited and actively screened for throughout all phases of manuscript handling. If any evidence of such misconduct is confirmed, the journal may reject the manuscript, retract a published article, and notify the relevant institutions. Similarly, HIR requires authors to declare compliance with ethical standards in studies involving human participants or animals, including approval from an institutional ethics committee. Manuscripts lacking appropriate ethical approval statements will not be accepted for publication.

Plagiarism, including self-plagiarism, is considered a serious ethical violation. Manuscripts with more than 20% similarity (excluding references and standard phrasing) are returned for revision or rejected depending on context. HIR utilizes plagiarism detection tools and editorial assessment to ensure the originality of all submissions. These practices reflect our dedication to ensuring that only ethically sound, high-quality research is published and made available to the global health and scientific community.