Policies

1. Editorial independence: Editorial decisions are made by the Editor-in-Chief and Editorial Board based on scientific merit, relevance, clarity, and ethical compliance. Decisions are not influenced by sponsors, advertisers, or institutional interests.

2. Peer-review process: Submissions undergo initial editorial screening (scope, completeness, ethical requirements, and basic quality) and, when suitable, are sent for external peer review by at least two independent reviewers. MSA uses a double-blind peer-review model unless otherwise stated for specific article types. The Editorial Board may issue a desk rejection when a manuscript is outside scope or does not meet minimum standards.

3. Plagiarism and originality: MSA screens manuscripts for similarity and expects all submissions to be original. Reuse of text, figures, or data must be properly quoted, cited, and permitted where required. Suspected misconduct is handled in line with best-practice publication ethics guidance.

4. Authorship and contributorship: MSA follows widely used biomedical authorship standards. All authors must meet authorship criteria and approve the final manuscript. Contributors who do not meet authorship criteria should be acknowledged appropriately.

5. Conflicts of interest: All authors must disclose financial and non-financial relationships and activities that could be perceived to influence the work. Editors and reviewers must also declare potential conflicts. MSA encourages use of the ICMJE disclosure form.

6. Ethics approval and informed consent: Research involving humans must state the approving ethics committee/IRB and confirm informed consent where applicable. Animal studies must state approval by an appropriate ethics committee and compliance with relevant guidelines. Identifiable patient information/images require explicit written consent.

7. Clinical trial registration: MSA requires registration of clinical trials in a publicly accessible registry at or before first participant enrollment, consistent with ICMJE policy. Trial registration details should be stated in the manuscript, and in the abstract when applicable.

8. Reporting guidelines: Authors should follow relevant reporting guidelines and submit the appropriate checklist(s) when available (e.g., CONSORT for randomized trials, STROBE for observational studies, PRISMA for systematic reviews, CARE for case reports, STARD for diagnostic accuracy studies, SPIRIT for trial protocols). MSA recommends using the EQUATOR Network as the primary resource for reporting guidelines.

9. Data availability and transparency: Authors should include a Data Availability Statement describing where the data, code, and materials can be accessed, or the reason they cannot be shared.

10. Corrections, expressions of concern, and retractions: When needed to maintain the integrity of the scholarly record, MSA will publish corrections, expressions of concern, or retractions following established editorial ethics guidance, including COPE retraction recommendations.

11. Copyright, licensing, and open access: Unless otherwise specified on the journal website, MSA aims to provide immediate open access. Please state your journal’s chosen copyright and license terms (e.g., author-retained copyright with a Creative Commons license such as CC BY 4.0).

12. Archiving and preservation: Medicine Southeast Asia is committed to ensuring the long-term digital preservation and accessibility of all published content. As a newly established journal, a formal archiving arrangement through the PKP Preservation Network (PKP PN), based on the LOCKSS (Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe) system, is planned and will be activated once eligibility criteria are fulfilled.
    In the interim, all published articles are securely stored on the journal’s hosting servers with routine backups and are eligible for deposit in the publisher’s institutional repository to ensure content integrity, redundancy, and continued access.

13. Fees: MSH does not charge any submission fees nor article processing charges.