Clinical & Molecular Biomedicine (CMB) is committed to handling editorial appeals and complaints fairly, objectively, confidentially, and without retaliation against authors, reviewers, readers, or other individuals who raise concerns in good faith.

Appeals and complaints should be submitted in writing to the CMB Editorial Office at cmb@editorypress.uz and should include sufficient information and supporting documentation to allow the matter to be assessed.

Authors may appeal a final editorial decision when they believe that:

• a significant factual or technical error affected the decision;
• relevant information contained in the manuscript was misunderstood or overlooked;
• there was a material procedural error in the peer-review or editorial process; or
• there is evidence that the decision was affected by an undisclosed conflict of interest or other serious irregularity.

An appeal must provide a clear scientific or procedural justification and should address the relevant editorial and reviewer comments point by point.

An appeal is not an opportunity to submit a substantially revised manuscript following rejection or simply to disagree with the scientific judgment of reviewers or editors.

Appeals will be assessed by the Editor-in-Chief, a senior editor, or an independent academic editor who was not materially involved in the original decision, as appropriate.

The journal may:

• uphold the original decision;
• reconsider the manuscript;
• request additional information from the author;
• obtain additional independent peer review; or
• issue a revised editorial decision.

The outcome of the appeal will be communicated to the corresponding author in writing.

Authors, reviewers, readers, and other parties may submit complaints concerning the journal's editorial procedures or conduct.

Complaints may concern, for example:

• unreasonable or unexplained editorial delays;
• failure to follow the journal's stated editorial or peer-review procedures;
• inappropriate editorial communications or conduct;
• confidentiality concerns;
• inappropriate handling of reviewer reports;
• undisclosed or improperly managed conflicts of interest; or
• other concerns relating to the fairness or integrity of the editorial process.

Complaints will, where possible, be reviewed by an individual who was not directly involved in the matter being complained about.

Concerns regarding reviewer conduct may include:

• undisclosed conflicts of interest;
• breaches of confidentiality;
• inappropriate use of unpublished manuscript material;
• abusive, discriminatory, or unprofessional comments;
• manipulation of citations;
• suspected impersonation or fraudulent peer review; or
• other serious breaches of reviewer responsibilities.

The journal will assess such concerns confidentially and may take appropriate action, including disregarding a review, removing a reviewer from consideration for future manuscripts, seeking additional independent review, or taking further action in accordance with applicable publication-ethics guidance.

An editor must not investigate or make the final determination on a complaint concerning their own conduct or a matter in which they have a relevant conflict of interest.

Where a complaint concerns a handling editor, the matter will be referred to the Editor-in-Chief or another independent senior editor.

Where a complaint concerns the Editor-in-Chief, it will be referred to an appropriate senior representative of the publisher or another independent person who was not involved in the matter.

Allegations involving plagiarism, fabrication or falsification of data, inappropriate authorship, unethical research, duplicate publication, citation manipulation, undisclosed conflicts of interest, or other forms of suspected research or publication misconduct will be handled under the journal's Publication Ethics policies and in accordance with applicable COPE guidance.

Where appropriate, the journal may contact authors, reviewers, institutions, research-integrity offices, ethics committees, funders, or other relevant organizations as part of an investigation.

The journal will not ordinarily conduct investigations that properly fall within the authority of an author's institution or another competent body, but it may request and evaluate the outcome of such investigations when determining appropriate editorial action.

Concerns about published articles may be submitted by authors, readers, reviewers, institutions, or other parties.

Depending on the nature and outcome of the concern, the journal may take action under its Corrections, Retractions & Withdrawal policy, including publication of a correction, retraction, or other appropriate notice.

Complaints concerning published material will be assessed on their evidence and substance regardless of the identity of the complainant.

Appeals and complaints will be handled as confidentially as reasonably possible.

Information will be shared only with individuals or organizations whose involvement is necessary to assess or resolve the matter.

Individuals who are the subject of a complaint will normally be given an appropriate opportunity to respond to substantive allegations before a final determination is made.

Submission of a complaint or appeal in good faith will not disadvantage an author, reviewer, or reader in future interactions with the journal.

The journal will communicate the outcome of an appeal or complaint to the complainant when appropriate.

Relevant records and correspondence will be retained by the journal in accordance with its editorial and publication-ethics procedures.

Complex cases may be handled with reference to guidance issued by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) or other recognized publication-ethics standards.