Introduction
The Nigerian Health Journal (TNHJ) is committed to maintaining the highest standards of ethical conduct and integrity in all aspects of its publication process. All participants involved in manuscript submission, peer review, and editorial decision-making—including authors, reviewers, and editors—are expected to adhere to internationally accepted ethical principles. These include honesty, transparency, accountability, and respect for research participants and patient confidentiality.

Responsibilities of Authors
Authors submitting manuscripts to TNHJ are responsible for ensuring that their research has been conducted in accordance with recognized ethical standards and with approval from relevant institutional review boards or ethics committees where required.
Authors must disclose any potential conflicts of interest that may influence the interpretation of their findings. Full transparency regarding funding sources and institutional affiliations is required.
For studies involving human participants, authors must indicate that procedures were conducted in accordance with institutional and national ethical standards and in compliance with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000. Where there is uncertainty about adherence to these standards, authors must clearly describe their approach and provide evidence that an appropriate ethics committee reviewed and approved the study.
For research involving animals, authors must state that the study complied with institutional and national guidelines governing the care and use of laboratory animals.
Authors are also responsible for ensuring the accuracy of data presented and for properly acknowledging all sources used in the preparation of their manuscript.

Plagiarism and Academic Misconduct
Plagiarism, data fabrication, falsification, duplicate publication, and other forms of academic misconduct are strictly prohibited.
All submitted manuscripts are subjected to plagiarism screening before acceptance. Manuscripts with similarity scores exceeding 20% may be returned to the authors with a similarity report for correction and revision. Manuscripts with similarity scores of 40% or higher may be rejected outright at the discretion of the editorial board.
Authors are required to appropriately cite all referenced materials and ensure originality of submitted work. If plagiarism or other forms of misconduct are discovered after publication, TNHJ reserves the right to issue corrections, publish statements of concern, or retract the article as appropriate.
Authors are strongly encouraged to conduct similarity checks on their manuscripts prior to submission.

Reviewer and Editor Responsibilities
Reviewers are expected to evaluate manuscripts objectively, fairly, and confidentially. They must disclose any potential conflicts of interest that could influence their assessment of a manuscript.
Editors are responsible for ensuring that all manuscripts are processed through a fair, unbiased, and confidential review system. They must address ethical concerns raised during the submission and review process and take appropriate action where necessary.

Addressing Malpractice
The Nigerian Health Journal will investigate any suspected cases of academic misconduct or malpractice in accordance with its editorial procedures. Where misconduct is confirmed, the journal may take appropriate corrective measures, including rejection of the manuscript, retraction of published articles, or other necessary actions to maintain the integrity of the scientific record.

Agreement to Ethical Standards
By submitting a manuscript to The Nigerian Health Journal, authors agree to comply with the journal’s ethical standards and policies. Any confirmed case of malpractice may result in disciplinary action as determined by the journal’s editorial board.