Ethical considerations
The Journal of Community Health Research (JCHR), with a rigorous review process and clear ethical policies, supports the publication of high-quality scientific studies. When faced with ethical issues, the journal is committed to investigating and taking the necessary measures to ensure compliance with ethical protocols, the safety of research participants, and adherence to COPE principles.
JCHR follows the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)’s flowcharts and guidelines, also “the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals” issued by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) (http://www.icmje.org).
All authors must complete ICMJE form when submitting an article.
All studies must be approved by the relevant Ethics Committee/ Institution review boards of the respective institutions. As a result, Ethics Code must be mentioned in all studies, except letter to editors, editorials, and review articles. Informed consent forms should be signed by participants. The study itself should follow the ethical standards provided by the Helsinki Declaration, as revised in 2013 available at: www.wma.net/en/30publications/10policies/b3/.
Ethical considerations in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation must be addressed in the ‘Materials and methods’ or 'Acknowledgment' section. The journal will not consider any manuscript, which is ethically unacceptable. It is the responsibility of the authors/contributors to obtain permissions for reproducing any copyrighted material. Evidence for approval by a local Ethics Committee (for both human as well as animal studies) must be supplied by the authors on demand. The related items should be inserted under the ‘Ethical Considerations’ at the end of the article. A copy of the permission must accompany the manuscript. In the case of not having the Code of Ethics, authors should mention all ethical issues based on the Helsinki Declaration. Conflicts of interest should be declared obviously in each manuscript.
Authors who submit their articles to our journal must:
- Ensure that their manuscripts are ethically sound and meet the necessary ethical standards reflected in JCHR policies.
- Present their research findings accurately in the JCHR format including Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, and Conclusion.
- Ensure accurate inclusion of the names of all and only those who qualify for authorship and clearly state their contributions.
- Disclose any potential competition or conflict of interest at submission.
- The data and methods used in the research should be presented in sufficient detail in the manuscript so that other researchers can replicate their work. JCHR recommended that the raw data be made publicly available unless there is a compelling reason (eg, participant's confidentiality).
- Note that submitting the articles to more than one journal at the same time is not ethical and it is considered as misconduct.
- The results of the research must not previously publish, and any translation must follow our translation policy.
- For any previously published content such as figures or tables, permission to reproduce from the copyright holder is required.
Research Involving Human Subjects
In all research conducted on human subjects, human tissues, or human data, even non-interventional studies (such as surveys and questionnaire studies), authors must comply with the Declaration of Helsinki rules (https://www.wma.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/DoH-Oct2008.pdf) in their research report. Also, the approval code of the ethics committee should be mentioned with the name of the relevant ethics committee. Also, the ethics committee approval letter, including the research title, the date of approval, and the name of the ethics committee, must be submitted with the manuscript.
If, for some reason, ethical approval is not required, authors must provide the documentation of their ethics committee exemption. Where a study has been granted an exemption, the name of the ethics committee that made the recommendation should be listed in the “Ethical consideration” section with a full explanation of why ethical approval is not required.
Written informed consent must be obtained from all participants in the study before starting the research, and this topic should also be mentioned in the “Ethical Considerations" section. Details about the participants should be as anonymous as possible. The editors reserve the right to reject any submission that does not meet these requirements. The journal reserves the right to ask the authors to provide consent forms signed by the participants, if necessary.
Research involving animals
If animals are the goal group of the work, the authors should indicate the international and national guidelines for use of animals. Also, the study should be approved by a research committee at the organization/institution. For this kind of manuscript, an "Ethical approval" should be included in the "Materials and methods" section that the authors should mention the guidelines for the care and use of animals. Also, the ethical code should be added. If the authors have not results from the studies by any of the authors, they should clear it. This journal has right to request the related documents from the authors.
Research involving human
If human are the participants in the work, the authors should include the ethical approval code by ethical committee from institution/organization and should perform the research in accordance with standards based on Declaration of Helsinki in 1964 and its later amendments ethical standards. For this kind of manuscript, an "Ethical approval" should be included in the text before the "Ethical Considerations" section that the authors should declare that the study was performed in accordance with Helsinki declaration. This journal has right to request the related documents from the authors.
Informed consent
Both of the research with human participants and animals should have "Informed consent". It is necessary that all participants have informed consent prior to inclusion in the study. Any information about the participants should not be published by authors. This journal has right to request the related documents from the authors.
Erratum
An error introduced by the publisher that affects the integrity of the version of record, the reputation of the authors, or the reputation of journal, is termed as Erratum.
An Erratum is a statement by the authors of the original paper that briefly describes any correction(s) resulting from errors or omissions. Any effects on the conclusions of the paper should be noted. The corrected article is not removed from the online journal, but notice of erratum is given. The Erratum is made freely available to all readers and is linked to the corrected article.
Corrigenda
A corrigendum is a notification of a significant error made by the authors of the article. All corrigenda are normally approved by the editors of the journal. Corrigendum or Author Correction. Notification of an important error made by the author(s) that affects the publication record or the scientific integrity of the paper, or the reputation of the authors or the journal.
The JCHR uses the COPE flowchart for retraction of a published article.
Retraction and expression of concern
Retraction will be published by Journal of Community Health Research if errors affect the interpretation of the results or it is proven serious ethical misconduct, including duplication, redundant publication (publishing the data elsewhere without cross-referencing, permission or justification), disagreement of all authors for publication, plagiarism, miscalculation, experimental error. Expression of concern will be published by Journal of Community Health Research Control if editors receive inconclusive evidence of research or publication misconduct by the authors, unreliability of the findings, an investigation would be underway but a judgment will not be available for a considerable time.
Withdrawal of articles
Withdrawing a paper during peer-review or after acceptance, but before publication, is an uncommon event. It is not considered good scientific practice and must be done only in exceptional cases. Withdrawal or removal of articles is strongly discouraged. Some authors request withdrawal a manuscript from the publication process after submission. In some instances the request for withdrawal is made within a few days after submission, however, many times the request is made very late, when the manuscript is only a few days away from publication in the journal. Withdrawing manuscripts from publication wastes the valuable resources and tremendous amount of effort made in processing the manuscripts by the editors, reviewers and the editorial staff. Decide on the number of authors, order of authors and authorship contributions of a paper before submitting the manuscript. Ideally these should be decided even before beginning to write the manuscript. According to the policy of our journal, it is not possible to withdraw the articles after the initial review by the referees.
Cases that withdrawals are possible:
If legal infringements, defamation, false on inaccurate data would be occurred especially those could pose a serious health risk, the Journal of Community Health Research Control have right to remove or withdraw the article. In this circumstance, a retraction statement will be published by this journal and an explanation will be given about the circumstances of removal or withdrawal.
To avoid withdrawal of a manuscript:
To avoid withdrawal of a manuscript, corresponding author addresses the following issues before submitting the manuscript for JSBCH publication:
Confirm that the facts and data included in the manuscript are authors’ own work; authors are permitted by departmental and/or institutional policy to use the materials and resources as they have been used in the study; and if data and facts from any other person or sources are used, appropriate written permissions have been obtained.
Confirm that all authors agree to the presentation and interpretation of the facts and data given in the manuscript. In case of any differences of opinion, address the concerns of all the authors before submitting the manuscript for JSBCH publication.
Submit the manuscript to only one time for publication. Do not simultaneously submit the manuscript to more time.
Before submitting the manuscript for publication, inform all the authors, the name of the journal to which the manuscript is being submitted and give them a copy of the final manuscript.
Manuscripts may be withdrawn at any stage of review and publication process by submitting a request to the publication department. Manuscript withdrawal will be permitted after submission only for the most compelling and unavoidable reasons.
Decide on the number of authors, order of authors and authorship contributions of a paper before submitting the manuscript. Ideally these should be decided even before beginning to write the manuscript.
Confirm that all the authors agree on the specific journal to submit the manuscript for publication. If there are any disagreements about selection of the journal, find a solution which is agreeable to all authors before submitting the manuscript for publication.
If the authors do not reply to communication from the editorial office, even after multiple reminders, at any stage of the JSBCH publication process; JSBCH holds all rights to disclose the conduct of the authors and content of the manuscript without further approval from the authors, and cannot be held responsible for the consequences arising from it.
Are there penalties for withdrawal?
Since there are many legitimate reasons to withdraw a paper, the consequences for doing so are usually minimal if done quickly. However, withdrawal after acceptance or during peer review can be a big problem, especially if the reasons for withdrawal are suspicious. For example, an author might submit to multiple journals and withdraw at the last minute from journals with a lower impact factor. This guarantees them a spot in only the most prestigious journal that accepts their manuscript. In such cases, deposits and fees may not be returned, and the journal may ask that the authors do not submit to the journal again. This, in turn, can earn authors a bad reputation. Regardless of the reason, it is best to ensure that the journal to which you are submitting is the right fit for all the authors to circumvent the need for withdrawal in the first place. Remember: the publishing process requires a great deal of time and labor and consuming those resources without good cause raises ethical concerns.
Publication Ethics Statement
Journal editors, peer reviewers and authors must all comply with a number of ethical standards concerning the publishing process. This statement outlines the publication ethics standards that the editors and member of the editorial board of JCHR intend to follow as well as the standards the journal asks its authors and peer-reviewers to follow on an ongoing basis. These standards are based on the Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines For Journal Editors by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
Responsibilities of the General Journal Editors
Non-discrimination
The editors are to evaluate submissions for their quality and originality without regard to race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religious or ethical beliefs, or nationality of the submitting authors.
Confidentiality
The editors and editorial staff are not to disclose information about any submission to anyone other than the corresponding author, the (potential) reviewers or other editorial advisers.
Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest
Neither editors nor other journal staffs are to reference unpublished content in a submission in their own research except with the explicit written consent of the author(s).
Publication Decisions
The editors of the journal are responsible for final decisions about the publication of submissions. The editors are guided by the policies set out in the Aims & Scope section, and constrained by any legal requirements as shall be in force regarding libel, copyright infringement and plagiarism. The editors may confer with reviewers in making this decision.
Confirmation Regarding Scientific Misconduct
In cases of alleged or proven scientific misconduct, fraudulent publication or plagiarism, the journal editors will take all appropriate measures to clarify the situation and to amend the article in question. This includes the prompt publication of an erratum or, if necessary, the complete retraction of the work in question.
Data Sharing & Reproducibility
JCHR adheres to the Budapest Open Access Initiative definition of open access, which means that it gives its users the right to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of these articles. Users also have the right to crawl the texts for indexing, pass them as data to software, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without financial, legal, or technical barriers other than those inseparable from gaining access to the internet itself. Creating derivative works is not covered by the BOAI, and is thus subject to permission from the Global Justice Network.
For details of the Budapest Open Access Initiative, including specific guidelines on data sharing, reproducibility and intellectual property, please visit the Initiative website here: https://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/.
Data Fabrication
Fabrication is the construction and/or addition of data, observations, or characterizations that never occurred in the gathering of data or running of experiments. Fabrication can occur when “filling out” the rest of experiment runs, for example. JCHR will ask the author(s) to provide the raw data for further investigations if necessary.
Data Falsification
Manipulating research data with the intention of giving a false impression. This includes manipulating images (e.g. micrographs, gels, and radiological images), removing outliers or “inconvenient” results, changing, adding or omitting data points, etc. In the initial process of peer review, JCHR tries to consider this issue and act accordingly.
Responsibilities of Peer-Reviewers
Contribution to Editorial Decisions
Peer review is an important cornerstone of each editorial decision by JCHR. Standalone, special issue and symposium-based submissions are (non-anonymously) desk reviewed by the editor(s) of JCHR or by the specific special edition / symposium editor, with papers passing this stage entering into double blind peer-review. Peer reviews are to be written with the intention to assist authors in improving their manuscripts (regardless of the reviewer's overall recommendation). Please note that JCHR additionally specializes in good quality, extended reviews and review articles which are (in most cases) only reviewed by the review editor(s), as opposed to undergoing the peer-review process applied to regular (stand-alone) contributions and special issue and symposium contributions.
Promptness
Invited referees who don't feel qualified to review a given submission or who know that its timely review will be impossible should immediately notify the editors in order not to cause any unnecessary delays.
Confidentiality
Any manuscripts received for review are to be treated as confidential documents. Reviewers must not show or discuss the content of any submission with others except if authorized by the editors.
Objectivity
Reviewers should adhere to objective standards of evaluation and refrain from personal criticism. Referees should articulate their views clearly and provide arguments for them, as appropriate.
Acknowledgement of Sources
Reviewers are asked to identify relevant published work that has not been cited in the submission under review. If reviewers state that an argument had been previously reported, then they should provide the relevant citation. Referees should also report any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published work of which they are aware.
Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest
Information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and may not use for personal advantage. Reviewers should not consider evaluating submissions in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors or other agents or institutions connected to the manuscript under review.
Responsibilities of Authors
Reporting Research
Authors should present an accurate account of their research as well as an objective discussion of its significance. A paper should contain sufficient argumentative detail and references. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements are not acceptable.
Originality and Plagiarism
The authors should demonstrate that they have written original works. If they have used the work and/or words of others, then this must be appropriately cited or quoted.
Multiple, redundant or concurrent publication
An author should not in general publish manuscripts describing essentially the same research in more than one article or primary publication. Parallel submission of the same manuscript to more than one journal constitutes unethical publishing behaviour and is unacceptable.
Acknowledgement of Sources
Proper acknowledgment of the work of others must always be given. Authors should also cite other works that have been influential for their own work.
Authorship of a Manuscript
Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. All those (and only those) who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors. Others who have participated in certain substantive aspects of the undertaken research should be named in an Acknowledgement section. The corresponding author should ensure that all co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the paper and have agreed to its submission for publication. Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest
All authors should disclose in their manuscript any financial or other substantive conflict of interest that might be construed to influence the results or their interpretation in their submission. All sources of financial support for the project should be disclosed.
Fundamental Errors in Published Works
Authors should immediately notify the journals editors in case he/she discovers any significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published work. In such cases, authors must cooperate with the journal to either retract the paper or to publish an appropriate erratum.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
JCHR supports the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in research articles. However, authors must disclose the use of AI transparently and accurately in their articles. This disclosure should be made in the Acknowledgments section of the article and should include the name of the AI tool or software used, the specific purpose for which it was used, and any limitations or drawbacks associated with its use. By disclosing the use of AI in their articles, the authors help to ensure that readers are aware of the potential impact of AI on the research's results and conclusions. Some examples of how AI can be used in journal articles include data analysis, machine learning, and computational simulations.
Appeal
Our appeals policy allows authors to contest editorial decisions.
If the author(s) of a manuscript believe there has been a substantial error or misunderstanding by the editor or reviewers, a decision affected by a clear conflict of interest, or evidence of bias or inadequate consideration, they may submit an appeal by following these steps:
- Submit a formal appeal via email within 30 days of the decision date.
- Provide a detailed appeal letter, clearly stating the grounds for the appeal, including specific responses to any points raised in the decision letter.
- Include any relevant supporting documentation or data that can substantiate the claim.
After receiving an appeal:
- The editorial team will acknowledge receipt of the appeal within one week.
- A decision on the appeal will be communicated to the author(s), typically within six weeks of the appeal submission.
- If the appeal is upheld, we may overturn the original decision or request a revised submission.
- If the appeal is rejected, the original decision stands, and further appeals on the same grounds will not be considered.
Please note that decisions to appeal must not be taken lightly, and the burden of proof rests with the author(s). We reserve the right to reject appeals that do not meet the grounds specified above.
For appeal submissions or inquiries, please contact the editorial office at sbrh.ssugmail.com or sbrhssu.ac.ir.
Preprint
Our journal follows the policy on preprints, which is similar to that of most other journals.
Authors are required to disclose all details regarding their preprint postings, including the DOI and licensing terms. This must be done either upon submission of the manuscript or at any other point during the consideration process at JCHR. Once the preprint is published, it becomes the author's responsibility to make sure that the preprint record is updated with a publication reference, which should include the DOI and a URL link to the published version of the article on the journal's website.
Open Access Policy
- JCHR does not charge readers and their institution for access to its papers. Full text download of all new and archived papers are free of charge (APC). Registration on JCHR website is free of charge for authors and reviewers.
- JCHR allows readers to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of its articles and allow readers to use them for any other lawful purpose.
- JCHR lets author(s) to distribute, remix, and build upon their study, even commercially, as long as they credit us for the original creation.
- JCHR has a registered deposit policy.
- JCHR allows the author(s) to hold the copyright without restrictions.
- JCHR allows the author(s) to retain publishing rights without restrictions.
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