The Editorial Policies of the Journal of Social & Health Sciences (JSHS) reflect our strong commitment to upholding the highest standards of publication ethics and supporting research excellence. These policies are fundamental to our mission as a trustworthy publisher of open access journals to maintain editorial independence and ensure the integrity of our content. We strongly encourage authors to carefully review and adhere to these policies when submitting their manuscripts for consideration.

Authors are advised to consult JSHS's Guide for Authors for further guidance and support.

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JSHS adheres to the guidelines set forth by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) regarding authorship criteria. To be listed as a contributing author, one must have made a significant contribution to the conception or design of the work or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work. In addition, the author should have drafted or revised the work critically for important intellectual content, approved the final draft for publication, and agreed to be held accountable for all aspects of the work. If an author fails to meet these criteria, they should be listed in the acknowledgment section.

JSHS requires all potential authors to provide a contributorship statement, using the roles defined by the CRediT taxonomy, for all articles. Please note that the contributor roles may vary for different types of articles. All authors are required to report their contributions in the following format:

We encourage all authors to provide an ORCID ID.

JSHS expects authors to ensure the accuracy of authorship information before submitting a manuscript. If any authorship changes are required, authors should complete the Change of Authorship Form according to the provided guidelines. All contributing authors must sign the form before submitting it to the editorial office. Authorship changes must be requested before the article is accepted, as the journal cannot accommodate such requests after acceptance.

JSHS requires all contributing authors to disclose any potential conflicts of interest related to their scholarly work on the title page of their manuscript. This declaration should include both financial and non-financial conflicts. If authors have no conflicts of interest, they must include the following statement:

Conflict of Interest: The author(s) declare(s) no conflicts of interest.

Manuscripts with declared conflicts of interest will be evaluated transparently and may not necessarily be rejected.

In addition, board members and reviewers must also disclose any conflicts of interest they may have. If a conflict of interest exists, they will be excluded from handling that particular manuscript during the editorial and peer-review process.

According to the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), a conflict of interest occurs when a person or organization is involved in multiple interests, including financial interests, which could potentially corrupt their motivations. The presence of a conflict of interest is not dependent on any actual impropriety.

We encourage authors to consult the following resources to gain a better understanding of conflicts of interest:

Cope Guidelines on Good Publication Practice

The ICMJE Guidelines

JSHS adheres to COPE's Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers. It is the responsibility of the reviewers to maintain the confidentiality of the peer-review process by safeguarding the content of a manuscript, including the review report.

JSHS expects authors to avoid any misconduct related to citations, such as using self-citation excessively or making improper prearrangements among author groups to manipulate citation metrics. This practice is known as citation manipulation, and it is not acceptable. For more information, please refer to the COPE Guidance Relating to Citation Manipulation.

Authors should always cite relevant and appropriate literature to support their claims in all types of articles, including original research and non-research articles, such as viewpoints. The journal will reject manuscripts that contain citation manipulation.

JSHS maintains a rigorous policy against plagiarism to ensure the highest standards of academic integrity. Any instances of plagiarism will be dealt with in accordance with the COPE Guidelines. We reserve the right to reject manuscripts during the editorial or peer review process, impose sanctions on authors, and retract published articles that contain plagiarized content.

For JSHS, plagiarism is defined as the use of data, words, text, or illustrations from electronic or printed sources without proper attribution to the original work. We require all authors to cite the original source of any material they use in their manuscripts to avoid any potential issues of plagiarism.

We expect all authors to uphold the highest standards of academic integrity when submitting their work to JSHS. By submitting their manuscript, authors agree to comply with our policy against plagiarism.

JSHS only considers submissions that have not been published before and are not under review by any other journals. We allow authors to submit their work that is based on their thesis or preprint servers. Authors who submit duplicate manuscripts to JSHS or any other journal will be rejected.

Salami-slicing, or the attempt to publish multiple articles with similar content, is strongly discouraged. Manuscripts found to be very similar to previously published work will be rejected during the editorial and peer-review process. If such an article is published, it will be retracted.

JSHS is committed to maintaining the highest standards of data integrity. Data falsification involves manipulating research data with the intention of providing a false impression. Examples of data falsification include, but are not limited to, eliminating data outliers, manipulating illustrations, altering problematic results, and adding, omitting, or changing data sets. Data fabrication involves creating research findings that do not exist.

To ensure the integrity of the research published in JSHS, we may request that authors provide the original research data for verification purposes. Failure to provide the research data may result in the rejection of the manuscript during the editorial and peer-review process and retraction of the published article.

Authors must adhere to the principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki when conducting research involving human subjects, materials, or data and obtain approval from the appropriate ethics review committee. The manuscript must include the name of the ethics review committee and its reference number, except for those studies exempt from ethics approval, along with the reason for such exemption and the name of the body granting it, if applicable.

JSHS does not accept manuscripts lacking an appropriate ethical framework, and retrospective ethics approval is not considered.

In supplement to the ethics approval, authors should obtain informed consent from study participants who are human subjects. For minor participants, informed consent should be obtained from their parent or guardian. This information should also be included in the manuscript.

If the manuscript involves vulnerable groups, potential coercion, or insufficiently informed consent, the editorial office will scrutinize it carefully, and authors may be asked to provide documentary evidence before it is considered for publication.

Authors conducting research with cell lines should provide information about the origin of the cell lines used in the methods section of their manuscript. Proper attribution and references should be given to any previously published research or commercial sources for established cell lines. If the study has generated de novo cell lines, which may include those gifted from another laboratory, authors must obtain ethical clearance from the appropriate ethics review committee. If the cell line is of human origin, written informed consent must also be provided.

Authors must comply with national and international guidelines when conducting experimental studies on plants, including collecting plant material, and must obtain ethical clearance from the appropriate ethics review committee.

In the methods section of the manuscript, authors should provide the genetic information and origin of the plants used. Voucher specimens of rare plants should be deposited in an accessible museum or herbarium, including information on populations sampled, collection date, and parts used.

Additionally, authors must read and comply with the following policies:

IUCN Policy Statement on Research Involving Species at Risk of Extinction

Convention on the Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora

Research involving animals is the responsibility of the author(s), who must ensure that every experimental study complies with national and international relevant guidelines and has received ethical clearance from the appropriate ethics review committee.

We require authors to read and follow:

Basel Declaration

Ethical Guidelines of the International Council for Laboratory Animal Science

Authors must include a statement describing their compliance with the appropriate guidelines for conducting the study, as well as disclose information about the ethical approval accompanying the study approval number and the name of the ethics review committee. If a study is exempt from requiring ethics approval, the authors must state the details of the body granting exemption and the reason for such exemption.

Authors must obtain informed consent from those who keep animals, adhering to the best veterinary care practices when recruiting animals for experimental studies.

Non-experimental studies and field surveys must also comply with national and international relevant guidelines and obtain ethical clearance from the appropriate ethics review committee. Authors must include a statement describing their compliance with the appropriate guidelines for conducting the study, as well as disclose information about the ethical approval accompanying the study approval number and the name of the ethics review committee.

We require authors to read and follow:

IUCN Policy Statement on Research Involving Species at Risk of Extinction

Convention on the Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora

The authors should also refer to the following resources:

The Principles of 3Rs

Code of Practice for the Housing and Care of Animals Bred, Supplied or Used for Scientific Purposes

The Scientific Basis for Regulation of Animal Care and Use

EU Regulations on Animal Research

JSHS adheres to the ICMJE Guidelines and requires authors to register their clinical trials in a public trials registry before enrolling the first subject. The trial registration number and date must be cited in the manuscript. We recommend that authors select an appropriate international clinical trial register from the following resources:

Primary Registries in the WHO Registry Network

Clinical Trials Registration

Manuscripts will not be processed for peer review without trial registration. However, if the study protocol has been published before the first subject enrollment, such submissions may be considered without registration only if the authors have appropriately cited the published protocol.

We require authors to adopt appropriate reporting guidelines while preparing manuscripts for the JSHS to ensure the maximization of transparency and reproducibility. We particularly encourage the use of the following reporting guidelines:

JSHS recognizes the importance of sex and gender in research and encourages authors to use the terms 'sex' for biological attributes and 'gender,' where the variable is formed through social and cultural factors. To ensure the appropriate consideration of sex and gender in research, authors should read the full guidelines of Sex and Gender Equity in Research – SAGER before submission. The SAGER guidelines provide a framework for reporting sex and gender information in research studies and aim to improve transparency, accuracy, and inclusivity in research.

JSHS employs a double-anonymous peer review model, ensuring the identities of both reviewers and authors remain confidential. This approach guarantees an unbiased evaluation based on the manuscript's quality alone.

Completion of the review process requires feedback from at least two independent experts chosen for their expertise and ability to conduct thorough, constructive assessments. Reviewers focus on scientific accuracy, methodology, interpretation of results, and any ethical or legal issues.

We aim for a prompt peer review process and request reviewers to adhere to set timelines. In instances of conflicting reviews, additional opinions may be sought, or revisions requested from the authors.

Our gratitude extends to our reviewers for their vital role in upholding the manuscripts' quality. Authors are encouraged to thoughtfully consider and respond to reviewer feedback, enhancing the caliber and impact of their work.

Logixs Journals and JSHS maintain neutrality on jurisdictional claims in published articles, including maps and institutional affiliations.

Authors are encouraged to share their datasets by depositing them in public repositories or submitting them as supplementary files in a machine-readable format (e.g., XLS, XLSX) alongside the manuscript. Upon acceptance, these files will be published in the HTML version of the article, available for non-commercial public use under participant confidentiality. Authors must include a data availability statement in their manuscript. Those choosing not to share data must provide a rationale.

Maintaining the integrity of the academic record is paramount. Should errors be identified in a published article, appropriate actions will be taken, including publishing a corrigendum (for authorship errors) or an erratum (for publisher errors). Articles significantly compromised by the errors or reflecting research misconduct may be retracted, following COPE Retraction Guidelines, to ensure transparency and responsibility in the correction process.