PEER REVIEW PROCESS
- Manuscript Processing
Upon initial submission of the manuscript, the author will be acknowledged of the receipt via e-mail. Initially an article will be reviewed by one member of the Editorial team to judge the quality of the paper. Articles written in poor English language or not conforming to IJHS guidelines will either be rejected or returned to the authors to rectify the shortcomings. Manuscripts deemed proper should be forwarded to at least two subject experts to provide their unbiased input. Acceptable manuscripts will be checked for data analysis and verification of references before the author will be notified about the status of the paper with any suggestions for modifications. Finally accepted articles should be forwarded to the printer for typeset and formatting, etc. and the proof will send to the authors for proof reading, before publication.
- Peer Review Policy
Unbiased, independent, critical assessment is an intrinsic part of all scholarly work, including the scientific process. Peer review is the critical assessment of manuscripts submitted to journals by experts who are not part of the editorial staff, and is, therefore, an important extension of the scientific process. Each article submitted to IJHS for publication is reviewed by at least two senior specialists of the concerned specialty. The œdouble blind process is strictly followed and, in certain controversial cases, the opinion of a 3rd reviewer can also be sought.
- Conflict of Interest
Conflict of interest exists when as author (or the author's institution), reviewer, or editor has financial or personal relationships that inappropriately influence (bias) his or her actions (such relationship are also known as dual commitments, competing interests, or competing loyalties). However, conflicts can also occur for other reasons, such as personal relationships, academic competition, and intellectual passion. Increasingly, individual studies receive funding from commercial firms, private foundations, and the government. The conditions of this funding have the potential to bias and otherwise discredit the research. When authors submit a manuscript, they are required to disclose all financial and personal relationships that might bias their work. To prevent ambiguity, authors must state explicitly whether potential conflicts do or do not exist.
It is the discretion of editorial committee of IJHS to resolve any conflict of interest between the author(s) and reviewers. Editors may choose not to consider an article for publication if they feel that the research is biased by the sponsors funding the research project.
- Plagiarism
Plagiarism is the unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and representing them as ones own original work. Within the academia, it is considered dishonesty or fraud and offenders are subject to academic censure. Plagiarism can be unintentional or intentional, reproducing academic material without appropriate credit to the original authors. Similarly self plagiarism is the re-use of significant, identical or near identical portions of ones own work without citing the original work. This is also known as œRecycling fraud. Worst form of plagiarism is to steal the whole article from some journal and publish it under ones own name in another journal. The Editorial Committee of IJHS will blacklist any author found to be guilty of plagiarism. The name of author(s) committing plagiarism will also be disseminated to editors of other medical journals.
- Ethical Issues
Human clinical trials and studies conducted in animals (or not) must have been approved by an Institutional Review Board (IRB). In the absence of such a formal ethics review committee, the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000 and/or the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, as adopted and promulgated by the United States National Institutes of Health, must be followed. If doubt exists whether the research was conducted in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration, the authors must explain the rationale for their approach, and demonstrate that the institutional review body explicitly approved the doubtful aspects of the study. In case of any study involving clinical trial, taking of informed consent of patients is mandatory. Whenever editorial committee of IJHS feels necessary, the research paper will be referred to the œResearch Ethic Committee of Qassim University for its evaluation and approval.
- Editorial Committee
The Editorial committee consisting of the Editor- in-Chief, Associate Editor, Editors, Assistant Editor(s) and the editorial secretaries meet at least twice a month to expedite the business of the journal. The editorial committee follows the guidelines provided by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors in œUniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals: Writing and Editing for Biomedical Publication which can be downloaded fromhttp://www.icmje.org/
- Advisory Board
An advisory board comprising of members with significant professional experience in different fields of medical sciences helps the Editorial Committee in policy matters when needed. Senior specialists from Saudi Arabia, as well as professionals from foreign countries are members of the Board.