Publication Ethics

Journal of Health Law (JHL) aadhering to the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) regarding all aspects of publication ethics and, specifically, the handling of cases involving research and publication misconduct. All articles in this journal involving human subjects must respect the principles of research ethics as outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki.

Journal of Health Law (JHL) adopts COPE standards to ensure high ethical benchmarks for publishers, editors, authors, and reviewers. As a critical matter, publication ethics must be clearly defined to enhance the quality of research globally. This section outlines the standards applicable to editors, reviewers, and authors. Furthermore, the publisher does not interfere with the integrity of the content and serves solely to facilitate timely publication.

Editor

The editor is responsible for every article published in Journal of Health Law (JHL) .

The editor must assist authors in adhering to the instructions for authors.

The editor may communicate with other editors or reviewers when making a final decision.

The editor must evaluate manuscripts objectively for publication, assessing each based on its quality regardless of the author's nationality, ethnicity, political beliefs, race, religion, gender, seniority, or institutional affiliation. The editor must recuse themselves from the task if a potential conflict of interest exists.

The editor must ensure that documents sent to reviewers do not contain author information, and vice versa.

The editor's decision must be communicated to the author, accompanied by reviewer comments, unless those comments contain offensive or defamatory remarks.

The editor must respect an author's request that a specific individual not review the submission, provided the request is reasonable and feasible.

The editor and all staff must guarantee the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts.

The editor will be guided by COPE flowcharts in the event of suspected misconduct or disputes.

Reviewer

Reviewers must comment on ethical issues and potential research or publication misconduct.

Reviewers must complete their work in a timely manner and notify the editor if they are unable to finish the task.

Reviewers must maintain the confidentiality of the manuscript.

Reviewers must not agree to review a manuscript if there is a potential conflict of interest between them and any of the authors.

Author

Authors affirm that the material has not been published previously and that they have not transferred any rights to the article.

Authors must ensure the originality of the work and properly cite the work of others in accordance with the required reference format.

Authors must not engage in plagiarism or self-plagiarism.

Authors must ensure they adhere to the authorship criteria established by Journal of Health Law (JHL) , as outlined in the journal's instructions for authors. Authors are advised against including any personal information that could reveal a patient's identity in descriptions, photographs, or pedigrees. If patient photographs are essential for scientific purposes, authors must obtain and clearly state that written consent has been secured.

In the case of human experimentation, the authors have stated that the research process adhered to the ethical standards of the Declaration of Helsinki and the requirements of the domestic and international committees overseeing human experiments. If there is any doubt as to whether the research was conducted in accordance with the Declaration, the authors must provide an explanation.

Authors must provide the editor with data and details of the work if there are suspicions of data fabrication or falsification.

Authors must disclose any potential conflicts of interest—such as employment, research funding, consulting fees, and intellectual property—using the Journal of Health Law (JHL)  disclosure form.