Policies

SJOHS employs a rigorous double-blind peer review process. All submitted manuscripts that pass initial editorial screening are evaluated by a minimum of two independent expert reviewers.

In double-blind review, neither the authors nor the reviewers know each other's identities, ensuring an unbiased evaluation. The journal is committed to fair, timely, and constructive peer review.

Timeline:

• Initial editorial screening: Within 7–10 working days
• First peer review decision: Within 4–8 weeks
• Revised manuscript review: Within 2–4 weeks

Reviewers are selected based on their expertise in the subject area of the manuscript. Editors ensure that reviewers have no conflicts of interest with the authors. Reviewer comments are provided to authors in full.

SJOHS is committed to maintaining the highest standards of publication ethics and follows the guidelines established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), ICMJE, and WAME.

Authors' Responsibilities:

• All data reported must be original and authentic
• All co-authors must meet ICMJE authorship criteria
• Sources of funding and potential conflicts of interest must be disclosed
• Ethical approval and patient consent must be obtained for human studies
• Simultaneous submission to multiple journals is prohibited
• Fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism of data will result in rejection and reporting to authors' institutions

Editors' Responsibilities:

• Manuscripts will be evaluated solely on scientific merit and relevance
• Editorial decisions are independent of commercial interests
• Editors will declare any conflicts of interest and recuse themselves when appropriate
• Confirmed misconduct will be handled according to COPE guidelines

Reviewers' Responsibilities:

• Reviewers must treat manuscripts as confidential documents
• Reviews must be objective and constructive
• Conflicts of interest must be declared to the editorial office

SJOHS is a fully open-access journal. All articles published in SJOHS are immediately and permanently freely accessible to readers worldwide without any subscription charges.

This is in accordance with the Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI) definition of open access. Open access promotes equitable access to scientific knowledge and accelerates research impact.

All articles are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license. This allows users to freely copy, distribute, display, and adapt the work, provided appropriate credit is given to the original authors.

No Article Processing Charges (APC): During the inaugural launch phase, SJOHS does not levy any article processing fees on authors or their institutions. This policy will be reviewed periodically and any changes will be communicated well in advance.

Authors who publish in SJOHS retain copyright of their work. By submitting to SJOHS, authors grant the journal the right of first publication.

All published articles are released under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license, which permits any user to share and adapt the material for any purpose, provided that:

• Appropriate credit is given to the original authors
• A link to the license is provided
• Changes made to the original are clearly indicated

Authors may freely post pre-prints and post-prints to institutional repositories or personal websites. SJOHS supports green open access and self-archiving.

SJOHS has a zero-tolerance policy on plagiarism. All submitted manuscripts are screened for plagiarism using industry-standard software (e.g., Turnitin, iThenticate) prior to peer review.

Acceptable Similarity: Manuscripts with overall similarity index greater than 15% (excluding references, title, and quotations) will be returned to authors for revision before entering peer review.

Types of misconduct investigated:

• Plagiarism (copying without attribution)
• Self-plagiarism / duplicate publication
• Data fabrication and falsification
• Manipulation of images or figures
• Improper citation practices
• Ghost authorship or gift authorship

Confirmed cases of misconduct will be handled per COPE guidelines, including rejection, retraction, notification to institutions, and reporting to relevant bodies.

All authors, reviewers, and editors must disclose any potential conflicts of interest that could influence their work. Conflicts of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Financial relationships (employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony)
• Personal relationships with competitors
• Academic competition or rivalry
• Intellectual beliefs that might bias assessment

Authors must include a "Conflict of Interest" statement in their manuscript and in the submission cover letter. If no conflicts exist, this must be explicitly stated: "The authors declare no conflicts of interest."

SJOHS encourages authors to make the data underlying their research findings openly available wherever possible. Authors are encouraged to deposit datasets in recognized public repositories.

All manuscripts should include a "Data Availability Statement" indicating where data is accessible, or stating the reason if data cannot be shared (e.g., patient confidentiality).

Authors must be prepared to provide raw data upon reasonable request by editors or reviewers during the peer review process.

SJOHS is committed to maintaining the accuracy and integrity of the published scientific record. The following mechanisms are in place:

• Corrections (Erratum/Corrigendum): Published when errors in a published article are identified that do not affect the conclusions
• Retractions: Issued when there is evidence of unreliable data, duplicate publication, plagiarism, or ethical violations that undermine the findings
• Expression of Concern: Used when an investigation is ongoing and evidence is inconclusive

All corrections and retractions are linked to the original article and clearly labeled. SJOHS follows COPE guidelines for retraction decisions.

SJOHS collects and stores personal information provided by users (name, email, affiliation, ORCID) solely for the purposes of editorial workflow, communication, and publication.

Personal data will not be shared with third parties without explicit consent, except as required by law. Reviewer identities are kept confidential from authors throughout the review process.

Authors, reviewers, and readers may request deletion or modification of their personal data by contacting the editorial office at editor@sjohs.org.