Publication Ethics

Publication Ethics

The Journal of Health and Aging is committed to maintaining the highest standards of publication ethics and academic integrity. This policy is based on guidelines from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and best practices in scholarly publishing. The Journal publishes peer-reviewed research in the fields of health, aging, and related disciplines, and is committed to transparency, fairness, and rigor in all aspects of the publication process.

I. Author Responsibilities

1.1. Originality and Plagiarism

  • Submissions must be the original research work of the author(s), must not have been published in whole or in substantial part in any language previously, and must not be under consideration for publication in another journal or publication.
  • Authors must not copy content, ideas, or data from other works without full and appropriate citation. All direct quotations must be placed in square brackets and clearly sourced.
  • All manuscripts submitted to the Journal of Health and Aging are checked using specialized plagiarism detection software before being sent for peer review.

1.2. Authorship and Contributorship

  • Authorship should only be granted to individuals who have made significant contributions to the conception or design of the research; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data; or drafting the article or critically revising it for important intellectual content; AND approving the final manuscript for submission; AND agreeing to be accountable for all aspects of the work, ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved. These criteria are based on recommendations from the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).
  • All listed authors must have read and approved the final manuscript before submission. The order of authors must be agreed upon by all co-authors prior to submission. The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that all co-authors agree with the authorship list and the manuscript's content.
  • Individuals who have contributed to the research but do not qualify as authors (e.g., technical support, financial support, mere language proofreading) should be acknowledged in the "Acknowledgments" section.
  • Any changes to authorship (addition, deletion, or change in order) after the manuscript has been submitted must be clearly explained in writing, agreed upon by all authors (including those being added or removed), and approved by the Journal's Editorial Board.

1.3. Research Ethics

  • Research involving human subjects must be conducted in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki and must have the approval of an appropriate local or national Biomedical Research Ethics Committee. A copy of this approval may be requested with the manuscript submission.
  • Authors must state clearly in the manuscript that consent has been obtained from all research participants (or their legal guardians). Personally identifiable information (names, images, medical record numbers) should not be published unless the information is essential for scientific purposes and the participant (or guardian) has given written consent.
  • For clinical case reports, written consent from the patient (or legal guardian) is required for the publication of their information and images. Patient anonymity must be ensured.
  • Research involving animals must comply with national and international guidelines for the care and use of laboratory animals and must have the approval of the institution's animal ethics committee.
  • Authors must be prepared to provide original data related to the manuscript if requested by the Editorial Board for the review process.

1.4. Conflict of Interest

  • All authors must disclose any financial, personal, or professional relationships that could be considered to influence or potentially influence the interpretation of research results or the objectivity of the work. This includes employment, consultancy, stock ownership, research funding, paid expert testimony, patents or patent applications, and other relationships.
  • If there are no conflicts of interest, authors should state: "The authors declare no conflict of interest related to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article." This statement should be included in the manuscript, usually before the References section.
  • Reviewers and editors are also required to declare any conflicts of interest that may affect their evaluation of a manuscript and must decline to participate in the review/editorial process if a significant conflict exists.

1.5. Errors, Corrections, and Notifications

  • Authors are responsible for promptly notifying the Journal's Editorial Board if they discover any errors or inaccuracies in their published work.
  • Authors must cooperate fully with the Journal in investigating and implementing necessary remedies, including issuing corrections, addenda, or retractions if needed.

1.6. Funding Disclosure

  • Authors are required to disclose all sources of research funding, including the name of the funding agency and grant number (if any), in a separate section of the manuscript (usually Acknowledgments or a Funding section). This information is also submitted to the Open Funder Registry via CrossRef metadata when the article is published.

1.7. Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI)

The Journal of Health and Aging acknowledges the growing role of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) tools such as ChatGPT and similar technologies in the research and publication process. To ensure transparency and academic integrity:

  • Author Responsibility: Authors must disclose the use of GenAI tools in the writing, data analysis, or image/figure generation process. This disclosure should specify the name of the tool and the specific tasks for which it was used in a separate section of the manuscript. GenAI cannot be listed as an author.
  • Originality and Accountability: Authors are fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, and all content of the work, including sections generated with the assistance of AI tools. The manuscript must comply with the journal's originality and plagiarism standards.
  • Peer Review and Editorial Use: Editors and reviewers must not use GenAI tools to generate confidential peer review content or evaluative summaries. GenAI may be used for supportive administrative tasks (e.g., grammar checks), but academic decisions and evaluations must be human-driven.
  • Policy Updates: This policy will be reviewed and revised as guidance from COPE, WAME (World Association of Medical Editors), and other ethical bodies evolves.

This policy aligns with recommendations from major publishers and associations regarding the ethical use of GenAI in academic publishing.

II. Editorial and Publishing Policies of the Journal

2.1. Peer Review Process

The Journal of Health and Aging follows a rigorous double-blind peer review process to ensure the objectivity and quality of published articles:

  • Initial Screening: Upon receipt of a manuscript, the Editorial Board will conduct an initial screening to assess the suitability of the article with the Journal's aims, scope, and expertise, as well as compliance with formatting and structural requirements. Unsuitable manuscripts may be rejected at this stage.
  • Plagiarism Check: Manuscripts that pass the initial screening will be checked for plagiarism using specialized software.
  • Reviewer Assignment: If the manuscript meets initial requirements and has no plagiarism issues, the Editor-in-Chief or Section Editor will invite at least two experts with relevant experience and expertise in the related field to conduct the peer review. The review process is double-blind, meaning the identities of both authors and reviewers are kept confidential.
  • Review Process: Reviewers evaluate the manuscript based on its novelty, scientific merit, significance, research methodology, presentation, and ethical aspects. They will provide comments, suggestions, and recommendations (accept, accept with minor revisions, major revisions required, or reject).
  • Editorial Decision: Based on the reviewers' comments, the Editor-in-Chief will make the final decision. Decisions may be:
    • Accept for publication
    • Minor revisions required
    • Major revisions required
    • Reject for publication
  • Manuscript Revision: If revisions are requested, authors must make the changes according to the reviewers' and Editorial Board's suggestions and resubmit the revised manuscript along with a detailed response letter outlining the changes made. The revised manuscript may be sent back to the original reviewers for further consideration.
  • Final Decision: After any requested revisions are satisfactorily addressed, the Editorial Board will make the final decision regarding publication.

2.2. Handling Complaints and Appeals

Authors have the right to complain or appeal editorial decisions. All complaints and appeals should be submitted in writing to the Editorial Office via email at banthuky@tcsuckhoelaohoa.vn, clearly stating the reasons and providing specific evidence. Complaints will be reviewed independently, fairly, and transparently according to COPE procedures. The outcome of the handling process will be communicated to the author.

2.3. Data Sharing and Reproducibility

The Journal of Health and Aging encourages authors to share their research data by depositing datasets in public data repositories or making them available upon reasonable request. Authors should include a Data Availability Statement in their manuscript, describing how and under what conditions the data can be accessed. Data sharing enhances transparency, reproducibility, and the value of research.

2.4. Post-Publication Discussions and Corrections

The Journal of Health and Aging welcomes constructive discussions on published content. Readers may submit letters to the editor, comments, or raise issues related to articles to the Editorial Board. When necessary, the Journal will facilitate academic exchanges or issue corrections, clarifications, or retractions according to its policies.

2.5. Corrections and Retractions Policy

  • Corrections: Minor errors that do not affect the integrity of the results or main conclusions of the paper but require correction (e.g., spelling errors in author names, errors in formulas that do not significantly alter results) will be corrected by a notice. This notice will be linked to the original article.
  • Retractions: Retractions are issued in cases of clear evidence of serious ethical breaches such as data fabrication, data falsification, plagiarism, duplicate publication, or unethical research. The decision to retract is made after a thorough investigation by the Editorial Board, often in consultation with experts and following COPE guidelines. A retraction notice will state the reason for retraction, be clearly linked to the original article, and be marked as "retracted" on all electronic versions.

III. Academic Integrity and Handling of Misconduct

3.1. Commitment to Integrity

The Journal of Health and Aging is committed to protecting and promoting the integrity of the academic record. We implement the following measures:

  • Use of plagiarism detection software for all manuscripts.
  • Requesting and checking for conflicts of interest for authors, reviewers, and editors.
  • Rejecting manuscripts with evidence of citation manipulation, data fabrication, or falsification.
  • Strict adherence to COPE guidelines and procedures in all editorial decisions and handling of ethical issues.

3.2. Plagiarism Detection and Handling of Violations

  • Plagiarism Check: All articles submitted to the Journal are checked using plagiarism detection software.
  • Acceptable Similarity Level: The overall similarity index should generally not exceed 20-25% (excluding the reference list and valid direct quotations). Paragraphs with high similarity to a single source will also be carefully reviewed, even if the overall index is low. The final decision is based on the Editorial Board's expert judgment of the nature of the similarity.
  • Handling Violations:
    • If plagiarism or other misconduct is detected before publication: The manuscript will be rejected.
    • If misconduct is detected after publication: The article will be retracted according to the Journal's retraction policy.
    • Depending on the severity of the violation, the Journal may take additional measures, such as:
      • Banning the offending author(s) from submitting to the Journal for a specified period or permanently.
      • Notifying the author's institution or organization about the misconduct.

3.3. Intellectual Property

Authors are responsible for ensuring that their work does not infringe upon the intellectual property rights of any third party, including copyright of images, tables, or other materials. If copyrighted material is used, authors must obtain the necessary permissions from the copyright holder and provide evidence to the Journal upon request. The Journal of Health and Aging will investigate allegations of intellectual property infringement and may take corrective action, including retraction or removal of content if necessary.

IV. Open Access, Copyright, and Archiving Policy

4.1. Open Access Policy

The Journal of Health and Aging adheres to the principles of Open Access, aiming to make scientific research findings widely and freely available to the global community without financial or subscription barriers. This promotes knowledge exchange and accelerates scientific progress.

4.2. Copyright

  • Upon acceptance of an article, authors agree to grant the Journal of Health and Aging the right to publish. The Journal is committed to ensuring that authors' rights are respected, including the right to be acknowledged as the author of the work and the right to reuse their work for academic and personal purposes (e.g., in a thesis, for teaching, presentations), subject to the terms of the agreement.
  • The Journal has the right to publish and distribute the article in electronic and/or print formats, and through various channels to maximize dissemination.
  • The Journal of Health and Aging publishes articles under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license. Under this license, authors retain copyright of their work but allow others to copy, distribute, display, and perform the work, as well as make derivative works based on it, provided they give appropriate credit to the original author.

4.3. Archiving Policy

The Journal of Health and Aging is committed to the long-term preservation of published scholarly content. All articles are assigned a permanent Digital Object Identifier (DOI). The Journal employs the following measures to ensure continued access:

  • Archiving content on the Journal's servers with regular backup measures.
  • Authors are also encouraged to self-archive copies of their articles (the published version) in institutional repositories or disciplinary archives, in accordance with the Journal's self-archiving policy.
  • The Journal may also use the CrossMark system to provide readers with up-to-date information on the status of an article (e.g., if there are corrections or retractions).

V. Contact Information

For all questions, inquiries, or concerns related to publication ethics, Journal policies, or the manuscript submission and handling process, please contact the Editorial Office of the Journal of Health and Aging:

Email: banthuky@tcsuckhoelaohoa.vn