About JHCR

About the Journal

The Journal of Hematology and Clinical Research (JHCR) is an international, peer-reviewed, open access journal devoted to publishing high-quality, ethically sound, and clinically relevant scholarship in hematology, transfusion medicine, hemostasis and thrombosis, hematologic malignancies, benign blood disorders, blood banking, cellular therapies, and laboratory hematology. The journal operates under the stewardship of Heighten Science Publications Inc. (HSPI) and adheres to global standards for academic publishing, including industry guidance from COPE, ICMJE, DOAJ, and WAME. JHCR maintains and will continue to maintain the open-access orientation that is visible on its legacy website at https://www.hematologyresjournal.com/, while modernizing the content structure for better readability, discoverability, and compliance with indexing databases. 

The legacy page titled “About” on the old site appears to have been populated with a placeholder text unrelated to hematology (sports medicine content). To ensure correctness and discipline alignment, this updated “About” page restores the intended focus on hematology and clinical research, and it consolidates the journal mission, scope highlights, publication workflow, and author support information as evidenced on other active legacy pages such as the Author/Contributor Guide, Indexing, Special Issue, and Grievance pages. 

Mission and Vision

Mission: JHCR exists to accelerate the dissemination of clinically actionable hematology knowledge to physicians, laboratory hematologists, clinical pathologists, transfusion specialists, oncologists, and allied health professionals worldwide. We prioritize submissions that can be translated into improved patient outcomes, enhanced diagnostic precision, or optimized treatment algorithms, particularly for resource-variable and low-to-middle-income settings.

Vision: To be recognized as a reliable, ethically sound, and rapidly responsive hematology journal in the open access ecosystem, visibly aligned to transparent editorial processes, rigorous peer review, and post-publication discoverability. The journal is committed to building an indexed-ready profile through consistent policy publication (open access, ethics, peer review, repository, archiving, and withdrawal policies) as already reflected on the current legacy website.

What We Publish

JHCR welcomes a broad spectrum of article types that reflect the multidisciplinary nature of hematology and the increasing overlap with oncology, immunology, molecular medicine, and laboratory diagnostics. The following article types are typical, and additional formats can be introduced via special issues and thematic series: 

• Original Research Articles in clinical or translational hematology, including randomized, observational, registry-based, or multi-center investigations.
• Case Reports and Case Series documenting rare hematologic conditions (e.g. PNH, HLH, congenital anemias, hemoglobinopathies), unusual presentations, toxicities of novel therapeutics, or transfusion reactions that have educational value for clinicians.
• Reviews and Mini-Reviews synthesizing current evidence on topics such as chronic lymphocytic leukemia, myeloproliferative neoplasms, myelodysplastic syndromes, thrombophilia, or diagnostic flow cytometry.
• Hematopathology Notes and Laboratory Methods/Standardization Papers focusing on bone marrow biopsy interpretation, peripheral smear challenges, or harmonization of coagulation assays.
• Short Communications for rapid dissemination of key findings.
• Editorials, Commentaries, and Expert Perspectives on practice-changing trials, WHO classification updates, and policy changes in blood safety.
• Special Issue Contributions run under guest editors (see legacy Special Issue Guidelines). 

The journal places special emphasis on manuscripts that integrate clinical data, laboratory indices, molecular results, and outcome measures, since such integrative submissions support real-world decision-making in hematology clinics and transfusion centers.

Editorial Leadership and Peer Review Model

JHCR is overseen by an Editorial Board comprising subject specialists in malignant hematology, benign hematology, transfusion medicine, and clinical research methodology. The journal follows a double-blind peer review model, as the legacy site indicates that HSPI clinical journals conduct double-blind review to ensure impartial evaluation of submissions.

Editorial workflow overview:

1. Initial Screening: The editorial office checks scope fit, ethical compliance, plagiarism (iThenticate, as mentioned on the legacy site), and completeness of author declarations. Manuscripts that are out of hematology scope or that still carry the older, misplaced text from past site versions are returned to the authors for correction.
2. Assignment to Section/Handling Editor: A suitable editor with hematology expertise is identified. For special issues, the guest editor may coordinate this step under the oversight of the journal.
3. Double-Blind Review: At least two independent reviewers evaluate originality, methodology, ethical soundness, clinical relevance, and clarity.
4. Decision and Revision: Authors receive consolidated comments. Revised manuscripts are re-evaluated by editors (and reviewers, if necessary).
5. Acceptance and Production: Accepted papers are copyedited, formatted for OJS/PKP, and assigned DOIs using the JHCR DOI pattern employed on article pages (for example, “jhcr-aid1029”). 
6. Online First / Current Issue: Articles are published open access on the JHCR site and broadcast to indexing partners as per the journal’s indexing roadmap.

To support transparency, JHCR also hosts a Grievances/Complaint Policy, allowing authors to report perceived editorial or ethical misconduct, which will be investigated by an internal redressal team. 

Publication Model and Processing Charges

JHCR follows a gold open access publication model: accepted articles are published online with unrestricted access. As with the old site, article processing charges (APCs) are levied to cover editorial management, plagiarism detection, DOI registration, long-term hosting, and digital preservation. The old site also lists a waiver policy for authors from low-income regions or for authors with genuine financial constraints, typically in the range of 15–20% waivers. The updated site will preserve this spirit of accessibility and will provide a structured “Article Processing Charges” and “Waiver Policy” page for further details.

Indexing, Discoverability, and Preservation

The legacy Indexing page of HSPI journals typically lists databases, library services, and discovery layers where the journal is/submitted-to/being-evaluated-for inclusion. For JHCR, the updated content will align with that structure and will explicitly state the indexing roadmap, while respecting provider guidelines. 

What we aim to ensure:

• Machine-readable article metadata (titles, abstracts, authors, ORCID, DOIs) through OJS/PKP.
• Persistent identifiers (DOIs) corresponding to article IDs already used on the site. 
• Compatibility with library crawlers and aggregators.
• Long-term archiving through HSPI-prescribed services and mirrored backups (see “Preservation and Archiving Policy”).

This About page, together with separate policy pages (Open Access Statement, Repository Policy, Preservation and Archiving Policy, and OAI-PMH), makes the journal’s operational and technical practices transparent to evaluators, authors, and readers.

Intended Audience and Community

JHCR caters to a wide hematology audience, including:

• Consultant hematologists, transfusion medicine specialists, and clinical oncologists.
• Laboratory hematologists, clinical pathologists, and scientists working in coagulation, immunohematology, and cellular therapies.
• Residents and fellows in hematology-oncology seeking to publish case reports or mini-reviews.
• Nurses and allied health professionals involved in blood collections, stem cell transplant units, and apheresis services.
• Researchers from geographically diverse, underrepresented, or low-resource settings, for whom the waiver policy was originally introduced on the legacy site. 

The journal also encourages multi-center consortia papers and data-rich submissions that leverage hematology registries, which are increasingly vital for real-world evidence generation.

Ethical Alignment and Policy Ecosystem

JHCR’s modernization effort includes the integration of a coherent set of policies—Plagiarism Policy, Ethics and Malpractice Statement, Withdrawal and Refund Policies, OAI-PMH endpoint information, Privacy Statement (GDPR-compliant), and Editorial/Reviewer guidelines—into a single, discoverable navigation structure. These will be published as separate menu items, but this About page makes their existence explicit and shows that the journal is not operating without policy documentation. This is in line with COPE’s recommendations for transparency and with DOAJ’s checklist for open access journals. Once updated, these policies will inherit the practical guidance already visible on the legacy withdrawal-policy, refund-policy, and indexing pages. 

Key ethical anchors will include:

• Authorship and contributorship according to ICMJE.
• Declaration of conflicts of interest.
• Human/animal ethics approvals where applicable.
• Data sharing and transparency statements.
• Post-publication corrections, retractions, and withdrawals (supported by the existing withdrawal page). 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Is JHCR an open access journal?

Yes. All articles are openly available immediately after publication, replicating the open access stance shown on the legacy site’s footer and masthead. 

How fast is the review process?

The legacy indexing page for HSPI clinical journals mentions a review timeline of “2–3 weeks” for initial decisions; while this may vary for hematology manuscripts that require subspecialty reviewers, the editorial office aims to maintain a prompt and responsible turnaround. 

Are special issues supported?

Yes. The journal already hosts special issue guidelines and FAQ content on the legacy site; the new site will keep these as modular pages so that guest editors receive clear instructions.

Will my article receive a DOI?

Yes. Articles are assigned DOIs consistent with the pattern in the legacy articles (e.g., jhcr-aid1029). This ensures citability and long-term discoverability.

Can I ask for a waiver?

Yes. Authors can request waivers at the time of submission, referencing the waiver practice already described in the “contributor guide” page.

Contact and Journal Administration

For general queries, manuscript status, complaints, or permission requests, authors and readers may write to the editorial office using the contact avenues provided on the main JHCR website. The grievances policy explicitly invites authors to report ethical or procedural concerns.