Editorial Policies

The Journal of Hematology and Clinical Research (JHCR) maintains a rich “Policies” section on its legacy website, grouping together Publication Ethics, Copyright and Publishing Rights, Licensing Policy, Peer Review Policy, Plagiarism Policy, Digital Archiving Policy, Open Access, Grievances, Waiver Policy, Paper Print Policy, Authorship Criteria, Withdrawal Policy, and Refund Policy. This updated Editorial Policies page consolidates those separate policy fragments into a single, accessible document, written in contemporary academic-journal language and optimized for OJS/PKP-based journal sites.

These policies are designed to be discipline-neutral (applicable to all hematology submissions), platform-agnostic (in case of future migrations), and indexing-friendly (to satisfy services that require publicly available editorial and ethics policies).

Editorial Independence

Editorial decisions at JHCR are independent of the publisher’s commercial interests, the ability of the author to pay APCs, or the geographic origin of the manuscript. The editorial office may consult the publisher on procedural or legal matters (for example, a withdrawal request or refund consideration), but final decisions on acceptance or rejection rest with the Editor-in-Chief or the designated handling editor. This is consistent with the withdrawal and refund pages that emphasize transparent and balanced consideration of both the author’s and the journal’s interests.

Editors must:

Assess manuscripts based on scientific merit, originality, clarity, and relevance to hematology.
Ensure that author identity and reviewer identity remain confidential during double-blind review.
Recuse themselves in case of conflicts of interest.
Not use unpublished material from submitted manuscripts for personal research.

Peer Review Policy

The legacy JHCR site explicitly states: “Journal of Hematology and Clinical Research uses Double-Blind Peer Review policy for all the journals. Under this policy both the reviewers and author …” Building on this, the updated peer review policy is as follows:

Initial Editorial Screening: Every submission is screened for scope fit (hematology, transfusion, clinical research), completeness, and plagiarism. Manuscripts failing these checks may be desk-rejected.
Double-Blind Review: At least two independent reviewers with hematology expertise are invited. Reviewers receive anonymized manuscripts and are expected to return comments within 2–3 weeks, aligning with the review timeline mentioned on the indexing page.
Decision Categories: Accept; Minor Revisions; Major Revisions; Reject. In case of conflicting reviews, the editor may invite a third review or make a decision based on expertise.
Revision and Re-review: Authors must address all reviewer comments and submit a point-by-point response. Revised manuscripts may be returned to reviewers.
Appeals: Authors may appeal decisions by providing reasoned arguments. Appeals are reviewed by a senior editor not involved in the original decision.

JHCR recognizes the need to protect reviewers’ identities and to shield authors from unconscious bias. Hence, reviewer names are not disclosed to authors unless both parties opt in via editor mediation.

Publication Ethics and Misconduct

JHCR endorses the core principles of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), and WAME. The objective is to ensure that every paper published in JHCR is original, ethically conducted, transparently reported, and citable. The legacy site’s “Publication Ethics,” “Plagiarism Policy,” and “Grievances” pages provide the backbone for this section.

Unethical conduct includes but is not limited to:

Plagiarism and self-plagiarism
Data fabrication or falsification
Redundant publication (salami slicing)
Undisclosed conflicts of interest
Inappropriate authorship claims

Where misconduct is confirmed, JHCR will follow the hierarchical remedies implicitly described in the withdrawal policy: correction, expression of concern, partial retraction, full withdrawal/retraction, and notification to the author’s institution.

Authorship and Contributorship

The legacy site lists an explicit “Authorship Criteria” link alongside other policies. The updated journal policy mirrors ICMJE recommendations:

Substantial contributions to conception or design; or acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data;
Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content;
Final approval of the version to be published; and
Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Individuals not meeting all four criteria should be acknowledged (for example, data collectors, funding administrators). Ghost or guest authorship is not permitted. In multi-center hematology studies, one author must be designated as the corresponding author responsible for communication with JHCR.

Plagiarism and Similarity Checks

The JHCR legacy pages refer to plagiarism detection as part of the digital archiving and ethics environment. All manuscripts are screened using plagiarism detection software (e.g., iThenticate or equivalent). A similarity index above the editorially determined threshold (usually 15–20% excluding references, methods, and boilerplate text) will result in author notification and may lead to rejection.

Authors are responsible for ensuring that all reproduced material (tables, figures, images, case photos) is used with permission or under an appropriate license.

Conflicts of Interest and Funding Disclosure

All authors, editors, and reviewers must declare any financial or non-financial conflicts of interest that could be perceived to influence the submitted work. Examples include consultancy with pharmaceutical companies developing hematology therapeutics, ownership of diagnostic kits, or participation in sponsored clinical trials.

Funding sources must be stated clearly in the manuscript. If there is no funding, the statement “The authors received no specific funding for this work” should be provided.

Open Access, Licensing, and Copyright

The legacy page “Copyright and Publishing Rights” for JHCR states that the journal is open access and that authors retain copyright, consistent with CC BY 4.0 reuse. This updated policy confirms that:

All articles are published under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).
Authors retain copyright.
Readers may copy, distribute, and adapt the work, provided proper attribution to JHCR and the authors is given.
Third-party material must respect its original license.

Open access status is also tied to discoverability and is referenced throughout other policies (Repository, Digital Archiving, Waiver).

APC, Waivers, and Editorial Neutrality

JHCR charges Article Processing Charges (APCs) after acceptance to cover editorial, production, DOI, and hosting costs. This mirrors the publisher-level APC model and is further elaborated on the dedicated APC page. Acceptance is never contingent on APC payment; unpaid APCs will only delay publication, not influence peer review outcomes.

The Waiver Policy clearly notes that waivers are considered based on country classification and financial constraints. Editors must not promise acceptance in exchange for waivers, and authors must not pressure editors based on prior history.

Corrections, Retractions, and Withdrawal

The legacy Withdrawal Policy is one of the most detailed pages on the site, describing professional ethics infringements and rare circumstances of article removal. The updated editorial policy clarifies how this interacts with publication ethics:

Corrections (Errata): Minor errors that do not affect the scientific integrity of the work will be corrected on the article page with a date-stamped notice.
Expressions of Concern: Issued when an investigation is ongoing.
Retractions/Withdrawals: Used for confirmed misconduct, duplicate publication, unethical research, or legal/third-party rights violations. A retraction notice will remain on the article landing page to preserve indexing continuity.
Refunds: The separate Refund Policy explains under which circumstances paid fees can be partially or not at all refunded.

This layered approach ensures that indexers (Google Scholar, Crossref), libraries, and readers always see an authoritative version of record.

Complaints and Appeals

The legacy site provides a Grievances option alongside other policies. Authors, reviewers, or readers may file complaints if they suspect:

Editorial delay outside the stated 2–3 week review window.
Bias, conflict of interest, or unprofessional reviewer comments.
Misuse of previously submitted material.
Incorrect application of the withdrawal or refund policy.

Complaints will be reviewed by a senior editorial member or a publisher-appointed ombudsperson. Outcomes may include reassignment to a different editor, a new round of peer review, or correction of policy application.

Although the legacy JHCR site does not explicitly list a data-sharing policy on the main page, the journal encourages authors to make anonymized datasets, protocols, and statistical codes available, especially for clinical hematology trials and laboratory validation studies. This is in line with global open science norms and strengthens the journal’s case for indexing in services that track research transparency.

FAQs on Editorial Policies

Is peer review really double-blind?

Yes. Both author and reviewer identities are concealed throughout the review process, as stated on the legacy peer review page.

Can I challenge a negative review?

Yes. Provide a reasoned response to the editor. Appeals are evaluated by an editor not involved in the first decision.

Can I withdraw my paper after acceptance?

Yes, but the withdrawal policy describes conditions and fees, particularly if production/layout work has already started.

Do you follow COPE flowcharts?

Yes. For plagiarism, duplicate publication, or ethics complaints, COPE flowcharts are used to decide on corrections, retractions, or notifications.