Publication Policies

Copyright Statement and License to Publish

The VMOST JOSSH requires that the author(s) agree(s) to abide by the terms of the Copyright Statement and License to Publish before submitting a manuscript, this information will appear in the first step of a manuscript submission. All authors are required selecting the checkbox of the statement “I agree to abide by the terms of the copyright statement.”  Therefore, before manuscript acceptance, it is understood that the author(s) has/have agreed to grant the VMOST JOSSH exclusive rights to use and authorize the use of their contribution. The authors retain copyright as well as rights to make certain uses of the work, which are described in detail in the Copyright Notice. Authors should read this information before ticking off the agreement in the first step of a manuscript submission.

In addition, authors will have to complete the license-to-publish form during the process of uploading their manuscripts and send it to our address and/or email provided in the Contact (We accept both electronic and printed forms).

 

Citations

Research articles and non-research articles (e.g. Opinion, Review, and Commentary articles) must cite appropriate and relevant literature in support of the claims made. Excessive and inappropriate self-citation or coordinated efforts among several authors to collectively self-cite is strongly discouraged.

Authors should consider the following guidelines when preparing their manuscript:

  • Any statement in the manuscript that relies on external sources of information (i.e. not the authors' own new ideas or findings or general knowledge) should use a citation.
  • Authors should avoid citing derivations of original work. For example, they should cite the original work rather than a review article that cites an original work.
  • Authors should ensure that their citations are accurate (i.e. they should ensure the citation supports the statement made in their manuscript and should not misrepresent another work by citing it if it does not support the point the authors wish to make).
  • Authors should not cite sources that they have not read.
  • Authors should not preferentially cite their own or their friends’, peers’, or institution’s publications.
  • Authors should avoid citing work solely from one country.
  • Authors should not use an excessive number of citations to support one point.
  • Ideally, authors should cite sources that have undergone peer review where possible.
  • Authors should not cite advertisements or advertorial material.

 

Text recycling

Authors should be aware that replication of text from their own previous publications is text recycling (also referred to as self-plagiarism), and in some cases is considered unacceptable. Where overlap of text with authors’ own previous publications is necessary or unavoidable, duplication must always be reported transparently and be properly attributed and compliant with copyright requirements.

If a mansucript contains text that has been published elsewhere, authors should notify the Editor of this on submission.

 

Confidentiality

Editors will treat all manuscripts submitted to all VMOST JOSSH journals in confidence. VMOST JOSSH adheres to the Committee on Publication Ethics’s Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers. Reviewers are therefore required to respect the confidentiality of the peer review process and not reveal any details of a manuscript or its review, during or after the peer-review process, beyond the information released by the journal. If reviewers wish to involve a colleague in the review process they should first obtain permission from the journal. The Editor should be informed of the names of any individuals who assisted in the review process when the report is returned.

VMOST JOSSH will not share manuscripts with third parties outside of VMOST JOSSH except in cases of suspected misconduct.

 

Corrections and retractions

VMOST JOSSH follows the Committee on Publication Ethics's guidelines and is committed to correcting errors in published papers. In cases where an institutional investigation of large-scale error or misconduct is under way, VMOST JOSSH may publish an Editorial Expression of Concern relating to the paper in question. In cases of irreproducibility of research findings reported in a VMOST JOSSH paper, a retraction may be considered if the core conclusions are thereby invalidated. Papers will also be retracted in case of research misconduct, in accordance with the Committee on Publication Ethics's guidelines. Corrections to errors that do not affect the core conclusions of a paper are posted online and linked to the published paper.