The Journal of Acupuncture and Herbs (JAH) upholds the highest ethical standards in publishing and requires all authors, reviewers, and editors to adhere to rigorous ethical guidelines. Our ethics and disclosure policies are in place to ensure the integrity, transparency, and accountability of the research we publish.
1. Research Ethics
• Human and Animal Subjects: Authors must provide a statement confirming that all research involving human subjects was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and approved by an appropriate ethics committee. For animal studies, authors must confirm adherence to relevant animal welfare guidelines and approval by an institutional review board.
• Informed Consent: For studies involving human participants, authors must confirm that informed consent was obtained from all participants and state this in the manuscript.
• Clinical Trial Registration: Any clinical trial studies should be registered in a recognized public registry, and the registration number should be provided in the manuscript.
2. Data Integrity and Transparency
• Data Availability: Authors should ensure that all data underlying the findings are accessible, either through submission as supplementary materials or by providing a link to a publicly accessible data repository.
• Data Fabrication and Falsification: JAH strictly prohibits data fabrication, falsification, and manipulation. Authors are required to ensure that data presented in their manuscripts are accurate and have not been altered in any way.
3. Plagiarism and Originality
• Plagiarism Screening: All manuscripts submitted to JAH are screened for plagiarism using recognized software. Any manuscript found to contain significant unoriginal content will be rejected.
• Original Work: Authors must confirm that their work is original, has not been published previously, and is not under consideration by another publication.
4. Authorship and Contribution
• Author Contributions: All listed authors must meet the criteria for authorship as defined by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). Contributions should be clearly defined in the manuscript, specifying each author’s role.
• Acknowledgments: Individuals or organizations that contributed to the research but do not meet authorship criteria should be acknowledged with permission.
5. Conflict of Interest Disclosure
• Declaration of Interests: Authors, reviewers, and editors must disclose any financial or personal relationships that could be perceived as potential conflicts of interest. This includes financial interests, affiliations, or other relationships that may influence the research or its interpretation.
• Funding Sources: Authors must disclose all sources of funding for the research, including grants, institutional support, or any other financial contributions.
6. Corrections, Retractions, and Editorial Integrity
• Corrections: If errors are identified in a published article, JAH will publish a correction to maintain the integrity of the scholarly record.
• Retractions: JAH reserves the right to retract articles if there is evidence of serious ethical violations, data falsification, or other issues that compromise the validity of the research.
• Editorial Independence: JAH’s editorial team operates independently, ensuring that all editorial decisions are based on the quality and integrity of the work, without influence from authors, sponsors, or other parties.
7. Reviewer Ethics
• Confidentiality: Reviewers must keep all information regarding submitted manuscripts confidential and must not discuss, share, or disclose any part of the manuscript.
• Objectivity: Reviewers are required to evaluate manuscripts fairly and impartially, free from any conflicts of interest.
8. Reporting Misconduct
• Ethics Violations: JAH encourages readers, reviewers, and editors to report any suspected ethical violations related to submitted or published content. Reports can be made directly to the editorial office for investigation.
For questions or concerns regarding our ethics and disclosure policy, or to report a suspected ethical issue, please contact the editorial office at [contact email].
By enforcing these policies, the Journal of Acupuncture and Herbs is dedicated to ensuring that all published research is conducted ethically and that our readers can trust the scientific rigor and reliability of our content.