Innovations Journals Policies and Processes
Editorial Office: editor@innovationsjournals.com
The following policies and processes apply to all Innovations Journals.
PUBLICATION ETHICS POLICY
Innovations Journals adhere to the recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE, https://www.icmje.org/) and the Committee for Publication Ethics (COPE, https://publicationethics.org/) to ensure best practices and ethical standards in the conduct and reporting of research and published material. The Journal of Immunotherapy and Precision Oncology is an official member of COPE.
Innovations Journals is dedicated to upholding the integrity of the scientific record. As such, the editorial team follows the appropriate guidance from COPE and ICMJE for handling complaints and appeals, which may include publishing a formal correction notice, retraction, or other expressions of concern. Post-publication discussions should be initiated via email to the editorial office at the address above.
The Editorial Team screens all manuscript submissions for potential concerns including plagiarism, citation manipulation, data falsification/fabrication, duplicate submission of a manuscript to multiple journals, and other forms of author misconduct. If concerns are identified at any point in the process, even after an article has been published, the editorial team will follow applicable COPE guidelines to address the concerns with the authors and any others who may be involved. Possible consequences of misconduct may include but are not limited to rejection or retraction of a manuscript.
NOTE: Additional details regarding publishing ethics are given in the Instructions for Authors for each journal.
AUTHORSHIP POLICY
All authors are asked to independently verify their authorship at the time of submission. All authors will receive a copy of the decision letter(s) from the editorial team. Upon acceptance, all authors are required to sign a contributor agreement (see license and copyright section below for details) before the manuscript can be published.
Only authors who meet all four criteria authorship, as defined by ICMJE, should be identified as authors. Contributors who do not meet the criteria for full authorship should be acknowledged (see below, “Acknowledgements”).
The ICMJE guidelines on authorship are available at https://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/roles-and-responsibilities/defining-the-role-of-authors-and-contributors.html
Authorship Questionnaire
All authors are required to verify their contribution to the manuscript, disclose sources of support and potential conflicts of interest, and answer the following questions when submitting a manuscript:
- Do all authors meet the criteria for authorship per ICMJE guidelines?
- Are you willing to provide raw data, samples, or other supplemental material upon request?
- Was this research done according to local/regional/national regulations for ethical research, including adherence to legal requirements and patient consent guidelines?
- Was approval sought from an Institutional Review Board or Ethical Committee, and is this mentioned in the submitted manuscript?
- For clinical trials, was approval sought from the sponsor to publish this research?
- For studies with financial support, has the role of the funder or sponsor been mentioned in the submitted manuscript?
Changes in Authorship
To avoid author disputes, Innovations Journals follows a strict process for handling authorship changes prior to acceptance or during proof corrections. Authorship changes are not possible after an article is published. To request a change in the author order or for removal or addition of authors, an explanation must be submitted to the editorial office as an error is noticed. All authors must provide written approval for the change before it can be finalized.
Acknowledgements
Contributors who meet fewer than all 4 of the above criteria for authorship should not be listed as authors, but they should be acknowledged. Examples of activities that alone (without other contributions) do not qualify a contributor for authorship are acquisition of funding; general supervision of a research group or general administrative support; and writing assistance, technical editing, language editing, and proofreading.
NOTE: The use of artificial intelligence (AI)-based technology for content creation, including text and images, does not qualify for authorship; however, authors are required to report the use of such technology in the manuscript. This should be mentioned in the acknowledgment section and, if appropriate, the methods section. Authors should describe the content that was created by the tool, the name of the tool, developer or manufacturer, and version number. AI-based technology does not include standard editing tools for spelling, grammar, and references.
Corresponding Author Role
The Journal expects that authors would authorize one of them to correspond with the Journal for all matters related to the manuscript from initial submission to final publication. The corresponding author is the one individual who takes primary responsibility for communication with the Journal during the manuscript submission, peer review, and publication process, and typically ensures that all the Journal’s administrative requirements, such as providing details of authorship, ethics committee approval, clinical trial registration documentation, and gathering conflict of interest forms and statements, are properly completed, although these duties may be delegated to one or more coauthors. The corresponding author should be available throughout the submission and peer review process to respond to editorial queries in a timely way, and should be available after publication to respond to critiques of the work and cooperate with any requests from the Journal for data or additional information should questions about the paper arise after publication.
DISCLOSURE POLICY
All authors must disclose any and all conflicts of interest they may have with publication of the manuscript or an institution or product that is mentioned in the manuscript and/or is important to the outcome of the study presented. Authors should also disclose conflict of interests with products that compete with those mentioned in their manuscript.
All sources of study-related funding must be disclosed along with role of the funder or sponsor in the study (i.e., study design, data analysis, manuscript writing, and any other aspect of the study).
Authors should confirm if the funder(s) require any specific wording to be included in the published manuscript, usually as a disclaimer.
For additional guidance and a standard disclosure form, please go to the ICMJE Recommendations: https://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/roles-and-responsibilities/author-responsibilities--conflicts-of-interest.html
MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION POLICY
All manuscripts must be prepared according to journal instructions and submitted electronically for consideration of publication. You will find the link to the submission website from the “Instructions for Authors” page for the chosen journal.
All manuscripts are screened for quality, structure, and plagiarism as part of the check-in process. Manuscripts may be returned without review for the following reasons:
- Outside scope of journal
- Insufficient originality or novelty
- Substantial overlap with existing publications
- Lack of ethical clearance
- Lack of a significant scientific merit
- Lack of a well-articulated message
- Incorrect format or structure
- Extensive language or typographical errors
- Suspected scientific misconduct
NOTES:
- Reports of clinical trials and substudies of trials must follow ICMJE guidelines in terms of registration and data sharing. Authors may also refer to http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/publishing-and-editorial-issues/clinical-trial-registration.html
- Research articles and case reports involving humans must include a statement in the manuscript itself regarding ethical clearance and informed consent. If the study was exempt from ethical review, the authors should state this in the manuscript with an explanation for exemption.
All correspondence about the manuscript is sent via email from editor@innovationsjournals.org.
Manuscripts are reviewed in accordance with the peer review policy stated below.
Editorial Services for Authors
Innovations Journals has partnered with Editage to provide editorial services for authors including English language editing, translation, artwork preparation, and more. Click here to visit the Author Services website.
Note: Usage of these services does not guarantee acceptance into any of our journals.
Use of Third-Party Material
It is the responsibility of authors/contributors to obtain permissions for reproducing any copyrighted material. Third-party material includes tables, figures, or images that have been (a) published previously or (b) provided by someone who is not an author. Authors must identify copyrighted material with an appropriate attribution to the original source and documentation of permission to reprint and/or modify the material. Sufficient documentation of permission must be provided before the article can be published. If permission is not received, the copyrighted material will be removed from the manuscript.
Protection of Research Participants
Identifying information should not be published in written descriptions, photographs, sonograms, CT scans, etc., and pedigrees unless the information is essential for scientific purposes and the patient (or parent or guardian, wherever applicable) gives informed consent for publication. Authors should remove patients' names from figures unless they have obtained informed consent from the patients.
Authors may also refer to http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/roles-and-responsibilities/protection-of-research-participants.html
PEER REVIEW POLICY
Manuscripts that are considered for publication in this Journal are sent to at least two expert reviewers, with the exception of editorials, commentary, and letters, which are reviewed internally by the Editorial Team only.
During submission, the submitting author is requested to provide names of two qualified reviewers who have experience in the subject of the submitted manuscript. The suggested reviewers should not be affiliated with the same institutes as the authors. The selection of these reviewers is at the sole discretion of the Editor.
The Journal follows a double-blind review process, wherein the reviewers and authors are unaware of each other’s identity. Every manuscript is also assigned to an Editor who, based on the comments from the reviewers, makes a final decision on the manuscript. The reviewers' comments are compiled into the decision letter, which is sent via email to all coauthors. If a revision is invited, the author must prepare a point-by-point response to reviewers’ comments and a tracked or highlighted version of the revised manuscript, showing all changes made. This process is repeated until the Editors are satisfied with the response and associated changes in the manuscript. If the Editors are not satisfied, the manuscript may not be accepted for publication.
All contributions from Editorial Board members are subjected to the same double-blind review process described above.
All invited contributions are also subjected to the usual double-blind peer review process.
Guest Editor Policy
All contributions from Editors and those from the Editors' institutions are assigned to a Guest Editor to avoid a conflict of interest, then the paper is subjected to the same double-blind peer review process as described above. The Editor is blinded from viewing the manuscript in his/her Editor profile; the manuscript can only be seen from the Author profile.
A Guest Editor may also be assigned for manuscripts about special topics or issues outside the expertise of the editorial team.
PUBLICATION PROCESS
Manuscripts accepted for publication are copyedited for grammar, punctuation, journal style, and format. Page proofs are sent to the corresponding author. The corresponding author is expected to return the corrected proofs within 3 business days. The process of sending and receiving proofs is completed via email.
Innovations Journals publishes full manuscripts (supplemental material included) online following receipt of proof corrections and the license agreement (signed by all authors). Articles may be published "ahead of print" before they are assigned to a regular volume or issue.
Journal Fees and Access to Content
Author Publication Charges (APCs)
There is no APC for manuscripts accepted for publication in the following journals:
- Journal of Immunotherapy and Precision Oncology
- Global Journal on Quality and Safety in Healthcare
Starting April 1, 2023: Manuscripts accepted for publication in the following journals will require payment of an APC before the manuscript is published.
- Innovations in Digital Health, Diagnostics, and Biomarkers
- Innovations in Surgery and Interventional Medicine
The fee is $2400 for a long-form article (original research, reviews, conference proceedings, and guideline documents), and $1200 for a short-form article (brief reports, case reports, and technical reports). There is no fee for editorials, commentaries, and letters to the editor.
Fee Waiver
A fee waiver is available for authors who qualify; the corresponding author can submit the waiver application after the article is accepted. Eligibility is based on geographic location (i.e., low-income countries based on Research4Life: https://www.research4life.org/access/eligibility/) and financial support or employment status. The Editorial Office will review each application and make a decision within 3 business days.
Publishing fees or waiver status shall not influence editorial decision making.
Subscription
All Innovations Journals titles are fully open access, meaning the content is freely available to all. To receive email alerts for new content, please register for a free subscription on each journal's website.
Indexing
All Innovations Journals articles are automatically indexed by Crossref on the date of first publication. Meta-data are updated when the final version is published (i.e., with page numbers).
Journal of Immunotherapy and Precision Oncology is indexed by Scopus, PubMed Central, and Directory of Open Access Journals. Preprint articles may not be indexed until they appear within a regular issue of the Journal.
Global Journal on Quality and Safety in Healthcare is indexed by Directory of Open Access Journals. Preprint articles may not be indexed until they appear within a regular issue of the Journal.
Innovations in Digital Health, Diagnostics, and Biomarkers is indexed by Directory of Open Access Journals. Preprint articles may not be indexed until they appear within a regular issue of the Journal.
Innovations in Surgery and Interventional Medicine is only indexed by Crossref.
Archiving
Innovations Journals content is archived using CLOCKSS.
Advertising and Promotion
Innovations Journals offers a variety of advertising options including digital banner ads, press releases, video content, and more. Digital banner ads will rotate sequentially each time someone visits the website (these are not linked to content or reader behavior). All advertisements are subject to the Editor in Chief's approval. NOTE: The advertiser and/or advertising agency assume liability for all contents of advertising and any claims against the publisher as the result of the advertisement.
Upon acceptance of an article, the authors are encouraged to provide a one-sentence summary that can be used to announce the article on social media (along with their twitter handles). Authors are also welcome to record a brief video summary of their article that can be published on the journal's YouTube channel.
LICENSE AND COPYRIGHT
Innovations Journals are open access journals. Upon acceptance of an article, all authors must sign an exclusive license agreement with the Journal Owner, Innovative Healthcare Institute (IHCI). With this license, the authors retain restricted copyrights (i.e., no publishing rights) and grant exclusive publishing rights to IHCI. The work will be simultaneously licensed under the Creative Commons license selected by the author unless an exception applies (see below). There are two license options:
CC-BY-NC-ND (Default License, No Fee)
All Innovations Journals articles are automatically published as open access under the terms of the latest CC BY-NC-ND License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), unless an exception applies (see license/copyright exceptions below). This license permits sharing the article with an appropriate citation for non-commercial purposes, but changing the content and commercial reuse are not allowed without obtaining written permission from the Innovations Journals Editorial Office (editor@innovationsjournals.com).
CC-BY (Optional Upgrade for a Fee)
If desired, authors may purchase a CC-BY license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) for a flat fee of $400 per article. Under this license, anyone may reuse or adapt the material, including commercial reuse, as long as appropriate credit is given. This option can be selected when signing the contributor agreement and payment must be received before the article is published.
The Journal permits authors to self-archive final accepted version of the articles on any OAI-compliant institutional/subject-based repository.
A blank copy of the exclusive license agreement is available to download for each journal below.
- Agreement for Journals with APCs (IDDB, ISIM) - download
- Agreement for Journals without APCs (JIPO, JQSH) - download
License/Copyright Exceptions
- Authors who are college and university faculty or work for corporations should determine whether the author or institutions owns copyright for “work for hire”. If the institution owns copyright, a representative must sign the agreement in addition to the authors.
- If the Contribution was prepared as part of the Contributor’s official duties under a government contract or grant for the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, or Australia, then this work is within the public domain and no copyrights may be owned by the author or publisher. The respective government may reproduce, without charge, all portions of the article, and may authorize others to do so for official government purposes. Copyright assignment applies only to the extent allowable by law.
Permission to use Innovations Journals Content
For non-commercial reuse - Permission is not required to reuse material published in the Innovations Journals under the CC BY-NC-ND license; however, an appropriate citation to the original source must be included. Permission is required to modify the material published in Innovations Journals.
For commercial reuse - Permission is required to reuse or modify material published in the Innovations Journals under the CC BY-NC-ND license. In general, commercial use is "primarily intended for or directed toward commercial advantage or monetary compensation." Read more at https://creativecommons.org/faq/#does-my-use-violate-the-noncommercial-clause-of-the-licenses.
For content published under a CC-BY license - Permission is not required to reuse or modify the final publication, but an appropriate citation to the original source must be included.
All permission requests should be directed to the Publishing Manager: editor@innovationsjournals.com.
Last updated: April 2023
