Journal Policies

The Journal and its publishers follow the COPE Code of Conduct ( https://publicationethics.org/guidance/Guidelines) and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors and the Code of Conduct for Journal Publishers and the ICMJE’s Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals. As a part of this, the publication expects the authors, reviewers and editors to follow the best-practice guidelines on ethical behavior contained therein.

 

Copyright
Submitting the manuscript together with figures and tables, the author (authors) declares (declare) that the manuscript has not been previously published, nor has been submitted to another journal for consideration. After the article is accepted, authors are required to submit the copyright form to the Journal. The journal allows authors to retain their copyright, providing them with full control over their work, including the right to reuse, distribute, and republish it. Additionally, authors grant the journal the right of first publication by licensing it. The journal grants to all readers and users a free, irrevocable, global, perpetual right of access to, and a license to copy, use, distribute, and display the content publicly and to make and distribute derivative works in any digital medium for any reasonable and non-commercial purpose, subject to proper attribution of authorship and ownership of the copyrights under the Creative Commons CC BY-NC 4.0.

Peer-review Policy
Every submitted article are first reviewed for completeness and sent to be assessed by an Editor who will decide whether they are suitable for peer review. Proceeding papers are reviewed by the Programme Chairs and Programme Committee members of the respective conference, with help from external reviewers selected by them. Entering the peer review stage does not guarantee the acceptance of the manuscript.

• Double Blind Peer Review:
  All manuscripts submitted to RGUHS Journal undergo a double-blind peer review process. The identity of both the author and reviewer is kept hidden. This ensures impartial evaluations and unbiased opinions on the manuscripts.
• Reviewer Requirements:
  Manuscripts submitted to RGUHS Journal must receive a minimum of two sets of peer reviews before the Editor-in-Chief can decide. Reviewers are selected based on their expertise in the subject area and are expected to provide constructive and objective feedback
• Editorial Decision-Making:
  The Editor-in-Chief considers the peer review comments and overall recommendations of the reviewers when making a decision on the manuscript. However, the final responsibility for acceptance or rejection lies with the Editor-in-Chief.
• Prompt Peer Review Process:
  The Editorial teams at RGUHS Journal strive to expedite the peer review process. However, the availability and willingness of reviewers to accept review invitations can impact the timeline. It is not uncommon for a manuscript to go through multiple review cycles before suitable reviewers are identified.
• Confidentiality and Integrity:
  RGUHS Journal maintains strict confidentiality and integrity throughout the peer review and editorial decision-making process. All individuals involved, including authors, reviewers, and editors, are required to adhere to data protection regulations, including General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
• Conflict of Interest:
  Reviewers must declare any potential conflicts of interest before submitting their review reports. If reviewers wish to involve colleagues as co-reviewers, they should seek permission from the journal's editorial office and provide relevant information
• No Direct Contact:
  Peer reviewers should not contact authors directly. All communication should go through the journal's editorial office. This ensures an unbiased and fair review process
• Ethical Considerations:
  RGUHS Journal follows ethical guidelines for peer reviewers, such as the COPE Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers. Reviewers should adhere to these guidelines throughout the review process
• Confidentiality During Investigations:
  In cases where ethical queries arise, RGUHS Journal treats all parties involved, including the submitted manuscript, author, reviewer, and any other individuals, with confidentiality. During the investigation process, the Editor may need to share information with third parties, such as ethics committees or the authors' institutions
• Portability of Peer Review:
  RGUHS Journal supports the portability of peer review. Manuscripts reporting sound science that does not meet the interest level for a particular journal may be offered the option to transfer to another RGUHS Journal within the scope of that journal. In such cases, the peer reviewers' reports are also transferred to the receiving journal

Licensing Information

• Articles are licensed under an open access Creative Commons CC BY-NC 4.0, which allows others to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the work for non-commercial purposes.
• Under this license, proper credit must be given to the authors, a link to the license should be provided, and any modifications made to the work must be indicated.
• It is important to respect the integrity of the work and avoid using it in any manner that may harm the authors or the journal.
• For more information, please refer https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

Archiving services
Journal articles are archived through Portico which is a not-for-profit digital preservation service. It provides the facility to permanently archive content of online journals and other scholarly content and ensures its accessibility to readers and authors.

Repository policy
Journal allows authors to deposit the published version of their article in their institutional or any other repository of their choice without embargo.