Journal Policies
1. Principal Editorial Policies
Publishing Ethics and Research Integrity Statement
At the Diabetes Asia Journal under JHRC, we prioritize the integrity of our content and publishing processes. The following principles define best practices for all our journals and apply to authors, peer reviewers, editors, societies, publishing partners, and funders.
In addition to these principles, authors may be subject to specific research integrity and ethics guidelines tailored to their discipline. All guidelines are based on recommendations from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and, where applicable, the International Council of Medical Journal Editors (ICJME) and other industry agencies.
Research Integrity
Following the European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity, we support scientific work that upholds accuracy, honesty, reproducibility, and transparency. We expect all submitted research to meet the following four principles:
reliability in the quality of the research;
accountability throughout the research process, from conception to publication;
honesty and transparency in developing, conducting, reporting, and communicating research; and
respect for both researcher and non-researcher colleagues, as well as for res respect for all colleagues and research subjects, including humans, animals, society, the environment, and other relevant entities.ressed in accordance with COPE principles and practices. For further queries, please contact [email protected]
Editorial Process
Editorial independence is essential to research publication, and we are committed to protecting it from competing interests and external influences. We do not discriminate against authors, editors, or peer reviewers based on race, ethnicity, sex, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, religious beliefs, or disability. We actively promote collaboration among scholars from all backgrounds.
All editorial decisions on submitted manuscripts are made by our editors, who are external academic subject experts.
Editors commission and review independent peer reports, following each journal’s peer review policy as outlined in the Instructions for Authors.
DAJ does not tolerate abusive behavior or correspondence toward its staff or anyone involved in the publishing process on our behalf.
Appeals will be considered at DAJ’s discretion and handled on a case-by-case basis.
Peer Review
- Peer review is essential for maintaining the quality of publications. To support this process, resources, training, and support are provided, ensuring that peer review remains rigorous, fair, and effective.
- Editors and peer reviewers are encouraged to adhere to best practices for peer review as established by COPE and ICMJE. Those managing peer review are expected to recognize signs of manipulation or fraud and to report any concerns.
- Concerns should be reported to [email protected].
- Editors and peer reviewers are supported in investigating and addressing suspected fraudulent or manipulated peer review. Confidentiality is maintained for all individuals involved in the process where anonymity is applicable.
- Authors, publishing partners, and peer reviewers are required to honor all confidentiality obligations relevant to each journal.
Peer Review Model
DAJ conduct Single or double-anonymized peer review.
Recommending Reviewers
- Some journals request that authors recommend reviewers to assess their work. Proposed reviewers must not have any conflict of interest related to the content of the paper or its authors. Specifically, reviewers may not:
- have a personal conflict, close personal relationship, or association with any of the authors, or work in the same department as any of the authors bebe dependent on any of the authors, whether financially or in terms of career advancement, or stand to gain if the publication is accepted and published, have collaborated with the authors recently
Transparency
We aim to abide by the COPE Principles for Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing and encourage our publishing industry partners to do the same.
Integrity of the Scientific Record
Every version of record published by DAJ is recorded and stored on our servers. If we must alter this record in any way, for instance, if we must
When retracting articles due to research misconduct or to publish an erratum, we aim to maintain the integrity of the scientific record. You can find more information on how we handle such instances in the paragraph on corrections and removals of this statement.
When selling or licensing our journal products, we always do so in accordance with the specific license attached to the item. For open-access publications, this means the product may be used in accordance with the specified CC license.
Archival Strategy
DAJ preserves the long-term availability of its digital journal content by regularly archiving digital copies with archive.org. This ensures that even if our content is no longer available through DAJ, it remains accessible on archive.org. Through this process, all published papers are digitally archived and remain part of the scholarly record.
Sex and Gender in Research
DAJ expects authors to use the terms sex and gender as defined by the World Health Organization. Sex refers to biological differences between females and males, including chromosomes, sex organs, and endogenous hormonal profiles.
Gender refers to socially constructed and enacted roles and behaviors that occur within historical and cultural contexts and vary across societies and over time.
DAJ endorses the Sex and Gender Equity in Research (SAGER) guidelines and expects authors to adhere to them
Bias-Free Language: Ethnicity and Race
Authors should use unbiased language when describing populations. Authors should refer to ethnicity rather than race and follow the American Psychological Association’s guidance on Racial and Ethnic Identity
2. Authorship: Definition and Responsibilities
DAJ follows the guidelines of the International Council of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) to base authorship on the following criteria:
Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work, acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data, or drafting or critically revising the work for important intellectual content.
Final approval of the version to be published.
Authors must agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work, ensuring that any questions about the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are properly investigated and resolved.
Authors who meet all authorship criteria must be listed as authors. The submitting author is required to provide contribution details for all authors using the CRediT (Contributor Role Taxonomy) at submission.
Authors of for large, multi-center studies, authorship status should be agreed upon before starting the work and before submitting the paper. All group members must meet all four authorship criteria.ledgements
Individuals who contribute to the work but do not meet all four authorship criteria should be acknowledged in the Acknowledgments section.
Authorship Disputes
Corresponding Author
DAJ follows ICMJE guidelines. The corresponding author manages manuscript submission, review, and production, communicates on behalf of all co-authors, and keeps them informed.
After publication, the corresponding author assumes responsibility for handling any questions or data requests related to the manuscript.
Ensures the accuracy of all submitted information during submission, peer review, and production. This includes providing authorship details, clinical trial registration, funding information, ethics committee approval, conflict of interest statements, transparency, and permissions for use or reuse of all manuscript components, including figures and videos.
Removes any information that could identify study participants in the manuscript by author if all of them understand the responsibilities associated with the role. We allow only one corresponding authors from a display perspective, and for post-publication queries. However, technically, only one corresponding author can be accommodated in the submission systems, in the processes for signing publishing agreements, and to determine eligibility for discounted or waived article processing charges (APCs) under Open Access (OA). The affiliation of the corresponding author identified in the submission system is used to determine eligibility for discounted or waived article processing charges (APCsf).
Submitting Author/Corresponding Author
The corresponding author can delegate responsibility for accurate submission information to a submitting author if both authors collaborate closely.
The submitting author:
- must be listed as an author on the paper, and must physically submit the paper online
- is responsible for uploading and entering all data and files related to the manuscript, including metadata, such as affiliations, funding information, and conflicts of interest
Shared First Authorship
If authors are not listed alphabetically, by tradition, the first author has usually made the largest, most substantial contribution to a paper. Assigning equal first authorship is possible when authors have made an equal contribution, and no author has made a dominant contribution.
Equal first authorship is usually marked by a lozenge (◊) and the statement ‘◊ These authors contributed equally.’
DAJ aligns itself with the COPE Position Statement on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Authorship.
Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools must not be listed as authors, as they do not fulfill all criteria for authorship. They cannot take responsibility for a paper’s integrity or content, nor can they assume legal responsibility.
Instead, GenAI use must be transparently documented in the Acknowledgments or Materials and Methods sections (see Disclosure and Transparency paragraph).
DAJ requires all corresponding authors and other authors if available to provide an Contributor ID (ORCID), which is a free and unique identifier for researchers.
Changes to Authorship
Requests to add or remove authors before publication (see COPE guidelines) require the following:
A detailed description of each author’s and contributor’s tasks, following the CRediT taxonomy. Explicit written agreement from all co-authors, both original and new, confirming their approval of the revised author list.
Quests to change the author list, including changes in corresponding authorship, will undergo a thorough examination. After acceptance, any requests will be subject to the final approval of the Editor-in-Chief (for editorial ethics) and the publishing editor (for commercial matters).
Affiliations
An author’s affiliation should reflect the institution where most of the research was conducted, approved, and supported. List all authors’ affiliations in a dedicated section, with the primary affiliation first.
Authors who have recently changed institutions must list the affiliation where the research was conducted. Include the new affiliation as a note in the Acknowledgments or References section. For non-research papers, list the current institutional affiliation. Authors without a relevant institutional affiliation should indicate independent status.
The submission system uses the corresponding author’s affiliation to determine eligibility for discounted or waived article processing charges under Open Access agreements. If there are multiple corresponding authors and no submission system is available, the first corresponding author is considered eligible.
Due to an honest error, it is possible to change affiliation details after submission, after editorial acceptance, or after publication. Authors should contact the publishing editor of the journal to assess the request. Completion of an Affiliation Change Request Form may be required; if approved, the change will be made at the page proof stage.
The journal’s publishing editor assesses whether the change in affiliation has a commercial impact, e.g., changes in open-access agreements, discount/waiver eligibility, and sanctions violations. In case the change has an impact, the publishing editor reaches out to the open access support team ([email protected]). Any change in author role requires approval from the Editor-in-Chief, who will also assess editorial integrity.
If a change in affiliation is approved after publication, a linked corrigendum must be published. The same commercial and editorial integrity approvals apply.
3. Research Ethics
Ethical Approval and Patient Consent
Research Involving Human Subjects
All research involving human subjects must have been conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki, including the planning, conduct, and reporting of the research. In accordance with and quoting from the recommendations of the ICJME, we also require that, if there is any reason to believe that the research may not have been conducted according to the Helsinki Declaration, “the authors must explain the rationale for their approach and demonstrate that the local, regional or national review body explicitly approved the doubtful aspects of the study.”
If your research includes human participants, tissues, or data, you must get approval from the appropriate institutional ethics committee and follow international ethical and legal standards. Be sure to include the committee’s name and approval number in your manuscript. If the committee waived formal approval, mention the committee that granted the waiver.
Authors need to obtain permission from each participant before publishing any information that could identify them, such as photos, videos, clinical details, quotes, or demographic data. For children under 18, a parent or legal guardian must give consent. Consent to participate in research is different from consent to publish. Authors must obtain participants’ consent in advance for both participating in the study and using their tissues or data. Please describe how you got consent and include these details in your manuscript.
Your institutional ethics committee or another appropriate body will decide the consent requirements and how consent should be obtained. If you did not get consent or were unable to, the editor may ask you to show proof that the ethics committee waived this requirement.
Clinical Trial Registration
To be considered for publication, clinical trials must be registered in a publicly accessible registry. The ICMJE defines a clinical trial as any research project that prospectively
assigns human participants to one or more health-related interventions to evaluate their effects on health outcomes. Trials must be registered before enrolling patients. The registry must be managed by a non-profit organization, accessible to the public at no cost, include a mechanism to validate registration data, and be electronically searchable. An acceptable registry must include a unique trial number, trial information, funding source, contact information, study details, ethical review, medical condition, interventions, inclusion/exclusion criteria, study type, start date, target sample size, recruitment status, and primary and secondary outcomes. Registry name, ID number, and URL must be included in the manuscript and/or entered during submission.
Recommended trial registries are ClinicalTrials.gov and any of the primary registries that participate in the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform.
Safety
Authors should highlight risks, include appropriate safety precautions, and cite relevant codes of practice, especially when there are concerns about chemical and biosecurity threats. This will allow readers to safely reproduce and build on the work by taking precautionary measures.
Dual-Use Research of Concern
Dual-Use Research of Concern (DURC) research has clear potential benefits and could also be directly misapplied to do harm with broad consequences to health and safety, security, plants, animals, the environment, and material.
Reporting Guidelines
When reporting on health-related research, authors are best advised to follow the Enhancing the QUAlity and Transparency of Health Research (EQUATOR) guidelines. For randomized controlled trials, we recommend that authors follow the CONSORT reporting guidelines, ideally by providing a flowchart that clearly illustrates each stage of participant recruitment, allocation, follow-up, and analysis throughout the study. This flow chart should be submitted as a separate file.
EU Authors: Authors must comply with the European Union Directive 2010/63/EU on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes, including all relevant legal and ethical obligations as required by their institutions and national regulations.
Authors must follow ARRIVE guidelines on ethical animal treatment.
- Authors should take steps to minimize misuse of their research and are expected to comply with any national regulations as well as their institutional and funder’s requirements. They should disclose in the cover letter to the editor whether their study is subject to consideration as research of concern.
Competing Interests
- Authors must disclose any conflict of interest during the submission process and a conflict of interest’s statement is mandatory in all published articles, even if it is to declare that there is no conflict of interest.
Funding Information
When submitting a paper, authors must list all relevant funding sources, grant numbers, and the names of the individuals who received the grants.
They should also mention the roles of the funders. If there was no funding, authors can state this as well.
Authors should report any funding that helped pay for research expenses, like equipment, materials, or analysis costs.
Authors also need to mention any funding received for publishing the paper, such as payments for article processing or language editing services. Funding can come from internal sources, like the author’s institution, or from external sources, such as companies, foundations, or charities.
Declaration of GenAI use
While preparing this paper, the author(s) may have used AI tools for images, but not for text. The author(s) reviewed and edited the text and take full responsibility for the content Authors themselves contribute scientifically and intellectually and write the critical sections of the paper.
Publication Misconduct/ Plagiarism
We follow COPE’s definition of plagiarism as instances “when somebody presents the work of others (data, words or theories) as if they were his/her own and without proper acknowledgment.” This can involve all types of sources and media, including text, illustrations, and may include material obtained from websites, manuscripts, or other sources, both published and unpublished, including lectures, presentations, and grey literature.
4. Data and Supporting Evidence Data Availability Policy
Reproducibility is central to scientific research, so we support transparency and openness in sharing research data.
Authors should keep accurate records of their data to help others understand, verify, and reproduce new findings. When possible and allowed, we encourage authors to:
deposit their data in a suitable repository so it can be shared and used by others;
Include a Data Availability Statement in your publication. State where the data can be found and make them available in accordance with the FAIR principles of data sharing.
Some publications let authors submit supplementary materials that are not essential to the main text but may still help readers. Unless noted otherwise, we do not peer review these supplementary materials.
We value patient privacy and encourage authors to make their article data publicly available when it is ethically and legally possible. Since each community is different, our policies offer different levels of data availability. Before submitting, please check the journal’s Instructions for Authors for details about our policy.
Data Availability Policy Levels
The journal supports data sharing. A Data Availability Statement is not required, but we encourage authors to make their research data publicly available when possible. Including a statement is encouraged but not mandatory.
Data Repository
DAJ works with archive.org, an open-access repository makes it easy for researchers to deposit their research data sets.
If you want to make your research data public, please deposit it in archive.org before submitting your manuscript. We will give you a DOI, which you should include with your main data when you submit your manuscript. For more details, see the journal’s Instructions for Authors.
Data Mining
You may use our content for text and data mining for any legal purpose, as long as you have obtained access to the content legally. For more information, contact [email protected].
5. Our Approach to Reported Misconduct
If there are any concerns about misconduct or inaccuracies in our published content, we follow the recommendations given by COPE.
In the event of suspected misconduct, our first step will be to inform the authors and editors involved. Then, the journal editor will investigate the concern and, if necessary, resolve it through discussions with relevant parties or by referring it to a proper institution for further investigation. If the investigation shows that the content needs to be corrected or retracted, we will do so following COPE’s Retraction Guidelines, while still preserving the integrity of the scientific record and of any other related works by keeping associated metadata and the abstract (if legally possible).
Any actions taken due to proven or suspected misconduct will follow COPE’s guidance. For more information, please see the Corrigenda, Retractions, and Expressions of Concern section below.
Our Malpractice Policies
Research Misconduct
Conducting research on humans, human tissue, or data without obtaining informed consent from the individuals involved, or without considering their safety, dignity, or privacy rights, is considered misconduct. Additionally, it is also misconduct if the research is conducted without obtaining necessary approvals and permissions or failing to comply with national laws.
Research that does not abide by our policies regarding human subjects or data, or that violates the ethical and humane conduct policies for animal research and collection of biological specimens and samples, may be subject to retraction.
Publication Misconduct: Data and Image Falsification and Fabrication
Altering data or images in a deceptive manner (referred to as data falsification) or creating fake data, images, or results (known as data fabrication) is considered clear misconduct and will most likely result in the retraction of the affected publication. We are investing in the use of software to help detect image manipulation and fabrication.
Publication misconduct:
At DAJ, we strongly condemn paper mills and their deceptive practices. Scientific publishing relies on trust, and we are committed to protecting the integrity of the papers we publish. We recognize paper mill publications as a serious form of scientific misconduct that jeopardizes the foundations of academic research and knowledge advancement. To counter this, we have adopted a comprehensive and thorough approach:
At DAJ we are committed to upholding the highest standards of scholarly publishing, ensuring that science remains a trusted and reliable foundation for progress.
Text recycling is a form of self-plagiarism and occurs when an author reuses parts of their own previously published material without proper citation or acknowledgement. This is different from “redundant” or “duplicate” publication, which describes repeating text or data with at least one common author on a much larger scale.
Whether text recycling in a manuscript is deemed acceptable is determined by considering
The amount of text being recycled.
In which parts of the article the recycling occurs.
Whether the source of the recycled text is cited or acknowledged. The type of article (research or non-research).
If there is a breach of copyright.
If text recycling is found to be unacceptable, a submitted manuscript may be rejected. For a published article, retraction or a post-publication change may be necessary, as outlined in the Corrigenda, Retractions, and Expressions of Concern section.
Publication Misconduct: Redundant Publication
According to COPE, redundant (duplicate) publication happens when an author(s) publishes the same work, or sizeable parts of it, more than once without proper referencing or explanation for the repetition; independent of publication languages.
Authors must not submit manuscripts to our journals when they have already submitted the same material to another publication or entity (such as a journal, book, or similar). Authors should also share information about any related works they have published or that are currently under review at another journal, even if written in a different language. We do not tolerate extensive overlap in publications unless the editors decide that it will improve the academic discourse, there is permission from the original source and the proper citation included.
We expect our readers, reviewers, and editors to report any suspected cases of duplicate or redundant publication by reaching out to the appropriate editor. Handling redundant publication when they are discovered after publication is in alignment with the procedures outlined in the Corrigenda, Retractions, and Expressions of Concern section below.
Placing a preprint on the author’s personal website, in an institutional repository, or in a preprint archive will not be considered prior or duplicate publication.
Publication Misconduct: Duplicate Submission
Submitting the same paper to different journals simultaneously is publication misconduct. Authors must not submit a paper to our journals while it is under consideration or under revision elsewhere. A paper submitted to a DAJ journal may only be submitted to another journal after it is rejected or withdrawn.
Journal Policy on Prior Publication
DAJ encourage the submission of papers that have been deposited in an initial draft version in preprint repositories such as ChemRxiv, arXiv, bioRxiv, Research Square, arXiv, and medRxiv. When posting to a preprint server, authors should retain copyright on their publication. Drafts of short conference abstracts or degree theses posted on the website of the degree-granting institution, and draft manuscripts deposited on authors’ or institutional websites are also welcome. All other prior publication is not acceptable.
During submission, authors should (1) note use of the preprint repository in the cover letter, (2) state what adjustments and/or updates the draft has undergone between deposition and submission and (3) cite the preprint, including the DOI, as a reference in the manuscript.
Publication Misconduct: Undeclared Conflict of Interest
Not disclosing a potential conflict of interest (COI) can be considered misconduct and may result in the rejection of a submission or the retraction of a publication.
Other Types of Misconduct and Fraud
The following behaviors may be considered fraud and, in addition to fabricating or falsifying data and images, may also be regarded as misconduct:
- Deliberately providing false or fraudulent information about author(s) affiliation(s)
- Selling or buying authorship in a publication
- Attempting to influence peer review to achieve a desired
If any of the above is suspected, it may lead to the rejection or retraction of the affected paper(s).
6. Corrigenda, Retractions, and Expressions of Concern
Safeguarding the Integrity of the Version of Record
After a paper has been published in the Version of Record (VoR), it may be necessary to correct or even retract it. The journal editors will evaluate retractions, corrections, or expressions of concern in accordance with COPE’s Retraction Guidelines. Changes are made transparent to ensure the integrity of the VoR of a published paper, in line with the Guidelines of the International Association of Scientific, Technical & Medical Publishers.
The online article is corrected. The article PDF contains a footnote linking to the correction note, and the html version displays a link to the correction note.
The correction note and the corrected paper are linked to each other.
We typically refrain from publishing correction notes on alterations that have negligible impact on the overall contribution or do not significantly hinder readers’ comprehension of the work. Typically, the online version is corrected with a footnote detailing the nature of the correction.
Some journals may differentiate: When an error was introduced during the production process, the correction note is termed “erratum,” whereas “corrigendum” is used to indicate the correction of an author’s error. Authors who notify a journal of errors in their published work are responsible for ensuring that all co-authors agree to having the paper amended before submitting any requests.
Retractions
The journal editors will evaluate retractions, corrections, or expressions of concern in accordance with COPE’s Retraction Guidelines. If an investigation leads to a retraction:
- A retraction note is published in the next journal issue with the title Retraction Note: “(Article Title)”. It is freely available, clearly states who is retracting the paper, describes the reason(s) for retraction, and is objective and factual. It is linked to the retracted article.
The original article PDF and any supporting information PDF will be retained with a “Retracted Article” watermark on each page. Any HTML version of the document is removed, and the metadata remains online with “Retracted Article:” in front of the full title. It is linked to the retraction note.
The retraction note and the retracted article are bi-directionally linked.
Exceptionally, we may also remove the contents of an article from online publication, if we believe it to be necessary to comply with our legal obligations, for instance, if the article is defamatory, violates personal privacy or confidentiality laws, is subject to a court order, or poses a serious risk to public health. In these cases, the metadata remain online and we publish a note that clearly states why the content has been removed.
Fair Access
we take various global access initiatives to make sure that scholars from these countries have the opportunity to publish in our open- access journals. Additionally, we asses every request for waivers from scholars who do not have the sufficient funds to pay the article processing charges for our open-access journals.
Censorship
We adhere to COPE’s Statement on Censorship.
Advertising
DAJ Journal accept advertising. The advertising team reserves the right to reject advertising orders if their content violates laws, official regulations and health and safety standards, or if the content is deemed unsuitable for the journal. Advertisements are clearly identifiable as such and are kept separate from published content. In general, they are linked to the content (the journal), not to reader behaviour. Frequency caps are used to limit the number of times a user sees the same advertisement during a session. Advertising is not allowed to influence editorial decisions. For further details on advertising, see the terms and conditions.
