Publication Ethical Policy
HJBHS adheres to a transparent, timely, and fair editorial process at every stage, ensuring ethical standards, research integrity, and high-quality publication practices. The journal strives to uphold the highest standards of ethical research, transparency, and integrity in all stages of manuscript submission, peer review, and publication. Authors are expected to comply with the ethical guidelines set by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) at https://publicationethics.org/ and other internationally recognized standards. All research involving human participants or experimental interventions must have prior approval from the relevant Institutional Ethical and Research Committee, and ethical considerations, including patient safety, informed consent, and the management of control groups, must be clearly addressed. For studies involving previously published tables, figures, or photographs, written permission must be obtained from the original author(s) and publisher, and identifiable patient information must be fully anonymized unless consent is provided.
All submitted manuscripts undergo an initial desk review by the Editorial Committee to ensure compliance with the journal's scope, formatting guidelines, research methodology, language quality, and conceptual clarity. Manuscripts failing these criteria may be rejected at this stage. For accepted manuscripts, the similarity index report is generated in line with HEC policy, and papers may be accepted or rejected based on the findings. Accepted papers are then sent to two reviewers selected from a regularly updated, editorial board-approved reviewer panel. The journal does not allow in-house institutional reviewers. Authors must disclose any conflicts of interest, financial or otherwise, as well as any sponsorship or material support related to their work. Prior approval and declarations regarding the use of medicines, devices, or experimental materials must be included.
Upon final acceptance, including reviewer feedback and editorial proofreading, manuscripts are published in online format. HJBHS aims to publish at least five articles per issue, with efforts to include seven to ten articles. At least one-fourth of the published articles should have international authorship, and no more than 5% of publications may be self-institutional as per HEC policy. Immediate family members of the editorial team may publish no more than one paper in three consecutive issues.