The Journal of Community Medicine and Health Sciences (JCMHS) is committed to maintaining the highest editorial standards in scholarly publishing. These Editorial Responsibilities define the ethical, procedural, and decision-making duties of the editorial team to ensure fairness, transparency, and scientific integrity across all stages of the publication process. The principles are aligned with the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), ICMJE, and DOAJ best practices.

Editors must act with accountability, impartiality, and integrity, ensuring that decisions are made solely on the scientific merit of the work.

1. Editorial Accountability

The editorial board holds ultimate responsibility for maintaining the quality and integrity of all published content. Editors must ensure that all manuscripts undergo rigorous peer review and comply with the journal’s policies on ethics, transparency, and open access.

2. Independence and Impartiality

Editorial decisions must be made without any influence from commercial, political, or personal interests. The Editor-in-Chief and Section Editors must ensure that all submissions are treated impartially, regardless of the author’s background, institutional affiliation, or country of origin.

3. Decision-Making Authority

The Editor-in-Chief has final authority over all editorial decisions, including acceptance, rejection, or revision requests. Decisions are based solely on the manuscript’s academic quality, originality, and contribution to the field of community medicine and health sciences.

4. Fair Peer-Review Management

Editors are responsible for implementing a transparent, double-blind peer-review system that ensures objectivity and quality. Responsibilities include:

Selecting qualified reviewers with relevant expertise.
Maintaining reviewer anonymity.
Ensuring timely feedback and decision communication.
Monitoring reviewer performance and professionalism.

5. Editorial Confidentiality

Editors must preserve the confidentiality of manuscripts and reviewer identities throughout the editorial process. No information may be disclosed to individuals outside the editorial and review teams without written consent from the author.

6. Conflict of Interest Management

Editors must declare any personal, financial, or academic conflicts related to a submission and recuse themselves from handling such manuscripts. The conflict will be assigned to an independent editor to maintain transparency and fairness.

7. Ethical Oversight

Editors must identify and address ethical issues, including plagiarism, data fabrication, authorship disputes, and duplicate publication. They should follow COPE flowcharts for managing ethical concerns and collaborate with the publisher to take corrective actions when necessary.

8. Handling of Misconduct

When potential misconduct is suspected, editors must initiate an investigation following COPE’s guidelines. Actions may include contacting authors for clarification, consulting reviewers or institutions, and issuing correction or retraction notices where appropriate.

9. Maintaining Editorial Integrity

Editors must avoid bias in decision-making, particularly when dealing with controversial topics or manuscripts that challenge established paradigms. Integrity and fairness are essential to maintaining the credibility of the publication process.

10. Respect for Author Rights

Editors must treat all authors with respect, providing constructive feedback and ensuring transparency in decisions. Rejection letters should clearly explain the reasons to help authors improve future submissions.

11. Transparency in Communication

All editorial communications must be professional, transparent, and documented through the official editorial management system. Personal emails or informal communication channels should not be used for official correspondence.

12. Data Protection and Privacy

Editors are responsible for protecting personal data and manuscript information in compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the journal’s Privacy Statement.

13. Upholding Peer-Review Ethics

Editors must ensure reviewers follow ethical standards, including confidentiality, objectivity, and avoidance of conflicts of interest. Reviewer feedback must remain confidential and cannot be used for personal research purposes.

14. Correction and Retraction Responsibilities

If post-publication errors or ethical violations are discovered, editors must collaborate with authors and the publisher to issue corrections, errata, or retractions. Each action must be documented and linked to the original article DOI for transparency.

15. Author Appeals

Editors must provide authors with a fair and structured process to appeal editorial decisions. Appeals are reviewed by the Editor-in-Chief or an independent editorial board member not involved in the original decision.

16. Editorial Training and Development

The journal encourages all editors to participate in training workshops and COPE webinars to enhance skills in peer review management, ethical decision-making, and publication standards.

17. Journal Policy Compliance

Editors must ensure adherence to all journal policies related to open access, copyright, archiving, and indexing. The editorial team collaborates with the publisher to maintain compliance with DOAJ, COPE, and Scopus standards.

18. Diversity and Inclusion

The editorial board is committed to promoting diversity and inclusion in scholarly publishing. Editors should encourage submissions from underrepresented regions and foster equitable representation within the reviewer and author communities.

19. Post-Publication Oversight

Editors must remain vigilant even after publication. They should respond to credible post-publication concerns such as data errors, ethical breaches, or reader feedback. Transparent correction mechanisms are key to maintaining the reliability of the scientific record.

20. Collaboration with Publisher

The publisher supports the editorial team by providing technical, administrative, and promotional assistance but does not interfere with content-related decisions. This ensures editorial independence and ethical integrity.

21. Maintaining the Integrity of the Record

Editors must ensure that all published articles meet the highest standards of academic rigor and ethical conduct. Retractions, corrections, and withdrawal notices must follow standardized procedures and remain permanently accessible.

22. Continuous Quality Improvement

Editors are encouraged to periodically review the efficiency of editorial workflows, peer-review quality, and author satisfaction to identify areas for improvement and enhance the journal’s reputation for excellence.

23. Accountability to Readers and the Community

Editors must recognize their responsibility to readers and the scientific community. Published work should contribute to advancing knowledge, promoting public trust, and maintaining transparency in research dissemination.

24. Alignment with Global Ethical Standards

Follows COPE’s Core Practices for journal editors.
Complies with ICMJE recommendations for editorial conduct.
Adheres to DOAJ’s best practices for transparency and editorial oversight.
Aligns with GDPR and international privacy frameworks.

25. Contact for Editorial Ethics Queries

Editors may seek clarification or report ethical concerns through:

Email: [email protected]
Subject: “Editorial Ethics Query – [Manuscript ID]”
Response time: within 5 business days

“Editorial responsibility extends beyond decision-making—it ensures the perpetual integrity of scientific knowledge.”