Journal Policies

Peer review

The proposed process is double-anonymous review: authors and reviewers would not be told each other's identities during assessment. An editor would first check scope, basic reporting and ethical documentation. Suitable manuscripts would then be sent to independent subject specialists, ordinarily two when available.

Reviewers would be asked to assess methods, evidence, interpretation and clinical relevance, and to declare conflicts before accepting an invitation. An editor would weigh the reports and issue a reasoned decision: reject, invite revision or accept. A revised paper might return to reviewers. The editor retains responsibility for the decision, including when reviews disagree.

No acceptance rate, review deadline or guaranteed decision time is promised. The final review model will be confirmed alongside the author instructions before opening submissions.

Open access and copyright

Published research is intended to be freely accessible to readers immediately, without a subscription or reading registration. The proposed licence is Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0), with authors retaining copyright and granting the journal the right of first publication. Exact licence and copyright terms will be approved and displayed on each article before publication.

A free-to-read article alone does not define its reuse rights. The final licence will state clearly what reuse is permitted and how attribution should be given.

Author charges

There will be no submission fee for manuscripts submitted for the first issue once submissions open. The article processing charge (APC), if any, and all other possible author charges for that issue have not yet been decided. The journal will publish the complete fee schedule, including any waivers, before accepting manuscripts. No manuscripts can be submitted and no payment is requested during this preparation period.

Editorial independence

Scientific merit, scope and ethics should determine editorial decisions. Ownership, sponsorship or payment must not determine acceptance. Submissions involving an editor, board member or owner should be handled by an unconflicted editor under the same published process.

See Publication Ethics for authorship, research ethics, disclosures and the handling of concerns.

Publication and preservation

The journal intends to publish two issues per year. An article-level record and a long-term preservation arrangement will be specified and tested before the first issue. No external archiving service is claimed at this stage.

Appeals and complaints

Authors should be able to request reconsideration of a decision by identifying a specific factual or procedural concern. Complaints about conduct or process should be reviewed by someone not involved in the original matter where possible. The journal will publish its verified contact channel and handling procedure before submissions open.