Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing

The Iranian Journal of Health Research and Development (Iran J Health Res Dev) is committed to maintaining the highest standards of transparency, editorial independence, research integrity, and responsible scholarly publishing.

The journal operates in accordance with internationally recognized principles of publication ethics and best editorial practice, including the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), and the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing developed by COPE, the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), the Open Access Scholarly Publishing Association (OASPA), and the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME).

These principles guide every stage of the journal's editorial and publication process and are intended to ensure fairness, transparency, accountability, and confidence in the scholarly record.

Journal Identity

The journal clearly identifies its title, ISSN, publisher, editorial office, contact information, aims and scope, publication frequency, and website. This information is publicly available to authors, reviewers, readers, and indexing services.

Editorial Independence

Editorial decisions are made independently by the Editor-in-Chief and the Editorial Board solely on the basis of scholarly merit, scientific quality, originality, ethical compliance, and relevance to the journal's scope.

Editorial decisions are made without discrimination based on nationality, institutional affiliation, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, political beliefs, or commercial interests.

Peer Review

All manuscripts undergo an independent peer review process conducted in accordance with the journal's Peer Review Policy. The journal is committed to fair, objective, confidential, and timely peer review to ensure the scientific quality and integrity of published articles.

Publication Ethics and Research Integrity

The journal follows internationally accepted standards of publication ethics throughout the editorial and publication process.

Authors, reviewers, editors, and publisher representatives are expected to comply with the ethical responsibilities described in the journal's Publication Ethics policy.

Allegations of research or publication misconduct are investigated fairly, confidentially, and in accordance with internationally recognized ethical guidance.

Originality and Plagiarism

Submitted manuscripts must represent original scholarly work.

The journal screens submitted manuscripts for similarity where appropriate and evaluates potential plagiarism using editorial judgment rather than predetermined similarity thresholds.

The handling of plagiarism and text overlap is described in the journal's Plagiarism Policy.

Authorship and Contributorship

Authorship should accurately reflect substantial scholarly contributions to the work.

The journal expects authorship to comply with internationally accepted authorship criteria. Any changes to authorship after submission require appropriate justification and editorial approval.

Conflicts of Interest

Authors, reviewers, and editors are expected to disclose any financial or non-financial competing interests that could influence, or reasonably be perceived to influence, their professional judgment.

Where competing interests exist, appropriate editorial procedures will be followed to preserve editorial independence and transparency.

Copyright and Open Access

The journal is a fully open access publication. Authors retain copyright of their published work, and articles are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).

Further information is available in the journal's Open Access and Copyright Policy.

Corrections and Post-Publication Updates

The journal is committed to preserving the accuracy and integrity of the scholarly record.

Where appropriate, the journal may publish Corrections, Retractions, Expressions of Concern, Editorial Notes, or other post-publication notices in accordance with its Corrections, Retractions and Matters Arising policy.

Appeals and Complaints

Authors may appeal editorial decisions or submit complaints regarding editorial procedures by contacting the editorial office at ijhrdtrjums.ac.ir.Appeals and complaints should be submitted in writing and should clearly explain the basis of the request.

Appeals and complaints are handled fairly, objectively, confidentially, and without unnecessary delay in accordance with the journal's established editorial procedures.

Archiving and Digital Preservation

The journal ensures long-term preservation of its published content through reliable digital archiving systems and preservation strategies to guarantee permanent accessibility and protection of the scholarly record.

Publication Charges

This journal is an open access publication and does not charge any article processing charges (APCs), submission fees, or publication fees. All articles are published and made freely available without any cost to authors. Any future changes to this policy will be clearly stated and transparently communicated on the journal

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Website Integrity

The journal website is maintained to provide accurate, current, and transparent information regarding editorial policies, submission procedures, publication ethics, copyright, licensing, and contact information.

The website does not contain misleading information regarding indexing status, journal metrics, editorial board membership, or publication services.

Commitment to Best Practice

The Iranian Journal of Health Research and Development continually reviews and strengthens its editorial policies and publishing practices to ensure compliance with internationally recognized standards of transparency, research integrity, and responsible scholarly publishing.

The journal is committed to maintaining an ethical, transparent, and trustworthy publication environment for authors, reviewers, editors, readers, and the wider scientific community.