Policies

1. EDITORIAL POLICY OF ANNALS OF HEALTHCARE MANAGEMENT AND SOCIAL SCIENCES (AHMSS)

Editorial Team
The Annals of Healthcare Management and Social Sciences (AHMSS) is led by a Managing Editor and an Editorial Board. Editors and Board members are appointed based on the journal's strategic needs for expertise in specific domains of healthcare management and social sciences. The Board is dedicated to upholding the highest standards of academic publication and is supported by a dedicated Editorial Office Team.

Ethical Guidelines for the Editors
AHMSS Editors are required to ensure that all published articles adhere to the journal's internal Policies for Editors, the COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) Core Practices, and the relevant guidelines of the Higher Education Commission (HEC), all of which are designed to foster and maintain integrity in scholarly publishing.

Editor’s Responsibilities
The primary responsibilities of the Editors include establishing and sustaining the journal's quality through the publication of high-caliber research. They are also tasked with upholding academic freedom within the prevailing cultural and legal frameworks.

Good Practices
Editors are expected to actively solicit new ideas and recommendations to enhance the quality of AHMSS. They must implement a blind peer review process with the highest level of integrity and are committed to promoting and enforcing anti-plagiarism policies and other journal guidelines without succumbing to any institutional influence.

Fair play and Impartiality
Editors will guarantee an unbiased and objective assessment of all research submissions. The selection of articles will be based solely on academic merit, disregarding any discriminatory factors related to the authors, such as gender, race, ethnicity, religious belief, or institutional affiliation.

Confidentiality
Strict confidentiality will be maintained for both authors and reviewers throughout the peer review process. The privacy of any research participants mentioned in manuscripts will also be safeguarded. The content of all manuscripts will be treated as confidential until the point of publication.

Editing and Formatting Guidelines
Comprehensive instructions for the preparation and formatting of manuscripts are available on the official AHMSS website.

Review Process
The Annals of Healthcare Management and Social Sciences (AHMSS) employs a rigorous multi-stage editorial process for manuscript evaluation. Initially, all submissions undergo an internal review by in-house editors to assess their originality, scope, and overall quality. Manuscripts that do not meet the journal's preliminary standards may be rejected or returned to the authors for revisions at this stage. Those deemed suitable then advance to a formal peer review. AHMSS utilizes a Double-Blind Peer Review system, where the identities of both the authors and the reviewers are concealed. The revised manuscript is then sent to external reviewers who are experts in the relevant field. Based on the comprehensive feedback from these reviewers, a final decision is made to either accept or reject the manuscript for publication. This stringent process ensures that only high-quality, thoroughly vetted research is published.

Dealing with Misconduct
Editors will encourage reviewers to identify potential ethical issues and research misconduct. Plagiarism will be investigated using tools such as Turnitin and checks for redundant publications. In cases of confirmed plagiarism, AHMSS will publish a corrigendum, retract the article, and remove it from the publication record.

Transparency
To ensure diversity of contributions, an author may publish only one paper as the Principal Investigator (PI) in a single issue. The journal will strictly enforce its policies on authorship and co-authorship.

Conflict of Interest
Editors and reviewers are required to recuse themselves from the evaluation process of any manuscript where they have a personal, financial, or professional conflict of interest with the author(s) or their institution.

Disclosure
Unpublished information, data, or interpretations from a submitted manuscript must not be used by editors or reviewers for their own research without the express written consent of the author(s).

Publication Decisions
Only research papers that are shortlisted, align with the journal's scope, and successfully complete the peer review process will be published. The acceptance or rejection of a manuscript will be determined solely by its academic rigor, originality, and significance. The Editor will provide clear and justified reasons for any rejection and will communicate the final editorial decision to the authors in a timely manner.

Procedure for Appeal
Authors of rejected manuscripts have the right to submit a formal letter of appeal, providing a detailed explanation for their request for reconsideration. This appeal will be reviewed by the editorial team, and a subsequent decision will be communicated. Please note that revised articles cannot be submitted as part of the appeal process at this stage.

2. POLICY FOR SELECTION OF EDITORS, REVIEWERS, AND OTHER EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS
The selection of Editors, Reviewers, and other Editorial Board members will be conducted in accordance with standard human resource policies. Their roles, responsibilities, and job descriptions will be explicitly defined and aligned with the core vision and mission of the Annals of Healthcare Management and Social Sciences (AHMSS).

3. PLAGIARISM POLICY

The editorial team of the Annals of Healthcare Management and Social Sciences (AHMSS) is dedicated to upholding the highest standards of academic integrity and the originality of all published scholarly work. AHMSS adheres to the plagiarism policies outlined by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the Higher Education Commission (HEC), and other relevant international bodies. This policy is applied rigorously to all submitted manuscripts to ensure their authenticity.

To screen submissions, AHMSS utilizes Turnitin software. In accordance with HEC guidelines, a Similarity Index (SI) of less than 19% is generally required for a manuscript to proceed to peer review. The journal has a zero-tolerance policy towards any form of plagiarism, which includes the unacknowledged copying of content or any attempt to present the work of others as one's own, whether it involves ideas, text, results, or data. This also encompasses text recycling, the reuse of substantial portions of text from an author's own previous publications (self-plagiarism) or from the work of others without proper citation. Manuscripts found to violate these principles will be rejected.

A disciplinary committee at AHMSS, comprising the Editor-in-Chief and the Editorial Board, is tasked with investigating any allegations of plagiarism or publication misconduct. In confirmed cases, the journal will contact the authors' affiliated institutions, funding bodies, and other relevant authorities for necessary disciplinary action. Depending on the severity of the misconduct, a published article may be formally corrected or retracted.

Common Manifestations of Plagiarism:

  • Verbatim copying of another's work without attribution.
  • Self-plagiarism, where authors republish their own previously disseminated work without transparent declaration.
  • Paraphrasing someone else's ideas or text without appropriate credit.

Exclusions during Plagiarism Checks:
The following elements are typically excluded during the similarity check to ensure a fair assessment:

  • Properly quoted text.
  • The bibliography or reference list.
  • Common phrases and standard terminology.
  • Names of institutions, departments, or tools.

Guidelines for Authors Regarding Plagiarism:

  • Identification and Correction: If plagiarism is detected during any stage of the submission process, authors will be notified and required to revise the manuscript with proper citations. Manuscripts with a similarity index of 19% or higher are subject to immediate rejection and must be significantly revised before any resubmission is considered.
  • Reporting Plagiarism:Scholars are encouraged to support the integrity of the academic community by reporting any suspected plagiarism to the AHMSS editorial office, providing detailed information for a confidential investigation.
  • Post-Publication Investigation:In the event that plagiarism is identified after publication, AHMSS will conduct a thorough investigation. The corresponding author will be contacted, and the published article will be marked. Based on the investigation's findings, the article may be formally retracted.
  • Publications in Other Languages: Authors must fully disclose if the submitted work has been published previously in any language. For translations, authors are responsible for securing the necessary copyright permissions. Translated versions must either be entirely rephrased or presented as a formal translation with a clear citation of the original.
  • Self-Plagiarism: Reusing significant portions of one’s own copyrighted work without declaration is not permitted. The exception is when referencing prior work through a standard citation.
  • Impact on Research Ethics:Plagiarism constitutes a serious ethical violation that undermines the trust and value of scholarly research.

A Call for Integrity: AHMSS earnestly appeals to all authors to prioritize academic honesty and submit original work, thereby contributing to a credible and trustworthy body of knowledge in healthcare management and social sciences.

4. PUBLICATION ETHICS AND MALPRACTICE STATEMENT

Acknowledgements:
The Annals of Healthcare Management and Social Sciences (AHMSS) proudly adheres to the principles outlined by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Originality and Integrity
AHMSS considers only original content that has not been published previously and is not under consideration by another journal. Manuscripts found to contain fabricated or falsified data at any stage, submission or post-publication, will be subject to retraction.

The journal endorses the core practices of COPE. All authors, reviewers, and editors are expected to adhere to these highest standards of ethical behaviour.

Authorship
All individuals listed as authors must have made a substantial intellectual contribution to the work. All authors must approve the final version of the manuscript and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work. We refer to the ICMJE Recommendations for detailed guidance on defining authorship. Any change in authorship after submission must be formally requested and agreed upon by all original authors.

  • Authorship Numbers and Sequence: The number of authors should be justified by the scope and complexity of the research. The order of authorship should accurately reflect the relative contributions of all individuals involved, as mutually agreed upon by all co-authors.
  • Corresponding Author: The corresponding author is primarily responsible for communication with the journal and ensuring all administrative requirements are met. This role should be assigned to the individual who has provided the most significant contribution or is best positioned to handle the process, based on the consensus of all authors.

Ethical Oversight and Informed Consent
AHMSS mandates the highest ethical standards in research involving human subjects or personal data.

  • Ethical Approval: For any research involving human subjects, authors must provide a statement of ethical approval from an official Institutional Review Board (IRB) or Ethical Review Committee (ERC). The approval letter, on official letterhead and signed by the committee chairperson, must include the project identification code and date of approval. Research not involving direct human contact requires an official exemption letter from the relevant ERC/IRB.
  • Informed Consent: A key tenet of our policy is the requirement for informed consent. For all research involving human participants, authors must confirm that informed consent was obtained. For case reports or studies using patient details or images, authors must obtain explicit consent from the patients or their guardians/relatives. Authors may provide a detailed justification for the waiver of consent in exceptional circumstances, which will be evaluated by the editors.
  • Patient Privacy and Anonymity: To protect participant privacy, authors must not use patients' names, initials, hospital numbers, or other identifying information in the manuscript or any illustrative material. The journal reserves the right to request signed consent forms at any time.

Conflicts of Interest
All authors, reviewers, and editors must disclose any financial or personal relationships that could be perceived as inappropriately influencing the work. Undeclared conflicts of interest may lead to the rejection of a submission. If a conflict is discovered after publication, it will be addressed through a published corrigendum, and sanctions may be applied.

Research on Human Subjects
When reporting research involving human participants, authors must confirm that the procedures were conducted in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee and with the Helsinki Declaration. A statement confirming this, along with the ethical approval details, must be included in the manuscript.

Research on Animals
For studies involving laboratory animals, authors must state whether institutional and national guidelines for the care and use of laboratory animals were followed. We recommend consulting the International Association of Veterinary Editors’ Consensus Author Guidelines on Animal Ethics and Welfare.

Publication Misconduct
This journal defines publication misconduct to include, but is not limited to, data fabrication, falsification, duplicate submission, redundant publication, and unethical referencing. All suspected cases will be investigated in line with COPE guidelines. The corresponding author will be contacted for a formal explanation. Corrective actions will be commensurate with the severity of the misconduct and may include correction, retraction, or a ban on future submissions. Institutional heads may be notified in severe cases.

5. CONFLICT OF INTEREST POLICY

Annals of Healthcare Management and Social Sciences (AHMSS)

  1. Policy for Authors

All authors are required to disclose any financial and non-financial interests that could be perceived as influencing the results or interpretation of their submitted manuscript. This declaration is mandatory for all submissions.

A ‘Conflict of Interest’ statement must be included in the manuscript, prior to the reference list. This statement should detail all potential conflicts, including but not limited to:

  • Financial Interests:Funding sources, employment, consultancies, stock ownership, patents, payment for expert testimony, and honoraria.
  • Non-Financial Interests:Personal relationships, academic affiliations, political or religious beliefs, and institutional affiliations that could be perceived as a source of bias.

If no conflicts exist, authors must include the following statement: “The author(s) declare no competing interests, financial or non-financial, related to the work presented in this manuscript.”

6. Authorship and Publication Policies

A. Authorship and Contributorship

To be listed as an author, an individual must meet all four of the following criteria, as defined by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE):

  1. Substantial Contribution: Made significant contributions to the research conception, study design, or to the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data.

  2. Manuscript Development: Participated in drafting the initial manuscript or critically revising it for important intellectual content.

  3. Final Approval: Provided final approval of the version to be published.

  4. Accountability: Agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work, ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part are properly investigated and resolved.

All individuals who meet these criteria must be named as authors. Those who do not meet all criteria (e.g., those who provided only technical support, writing assistance, or general supervision) should be acknowledged in a separate section.

The corresponding author is responsible for accurately describing each co-author's contributions in the Authorship Form, which must be signed by all authors. The order of authors is a decision to be made collectively by the authorship group. Any request to change authorship after submission must be justified in writing and approved via a signed Change of Authorship Form from every listed author and the individual being added or removed.

B. Role of the Corresponding Author

The corresponding author acts as the primary point of contact with the journal throughout the submission, peer review, and publication process. Their responsibilities include:

  • Ensuring all administrative requirements are met (e.g., completing authorship, ethics, and disclosure forms).

  • Coordinating communication with co-authors regarding editorial decisions and reviewer comments.

  • Reviewing the final proof before publication (co-authors will be notified).

  • Remaining available after publication to respond to critiques and cooperate with any requests for data or additional information from the journal.

C. Disclosure of Interests and Conflicts

To maintain transparency and trust, the lead corresponding author must disclose any financial or non-financial interests that could be perceived as a conflict of interest. This includes:

  • Financial relationships: Employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, grants, or patents.

  • Non-financial relationships: Personal relationships, academic rivalries, intellectual beliefs, or institutional affiliations that could influence the work.

Authors must confirm that they had full access to all study data and independence from study sponsors in data analysis, interpretation, and the decision to publish. Purposeful failure to disclose relevant relationships is considered scientific misconduct.

D. Originality and Prior Publication

  • Duplicate Submission: Manuscripts submitted to the Annals must be original and not under consideration by any other journal.

  • Prior Publication: Manuscripts that overlap substantially with previously published work (in any language or format, including publicly available reports or pre-prints) must be clearly referenced. The novel contribution of the new submission must be explicitly stated.

  • Use of Public Datasets: We welcome manuscripts from different groups analyzing the same public dataset. Each submission will be considered independently. If conclusions are similar, priority may be given to the first submitted manuscript. Manuscripts from the same dataset must make a distinct and substantial scholarly contribution and properly cite prior analyses from the same data. For secondary analyses of clinical trials, the primary publication must be cited, and the same trial registration number must be used.

  1. Policy for Editors and Reviewers

Editors and reviewers involved in the peer-review process are obligated to declare any potential conflicts of interest that may affect their impartiality.

Upon identifying a conflict—such as a close professional or personal relationship with an author, a direct competitive research focus, or any other circumstance that could compromise objectivity—the individual must recuse themselves from handling the manuscript.

The editorial team will manage the assignment of manuscripts to ensure that all submissions are evaluated fairly and without bias.

  1. Management of Undeclared Conflicts

Failure to declare a conflict of interest may lead to serious consequences, including the rejection of a submitted manuscript, retraction of a published article, or sanctions against the involved authors, editors, or reviewers.

7. Copyright Policy

The Annals of Healthcare Management and Social Sciences is a proud supporter of the Open Access movement. We believe in removing barriers to knowledge to foster wider dissemination and application of research in health management and social sciences.

In line with this principle:

  • Author Rights: Authors retain the copyright of their published work without restrictions.

  • Public Access: All articles are made freely available to read, download, and share immediately upon publication on our website.

  • Reuse License: Published articles are distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).

This license permits anyone to copy, redistribute, remix, transform, and build upon the material in any medium or format for any purpose, even commercially, provided that appropriate credit is given to the original publication in the Annals. Users must provide a link to the license and indicate if any changes were made.

For users, this means you are free to:

  • Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format.

  • Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose.

Under the following terms:

  • Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the CC BY license, and indicate if changes were made. The correct citation for the original article must be provided.

For full details of the license terms, please visit: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

8. Withdrawal Policy or Appealing The Editorial Decision

 

Authors are expected to submit manuscripts for consideration only when they are serious about publication in the Annals. Withdrawing a manuscript after submission is a serious action that consumes valuable editorial resources and delays the peer review process for other authors.

A. Procedure for Withdrawal
To request a withdrawal, the corresponding author must formally notify the journal's Editorial Office in writing, stating the reason for the withdrawal. The request must be signed by all co-authors, confirming their collective agreement. A manuscript is only considered officially withdrawn once the editorial office confirms the request.

B. Stages of Withdrawal

  • Prior to Peer Review: Requests for withdrawal at this stage will generally be honored promptly.

  • During Peer Review: Withdrawing a manuscript after it has been sent for peer review is strongly discouraged. The editorial office may require a detailed, compelling reason for the withdrawal (e.g., a fundamental error discovered in the research methodology).

  • Post-Acceptance/Pre-Publication: Withdrawal after acceptance is considered an exceptional circumstance and may be subject to a processing fee to cover costs incurred. It is only granted for the most compelling reasons (e.g., ethical violations, proven scientific error). Unjustified withdrawals at this stage may lead to the authors being sanctioned from submitting to the journal for a period of time.

"Replacement" or "Versioning"
Authors are not permitted to withdraw a submitted manuscript simply to replace it with an updated version. If minor errors are found, authors should contact the editorial office to discuss the possibility of submitting a correction.

Appealing an Editorial Decision

The Annals is committed to a fair and rigorous peer-review process. We recognize that authors may sometimes disagree with an editorial decision. We have a formal appeals process to ensure that all decisions are reconsidered fairly.

A. Grounds for an Appeal
An appeal must be based on substantive, specific concerns about the review process or the decision. Valid grounds for an appeal may include:

  • Procedural Error: Evidence that a reviewer or editor made a significant factual error or failed to follow journal policy.

  • New Data or Information: The availability of critical new data or analysis that was not included in the original submission and that directly addresses the reviewers' key concerns.

  • Demonstrable Bias or Misconduct: Concrete evidence that a reviewer's report was scientifically inaccurate, unprofessional, or biased.

Disagreement with the decision or reviewer comments alone, without specific justification, is not sufficient grounds for an appeal.

B. The Appeals Process

  1. Informal Query: The corresponding author should first contact the Managing Editor with a concise email to discuss the decision. In many cases, a clarification can resolve the concern.

  2. Formal Appeal: If the issue remains unresolved, a formal appeal can be lodged within 30 days of the initial decision date. The appeal must be submitted by the corresponding author and include:

    • A point-by-point response to the reviewers' comments and the editor's decision letter.

    • A clear explanation of which specific grounds for appeal (from the list above) apply and the evidence supporting the claim.

    • The manuscript ID and title.

  3. Appeal Review: The appeal will be handled by a Senior Editor who was not involved in the original decision. This editor may seek additional expert opinions if necessary. The journal’s decision following an appeal is final, and no further correspondence will be entered into.

The Annals reserves the right to reject without review any appeal that does not adhere to these guidelines.

9. Privacy Policy

The Annals of Healthcare Management and Social Sciences is committed to protecting the privacy and confidentiality of all individuals who interact with our journal, including authors, reviewers, readers, and research participants. This policy outlines how we collect, use, and safeguard personal information.

For Authors and Co-Authors

  • Information Collected: We collect names, email addresses, institutional affiliations, and ORCID iDs (if provided) for all authors during the submission process.

  • How We Use It: This information is used for manuscript processing, communication, publication, and indexing. Author names, affiliations, and contact information (for the corresponding author) are published with the article.

  • Sharing of Information: Author information is shared with third-party service providers strictly for purposes related to publication (e.g., a manuscript tracking system, plagiarism detection software). We do not sell this data. Published articles and author details are disseminated to indexing services and aggregators to maximize the article's reach.

For Peer Reviewers

  • Confidentiality: The identity of reviewers is kept strictly confidential from the authors and other reviewers throughout the peer review process. Reviewers' names are never published without their explicit consent.

  • Information Collected: We collect reviewers' names, email addresses, institutional affiliations, and areas of expertise.

  • How We Use It: This information is used to identify suitable reviewers, manage the peer-review process, and track reviewer contributions. Reviewer data is never sold or used for marketing purposes unrelated to the journal.

For Readers and Website Visitors

  • Automatically Collected Data: Our website may collect non-personal information such as IP addresses, browser type, and browsing behavior through cookies and analytics tools (e.g., Google Analytics). This data is used in an aggregated and anonymous form to analyze website traffic and improve user experience.

  • Subscription Data: For individuals or institutions that subscribe to alerts or other services, we collect necessary information (e.g., email address) to deliver those services. Users can opt out at any time.

Data Pertaining to Research Participants

The Annals requires that all research involving human participants described in submitted manuscripts must have been conducted in accordance with ethical standards, including obtaining informed consent. Manuscripts must explicitly state that:

  • Informed consent was obtained from all human participants.

  • All personal identifiers have been removed to protect participant anonymity.

  • The study was approved by an appropriate Institutional Review Board (IRB) or Ethics Committee.

We will not publish a manuscript if there are concerns that it violates ethical standards or the privacy of research participants.

Data Retention and Security

  • Retention: We retain personal data associated with published articles (author details) indefinitely to maintain the scholarly record. Data related to rejected manuscripts is retained for a reasonable period for archival and auditing purposes, after which it is securely deleted or anonymized.

  • Security: We implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect personal data against unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction.

Your Rights

You have the right to:

  • Access the personal data we hold about you.

  • Request corrections to any inaccurate data.

  • Request the deletion of your data, subject to our legal and archival obligations (e.g., we cannot delete data associated with a published article).

For any questions, requests, or concerns regarding your privacy and this policy, please contact the journal's Editorial Office at info.ahmss@gmail.com.

10. Archiving Policy

The Annals of Healthcare Management and Social Sciences is committed to the long-term preservation and accessibility of scholarly research. We recognize that ensuring the permanent archival record of our published content is a fundamental responsibility to the global academic community.

To achieve this, the journal employs a multi-faceted archiving strategy:

Primary Digital Archive
The journal’s primary, version-of-record content is hosted and preserved on our official publisher's platform. This serves as the main access point for readers and is backed by robust, secure digital infrastructure with regular backups.

Deposits in Digital Repositories
To maximize security and accessibility, the journal deposits all published content in at least one major, subject-specific digital repository. This provides an additional, independent archive of the material.

Author Self-Archiving (Green Open Access)
In line with our open access policy, authors retain the copyright to their work and are encouraged to self-archive their articles. Authors may deposit the final published PDF (Version of Record) in the following locations without an embargo:

  • Institutional repositories of their academic or affiliated institutions.

  • Subject-based repositories (e.g., SSRN, ResearchGate).

  • On their personal websites.

When depositing, authors must provide appropriate attribution (citation) to the original publication in the Annals of Healthcare Management and Social Sciences and a link to the final article on our website.

Perpetual Access
We ensure that all published articles are assigned a persistent identifier:

  • Digital Object Identifier (DOI): Every article is registered with a unique, permanent DOI through the CrossRef system. This DOI will always resolve to the article, regardless of any future changes to the journal's website URL or platform, guaranteeing reliable, perpetual access for citation and linking.

11. Complaint Policy

The Annals of Healthcare Management and Social Sciences is dedicated to maintaining the highest standards of ethical publishing and professional conduct. We view all complaints seriously as an opportunity to improve our processes and resolve issues fairly. This policy outlines the procedure for raising a complaint.

Scope of Complaints

This policy covers complaints regarding, but not limited to:

  • The editorial process (e.g., delays, lack of communication).

  • The behavior of journal staff, editors, or reviewers.

  • Ethical concerns about a published article (e.g., plagiarism, data fabrication, authorship disputes).

  • Errors in published content that go beyond standard corrigenda.

  • Breaches of confidentiality.

How to Make a Complaint

Complaints should be made in a timely manner to the email address below. To ensure a swift and effective resolution, please provide the following information:

  • Your Contact Information: Full name, affiliation, and email address.

  • Nature of Complaint: A clear and concise description of the issue.

  • Relevant Details: Manuscript ID (if applicable), title of the paper, names of any individuals involved, and dates of relevant events.

  • Supporting Evidence: Any documentation or correspondence that supports the complaint.

Please direct all complaints to: info.ahmss@gmail.com
Use the subject line: "Complaint - [Your Name] - [Manuscript ID if applicable]".

Complaint Handling Procedure

Stage 1: Initial Acknowledgment and Review

  • Upon receipt, the Managing Editor will acknowledge your complaint within five (5) business days.

  • The complaint will be confidentially reviewed by the journal's editorial management team.

Stage 2: Investigation and Resolution

  • The team will investigate the matter, which may involve consulting with relevant parties, including editors, reviewers, or the journal's ethics committee.

  • We aim to provide a substantive response and a proposed resolution within twenty-one (21 business days. If the issue is complex and requires a longer investigation, we will inform you of the delay and provide a revised timeline.

Stage 3: Appeal

  • If you are dissatisfied with the initial resolution, you may request that the complaint be escalated to the Editor-in-Chief.

  • The Editor-in-Chief will conduct a final review of the case and their decision will be conclusive.

Our Commitment

We are committed to handling all complaints:

  • Confidentially: All information will be treated with strict confidentiality.

  • Fairly and Impartially: Every party will be given an opportunity to present their perspective.

  • Respectfully: We will maintain a professional and courteous tone throughout the process.

  • Transparently: We will keep you informed of the progress of your complaint.

We value the trust of our academic community and will make every effort to address your concerns promptly and fairly.

12. peer review policy

The Annals of Healthcare Management and Social Sciences is committed to publishing high-quality, rigorous, and impactful research. The cornerstone of our quality assurance process is a robust, fair, and constructive peer review system. This policy outlines the principles and procedures that guide our review process.

Overview of the Process

All submitted manuscripts undergo an initial check by the editorial office for technical compliance and scope. Subsequently, the Editor-in-Chief or a Handling Editor assesses the manuscript for its overall suitability, originality, and methodological soundness. Manuscripts that pass this stage are then sent for Double-Anonymized Peer Review.

Double-Anonymized Peer Review

To minimize bias, the Annals employs a double-anonymized review process:

  • The identities of the authors are concealed from the reviewers.

  • The identities of the reviewers are also concealed from the authors and from each other.

Authors are responsible for anonymizing their manuscript before submission by removing author names and affiliations from the text and ensuring that any self-citations are rendered anonymously (e.g., "Author, 2023").

Criteria for Review

Reviewers are asked to evaluate manuscripts based on the following criteria:

  • Originality and Significance: Does the work offer a novel and important contribution to the fields of healthcare management or social sciences?

  • Methodological Rigor: Is the study design, data collection, and analysis appropriate and sound?

  • Clarity and Presentation: Is the manuscript well-written, logically organized, and clear?

  • Scholarly Context: Does the manuscript adequately engage with and cite relevant literature?

  • Ethical Soundness: Is the research conducted in an ethical manner?

  • Conclusions: Are the conclusions supported by the data and analysis presented?

Selection of Reviewers

Reviewers are selected based on their expertise, publication record, and prior experience. We strive to invite reviewers who can provide a fair and unbiased assessment. Reviewers are required to declare any potential conflicts of interest before agreeing to review a manuscript.

Reviewer Responsibilities

  • Confidentiality: Manuscripts under review are confidential documents. Reviewers must not share, discuss, or use the information from the manuscript for their own purposes until it is published.

  • Timeliness: Reviewers are expected to complete their reviews within the agreed timeframe. If unable to do so, they should promptly notify the editorial office.

  • Constructive Feedback: Reviews should be objective, respectful, and constructive. Criticisms should be clearly explained and supported with evidence to help authors improve their work.

  • Anonymity: Reviewers must maintain their own anonymity and not reveal their identity to the authors.

The Editorial Decision

The final decision on a manuscript is made by the Handling Editor or Editor-in-Chief, taking into account the reviewers' reports, their own assessment, and the journal's editorial priorities. Decisions are categorized as:

  • Accept

  • Minor Revisions

  • Major Revisions

  • Reject

Reviewers' comments are anonymized and sent to the authors along with the editorial decision. Authors are given the opportunity to respond to all points raised and submit a revised version for further review.

Appeals

Authors who believe a serious error occurred during the review process may appeal an editorial decision. Appeals must be made in writing to the editorial office, outlining specific and substantive reasons for the appeal (e.g., a reviewer's fundamental misunderstanding of the methodology). 

13. Clinical Trial Registration

In the interest of transparency, accountability, and the reduction of publication bias, the Annals of Healthcare Management and Social Sciences requires the prospective registration of all clinical trials prior to participant enrollment.

A clinical trial is defined as any research study that prospectively assigns human participants or groups of humans to one or more health-related interventions to evaluate the effects on health outcomes.

This policy applies to all clinical trials, regardless of when they were completed, and for all observational studies with a prospective data collection plan that is determined at the time of registration.

When and Where to Register

  • Timing: The trial must have been registered in a public trials registry before the first participant is enrolled. Manuscripts that report results of unregistered trials will be rejected.

  • Acceptable Registries: The registry must be publicly accessible, open to all prospective registrants, and managed by a not-for-profit organization. We primarily accept registries that are part of the World Health Organization's International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) or the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE)-approved registries, such as:

    • ClinicalTrials.gov

    • ISRCTN Registry

    • The EU Clinical Trials Register (EU-CTR)

    • Any primary registry that participates in the WHO ICTRP network

Information Required for Submission

Upon manuscript submission, the corresponding author must:

  1. Provide the Trial Registration Number (TRN): This must be clearly stated on the title page and in the manuscript abstract.

  2. Name the Trial Registry: Provide the name of the registry (e.g., ClinicalTrials.gov).

  3. Link the Registration: The TRN must be provided in a format that allows for a direct link to the registration record (e.g., the full URL).

Data Sharing and Consistency

  • Consistency: The information in the manuscript (e.g., primary and secondary outcomes, interventions, hypotheses) must be consistent with the information in the trial registration record.

  • Data Sharing Statement: For clinical trials, a data sharing statement is required. Authors must state in their manuscript whether individual de-identified participant data will be shared, what data, and under what conditions. We encourage data sharing to promote scientific collaboration and reproducibility.

Exceptions

Exceptions to this policy will be considered only in rare cases, such as for trials where the primary focus is a non-health-related outcome (e.g., cost-effectiveness or workflow efficiency) and where the intervention's health effects are already well-established. Authors who believe their trial qualifies for an exception must contact the editorial office prior to submission to seek a waiver.

Compliance

Adherence to this policy is mandatory. Failure to comply with these requirements will result in the manuscript being declined for further review or, if the failure is discovered after publication, the issuance of a formal correction or retraction.

By enforcing this policy, the Annals aims to uphold the highest standards of research integrity and to ensure that our published clinical research is transparent, ethical, and reliable.

14. Policy On Use of Artificial Intelligence By Authors

The Annals of Healthcare Management and Social Sciences (AHMSS) endorses the principles of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) regarding the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in scholarly publishing. This policy outlines the acceptable and unacceptable uses of AI tools in the preparation and review of manuscripts.

AI Tools and Authorship

AI tools, such as large language models (LLMs), machine learning models, or any other generative AI, do not meet the criteria for authorship.

  • Prohibition as Author: AI tools must not be listed as an author or co-author on a manuscript. Authorship requires accountability for the work's integrity and the ability to approve the final version, responsibilities that an AI cannot fulfill.

  • Prohibition in Citations: AI-generated content should not be cited as a primary source or author in the reference list.

Acceptable Use of AI by Authors

AI tools may be used by authors as assistive technology for specific, limited tasks, including:

  • Improving grammar, spelling, and language clarity.

  • Formatting references and citations.

  • Enhancing the readability of text.

Crucially, the use of AI must not replace critical scientific and scholarly tasks. AI must not be used to:

  • Generate original scientific content, hypotheses, or interpretations of data.

  • Formulate the study's conclusions or intellectual arguments.

  • Create or alter figures, images, or data visualizations.

Author Disclosure and Accountability

Transparency is paramount. Authors are fully responsible for the entire content of their manuscript, including any portions developed with AI assistance.

  • Mandatory Disclosure: Authors who use AI tools in the preparation of their manuscript must disclose this use in two places:

    1. In the cover letter submitted with the manuscript.

    2. In a dedicated section on the Title Page of the manuscript itself.

  • The disclosure must specify the AI tool used (e.g., ChatGPT, Claude, etc.) and describe the purpose of its use (e.g., "for language editing and grammar correction").

  • Consequences of Non-Disclosure: Failure to disclose the use of AI tools constitutes a breach of ethical publishing standards and may lead to the manuscript's rejection or the retraction of a published article.

Use of AI in the Peer Review Process

To protect the confidentiality and integrity of the peer review process, the use of AI by reviewers is strictly prohibited.

  • Confidentiality Obligation: Reviewers must not upload the manuscript or any part of it into any generative AI tool or online AI system.

  • Rationale: Such actions violate confidentiality, as AI models may retain and use submitted data, potentially making the unpublished work publicly accessible and compromising its originality.

By adhering to this policy, AHMSS aims to harness the benefits of emerging technologies while upholding the fundamental values of academic integrity, accountability, and transparency.

15. License To Publish

Upon submission of a manuscript, the authors are required to grant the Annals of Healthcare Management and Social Sciences (AHMSS) a License to Publish. This agreement outlines the rights granted by the authors to the journal and the rights retained by the authors.

Author's Grant of Rights

By submitting the manuscript, the authors grant AHMSS an exclusive license to publish, reproduce, distribute, and communicate the article to the public in all forms and media for the full term of copyright. This includes the right to edit, prepare abstracts, and otherwise adapt the article for publication.

However, this grant of rights is subject to the following critical condition regarding the article's final published version (the Version of Record):

Open Access and Author Reuse Rights (Creative Commons)

The Annals of Healthcare Management and Social Sciences is a full Open Access journal. All articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).

This means that upon acceptance and publication:

  • Authors retain copyright of their work without restrictions.

  • Anyone is free to share (copy and redistribute) and adapt (remix, transform, and build upon) the material for any purpose, even commercially.

  • The only requirement is that users provide appropriate attribution to the original publication in AHMSS, provide a link to the CC BY license, and indicate if any changes were made.

Author Rights and Permissions

Under the CC BY license, as the copyright holders, authors have the right to:

  • Deposit the final published PDF (Version of Record) in an institutional or subject repository immediately upon publication.

  • Share the article freely on their personal website, academic social networks, or other platforms.

  • Reuse portions of the article in their own future works, including books and lectures, without seeking permission from the journal, provided the original article is cited.

  • Enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in AHMSS.

Author Warranties

By granting this license, the author(s) warrant that:

  • The manuscript is their original work and does not infringe upon any third-party intellectual property rights.

  • The manuscript has not been previously published, nor is it under consideration for publication elsewhere.

  • They have obtained all necessary permissions for the use of third-party material included in the manuscript.

  • They have approved the manuscript for submission and have the authority to enter into this agreement.

Summary

In essence, this License to Publish ensures that AHMSS has the formal rights necessary to professionally produce, disseminate, and protect the scholarly record, while authors retain full copyright and the ability to share and build upon their work widely, in line with Open Access principles.