Editorial Policies
ResearchHub Journal (RHJ)
ResearchHub Journal is an issueless publication with a continuous publishing schedule. It adheres to industry standards for all of its editorial policies, by following the Core Practices and other relevant recommendations and guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
Originality
ResearchHub Journal requires the submission of original work. Previously published or work submitted to another journal is not permitted. Work previously posted as a preprint can be submitted for publication in the ResearchHub journal.
Self-plagiarism is strictly prohibited. If detected during the editorial or review process, the manuscript may be rejected and if detected post-publication an investigation will be conducted.
Excessive self-citation and citations showing favouritism to colleagues and institutions is strongly discouraged.
Copyright infringement is also grounds for rejection. Authors must obtain necessary permissions for reproducing copyrighted material and cite original sources. Creative Commons licensed figures can be reused under specific license terms.
AI Use
ResearchHub Journal requires transparency in the use of AI technologies. We expect authors to declare AI use, by clearly stating the type, purpose, and process of AI usage in the manuscript. This includes a detailed description of AI inputs, outputs, and human review. Authors are responsible for the accuracy and originality of AI-assisted content. ResearchHub journal adheres to the COPE position statement on Authorship and AI tools, and does not allow AI to be listed as an author on an article.
ResearchHub will review this policy regularly to adapt to evolving AI technologies.
Authorship
Authors are responsible for the integrity of their work, including data, analysis, ethics, and materials. All authors named on a paper must agree to the manuscript's content and approve submission. The corresponding author is responsible for communication with the editorial office and ensuring compliance with the ICMJE authorship criteria. We expect the corresponding author to promptly report any errors and inaccuracies identified after publication. Non-author contributors should be named in the acknowledgement section.
All authors should be affiliated with an accredited institution where the majority of the work was performed. Authors should use their preferred name and gender identity, informing the editorial office of any significant changes.
Author Changes: If authorship changes post-publication, a new version with an explanation will be published. All authors must confirm any authorship changes.
Author Disputes: In agreement with the COPE guidelines, the editorial office cannot take responsibility for resolving any disputes over authorship; any disagreements amongst the authors must be settled by the authors' institution(s).
Consortium/Group Authorship: If authorship is retained by a consortium or group, the consortium or group should be listed as the author.
Conflicts of Interest
Authors
Authors must declare conflicts of interest, including financial and non-financial ones. No conflicting interest precludes publication, but full transparency is required. ResearchHub Journal follows the ICMJE guidelines:
Disclosure Required: Financial (e.g., grants, stock ownership) and non-financial (e.g., personal relationships) conflicts. Sponsor involvement in research (design, data, publication).
Disclosure Methods: During submission to ResearchHub Journal or in the "Conflicts of Interest" section in the manuscript.
Consequences of Non-Disclosure: ResearchHub Journal will apply a correction or a retraction/expression of concern (if applicable).
Reviewers
Reviewers must disclose any potential conflicts of interest (e.g., institutional affiliation, past collaborations, personal relationships, financial interests, or ideological differences) upon invitation. Such conflicts may disqualify reviewers.
Publication & Research Ethics
ResearchHub Journal upholds research ethics as recommended by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). ResearchHub Journal does not tolerate ethical malpractice and authors, editors, and readers should report any ethical concerns to the Editorial Office for investigation.
Research Involving Humans
Authors must adhere to the Helsinki Declaration (2024) and obtain IRB approval for research involving human subjects. Informed written consent is required, especially for vulnerable populations. For non-interventional studies (e.g. surveys), authors should inform participants and obtain ethics approval if required.
Patient data should be anonymised unless necessary for the study. Written, informed consent for identifiable information should be obtained from all patients or healthy participants (or their legal guardians for minors, or next of kin if the participant is deceased), confirming that the results and any accompanying images can be published.
In addition, authors must also comply with their institutional and country-specific regulations and guidelines for handling research involving humans.
Research Involving Animals
We encourage authors to follow ARRIVE 2.0 guidelines for in vivo animal experiments. Experiments involving vertebrates or regulated invertebrates must be carried out within the ethical guidelines provided by the authors' institution and national or international regulations. Where applicable, a statement of ethics permission granted or animal licenses should be included. If animals were used but ethical approval was not required, a clear statement should be included stating why this approval was unnecessary.
Research Involving Cell Lines
If cell lines are used in research, their origin should be specified in the Materials and Methods section. If an established cell line is used, its origin from a commercial source should be stated. If previously unpublished lines are used, including those obtained from a non-commercial source (laboratory), details of the IRB or ethics committee should be provided.
Research Involving Plants
Any experimental research on plants (cultivated or wild), including the collection of plant material, must follow institutional, national or international guidelines.
Image Integrity
All image files must be original and unmodified. Any modifications of the original image must be disclosed in the Materials and Methods section. Original, unprocessed images of gel and micrograph images may be required. If image manipulation is detected, ResearchHub Journal follows the guidance of COPE and this may lead to the manuscript being rejected or post-publication corrections/retractions being applied.
Availability of Data, Materials, Code and Protocols
ResearchHub Journal is dedicated to transparency and reproducibility in research and endorses the FAIR Data Principles. Authors are strongly encouraged to ensure that all data, materials, code, and protocols associated with their research are readily available to readers.
Data Availability: We strongly encourage authors to deposit their data in recognized generalist and subject-specific repositories to ensure long-term preservation and accessibility. The data should have an open licence (CC0, CC-BY 4.0 or equivalent) and should have a persistent identifier (DOI, Accession Number or other recognised identifiers). Authors should include a Data Availability Statement in their manuscript that provides detailed information on where and how the data supporting their findings can be accessed. This includes direct links to datasets or detailed instructions for accessing the data. It should also contain a brief description of the contents of each dataset. If data cannot be made publicly available due to ethical or legal restrictions, authors must clearly state these limitations and provide justifications in the Data Availability Statement.
Code Availability: For all software used, we strongly encourage authors to state the version, details of where the software can be accessed, and any variable parameters that could impact the outcome of the results. This information should be added to the Data Availability Statement. If custom code or software was used in the research, authors must include information about where and how this code can be accessed. This could be through public repositories like GitHub or in the supplementary materials. Restrictions on code accessibility should be clearly stated with justifications.
Materials and Protocols: To enable reproducibility, ResearchHub Journal requires detailed information about the materials used and the protocols followed. Where applicable, we encourage authors to deposit a step-by-step description of their protocols. If any materials or protocols are proprietary or confidential, authors should mention alternative ways for readers to replicate the experiment or analysis.
Licensing
ResearchHub journal articles are published under a CC BY license, permitting unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and leaves the copyright of the article with the current copyright holder (usually the author or his/her institution).
Data associated with ResearchHub articles are made available, where possible, under the terms of a Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication (CC0 license).
Peer review reports that are published with a given article are also available under the CC BY license.
Copyright
Articles submitted to ResearchHub journal that contain content that infringes copyright may be rejected if the problematic sections cannot be removed.
Authors who wish to reproduce a figure or table from a previous copyrighted publication are responsible for obtaining the permission of copyright holders and for clearly referencing the original source. Figures that were previously published under a Creative Commons license may be reused under the condition of the specific license that applies to those figures.
Permanency of Content
All peer-reviewed articles published in ResearchHub Journal receive a DOI and are permanently published. All published content is permanently archived and will be indexed in major bibliography databases.
ResearchHub Journal allows the deposition of the submitted version, accepted version and their published version in an institutional or other repository of the author's choice without embargo.
Post-Publication Policy
ResearchHub Journal is dedicated to the integrity and completeness of the scholarly record and follows the COPE Guidelines for published content that requires a correction or, in some cases, retraction of the article. Such errors can be reported by an author, reader, or independent party and will be handled by the ResearchHub Journal's editorial office.
Corrections: An article may be corrected if significant errors are found after publication. Significant errors will be corrected with the publication of a Correction notice and a note added to the updated article page to communicate the change. Minor errors that do not influence the scientific understanding or readability of the publication will not be updated.
Retractions: An article may be retracted when an entire work is brought into question with major issues, for example, due to serious errors within the research process, ethical violations, plagiarism, data fabrication, or other significant reasons. If a Retraction is published, the retracted article will be marked as retracted in all its forms.
Expression of Concern: If there are serious concerns about an article but no conclusive evidence can be obtained that would unequivocally justify a Retraction, the editorial office may decide to publish an Expression of Concern or Commentary.
Allegations of Research Misconduct
ResearchHub Journal is dedicated to upholding the highest standards in scholarly publishing. If a case of suspected research or publication misconduct is brought to our attention, we will follow the guidance and workflows recommended by COPE.
Research misconduct includes data fabrication or falsification, or cases where research involving animals or humans has not been carried out within an appropriate ethical framework. Publication misconduct includes duplicate publication of articles or clear plagiarism. Honest errors or differences of opinion are not considered 'misconduct'.
The Editorial Office will initiate an investigation, communicating with the assigned Associate Editor(s) and the corresponding author(s) of the suspected article. Corresponding author(s) will be invited to provide an explanation and supporting evidence. If no response is received from the authors or the explanation is unsatisfactory, we may consider automatic rejection or retraction.
Complaints and Appeals
ResearchHub Journal follows the COPE guidelines in relation to complaints and appeals. To make an appeal about an editorial decision or make a complaint about the journal, contact our Editorial Lead, Ruslan Rust ([email protected]). All complaints from readers and authors will be taken seriously.
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