Guidelines for Reviewers

  1. About the Journal

 JHRS is open-access journal from health and rehabilitation sciences and related fields, providing an innovative and influential venue for research and comment on the major challenges to human health and treatment of developmental disabilities worldwide. We specifically seek to publish papers which have relevance across a range of settings and that address the major environmental, social, and political determinants of health, as well as the biological.

JHRS has priority areas and we make decisions based on whether papers are likely to directly and substantially affect clinical practice or public health policy or have implications of broad general interest for the direction of future, directly clinically relevant research. In addition, we seek to publish papers that address important topics in the ethics and reporting of social sciences research.

 JHRS is published twice a year online.

  1. Publication Criteria
  • Manuscripts considered for publication should demonstrate:
  • Originality and scholarly merit
  • Relevance to health and rehabilitation sciences
  • Methodological rigor and transparent reporting
  • Ethical conduct of research
  • Clear contribution to theory, practice, or policy
  • Interest in an international and interdisciplinary audience
  1. Peer Review Model
  • JHRS operates a double-blind peer review process.
  • All submissions undergo an initial editorial screening to assess scope, quality, and compliance with journal policies. Manuscripts that pass this stage are assigned to a handling editor with relevant subject expertise. At least two independent reviewers are invited to evaluate each manuscript.
  • Final publication decisions are made by the Editor-in-Chief or a delegated senior editor, based on reviewers’ reports and editorial assessment.

Editorial Decisions

Possible editorial decisions include:

  • Accept without revision
  • Accept with minor revisions
  • Major revision required (resubmission for further review)
  • Reject
  • In cases of divergent reviewer opinions, editors assess all comments and may seek additional reviews to reach a balanced and fair decision.
  1. Reviewer Selection

We decide on reviewers for a particular manuscript based on many factors, including expertise, reputation, specific recommendations of academic editors, and the professional editor's own knowledge of a reviewer.

As part of our editorial procedure, we regularly confer with potential reviewers before sending them manuscripts to review. Reviewers should bear in mind that even these initial messages or conversations contain confidential information.

  1. Responsibilities of Reviewers

Reviewers are expected to:

  • Provide objective, constructive, and evidence-based evaluations
  • Maintain confidentiality of all manuscript materials
  • Declare any potential conflicts of interest before accepting a review
  • Decline review if expertise is insufficient or a conflict exists
  • Submit reviews within the agreed timeframe (normally 15 days)
  1. Writing the Review

Reviews should address where relevant:

  • Originality and significance of the study
  • Adequacy of the literature review
  • Appropriateness of study design and methodology
  • Validity of data analysis and interpretation
  • Ethical considerations
  • Clarity of presentation and structure
  • Strengths, limitations, and areas for improvement
  • Reviewer comments are shared with authors. Confidential comments to editors are not used.
  1. Peer Review for Journal articles

The best possible review of an article in the JHRS Journal section would consider a different set of questions:

Relevance and interest

  • Is the article relevant and of interest to a general international health and rehabilitation sciences, psychology, special educational audience?
  • Does it address a health topic that matters on a global scale? Will it be relevant to readers in both high and low-income countries?

Impact

  • Do you think this article will have an impact—upon clinicians, researchers, health policymakers, or the broader public? Will it be widely read, disseminated, and cited? Could it help to improve public and/or global health? Will readers find it of interest?

Content

  • Does the article contain any inaccurate information? Are the authors' claims evidence-based?
  • Have the authors missed out anything important—including important research findings—on the topic they're writing about? Please provide details of anything important that is missing.

Originality

  • Does this article contain enough new information to warrant publication? Does it take the discussion and debate on this topic in a novel direction?

Presentation

  • Is the article well written, clear, and easy for a non-specialist—or for someone whose first language is not English—to understand?
  • Are there any specific sections that do not make sense?
  • If tables and figures have been included, do they help the reader, or are they unnecessary? Could they be improved? Do you have suggestions for additional items (summary boxes, graphics etc.)?

Conflicts of Interest

Reviewers must disclose any financial, professional, or personal relationships that could influence their evaluation. If a conflict exists, the reviewer should decline the invitation.

  1. Confidentiality

All manuscripts and review communications are confidential. Reviewers must not share, discuss, or use unpublished content for personal or professional advantage.

  1. Anonymity

Reviewer identities are not disclosed to authors unless a reviewer explicitly requests otherwise. Attempts to identify or contact reviewers outside the editorial process are discouraged.

  1. Editing of Reviews

Editors may remove inappropriate language or confidential material from reviewer reports but do not alter the substance of the review

  1. Feedback and Acknowledgement

Reviewers receive editorial decisions and anonymized comments from other reviewers. JHRS periodically publishes a list of reviewers who have contributed to the journal, with their consent.

  1. JHRS List of Reviewers

We will update the JHRS List of Reviewers of the web site of the journal periodically. Reviewers should provide us with their full title, affiliation, addresses, etc.