Policies

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ETHICAL STANDARDS

J-TICH Authors commit to:

  • Recognizing community health, nutrition, and physical activity as complex and relational aspects of individual and community life. Emphasizing that these are more than just nutrients and exercise; they have significance beyond health and weight.
  • Using a trauma-informed approach when conducting research to establish and promote resilient communities that can be healthy enough to sustain opportunity and realize their potential. Demonstrating the use of this approach by including the following in your writing
    • Respect and acknowledgment of communities as the experts in understanding what they need.
    • Prioritization is given to high-quality interpersonal connections using non-judgmental communication when interacting with individuals and the community. This involves
      • Listening to what is being shared with you by individuals and communities. 
      • Using asset-based language to highlight the capabilities and contributions of individuals and communities as they choose their path forward. Such language acknowledges the value of people, their gifts and talents, and highlights the strengths of individuals, communities, and organizations. 
      • Thoughtfully incorporating community voice, when appropriate. 
    • Recognition of the importance of overcoming inequities and fostering a culture of diversity and inclusion in our communities.

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CONFLICT OF INTEREST

A conflict of interest (COI) exists when there is an overlap of an individual’s private interests (competing interests) and their responsibilities to scientific and publishing activities such that a reasonable observer may wonder if the individual’s behavior or judgment was motivated by consideration of their competing interests. Potential conflicts of interest include employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications/registrations, and grants or other funding. 

Authors should disclose all financial/relevant interests that may have influenced the development of the submission. Reviewers should disclose any conflict of interest and, if necessary, decline the review of any submission they perceive to have a conflict of interest. J-TICH will also decline to consider any submission that may have a conflict of interest.

Conflicts of interest must be declared in the Cover Letter. A published article may need a correction or to be retracted, depending on whether the editor considers the conflict of interest to have affected the peer review process or the article. Retraction should be consistent with COPE's retraction guidelines.

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PLAGIARISM

Plagiarism is when an author attempts to pass off someone else’s work as their own. Duplicate publication, sometimes called self-plagiarism, occurs when an author reuses substantial parts of their own published work without providing the appropriate references. This can range from getting an identical paper published in multiple journals to small amounts of new data from a previous paper.

If plagiarism is detected by J-TICH at any stage of the article process—before or after acceptance—the author(s) will be alerted and asked to rewrite the content or to cite the references from where the content has been taken. If more than 30% of the paper is plagiarized, the article may be rejected, and the author(s) notified of this.

If a case of plagiarism comes to light after a paper is published in J-TICH, the journal will conduct a preliminary investigation. The journal will contact the author’s institute/organization and funding agencies if plagiarism is found. A determination of misconduct will lead J-TICH to issue a statement, bidirectionally linked online to and from the original paper, to note the plagiarism and to provide a reference to the plagiarized material. The submission containing the plagiarism will also be marked on each page of the PDF. Depending on the extent of the plagiarism, the paper may also be formally retracted.

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ETHICAL STANDARDS

J-TICH Authors commit to:

Recognizing community health, nutrition, and physical activity as complex and relational aspects of individual and community life. Emphasizing that these are more than just nutrients and exercise; they have significance beyond health and weight.

Using a trauma-informed approach when conducting research to establish and promote resilient communities that can be healthy enough to sustain opportunity and realize their potential. Demonstrating the use of this approach by including the following in your writing

  • Respect and acknowledgment of communities as the experts in understanding what they need.
  • Prioritization is given to high-quality interpersonal connections using non-judgmental communication when interacting with individuals and the community. This involves
    • Listening to what is being shared with you by individuals and communities. 
    • Using asset-based language; orienting the language you use when communicating and in your writing around assets. Doing so challenges us to consider the capabilities and

DIVERSITY COMMITMENT

We aim to foster diversity, equity, and inclusion within our internal practices and in published content, embody these values in our editorial activities, and support and promote these values in our community. We achieve this by working to increase the diversity of our authors, peer reviewers, and advisory board members.

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ACCESSIBILITY

We believe the content we publish should be fully accessible to all users, regardless of physical abilities. We achieve this by ensuring our website meets accessibility standards.

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Authors retain their copyright for all articles they opt to publish open access. Authors grant J-TICH an exclusive license to publish the article, and the article is made available under the terms of a Creative Commons user license. 

Creative Commons license

Open access articles are freely available to read, download, and share from the time of publication under the terms of the Creative Commons License Attribution-Non Commercial No Derivative (CC BY-NC-ND) license. This license does not permit reuse for any commercial purposes, nor does it cover the reuse or modification of individual elements of the work (such as figures, tables, etc.) in the creation of derivative works without specific permission. 

Government License

For US government employees, works created within their employment scope are considered public domain, and J-TICH’s publishing agreements do not require a transfer or license of rights for such works.

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INSTITUTIONAL REVIEW BOARD

To determine if you require IRB approval, please refer to your institution's guidelines. You may also refer to this IRB Flow Chart.

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