Editorial Oversight & Policies

Introduction and Scope

The Journal of Exact Community Health & Rehabilitation Sciences (JECH), published by EXACT RESEARCH SOLUTIONS (SMC-PRIVATE) LIMITED, is committed to the highest standards of editorial integrity, academic transparency, and scientific independence. This document defines the governance structure, administrative roles, responsibilities, and ethical safeguards applicable to all members of the Editorial Board, Advisory Board, and management of JECH. These policies are designed to meet and exceed international indexing criteria (including DOAJ principles) and align strictly with the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) Recommendations.

Editor-in-Chief

Role and Authority

The Editor-in-Chief (EiC) holds the highest editorial authority within JECH. The EiC is responsible for ensuring the scientific quality, clinical validity, integrity, and ethical standards of all content published in the journal across physical therapy, rehabilitation, community health, and allied medical disciplines. The EiC operates with full editorial independence from EXACT RESEARCH SOLUTIONS (SMC-PRIVATE) LIMITED and all commercial or institutional interests.

Responsibilities

  • Setting and upholding the strategic editorial vision, scope, and quality standards of JECH.

  • Making final acceptance or rejection decisions on all submitted manuscripts, based solely on scientific merit, methodology, originality, and relevance to community health and rehabilitation.

  • Overseeing the double-blind peer review process to ensure it is rigorous, objective, fair, and conducted in a timely manner.

  • Appointing and periodically evaluating the performance of Associate Editors, Section Editors, and Editorial Board members.

  • Safeguarding all editorial decisions from commercial, political, personal, or financial influences.

  • Addressing post-publication concerns, errata/corrections, retractions, and expressions of concern in accordance with COPE guidelines.

  • Representing JECH in matters of editorial policy with global indexing bodies, medical registries, and academic networks.

Editorial Independence

Formal Statement: The Editor-in-Chief of JECH makes all manuscript acceptance, revision, and rejection decisions independently, without interference from the publisher (EXACT RESEARCH SOLUTIONS (SMC-PRIVATE) LIMITED), the Managing Editor, advertisers, sponsors, or any external entity. The publisher and management provide institutional, administrative, and technological support but have no authority over, and shall not seek to influence, any editorial decision.

Conflict of Interest — Editor-in-Chief

The EiC shall recuse themselves from handling or evaluating any manuscript in which they have a personal, financial, academic, or institutional conflict of interest. In such cases, full handling responsibility for that manuscript will be delegated to an independent senior Associate Editor or Editorial Board member. The EiC declares all ongoing institutional affiliations and potential interests to preserve complete editorial transparency.

Managing Editor

Role and Function

The Managing Editor (ME) is responsible for the operational and administrative management of the journal's manuscript workflow via the Open Journal Systems (OJS) platform (https://jech.exactresolution.com/). The Managing Editor's role is strictly administrative and technical, and does not extend to scientific evaluation, peer-reviewer selection, or manuscript acceptance/rejection decisions.

Responsibilities

  • Coordinating manuscript submission intake, technical validation, and tracking throughout the editorial lifecycle.

  • Managing OJS technical configurations, system maintenance, version control, and metadata archiving.

  • Assisting handling editors with reviewer invitation logistics and tracking the submission of peer-review reports.

  • Overseeing copyediting, typesetting, layout production, and bi-annual publication scheduling.

  • Maintaining the journal website to ensure policies are current, accessible, and compliant with international standards.

  • Managing routine administrative correspondence on behalf of the editorial office.

Boundaries of the Managing Editor's Authority

Policy Statement: The Managing Editor shall not evaluate manuscripts for scientific or clinical merit, assign peer reviewers based on preferential considerations, override editorial recommendations, or communicate independent final acceptance decisions to authors. All scientific evaluations and decision-making authority rest exclusively with the Editor-in-Chief and the handling editorial team.

Dual Role — Managing Editor and Publisher Representative

JECH acknowledges that administrative or management personnel may hold dual responsibilities within EXACT RESEARCH SOLUTIONS (SMC-PRIVATE) LIMITED. The journal recognizes that dual operational roles have the potential to create a perception of conflict between commercial operations and editorial evaluation.

To safeguard complete editorial independence, the following formal measures are enforced:

  • Any Managing Editor or administrative staff member with corporate/publisher responsibilities is formally excluded from manuscript evaluation, peer-reviewer selection, and final editorial decisions.

  • All editorial decisions are made exclusively by the Editor-in-Chief and Associate Editors, recorded independently within the OJS database.

  • No manuscript submitted by, or affiliated with, any individual connected to EXACT RESEARCH SOLUTIONS (SMC-PRIVATE) LIMITED shall be handled by administrative managers in a decision-making capacity; such submissions are assigned to an independent handling editor.

  • Annual disclosures of interest are required from all corporate and editorial officers, retained on record for audit by indexing services and ethics bodies upon request.

Editorial Board

Composition and Appointment

The Editorial Board of JECH comprises distinguished academics, senior physical therapists, community health specialists, and rehabilitation researchers with recognized expertise. Members are appointed by the Editor-in-Chief based on scholarly accomplishments, peer-review experience, and commitment to publication ethics. Board membership is reviewed periodically to maintain diverse expertise and international representation.

Responsibilities

  • Conducting or overseeing double-blind peer review of manuscripts within their specific clinical or scientific domains.

  • Providing formal editorial recommendations to the Editor-in-Chief regarding manuscript acceptance, revision, or rejection.

  • Contributing to thematic special issues, editorial commentaries, and strategic journal policies.

  • Promoting ethical research and publication practices within their professional networks.

  • Disclosing any potential conflicts of interest with assigned manuscripts and recusing themselves promptly.

Decision-Making Authority

Editorial Board members provide expert recommendations regarding manuscript disposition but do not hold independent final acceptance authority. Final acceptance or rejection decisions rest solely with the Editor-in-Chief. Board members act independently during evaluation and are free from direction by the publisher or corporate management.

Advisory Board

Role and Purpose

The Advisory Board of JECH provides high-level strategic guidance to foster long-term growth, international recognition, and scholarly excellence. The Advisory Board serves a consultative function and remains distinct from the manuscript decision-making workflow.

Responsibilities

  • Advising on journal expansion, scope refinement, and positioning within community health and rehabilitation sciences.

  • Recommending advancements in publication standards, open-access strategies, and ethical guidelines.

  • Supporting the journal's inclusion in major international indexing databases and discovery services.

  • Representing JECH within international academic and medical communities.

  • Providing strategic input on emerging health research priorities and interdisciplinary collections.

Boundaries of the Advisory Board's Role

Policy Statement: Advisory Board members do not evaluate individual manuscript submissions, do not make or influence acceptance/rejection decisions, and do not access confidential manuscript files or reviewer reports. All manuscript handling functions remain strictly within the domain of the Editor-in-Chief and Editorial Board.

Meetings and Engagement

The Advisory Board convenes at least once annually (virtually or in person). Members may be consulted ad hoc by the Editor-in-Chief on strategic policies or indexing milestones. Minutes and policy consultation records are archived systematically.

Conflict of Interest Policy

All individuals involved in the editorial governance of JECH—including the Editor-in-Chief, Managing Editor, Editorial Board members, Advisory Board members, and peer reviewers—must disclose any actual or potential conflicts of interest that could influence editorial judgment.

Conflicts of interest include, but are not limited to:

  • Personal, financial, or professional relationships with any submitting author.

  • Direct competitive or collaborative research endeavors that could create bias.

  • Shared institutional affiliation with a submitting author.

  • Direct prior involvement in the study design, execution, or drafting of the submitted work.

  • Financial interest or commercial gain linked to the manuscript’s findings or clinical products.

Any handler or reviewer with a declared conflict of interest must recuse themselves fully from manuscript evaluation. Recusals are formally logged in OJS, and the Editor-in-Chief will assign an independent handler.

Editorial Independence from Publisher

Formal Declaration of Editorial Independence: JECH affirms that all editorial decisions—including acceptance, revision, and rejection—are rendered solely on academic merit, clinical relevance, methodological rigor, and ethical compliance, without interference from EXACT RESEARCH SOLUTIONS (SMC-PRIVATE) LIMITED, its directors, sponsors, or external entities. The publisher provides operational and technical support but holds no authority over editorial decisions. This principle is absolute and binding.

If the Editor-in-Chief believes editorial independence is being compromised, they are entitled to raise the matter with the Advisory Board, COPE, or relevant indexing bodies without prejudice.

Peer Review Policy

JECH operates a strict double-blind peer review process for all original research submissions.

  • Each manuscript is evaluated by a minimum of two independent expert reviewers.

  • Reviewer identities are kept confidential from authors, and author details are concealed from reviewers.

  • Assignments are managed by the Editor-in-Chief or designated handling editors.

  • Reviewers must declare any conflicts of interest before accepting evaluation requests.

  • All peer-review reports and editorial communications are permanently archived within OJS.

Policy Review and Amendments

This governance policy is reviewed annually by the Editor-in-Chief in consultation with the Editorial Board. Revisions are made in alignment with evolving COPE, ICMJE, and DOAJ guidelines. All updates are version-controlled and published on the official journal portal.

Contact Information

  • Official Contact Email: Admin@jech.exactresolution.com

  • Publisher Office: EXACT RESEARCH SOLUTIONS (SMC-PRIVATE) LIMITED, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan