Editorial Submissions & Independence

The Journal of Exact Community Health & Rehabilitation Sciences (JECH), published by EXACT RESEARCH SOLUTIONS (SMC-PRIVATE) LIMITED, is committed to maintaining editorial objectivity, diversity of authorship, and the highest standards of academic integrity across physical therapy, rehabilitation, community health, and allied medical sciences. To ensure that the journal remains an open, competitive platform for diverse scholarly voices and prevents excessive self-publication by editors or board members, JECH enforces strict limits on editorial endogeny (editorial endogamy) in accordance with international publishing ethics and COPE standards.

Definition of Editorial Endogeny

Editorial endogeny refers to the proportion of articles published in JECH that are authored or co-authored by members of the journal’s active editorial and advisory structure, including:

  • Editor-in-Chief

  • Associate Editors and Section Editors

  • Editorial Board Members

  • Advisory Board Members

  • Guest Editors (for special issues or thematic collections)

  • Regular Peer Reviewers actively serving the journal

Endogeny Limits

JECH enforces a strict quantitative limit on editorial self-publication:

  • Maximum 5% Endogeny Cap: No more than 5% of articles published in any given volume year may be authored or co-authored by members of the editorial team.

Purpose of the Limit:

  • Upholding absolute editorial diversity and geographic representation.

  • Guaranteeing objectivity, fairness, and strict double-blind integrity in peer review.

  • Broadening representation across the global physical therapy and community rehabilitation research community.

  • Eliminating perceived or actual conflicts of interest in publishing decisions.

  • Fulfilling major international indexing requirements and institutional transparency expectations.

Monitoring & Compliance

3.1 Annual Monitoring

The Editor-in-Chief and the publisher's editorial office conduct systematic tracking:

  • Audit the total number of published original research articles, reviews, and clinical papers per volume year.

  • Identify all articles involving editorial board members or handling editors as authors or co-authors.

  • Calculate the exact annual percentage of editorial self-publications.

  • Submit an annual compliance report to EXACT RESEARCH SOLUTIONS (SMC-PRIVATE) LIMITED.

3.2 Periodic Reviews

To ensure the 5% threshold is never breached:

  • Endogeny statistics are audited on a quarterly basis within the OJS system.

  • If the proportion approaches 5% mid-year, additional board submissions are restricted or deferred to maintain complete compliance.

3.3 Transparency

Editorial endogeny metrics and self-publication records are maintained transparently and disclosed upon request during institutional audits or evaluations by major scholarly indexing repositories.

Handling Submissions From Editorial Team Members

4.1 Mandatory Recusal

When an editorial team or board member submits a manuscript to JECH:

  • The submitting editor is immediately recused from all editorial oversight.

  • They cannot manage their own submission within OJS, select reviewers, access reviewer identities/comments, or participate in editorial deliberations.

  • Their access rights to the submission file within the backend workflow are restricted to the standard author interface.

4.2 Independent Handling

  • Submissions authored by editorial members are assigned to an independent senior editor with zero institutional or personal conflicts of interest.

  • Handling is delegated preferably to an editor from a different institution or external geographic region.

  • External guest handling editors may be appointed where necessary to guarantee total neutrality.

4.3 Rigorous Peer Review

  • Submissions from board members undergo the exact same rigorous double-blind peer review process as external submissions.

  • Evaluated by a minimum of two independent external expert reviewers in the relevant discipline.

  • Subjected to heightened scrutiny to ensure total absence of bias.

  • Granted zero preferential treatment regarding review speed, acceptance criteria, or revision standards.

4.4 Conflict of Interest Declaration

Submitting editors must:

  • Explicitly disclose their editorial role in the manuscript’s "Competing Interests" statement.

  • Formally confirm that they have had zero involvement in reviewer selection or decision-making workflows.

Special Issues & Guest Editors

5.1 Guest Editor Submissions

For thematic collections or special issues:

  • No more than 5% of articles within a special issue may be authored or co-authored by the Guest Editor(s).

  • Guest Editors are strictly prohibited from reviewing or rendering decisions on their own manuscripts.

  • All Guest Editor submissions are handled independently by the Editor-in-Chief or an un-conflicted Editorial Board member.

5.2 Independent Oversight

The Editor-in-Chief maintains direct oversight over all special issues to verify peer-review integrity, review final decisions, and enforce endogeny limits.

Reviewer Manuscripts

6.1 Regular Reviewers

  • Active peer reviewers who submit their own research to JECH are recused from reviewing other manuscripts during the evaluation of their submission.

  • Their manuscripts are processed under standard independent double-blind peer review.

6.2 Prohibition of Quid Pro Quo

JECH strictly prohibits:

  • Reciprocal reviewing arrangements between authors and reviewers.

  • Peer-review rings or coordinated citation manipulation networks.

  • Trading authorship, favorable evaluations, or citation placements.

Any evidence of fraudulent review collusion results in immediate rejection and administrative reporting.

Consequences of Non-Compliance

7.1 Exceeding Endogeny Limits

If the 5% threshold is reached or exceeded in a volume year:

  • Corrective controls are immediately enforced by EXACT RESEARCH SOLUTIONS (SMC-PRIVATE) LIMITED.

  • Further accepted manuscripts authored by editorial team members are deferred to the subsequent volume year.

  • A formal corrective plan is submitted to the publisher’s governance committee.

7.2 Individual Ethical Violations

If an editor or reviewer attempts to influence their own manuscript evaluation, violates recusal protocols, or engages in review manipulation:

  • Immediate rejection or full post-publication retraction of the manuscript.

  • Immediate termination and removal from the editorial board or reviewer panel.

  • Official notification sent to the individual's affiliated academic institution or ethics body.

  • Permanent ban from submitting future research to JECH.

Contact for Concerns

Queries, concerns, or allegations regarding editorial endogeny or peer-review integrity should be submitted to:

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

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

All reports are handled with absolute confidentiality under the journal’s Complaints & Appeals Policy.