Preprints & Prior Publication

The Journal of Exact Community Health & Rehabilitation Sciences (JECH), published by EXACT RESEARCH SOLUTIONS (SMC-PRIVATE) LIMITED, follows recognized ethical publishing standards on redundant publication, duplicate submission, and text recycling in accordance with COPE and ICMJE Recommendations. To maintain the absolute integrity of the scholarly record and prevent unnecessary duplication in physical therapy, rehabilitation, community health, and allied health sciences, authors are required to disclose any prior publication, dissemination, or public distribution of their manuscript at the time of initial OJS submission (https://jech.exactresolution.com/).

Disclosure Requirements at Submission

During initial manuscript submission, authors must:

  • Disclose any prior distribution, presentation, or public posting of all or any part of the submitted manuscript or dataset.

  • Clearly mark any quoted or adapted text, figures, or tables and provide complete, explicit bibliographic attribution.

  • Describe the exact nature, date, and web location/link of any previously disseminated versions (including preprint servers, academic repositories, conference abstracts, or institutional thesis databases).

General Rule

If a substantial portion of the manuscript, findings, or dataset has already been formally published elsewhere as a peer-reviewed journal article, book chapter, or full conference proceeding, it is generally ineligible for publication in JECH.

However, certain non-commercial, preliminary forms of prior academic dissemination do not constitute redundant or prior publication, provided complete disclosure is made at submission and the manuscript demonstrates clear novelty, clinical relevance, and alignment with the scope of JECH.

Acceptable Forms of Prior Distribution

1) Preprints and Working Papers

  • Disseminating early manuscript versions on recognized, non-profit health science preprint servers (e.g., medRxiv, bioRxiv) or open academic repositories prior to or concurrently with submission is permitted.

  • Authors must disclose the preprint platform URL in their cover letter.

  • Double-Blind Integrity Notice: Authors must acknowledge that posting a preprint publicly on the web may compromise author anonymity during our strict double-blind peer-review process. JECH cannot be held responsible for reviewer identification resulting from public preprint searches.

2) Theses and Dissertations

  • Content derived from academic master’s theses or doctoral dissertations is generally acceptable for publication, provided that:

    1. The thesis content has not been previously published as a formal journal article.

    2. The manuscript is rewritten, condensed, and formatted appropriately for scientific journal publication.

    3. Proper attribution and citation to the original institutional thesis are explicitly included.

3) Conference Presentations & Abstracts

  • Manuscripts expanded from conference presentations, poster sessions, or brief meeting abstracts are considered if:

    1. The full manuscript was not previously published in a formal, peer-reviewed conference proceeding or journal.

    2. The manuscript is substantially developed, expanded, and updated beyond the preliminary conference abstract.

    3. Full disclosure of the conference name, location, and presentation date is provided upon submission.

4) Clinical Trial Registries and Public Datasets

  • The use of registered clinical trial data (e.g., ClinicalTrials.gov, WHO ICTRP) or publicly available epidemiological datasets is fully acceptable, provided:

    1. All ethical approvals, participant consent, and data-sharing permissions are verified.

    2. Any previous publications derived from the exact same dataset or trial registry are explicitly cited and differentiated from the current submission.

Restrictions After Submission

Once a manuscript is formally submitted to JECH:

  • Public Posting Restrictions: Authors should avoid posting new, updated, or revised manuscript versions publicly on social platforms, personal websites, or preprint servers while the submission is undergoing active double-blind peer review to prevent review bias and duplicate archiving issues.

  • Post-Acceptance Sharing: Upon formal acceptance and publication in JECH, sharing, repository deposition, and distribution of the final published Version of Record are governed by the journal’s Open Access policy under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license.

Questions and Clarification

If authors have questions or require pre-submission guidance regarding the eligibility of previously shared or presented content, they are encouraged to contact the editorial office prior to submission. The Editor-in-Chief reserves full editorial discretion to determine whether prior dissemination compromises manuscript novelty or peer-review integrity.

Contact Details

  • Official Email: Admin@jech.exactresolution.com

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