Policies

Editorial Policy

Conflict of Interest

JAFIB-EP requires all authors to disclose any and all potential, perceived or actual conflicts of interest which may include but are not limited to specific financial interest, relationship and affiliations that are relevant to the topic(s) discussed in the manuscript that is been submitted. This can also include employment/affiliation, grants/funding, speaker agreement, consultant, honoraria, ownership of stock in the company, expert testimony, royalties, or patent received/pending.

This policy is not a deterrent for the authors from publishing their work. However, it is the responsibility of the journal to provide scientific integrity to the reviewers and readers. All disclosures will be published with the accepted article. If there are no conflicts disclosed, a statement to that effect will be published in the article.

Each manuscript can use initials for authors to detail the conflict-of-interest statement.

JAFIB-EP does not publish manuscripts funded by the tobacco industry.

Informed Consent

Any study conducted on patients or participants requires an Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval. This must be included in the "Methods" section of the manuscript. If authors include any patient identifiable details, they must have separate written permission from the patient or family member. These written consents must be maintained by the author and available upon request by JAFIB-EP.

Animal Studies

Any animal study must follow the Guidelines for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals. The submitting author must include a statement in the Methods Section regarding the use of laboratory animals.

Research Ethics Policy

Author Responsibilities

Each author listed on the publication for publication in JAFIB-EP acknowledges that they have made a substantial contribution to the publication by the following:

1 – The conception and design of the study

2 – The analysis and interpretation of the results

3 – The writing of the paper

4 – The author has approved the final submitted version of the publication

Each author thus also acknowledges responsibility for the integrity of the manuscript, assures the originality of the manuscript, and guarantees that duplicate or redundant publications or submissions have not occurred. The editors reserve the right to request the original data obtained in the publication. Authors are responsible for all statements made in the text.

Data Sharing Policy

AFIB-EP does not consider the deposition of data, including clinical trial data, in recognized sources to be prior publication. Sharing the full data sets underlying the results enables reuse, reduces research waste, and promotes collaboration. Greater transparency increases trust in research results by allowing results to be independently verified. These benefits lead to a more reliable evidence base for use by clinicians in better care for our patients. Data must contain the following data sharing elements: Date Type, Repository Name, DOI/accession number and Reviewer Token, when available, for confidential review process. Publications involving machine learning are required to provide novel computer script, trained machine learning models, as well as source data used for performance evaluation at a publicly accessible website such as Github or Sourceforge.

Peer Review Process

JAFIB-EP uses a double blind, two stage peer review process to publication in conjunction with the editorial team.
The process begins after manuscript submission with vetting by the Editorial Team to ensure that the article conforms to the Journal’s guidelines on length and style. This vetting process includes processing of papers using plagiarism software.
An editor is assigned within 24 hours of uploading your manuscript and completed COI form to our platform.
Review by an expert editor will make a decision to send it to peer review within 14 days. If an article is deemed of insufficient quality or novelty, it can be rejected by the expert editor at this stage. The author will be informed of this decision with a brief note spelling out the reason for rejection. If the manuscript passes this stage, it will be reviewed by external reviewers.
Reviewers are expected to respond in 14 days. Review reports are typically 2 pages (or 500 words maximum). If the reviewer is unable to complete a review the Journal applies the following policy:
1. If a reviewer indicates that she/he is unable to submit a report in the first week of this process, a new reviewer will be selected;
2. If a reviewer appears to be unable to submit a report after some time, either the Editor-in-Chief or a Deputy Editor may decide that the reviewer should provide his/her view on the manuscript in a brief report, which is submitted.
A manuscript may be rejected on the basis of one negative review, especially if this review comes from one of the Deputy Editors.
The manuscript will be returned to author for changes and a submission deadline. The editorial team will update the technical process of copyediting and proofreading.
The revised manuscript will again be peer-reviewed using the same steps and criteria as the first stage.
The manuscript will be sent to the production team for final technical revisions and proofing before being accepted for final publication.
JAFIB-EP Editors continually review the quality of the peer review process and review changes/revisions of standards with the editorial team on an annual basis. The Journal strives to publish manuscripts with 90 number of days of submission

General

JAFIB-EP requires all reviewers to have an ORCID number for validation of credentials.
JAFIB-EP will not use author-recommended reviewers.
JAFIB Editors will make every effort to find expert reviewer who are free of significant COI. The Journal will exclude reviewers who:
1. Have co-authored manuscripts with the author.
2. Work at the same institution as the author, especially in the same department.
3. Have other COI, financial or otherwise, for or against the paper.
4. If the Editors make exceptions to these general principles when inviting reviewers, they should keep in mind the exception and its potential implications for the reviewer’s recommendations.
5. Potential reviewers should be asked to recuse themselves prior to accepting a peer review invitation if they have a conflict of interest for or against the manuscript or if they are otherwise unable to review the manuscript objectively. Reviewers who agree to review and then discover a potential conflict should immediately contact the editor

Process for Corrections, Retractions and Expressions of Concern

Notify the Digital Editor with article citation hyperlink and description of the error.
Corrections, Retractions and Expressions of Concern will published as a banner on the JAFIB-EP’s homepage with a link to the article.
Minor typographical errors that do not substantially impact the article’s scientific integrity, understanding, or indexing will not be corrected.
1. JAFIB-EP will publish corrections to address errors if, by our editorial assessment, all of the following criteria have been met:
  1. The errors impact the main contents or understanding of the article.
  2. The article's overall results and conclusions are upheld.
  3. There are no concerns about the integrity or reliability of the reported work.
2. JAFIB-EP will publish a retraction and attempt to contact the author if:
  1. The Journal may retract an article whether the issues are due to honest error(s) or misconduct.
  2. There are major concerns about the integrity, validity, or reliability of an article.
  3. If an article is retracted it is not considered part of the standing published record, although it will remain published online with the retraction notice.
3. Expressions of Concern (EOC)
  1. An EOC is anotice published at editors’ discretion to alert readers of serious concerns about a published article. It is written by the Editor-in-Chief or one of the Deputy Editors.
  2. JAFIB-EP will attempt to notify the author(s) prior to notice publication but is under no obligation to have the author(s)’ approval or agreement.
  3. Articles may be retracted or corrected by JAFIB-EP or the author(s).It does not affect publication status.