Before publication

Manuscripts must be submitted via our platform Publishing Manager, where authors will receive all the communications regarding the evaluation of their article.

Peer-review

JIM operates a single-blind review process. All contributions will be initially evaluated by the Editor-in-Chief for suitability for the journal, considering whether the topic of the manuscript falls within the aims and scope of the journal and if it complies with the journal’s guidelines and policies. Contributions deemed suitable are subsequently sent to a minimum of two independent expert reviewers to assess the scientific quality of the manuscript. The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for the final decision regarding the rejection or acceptance of articles.

As 2 up to 4 expert peer reviewers are recruited by the Editor-in-Chief, they are asked to complete and submit their review report via Publishing Manager within 21 days. By using Publishing Manager, reviewers can also save their progress and decide to submit the final review report at a later stage. For more details on the peer review process, visit the page “Policies, Licensing and COI”.

Revised articles

Authors must resubmit the revised version of their article as a unique Word document (.doc, .docx). Article pages should be numbered consecutively by inserting the page number (in Arabic numerals) at the bottom of each page. Authors are also required to add continuous line numbering throughout the document to facilitate the review process.

Authors must revise their manuscripts using a word processing program and mark the changes within the document by using red text or highlighting the revised text in yellow. Authors must not use the “Track Changes” option in Microsoft Office documents to highlight the changes made in the revised version of their manuscript.

The revised version of the article must always be accompanied by a Word document containing the point-by-point response to reviewers’ comments.

Authors must resubmit the revised version of their article within 2 months after the receipt of the complete report from our peer reviewers. Articles that are not resubmitted within 2 months after the receipt of the complete reviewer reports will be deemed as rejected. However, authors can contact the Editorial Office at submission.jim@verduci.it if they need to request a deadline extension for the resubmission of the revised manuscript.

After Acceptance

Proofreading and Final Check

In our dedication to upholding scientific integrity, JIM adheres to a rigorous proofreading process following peer review, ensuring thorough scrutiny before publishing a paper. At this stage, publishing editors meticulously review the manuscript, identifying and addressing editorial inconsistencies, ambiguities, and any grammatical mistakes. Any remaining queries are resolved through discussion with the author. This meticulous process is designed to minimize errors that could require post-publication corrections. If minor revisions are necessary, the article will only be published once the identified issues are satisfactorily addressed by the authors.

The Editor-in-Chief retains the right to overturn the article’s acceptance if evidence of scientific misconduct is discovered during the production or copyediting process. This includes issues such as figure manipulation/duplication, plagiarism, and other ethical violations.

Galley Proofs

To ensure a fast publication process of the articles accepted for publication, we kindly ask authors to provide us with their proof corrections within three days. The Corresponding Author will receive an e-mail containing the galley proofs. The galley proofs can be downloaded as a PDF file. Authors can annotate and upload their edits on the PDF version or provide them in a separate Word document. All instructions for proofing will be given in the e-mail that we send to authors. We discourage excessive changes made to the proofs by the authors (usually exceeding 300 characters).

Authors must check carefully the typesetting, editing, correctness and completeness of the text (including author names, affiliations and corresponding author information), figures and tables. At this stage, significant changes to the article as accepted for publication will only be considered with permission from the Editor in Chief. All corrections must be sent back to us at submission.jim@verduci.it in a unique communication. Authors have to check the galley proofs carefully before replying, as inclusion of any subsequent corrections will not be allowed. Proofreading is solely authors’ responsibility. The Editorial Office will do everything possible to get accepted articles published quickly and accurately.

Publishing Schedule

JIM is published quarterly in print and electronic versions. The scheduled issues for 2024 are February, May, August, and November.

After publication

Post-Publication Corrections

We set no time limit for notifying errors or publishing corrections. Anyway, the editorial team will evaluate corrections case by case to determine the impact of the amendments within the manuscript and decide how to handle them.

In case authors discover a mistake between the online and galley proof, we will normally correct it by making the article correct in the online version.

Post-Publication concerns

Post-publication critiques may be submitted to the journal as “letters to the editor” and “commentaries” via Publishing Manager, providing a foundation for the raised criticisms. The journal provides original authors with the opportunity to respond to criticisms through a “reply letter.” Both the critique and response letters are peer-reviewed.

To report serious post-publication concerns, you can write at submission.jim@verduci.it. When complaints are raised, applicants should provide evidence to support the claims. The journal adheres to COPE guidelines for addressing significant post-publication concerns, such as errors, substantial mistakes leading to invalid conclusions, plagiarism, data falsification, image manipulation, and undisclosed conflicts of interest. The Editor in Chief and the Editorial Board Members may start an independent investigation with a new set of reviewers to establish any error and/or malpractice. The authors are promptly informed about the investigation and may be required to provide a detailed and official reply letter to address the concerns. If the investigation yields a result, such as a correction or retraction, the journal will promptly notify both the individual who initially raised the concern and the authors involved. Instances of suspected misconduct will be reported to the author’s affiliated institution and/or university.

Upon becoming aware, the journal adheres to COPE guidelines when addressing concerns raised about a published article on a social media platform.

Erratum

Honest errors require the publication of a correction when they are detected. The journal publishes errata when a significant error has been detected in a published article and some changes are required. Significant mistakes involve tables, incorrect information, and spelling errors. Corresponding authors should send an email stating the type of error and the requested corrections. All authors have to agree with the erratum by signing a formal document or sending a formally certified email from the corresponding author, with all co-authors of the paper copied in. To ensure that corrections are handled consistently, one editor deals with them all.

To issue an erratum, the journal follows the ICMJE guidelines.

• An erratum notice linked to the article to be corrected will be published in the first available issue.
• The erratum notice will clearly state the title and authors, the issue of publication and the DOI in the erratum heading.
• Corrections will be clearly stated in the erratum notice from the original version and the date(s) on which the changes were made.
• The erratum notice will be freely available to all readers online.
• We will post a new article version with details of the changes.
• The journal will archive all prior versions of the manuscript.

Should the error arise from the journal or publisher, it will be distinctly identified through a specified publisher’s note.

Serious errors that invalidate the results and conclusions of the study may require retractions.

Retractions

In case a third party informs us about mistakes, problems, or manipulation related to data or research itself, the Editor in Chief can decide to conduct an independent peer review to establish whether the published data are reliable or accurate. In particular, the journal follows the COPE’s guidance to deal with warnings of image manipulation in a published article. The Editor in Chief can decide to retract an article without the consent of the authors in case of malpractice or evident mistakes.

Retractions will be considered by the journal in case of evidence of unreliable data (i.e., experimental error), plagiarism, unethical research, and misconduct (i.e., data fabrication and image manipulation). In particular, the Editor in Chief may consider retracting a publication following guidelines on Good Publication Practice as reported in COPE and in ICMJE guidelines.

• A retraction notice will be published with a direct link to the original retracted article.
• The retraction notice will clearly state the title and authors, the DOI, and the PMID in the retraction heading.
• The retraction notice will be freely available to all readers and will state who is retracting the article and the detailed reason(s) for retraction.
• The original retracted article will be flagged as retracted with a red label on the original PDF file.

All requests for retractions by authors must be sent by the corresponding author, who should provide detailed reasons for retraction. Authors should also provide a signed document stating that all authors agree with the retraction and related reasons. The Editor in Chief reserves the right to start an investigation after authors’ request to retract the manuscript to assess the article’s results and validity.

Expressions of Concern

Following guidelines on Good Publication Practice as reported in COPE, the Editor in Chief may consider issuing an Expression of Concern if well-founded concerns arise after publication to warn readers that an investigation is ongoing and in case the investigation may take more time to be concluded.

Expressions of Concern may also be issued in case an investigation has proved inconclusive and if there remain strong indicators that the concerns are valid.

• An expression of concern with a direct link to the original article will be published.
• The expression of concern will clearly state the title and authors, the DOI, and the PMID in the expression of concern heading.
• The expression of concern notice will be freely available to all readers, and the reason for the investigation will be stated.