Focus and Scope

Althea Medical Journal is a peer-reviewed and open access journal that focuses on promoting important research in medical and health sciences related to aging-related diseases, wellness, and healthy lifestyle which includes neurodegenerative diseases, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, immune system disorders, and musculoskeletal disorders.

Aging-related diseases are illnesses and conditions that occur more frequently in people as they get older, meaning age is a significant risk factor. Examples of aging-related disease are cardiovascular diseases, strokes, hypertension, cancer, type 2 diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, cataracts, age-related macular degeneration (AMD), and hearing loss.

Wellness is the state of being in good physical and mental health. These include social connectedness, exercise, nutrition, sleep and mindfulness.

Healthy lifestyle is a lifestyle which includes activities and habits that encourage the development of total physical, mental, and spiritual fitness, and which reduces the risk of major illness. Healthy activities and habits include regular exercise; a balanced, nutritious diet; adequate sleep and relaxation; abstaining from smoking and taking nonessential drugs; and moderating the intake of alcohol.

Althea Medical Journal publishes original articles and reviews. 

Section Policies

Articles

Open Submissions

Indexed

Peer Reviewed

Review Article

Open Submissions

Indexed

Peer Reviewed

Peer Review Process

The submitted manuscript is first reviewed by an editor. An editorial assistant will check whether the requirements are complete in one/two weeks. Authors will be given two weeks after notification is sent to complete the incomplete requirements. Every submitted manuscript that passes initial screening will be checked to identify any plagiarism before being reviewed by reviewers. 

Every submitted manuscript which pass this step will be reviewed by two or three reviewers (double blind peer-review). These manuscript will be sent to the reviewer anonymously. Reviewers comment are then sent to corresponding author to take the necessary actions and responses. The reviewing process will generally take 1-2 months, depending on the sufficiency of the information provided.

The Editor will consider the peer review report when deciding but is not bound by its opinions or recommendations through an editorial board meeting. Concerns raised by one peer reviewer or the Editor alone may result in a manuscript being rejected. Authors will then receive the peer review report based on the editorial decision. The results of the review of peer reviewers include: "manuscripts accepted"; "manuscript received with minor revisions"; "manuscript received with major revisions"; or "manuscript rejected".

The decision of the revised manuscript will be then evaluated in editorial board meeting, the final decision of whom are sent to the corresponding author.

The accepted manuscript will be sent to copyediting stage for correction of grammar and spelling errors, standardizing the journal in-house style, improving table, figure, and writing quality. A pdf file is sent to the author for review and there should be no more scientific revision. The manuscript will be scheduled for publication after the payment has been received. The final approval is needed from the corresponding author before it is published.

Publication Frequency

This journal is published quarterly. (March, June, September and December)

Open Access Policy

Althea Medical Journal is an electronic publication with only an e-ISSN. This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge. Free access to the full text of all published articles without charge readers or their institutions for access.

1. This journal has been indexed by CrossRef and all articles have DOI number.
2. This journal is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY-NC)
3. This journal is an open-access with abstracts and articles appearing in hypertext meta-language (HTML) and full articles downloadable for free as Adobe portable document format (PDF) files.

Archiving

AMJ utilizes the Public Knowledge Project Private LOCKSS Network (PKP-PLN) to create a distributed archiving system among participating libraries, which are permitted to create permanent archives of the journal for purposes of preservation and restoration. Read More

Publisher Manifest Page in LOCKSS can be seen here, while Manifest Page in CLOCKSS can be seen here. 

More about LOCKSS, CLOCKSS, and the PKP PLN.

All published articles are assigned to Digital Object Identifier (DOI)- CrossRef. AMJ journal deposits publications in multiple digital archives around the world to guarantee long-term digital preservation. All published articles are indexed in SINTA, Google Scholar, DOAJ, and Index Copernicus. All articles are permanently archived and available in HTML and PDF formats.

Plagiarism Policy

All manuscripts must be free from plagiarism contents. Plagiarism is scientific misconduct and should be addressed as such. Althea Medical Journal does not allow any form of plagiarism. All manuscripts submitted to AMJ will be screened for plagiarism using Turnitin during the initial checking process. A maximum of 20% similarity in articles is accepted. However, manuscripts exceeding this limit will be returned to the author for correction and resubmission.

Policy of Revenue Sources, Advertising, and Direct Marketing

Revenue Sources

Althea Medical Journal accepts revenues from various sources to ensure the quality of the peer-review process and published articles. The sources of income include publication fees (APC) and support from Faculty of Medicine Universitas Padjadjaran. The revenue sources do not influence editorial decision-making.

For information about APC, please click here.

Advertising Policy

Althea Medical Journal is not accepting advertising from any parties.

Direct Marketing Policy

In promoting the results of publications to the public, Althea Medical Journal tries not to do things detrimental to other parties (e.g., spreading spam) and to avoid misleading information between prospective authors and publishers.

Retraction, Withdrawal, & Correction Policy

Althea Medical Journal adapts the article retraction guidelines based on the COPE Retraction Guidelines.

Retraction: Notification of erroneous results that have the potential to undermine the trustworthiness of a previously published publication. Despite the fact that the original publication has been retracted, it is still available to readers, and the retraction statement informing readers of the invalidity of the published work is bidirectionally connected to the original published document.

Articles in Althea Medical Journal may be retracted for several reasons, including:

1. the article or the data contained in the article have previously been published elsewhere without proper Crossref referencing permission or justification (i.e. cases of redundant publication),
2. it constitutes plagiarism,
3. it reports unethical research.

If an article is removed from Althea Medical Journal, a removal notice will be issued instead.

Withdrawal Policy: Manuscript withdrawal will only be allowed for the most compelling and unavoidable reasons. For manuscript withdrawal, authors must submit a "Manuscript Withdrawal Form", signed by all authors stating the reason for withdrawal to the Editorial Office. Authors should not assume that their manuscript has been withdrawn until they receive appropriate notification from the editorial office.

Erratum (Publisher Correction): An erratum refers to a correction of errors introduced to the article by the publisher. All publisher-introduced changes are highlighted to the author at the proof stage, and any errors are ideally identified by the author and corrected by the publisher before final publication. Errata should be published for scientifically relevant formatting changes, or changes to authorship if the author or contributor list is incorrect when a deserving author has been omitted, or somebody who does not meet authorship criteria has been included. Scientifically relevant formatting issues that require an Erratum might include missing or unclear figures, or errors introduced during proofreading (e.g., missing text). Minor errors that do not affect readability or meaning (e.g., spelling or grammatical errors) do not qualify for an Erratum. All authors should proofread the final version carefully.

Corrigendum (Author Correction): A corrigendum refers to a change to an article that the author wishes to publish at any time after acceptance. Authors should contact the editor of the journal, who will determine the impact of the change and decide on the appropriate course of action. Althea Medical Journal will only instigate a corrigendum to a published article after receiving approval and instructions from the editor.

Publisher's notes inform readers that the article has been corrected after publication. These notes are issued by the Publisher and are used in cases where typos or production errors (which are the Publisher's fault) affect the integrity of the article's metadata (such as title, author list, or byline) or would significantly affect the reader's ability to understand the article. The original article has been removed and replaced with an improved version. Publisher notes are freely available to all readers. Minor errors that do not affect the integrity of the metadata or the reader's ability to understand the article and that do not involve scientific errors or omissions will be corrected at the Publisher's discretion.

Complaints and Appeals

Althea Medical Journal deals with complaints and appeals in accordance with the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE): https://publicationethics.org/appeals.

The below procedure applies to appeals to editorial decisions, complaints about failure of processes such as long delays in handling papers and complaints about publication ethics. The complaint should in first instance be handled by the Editor-in-Chief(s) responsible for the journal and/or the Editor who handled the paper. If they are the subject of the complaint please approach the in-house publishing contact.

Authors who wish to request a review of a rejected manuscript can do so by sending an email to  chiefeditor.amj@gmail.com or amj.fkunpad@gmail.com with the intention written in the email subject and including the manuscript ID number.

Complaint about scientific content, e.g. an appeal against rejection

The Editor-in-Chief considers the authors’ argument, the reviewer reports and decides whether

• The decision to reject should stand;
• Another independent opinion is required
• The appeal should be considered.

The complainant is informed of the decision with an explanation if appropriate. Decisions on appeals are final and new submissions take priority over appeals.

Complaints about processes, e.g. time taken to review

The Editor-in-Chief will investigate the case. The complainant will be given appropriate feedback. Feedback is provided to improve processes and procedures.

Complaint about Publication Ethics

Complaint about publication ethics includes any complaint and/or appeal regarding any misconduct happened, either from the author’ or reviewer’s side. The Editor-in-Chief follows guidelines published by the Committee on Publication Ethics. The Editor-in-Chief decides the appropriate action and provides feedback to the complainant. If the complainant remains dissatisfied, he can submit the complaint to the publisher. 

Any appeals or complaint email sent to chiefeditor.amj@gmail.com  will be acknowledged within a week. The Editor-in-Chief will conduct an investigation following Committee on Public Ethics (COPE) guidelines. The investigation will establish whether the correct procedures have been followed and assess whether the concerns have been addressed fairly and without prejudice.

Data Sharing Policy

Where necessary, we encourage authors to share data to support the publication of studies and to interlink data with their published articles. “Research data” refers to the results of observations or experiments that confirm research findings, including but not limited to raw data, processed data, software, algorithms, protocols, models, methods, and other related materials.

In following this policy, if authors have made their study data accessible in a data repository, they can link their articles directly to the dataset.

Allegations of Misconduct

Research misconduct means fabrication, falsification, citation manipulation, or plagiarism in producing, performing, or reviewing research, writing an article by authors, or reporting research results. When authors are found to have been involved with research misconduct or other serious irregularities involving articles that have been published in scientific journals, Editors have a responsibility to ensure the accuracy and integrity of the scientific record.

In cases of suspected misconduct, the Editors and Editorial Board will use the best practices of COPE to assist them in resolving the complaint and addressing the misconduct fairly. This will include an investigation of the allegation by the Editors. A submitted manuscript that is found to contain such misconduct will be rejected. In cases where a published paper contains such misconduct, a retraction can be published and linked to the original article.

The first step involves determining the allegation's validity and assessing whether the allegation is consistent with the definition of research misconduct. This initial step also involves determining whether the individuals alleging misconduct have relevant conflicts of interest.

If scientific misconduct or the presence of other substantial research irregularities is a possibility, the allegations are shared with the corresponding author, who, on behalf of all of the coauthors, is requested to provide a detailed response. After the response is received and evaluated, additional review and involvement of experts (such as statistical reviewers) may be obtained. For cases in which it is unlikely that misconduct has occurred, clarifications, additional analyses, or both, published as letters to the editor, and often including a correction notice and correction to the published article, are sufficient.

Institutions are expected to conduct an appropriate and thorough investigation of allegations of scientific misconduct. Ultimately, authors, journals, and institutions have an important obligation to ensure the accuracy of the scientific record. By responding appropriately to concerns about scientific misconduct and taking necessary actions based on evaluating these concerns, such as corrections, retractions with replacement, and retractions, Althea Medical Journal will continue to fulfill the responsibilities of ensuring the validity and integrity of the scientific record.

Informed Consent Policy

For articles published in the Althea Medical Journal (AMJ), each participant must obtain informed consent. Informed consent is written permission given by the patient or the patient's family on behalf of the patient to publish information, images, or case reports related to the patient's clinical condition in AMJ.

In AMJ, patients have a right to privacy that should not be violated without written consent. Identifying information, including name, initials, or hospital number, should not be published in written descriptions, photographs, or pedigrees unless the information is essential for scientific purposes and the patient (or parent or guardian) gives written consent for publication. Written consent for this purpose requires identifiable patients to be shown the manuscript to be published. Patient consent should be written and archived with the journal, authors, or both, as local regulations or laws dictate. 

Failure to include a patient consent form at the time of submission may result in the manuscript being rejected.

Authorship and Contributorship

Author responsibility

1. The authors of each manuscript are asked to confirm that:
2. The manuscript has not been published or submitted elsewhere;
3. They made a significant contribution to the work and approved the final version of the manuscript;
4. Their work complies with ethical standards;
5. They take responsibility for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved;
6. They have obtained all necessary permissions to publish figures or tables in the manuscript and ensure that the author will pay the Article Processing Charge (APC) if applicable.

Authorship criteria

Authorship criteria is based on the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) (http://www.icmje.org/):

• Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; and
• Drafting the work or reviewing it critically for important intellectual content; and
• Final approval of the version to be published; and
• Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Contributors who do not meet all four criteria should not be listed as authors, but they should be acknowledged. Such individuals can be listed in the Acknowledgments section with a description of their contribution to the research.

Submission to Althea Medical Journal (AMJ) means that all listed authors have approved all content, including the author list and author contribution statement.

Authors should disclose in the Cover Letter, Methods, and Acknowledgments to apply artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted technologies tools (e.g., Large Language Models [LLMs], ChatGPT) in the writing of the manuscript, production of figures or graphical elements of the paper, or in data collection and analysis. Authors take full responsibility for the content of their manuscripts, even the parts generated by AI tools, and are thus liable for violations of publication ethics. For further recommendations, please see the WAME Recommendations on Chatbots and Generative Artificial Intelligence in Relation to Scientific Publications: https://wame.org/page3.php?id=106

Contributorship Statement

A contribution statement is required for each submitted article and should outline who has contributed to the planning, execution and reporting of the work described in the article. The statement of contribution should include author contributors, non-author contributors, and author group contributors (collaborators).

Each contribution statement should describe who is responsible for the overall content as a guarantor. The guarantor takes full responsibility for the final results and/or conduct of the research, has access to the data, and controls the decision to publish.