Handling Conflicting Reviewer Recommendations
In cases where reviewers provide significantly conflicting recommendations—such as one recommending acceptance and another rejection—the following procedure shall be followed to ensure a fair and balanced evaluation:
Third Reviewer Assignment (for two-reviewer cases): If only two reviewers are involved, and their recommendations differ substantially (e.g., Accept vs. Reject), the Editor-in-Chief or the Editorial Board may appoint a third, independent reviewer. The opinion of this reviewer will serve as a tie-breaker and carry significant weight in the final decision.
Evaluation of Review Quality: The Editor-in-Chief may prioritize the clarity, depth, and justification of each review over the numerical recommendation. A well-reasoned review may be weighted more heavily than one with vague or unsupported comments.
Editorial Board Discussion: In cases with ongoing uncertainty, the Editor-in-Chief may consult the Editorial Board to reach a collective decision, especially when ethical, methodological, or field-specific issues are raised.
Handling Three or More Reviewers: When three or more reviewers are involved and their opinions diverge significantly (e.g., Accept / Major Revision / Reject), the Editor-in-Chief may request an additional expert review or reach a decision based on the overall balance of the reviews, considering both majority opinion and the strength of reasoning provided.
Major Revision Option: If the manuscript shows academic value but is contested, authors may be invited to revise extensively, addressing all reviewer concerns. The revised manuscript may then be re-evaluated by the original or new reviewers.
The final decision in all such cases rests with the Editor-in-Chief, who ensures that editorial judgment aligns with the journal’s standards of academic integrity, quality, and fairness.
Retraction Policy
The journal strongly believes in maintaining and protecting the integrity of the academic record. Manuscripts formally published in the journal are considered as the “Version of Record”. Very rarely, when the scientific information in a manuscript is significantly undermined, it becomes obligatory for the journal to publish corrections to, or retractions of manuscripts published on the journal website, at the discretion of the editor-in-chief.
Article Corrections: Contributors are encouraged to report errors related to the accuracy of published information in their manuscripts. Errors that impact the manuscript considerably will be considered only. Corrections are made at the editor-in-chief’s discretion. The correction procedure is based on the publication stage of the manuscript. Corrections will be published under corrections and addendum in an upcoming issue of the journal.
Article Retractions: The manuscript published in the journal may be retracted due to scientific misconduct in some circumstances such as multiple submissions, bogus claims of authorship, fraudulent use of data or plagiarism. Concerned authors are required to submit a signed statement form to the editorial office before a manuscript can be retracted. The retractions are decided on a case by case basis by the editor in consultation with the authors and the reviewers of the manuscript. A retraction notice will be published and linked to the original manuscript being corrected and a link to the retraction page will be placed on the article published earlier.
Article Removal: In extremely exceptional circumstances, it may be mandatory to remove the published manuscript from the journal website. This may happen if the manuscript is found to be defamatory or infringing on other’s legal rights leading to a court order. Under such circumstances, the whole manuscript will be removed and replaced with a screen stating that the manuscript has been removed due to legal reasons.
Article Replacement: If the manuscript is found to include inaccurate data which may pose a serious health risk if acted upon by others, the authors of the original manuscript may wish to retract the manuscript and replace it with a corrected version. In this case, the above procedures for retraction will be followed with the difference that the manuscript retraction notice will contain a link to the corrected manuscript together with a history of the document.
Article Withdrawal: The manuscript can be withdrawn by the author(s) or the publisher. The manuscript can be withdrawn at any time before it is officially published online. If the authors request withdrawal of their manuscript, a signed withdrawal request letter will be required to reach to the editorial office prior to the withdrawal of the manuscript. The publisher can withdraw the manuscript if it is found to violate the ethical publishing guidelines of the journal such as plagiarism, duplicate publication, multiple submission, fraudulent use of data or bogus claims of authorship. In such a case, the PDF version of the manuscript will be removed and replaced by a note that the manuscript has been withdrawn formally.
Appeals and Complaints and Misconduct
KIHSS journals follow Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines on appeals to journal editor decisions and complaints about a journal’s editorial management of the peer-review process.
Appeals, complaints, or allegations of misconduct will be taken with utmost seriousness, regardless of whether those involved are internal or external to the journal, or whether the submission in question is pre-or post-publication. If an allegation is made to the journal, it must also be passed on to the publisher, who will follow guidelines from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) on how to address the nature of the problem.
Should an individual wish to submit an appeal, complaint or raise an issue of potential misconduct regarding the journal or its content, they should contact that editor in chief and/or the publisher to explain their concerns.
The journal does not tolerate abusive behaviour or correspondence towards its staff, academic editors, authors, or reviewers. Any person engaged with the journal who resorts to abusive behaviour or correspondence will have their contribution immediately withdrawn and future engagement with the journal will be at the discretion of the editor and/or publisher.
Disclaimer
The views or opinions expressed in this Journal are those of the authors and contributors and do not necessarily reflect those of this Journal, the editors, the editorial board, KIHSS.
Advertising
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Privacy Statement
The names and email addresses entered in this journal site will be used exclusively for the stated purposes of this journal and will not be made available for any other purpose or to any other party.
Equality, diversity and inclusion
We are dedicated to fair treatment, diversity, and inclusion. The KIHSS not discriminate on the basis of race, language, color, sex, gender identity, religion, national or ethnic origin, handicap, sexual orientation, or age.
