The International Journal of Adolescent and Pediatric Health (IJAPH) maintains a structured editorial process to support the scientific quality, ethical integrity, transparency, fairness, and scholarly relevance of all manuscripts submitted to the journal.

The editorial process is guided by recognized principles of responsible scholarly publishing, including relevant guidance from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), and the journal's own editorial and publication ethics policies.

1. Editorial Process

1.1 Submission and Initial Editorial Screening

All submitted manuscripts undergo an initial assessment by the Editor-in-Chief or a designated editor.

The initial screening considers:

• relevance to the journal's Focus and Scope;
• compliance with the Author Guidelines;
• completeness of the submission;
• originality and potential text overlap;
• research ethics and ethical approval where applicable;
• informed consent or approved waiver where applicable;
• conflicts of interest;
• funding disclosure; and
• overall scholarly and methodological suitability.

Manuscripts that clearly fall outside the journal's scope, do not meet essential ethical requirements, or do not satisfy basic submission standards may be declined before peer review.

Similarity screening may be conducted using appropriate similarity-detection tools. Similarity reports are used as screening aids and not as automatic proof of plagiarism.

1.2 Assignment to an Editor

Manuscripts that pass initial screening are assigned to an appropriate editor with relevant subject expertise.

The assigned editor is responsible for coordinating the peer-review process and ensuring that potential conflicts of interest are appropriately managed.

1.3 Reviewer Selection

IJAPH normally assigns at least two independent peer reviewers with expertise relevant to the subject of the manuscript.

Reviewers are selected based on:

• subject-matter expertise;
• relevance to the manuscript;
• academic or professional qualifications;
• absence of known conflicts of interest; and
• ability to provide an objective and constructive review.

IJAPH applies a double-blind peer-review process, in which the identities of authors and reviewers are concealed from each other during the review process.

1.4 Peer Review

Reviewers evaluate manuscripts according to criteria such as:

• originality;
• scientific or scholarly contribution;
• methodological rigor;
• clarity of presentation;
• ethical compliance;
• relevance to the journal's scope;
• interpretation of findings; and
• overall contribution to the field.

Reviewer recommendations may include:

• Accept
• Minor Revision
• Major Revision
• Reject

Reviewer recommendations are advisory and form part of the editorial decision-making process.

1.5 Editorial Decision

The assigned editor and/or Editor-in-Chief considers the manuscript, reviewer reports, ethical requirements, methodological quality, originality, and relevance to the journal.

Possible editorial decisions include:

• Accept
• Minor Revision
• Major Revision
• Reject

Editorial decisions are communicated to the corresponding author together with relevant reviewer comments and editorial guidance.

Authors who believe that an editorial decision was based on a significant misunderstanding or procedural error may submit an appeal in accordance with the journal's Appeals and Complaints Policy.

1.6 Revision

When revision is requested, authors should respond to reviewer and editor comments in a clear and structured manner.

Revised manuscripts may:

• be assessed directly by the editor;
• be returned to the original reviewers; or
• be sent to additional reviewers when necessary.

The extent of further review depends on the nature and significance of the revisions.

1.7 Final Acceptance and Production

After a manuscript has satisfied the editorial and peer-review requirements and is formally accepted, it proceeds to production.

Production may include:

• copyediting;
• language and consistency checks;
• layout and typesetting;
• preparation of publication metadata;
• author proof review; and
• final publication.

The final published version should accurately reflect the accepted manuscript and approved editorial changes.

2. Editorial Roles and Responsibilities

Editor-in-Chief

The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for the overall academic and editorial direction of IJAPH.

Responsibilities include:

• overseeing editorial policies and procedures;
• maintaining editorial independence;
• ensuring fair and consistent editorial decision-making;
• assigning manuscripts to appropriate editors where applicable;
• managing complex ethical or editorial cases;
• maintaining the scholarly quality and integrity of the journal;
• supporting compliance with the journal's publication ethics policies; and
• making or approving final editorial decisions where appropriate.

Editorial Board Members

Editorial Board Members support the Editor-in-Chief by providing scholarly expertise and editorial guidance.

Responsibilities may include:

• assessing manuscripts within their areas of expertise;
• supporting reviewer selection;
• providing editorial recommendations;
• contributing to the development of journal policies and scholarly standards;
• advising on subject areas relevant to the journal's scope; and
• supporting the academic quality and integrity of IJAPH.

Editorial Board Members may also serve as handling editors where formally assigned.

Production Editor

The Production Editor supports the preparation of accepted manuscripts for publication.

Responsibilities include:

• coordinating copyediting and production workflows;
• checking consistency of article formatting;
• supporting layout and typesetting;
• reviewing publication metadata;
• coordinating author proofs; and
• ensuring that accepted articles are prepared accurately for online publication.

Journal Manager

The Journal Manager supports the administrative and technical operation of the journal.

Responsibilities include:

• coordinating OJS workflows;
• supporting communication with authors, reviewers, and editors;
• maintaining journal records and submission information;
• supporting website and journal administration;
• assisting with technical aspects of online publication; and
• supporting continuity of journal operations.

The Journal Manager does not make independent scientific decisions on manuscript acceptance or rejection unless separately appointed to an editorial role.

3. Editorial Independence

Editorial decisions must be made independently from inappropriate:

• financial interests;
• commercial influence;
• institutional pressure;
• political considerations; or
• personal relationships.

PT Inovasi Multi Guna, as the publisher, provides administrative and technical support while respecting the editorial independence of the Editor-in-Chief and Editorial Board.

Decisions regarding manuscript assessment, peer review, acceptance, rejection, correction, and retraction are made through the journal's editorial process.

4. Confidentiality

Editors must maintain the confidentiality of:

• submitted manuscripts;
• reviewer reports;
• author correspondence;
• unpublished data;
• editorial discussions; and
• other confidential submission materials.

Unpublished information must not be used for personal, academic, commercial, or competitive advantage.

Editors must also protect manuscript confidentiality when using digital or AI-assisted tools and must not upload confidential manuscript content into systems that cannot provide appropriate confidentiality and data protection.

5. Conflicts of Interest

Editors must disclose and appropriately manage conflicts of interest.

An editor should not handle a manuscript when there is a relevant conflict involving:

• close personal relationships;
• recent or ongoing research collaboration;
• direct supervisory relationships;
• financial interests;
• institutional interests; or
• other circumstances that could reasonably affect impartiality.

When a conflict exists, the manuscript should be reassigned to another qualified editor.

6. Handling Ethical Concerns and Misconduct

Editors are responsible for responding appropriately to credible concerns involving:

• plagiarism;
• duplicate or redundant publication;
• fabrication or falsification;
• inappropriate authorship;
• undisclosed conflicts of interest;
• unethical research;
• breaches of participant confidentiality;
• manipulation of peer review; or
• other forms of publication misconduct.

When concerns arise, editors may:

• request clarification from authors;
• request supporting documentation;
• consult reviewers or other experts;
• seek information from ethics committees or institutions where appropriate;
• issue a correction;
• issue an expression of concern;
• retract an article; or
• take other proportionate editorial action.

Editorial actions are guided by the journal's Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement, Research Ethics Policy, Plagiarism and Research Integrity Policy, and Correction, Retraction, and Withdrawal Policy.

7. Appeals and Complaints

Authors may submit appeals or complaints regarding:

• editorial decisions;
• peer-review procedures;
• conflicts of interest;
• publication ethics;
• or other editorial matters.

Appeals should include a clear explanation and relevant supporting information.

Where practicable, an appeal should be reviewed by an editor who was not materially conflicted in the original decision.

Submission of an appeal does not guarantee reversal of the editorial decision.

8. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

IJAPH supports a fair and inclusive scholarly publishing environment.

The journal encourages diversity among editors, reviewers, authors, institutions, geographic regions, and professional backgrounds.

Editorial and peer-review decisions are based on scholarly and ethical considerations and should not discriminate on the basis of:

• nationality;
• ethnicity;
• gender;
• religion;
• institutional affiliation;
• geographic location;
• disability; or
• other irrelevant personal characteristics.

Contact

For questions regarding editorial procedures, responsibilities, appeals, or ethical concerns, please contact:

Publisher: PT Inovasi Multi Guna
Publisher Email: hello@img.co.id
Editorial Email: editorialijaph@img.co.id
Phone/WhatsApp: +62 851 2131 1860
Publisher Website: https://img.co.id
Journal Website: https://journal.img.co.id/index.php/ijaph