Publication ethics
The JCI is committed to fair and ethical consideration of all articles and authors. Here, we outline the responsibilities of authors, editors, and reviewers, and provide additional ethics guidelines. The Journal takes all publishing behavior violations seriously, and suspected cases will be fully reviewed. Please contact editors@the-jci.org if you have specific concerns.
Editors and editor responsibilities
Manuscripts submitted to the JCI are adjudicated by a Board of academic and professional editors. Questions concerning editorial policies or decisions should be addressed to the Editors at editors@the-jci.org.
The Editors are responsible for maintaining the highest possible standards in evaluating contributions to the JCI, as well as for maintaining the integrity of the Journal. The Editors select manuscripts for publication solely based on the scientific merit of the work and relevance to the scope of the Journal, without regard to the authors’ race, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, or institutional affiliation. The Editors treat the content of manuscripts as privileged information and will only disclose information about a submission to relevant reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisers, and the publisher as necessary. Correspondence from the Editors regarding decisions and other editorial matters will be directed to the designated corresponding author.
Editorial conflicts of interest
In the interest of establishing full transparency, Editors are obliged to disclose any and all potential conflicts of interest to the JCI. We have determined two tiers of potential conflict and corresponding actions to be taken. The Editors will report changes to their potential conflicts as they occur. An annual formal review of all disclosures will be performed as part of the evaluation of compliance.
First tier of potential conflicts for Editors
- Ownership. If an Editor currently has direct ownership of equity in a private or public company in the health care field of $10,000 or more (including restricted stock; the market price of all options, vested or unvested; and warrants), a first-tier potential conflict must be declared. Interests held by the Editor’s immediate family members (spouse and/or children) are included. This does not apply to ownership of mutual funds, where the Editor does not directly control the purchase and sale of stocks.
- Income. If an Editor has received $10,000 or more per annum of income from any single private or public company in the health care field in the preceding calendar year, a first-tier potential conflict must be declared. This includes any and all sources of financial benefit, including, but not limited to, consultancy, speaking fees, royalties, licensing fees, retainers, salary (including deferred compensation), honoraria, service on advisory boards, and providing testimony as an expert witness. Income generated by the Editor’s immediate family members (spouse and/or children) is included.
- Research support. If an Editor’s research was funded by $50,000 or more per annum from a private or public company in the health care field in the preceding fiscal year, including funding for personnel working within the laboratory, a first-tier potential conflict must be declared.
If an Editor declares a first-tier potential conflict relating to item 1, 2, or 3, this information will be published on the Journal website, and the Editor will be recused from editorial discussion and decisions related to the manuscript. An Editor will be considered to be in conflict if a manuscript is funded solely by an organization with which the Editor has a potential conflict, regardless of whether a research institution employs the authors.
Second tier of potential conflicts for editors
- Relationship with a company. If an editor had a relationship with a private or public company in the health care field wherein the Editor received compensation for services, but the total amount of income was between $1,000 and $9,999 for the preceding calendar year, a second-tier potential conflict must be disclosed. This includes, but is not limited to, any compensation as detailed above in item 2.
- Relatives. If an Editor has a close relative other than a spouse or child (sibling and/or parent) employed by or with a significant financial interest in a private or public company in the health care field, a second-tier potential conflict must be declared.
- Prospective employment. If an Editor is negotiating with, has arranged prospective employment with, or is expected to initiate a significant financial relationship as defined in item 1, 2, or 3 with a private or public company in the health care field, a second-tier potential conflict must be declared.
- Personal. Editors will be required to declare a second-tier potential conflict if a manuscript is submitted by someone with whom they have a close personal relationship (former student, fellow, or mentor, for example) or a recent collaborator (over the last 3 years). Relevant collaborations include coauthoring a research article or serving as co-investigators on a grant.
- Competition. Editors will be required to declare a second-tier potential conflict if a submitted manuscript presents data that are highly relevant to a manuscript they have under review or in press elsewhere. Editors are prohibited from using unpublished information from the manuscripts under consideration by the Journal to further their own research, nor may they use new information gained from unpublished manuscripts for financial gain.
- Personal benefit. Editors must recuse themselves from discussion of a manuscript if they could benefit personally from its disposition. For example, if a manuscript is submitted describing the off-label use of a compound produced by a company for which an Editor has a potential conflict, the Editor must be recused.
- Intellectual property. Editors must recuse themselves from discussion of a manuscript if they have a planned, pending, or awarded patent that could be positively or negatively impacted by the publication of a manuscript under consideration.
- Institutional conflict. Editors will be blinded to and recused from editorial decisions on manuscripts with any authors from their academic institution.
The second tier of potential conflicts will necessitate only internal disclosure to the Editors and JCI staff. The editor in potential conflict will also be recused from editorial discussion and decisions related to the manuscript.
The Science Editors or other editorial staff member designated by the Editor in Chief will be responsible for recording and updating all potential conflicts. The Editor in Chief will review any Journal editorial staff potential conflicts.
Authors and author responsibilities
The corresponding author is responsible for warranting that: the data in a manuscript are original and scientifically accurate; the manuscript is not defamatory, does not invade any right of privacy, and does not infringe on any proprietary right or copyright; all authors have approved the submitted manuscript’s content and authorship order and have agreed to participate in the peer review process; the manuscript is not under consideration for publication elsewhere and will not be submitted for publication elsewhere while under review by the Journal. Any potential conflict of interest by any author listed on a submission must be stated on the title page. While multiple corresponding authors may be designated within a manuscript, a single corresponding author must be identified during the submission process as the Journal’s point of contact for all communications, including decision letters and proof notifications.
Any revisions to the list of authors (i.e., adding or removing authors or changing their order) requires submission of written approval (email is sufficient) from each author of the manuscript. The JCI does not make determinations of authorship, but all authors must have significantly contributed to the research design, data generation, analysis, and/or interpretation of the findings. Submitted manuscripts must include a paragraph specifying each author’s role (“Author contributions”). For manuscripts with 2 or more co–first authors, the method used in assigning the authorship order among co–first authors must be stated in this paragraph.
Authors are obliged to notify the editorial office about substantive errors or the possibility of malpractice discovered at any time during the evaluation of the manuscript or after acceptance or publication.
Authors should appropriately cite relevant work of others and articles that influenced the submitted work. Funding sources for the submitted research studies should be listed in the Acknowledgments section for articles in the Research category and in the Abstract for Clinical Medicine submissions.
Publication fee. Authors will be assessed a publication charge if the manuscript is accepted for publication in the JCI: $5,600 for Research and Clinical Medicine and $1,200 for Research Letter. Note: Beginning January 1, 2025, the fee is $5,700 for Research and Clinical Medicine and $1,500 for Research Letter. The fee supports immediate free access to the manuscript upon publication and helps offset editing and production costs. There is no publication charge for the Letter to the Editor category. Requests for publication fee discounts are considered on a case-by-case basis.
Author conflicts of interest
All authors are expected to disclose financial relationships, consultancies, stock or equity interests, patent-licensing arrangements, or any other interest of a financial nature, whether or not directly related to the subject material of the study, since they could undermine the objectivity, integrity, or perceived value of the publication.
Such potential conflicts will be published in a footnote if the manuscript is ultimately accepted. It is the responsibility of the corresponding author to gather the list of potential conflicts from each author and to communicate the list of all potential conflicts to the Editors with the submission.
Potential conflicts to be disclosed by authors
- Ownership. If an author currently has direct ownership of equity in a private or public company in the health care field of $10,000 or more (including restricted stock; the market price of all options, vested or unvested; and warrants), a first-tier potential conflict must be declared. Interests held by the author’s immediate family members (spouse and/or children) are included. This does not apply to ownership of mutual funds, where the author does not directly control the purchase and sale of stocks.
- Income. If an author has received $10,000 or more of income per annum from any single private or public company in the health care field in the calendar year preceding the date of the original submission, a potential conflict must be declared. This includes any and all sources of financial benefit, including, but not limited to, consultancy, speaking fees, royalties, licensing fees, retainers, salary (including deferred compensation), honoraria, service on advisory boards, and providing testimony as an expert witness. Income generated by the author’s immediate family members (spouse and/or children) is included.
- Research support. If an author’s research was funded by $50,000 or more per annum from a private or public company in the health care field in the fiscal year preceding the date of the original submission, including funding for personnel working within the laboratory, a potential conflict must be declared.
- Intellectual property. If an author is an inventor on a planned, pending, or awarded patent, a potential conflict must be declared.
Any questions concerning these potential conflicts should be addressed to editors@the-jci.org.
Peer review process
All articles published in the Research, Clinical Medicine, and Review categories are peer reviewed. Newly submitted manuscripts are assigned to members of the Editorial Board, who determine whether a manuscript is sent for external review. The Editor may seek the advice of a member of the Journal’s Consulting Editorial Board or other scientists with expertise in the field prior to making this initial decision. The necessary criteria for sending a manuscript for external review are that the work is technically well executed and the findings advance the field, are of clinical relevance, and are of sufficient interest for the readership. The studies should include a relevant in vivo model and/or a primary human cell or tissue model. When papers are sent for external review, the choice of reviewers is made by the Editor and may include reviewers suggested by the authors during the submission process. Requests by authors to exclude up to two specific potential reviewers will be honored to the greatest extent possible. At least two, and generally three, expert referees are asked to review the manuscript in a timely manner and to assign a priority based on content, quality, and relevance. Reviewers should also indicate whether they are aware of relevant published work that is not yet cited. Reviewers and Editors are directed to treat all manuscripts with confidentiality as described in Editors and Editorial responsibilities and Reviewer responsibilities. The corresponding author is informed of the final decision by email, with applicable comments from reviewers (whose identities are not disclosed) and Editors included. Submissions in the Letter to the Editor category are subject to external review and are sent to the original corresponding author for response.
Submissions to the JCI may be evaluated by JCI Insight Editors to determine suitability for transfer to JCI Insight.
Dual-Journal Submission. Manuscripts submitted on the Dual-Journal Submission track are first considered by the JCI Editorial Board as outlined above.
If the JCI sends the paper for review, reviewers will be asked to comment on the suitability and required revisions for both JCI and JCI Insight. If the JCI Editors determine after peer review that the work is suitable for further consideration by JCI, the corresponding author is informed of a decision from the JCI by email with comments from reviewers and requirements for revision. If the JCI Editors determine after peer review that the work is not suitable for the JCI, the manuscript will automatically be routed to the JCI Insight Editors for evaluation with the existing reviews. The JCI Insight Editors will use the provided reviewer comments to quickly tailor a decision for JCI Insight.
Should the JCI Editors decline to send the manuscript for external review, the manuscript will automatically be assigned to a JCI Insight Editor for an independent assessment.
If the JCI Insight Editor sends the manuscript for peer review, reviewers will be asked to comment specifically on suitability and revisions required for publication in JCI Insight. The corresponding author will receive a decision letter by email with comments from both the JCI Editors and JCI Insight Editors.
Transfer of reviews from other journals. When submitting a new manuscript, authors may opt to provide reviews received from another journal. The Editors will consider this information along with the manuscript in determining priority for the JCI. Note that if the Editors decide to send the manuscript for review, it will be assessed by additional reviewers who will also have access to the prior reviews. The Editors may request additional studies based on the JCI’s assessment of the manuscript or reject it without an opportunity to resubmit.
ASCI members. Any dues-paying ASCI member who is a corresponding author of a first-round submission, and whose dues are current, may designate a first-round JCI submission to be guaranteed for external peer review (limit of 1 per calendar year). A member wishing to designate a submission for guaranteed review must start the submission using the “JCI family of journals” portal through the member’s ASCI account. Manuscripts submitted using the guaranteed review must fit within the scope of the Journal and will be held to the same standard for publication as other manuscripts considered by the Editorial Board. Note that the guaranteed external review option may not be used for manuscripts, in the same form or after revision, that have previously been rejected by the Journal. If an option is used for a new submission that is identified as a revision of a previous manuscript, the option will be removed from the submission and become available for use on a new submission.
Reviewer rewards. Frequent reviewers are provided the opportunity to submit a new manuscript, as corresponding author, with a guarantee of external review. The Reviewer Reward is granted in January to reviewers who have completed on-time reviews for at least 3 separate manuscripts within the preceding 18 months. Only one (1) reward may be used per calendar year. Submissions using the reward must fit within the scope of the Journal and will be held to the same standard for publication as other manuscripts considered by the Editorial Board. Note: ASCI members whose dues are current receive a separate benefit for guaranteed external review and may not earn Reviewer Rewards in addition.
Reviewer responsibilities
The peer review process rests on the assumption that an assigned reviewer will treat all manuscripts as privileged information. A reviewer may request advice from another party, subject to the general principle of confidentiality and prior notification to the JCI. The contents of unpublished manuscripts that are disclosed as part of the peer review process may not be used for the reviewer’s research.
Referees should exclude themselves in cases where there is a potential financial, personal, or scientific conflict of interest. Referees must inform the Editors of any potential conflicts that might be perceived as relevant as early as possible following invitation to participate in the review so that the Editors may determine how to proceed. Referees must disclose to the Editors conflicts relevant to the manuscript as follows:
- The reviewer has ownership in or income from a private or public company that has provided funding for the study or has a competing interest that could be positively or negatively impacted by the publication of a manuscript under consideration.
- An individual with whom the reviewer has a close personal relationship (former student, fellow or mentor, or relative, for example) or who is a recent collaborator (within the last 3 years) is on the author list. Relevant collaborations include coauthoring a research article or serving as co-investigators on a grant.
- Any authors from the reviewer’s academic institution.
- Known negotiations or pending prospective employment offers that would create an institutional conflict.
- The manuscript contains data highly related to the reviewer’s ongoing or submitted research studies.
- The reviewer has a planned, pending, or awarded patent that could be positively or negatively impacted by the publication of a manuscript under consideration.
Scientific integrity and publication ethics
In general, the JCI adheres to guidelines established by the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Research Integrity. For further information, refer to the Office’s website at http://ori.hhs.gov/.
The Journal is committed to upholding the highest standards of integrity in publications and evaluates submissions for potential misconduct violations, including data falsification and plagiarism. Images may be evaluated for duplication using automated software (Proofig). If the Editors detect any manipulation of images or figures prior to publication, they will request primary data for verification purposes. The Journal will not knowingly publish papers associated with misconduct or encourage misconduct in any way.
If the Editors discover or are presented with evidence of duplicate publication or scientific misconduct in published articles, they will contact the appropriate official(s) at the institution(s) from which the manuscript originated. It is then left to the institution(s) in question to pursue the matter appropriately. Depending upon the circumstances, the Journal may choose to publish errata, corrigenda, or expressions of concern, or to retract the manuscript in its entirety.
Guidelines for generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies
Use of generative AI technology to generate or modify data images is strictly prohibited. Peer reviewers are not permitted to use AI technologies to write reviews. Generative AI technologies may not be listed as authors on submitted manuscripts.
Generative AI technologies used for written or visual content must be explicitly described within the Methods section of the submission. This description must specify what content is AI generated, as well as the AI platform, version used, and date of use. The Editors encourage authors to provide full details regarding the prompts provided, either in Methods or Supplemental Methods. Authors are responsible for verifying the accuracy of AI-generated content.
Misconduct allegations
Allegations of scientific misconduct in JCI publications are taken very seriously and carefully reviewed by the Editors. The Journal holds high standards regarding transparency in conflicts of interest for individuals alleging misconduct just as we do for our Editors, Authors, and Reviewers. Individuals alleging misconduct may still opt to remain anonymous, however, they will be required to provide a written statement (by email or in a hard copy) regarding financial and other conflicts of interest. Declaring a conflict of interest does not invalidate an allegation; however, the Editors will consider this information as part of their review. Potential conflicts should be declared even if individuals alleging misconduct believe their conflict is not germane to the content of the published article.
Potential conflicts to be disclosed by individuals alleging misconduct:
- Ownership. If the individual alleging misconduct currently has direct ownership of equity in a private or public company in the health care field of $10,000 or more (including restricted stock; the market price of all options, vested or unvested; and warrants), a first-tier potential conflict must be declared. Interests held by immediate family members (spouse and/or children) are included. This does not apply to ownership of mutual funds, where the individual does not directly control the purchase and sale of stocks. If the individual alleging misconduct is planning to acquire equity in a private or public company in the health care field, a potential conflict must be declared.
- Open short position. Individuals alleging misconduct must declare if they hold an open short position in securities related to any public company in the research or health care field.
- Income. If the individual alleging misconduct has received compensation related to the detection of scientific misconduct, this must be declared. If the individual alleging misconduct has received $10,000 or more of income per annum from any single private or public company in the health care field in the calendar year preceding the date of the original submission, a potential conflict must be declared. This includes any and all sources of financial benefit, including, but not limited to, consultancy, speaking fees, royalties, licensing fees, retainers, salary (including deferred compensation), honoraria, service on advisory boards, and providing testimony as an expert witness. Income generated by immediate family members (spouse and/or children) is included.
- Research support. If the research by the individual alleging misconduct was funded by $50,000 or more per annum from a private or public company in the health care field in the fiscal year preceding the date of the original submission, including funding for personnel working within the laboratory, a potential conflict must be declared.
- Intellectual property. If the individual alleging misconduct is an inventor on a planned, pending, or awarded patent, a potential conflict must be declared.
- Competing interest. If the individual alleging misconduct has a competing interest that could be positively or negatively impacted by a finding of scientific misconduct, this must be declared.
Copyright and access
The JCI is a Gold Open Access journal in which all content is freely available to all users.
All authors associated with a manuscript submitted to the JCI are sent an email requesting authorship verification. Authors retain copyright to their work, which is published with a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0). The ASCI retains copyright to many articles published in issues prior to January 4, 2022. Articles to which the ASCI retains copyright are freely available but may require permission for reuse; see Licensing Information for details
The JCI is indexed in the following resources:
- Web of Science (Web of Knowledge)
- Scopus
- PubMed/Medline
- PubMed Central
- Sherpa Romeo
- Crossref
- Chemical Abstracts Service
- Embase
- Google Scholar
- ProQuest Biological Science Collection
Archiving
The JCI deposits all articles in PubMed Central without embargo. Authors of articles published in the JCI do not need to submit their accepted articles separately to PubMed Central. This satisfies the NIH Public Access Policy and other similar funder requirements.
Ownership and management
The JCI is owned, published, and managed by the ASCI, a nonprofit honor organization of physician-scientists established in 1908.
Publishing schedule
The JCI publishes two issues per month. Authors are notified of scheduled publication timing upon receipt of the article proof. Unedited accepted author manuscripts (“In-Press Previews”) are posted shortly after acceptance, unless the author declines this option, with the fully edited manuscript published 4–8 weeks later.
Revision history
- December 2, 2024: Added announcement of publication fee change beginning January 1, 2025.
- November 13, 2024: Dual-Journal Submission is live.
- November 1, 2024: Added Dual-Journal Submission option.
- October 9, 2024: Added guidelines for generative AI technologies.
- November 14, 2023: Updated publication fees for 2024.
- November 22, 2022: Added policy for submission of external reviews.
- November 21, 2022: Added notice of publication fee increase from $5,200 to $5,300.
- November 1, 2022: Added Misconduct allegations section.
- July 13, 2022: Added Research Letter fee.
- March 10, 2022: Updated so only current publication fee is shown; added language regarding requests for publicaton fee reduction.
- January 4, 2022: Removed Concise Communication category.
- December 20, 2021: Revised for Gold Open Access.
- October 4, 2021: Added notification of changes effective with January 4, 2022, issue: all papers published under CC BY 4.0 license; publication fee change from $4,650 to $5,200 for Research and Clinical Medicine and $3,500 to $3,900 for Concise Communication.
- September 15, 2021: Clarified text regarding reviewer suggestions and exclusion.
Copyright © 2024 American Society for Clinical Investigation
ISSN: 0021-9738 (print), 1558-8238 (online)