About the Journal

Focus and Scope

Mission:  Virtual Science and Health is a scientific journal with the main purpose is to publish research results in the area of health. 

The electronic publication fo the journal meets the international norms and protocols of a digital magazines which allows it to be visible worldwide. 

Vision: Virtual Science and Health journal expects to be recognized by 2020 as one of the main communication media in scientific research in the health area of the region and the country. 

 

Section Policies

Editorial

Unchecked Open Submissions Checked Indexed Unchecked Peer Reviewed

Artículos de Revisión

Checked Open Submissions Checked Indexed Checked Peer Reviewed

Artículo de Reflexión

Checked Open Submissions Checked Indexed Checked Peer Reviewed

Articulo Corto y/o Reporte de Caso

Checked Open Submissions Checked Indexed Checked Peer Reviewed

Ensayos Académicos

Checked Open Submissions Checked Indexed Checked Peer Reviewed

Revisión de Tema

Checked Open Submissions Checked Indexed Checked Peer Reviewed
 

Peer Review Process

 

Articles for publication in the Virtual Science and Health journal are received all year round. 

An enclosed file must be sent with the manuscript with the signature of the principal author certifying that the article is an original one, that it has not been or will not be sent to another journal and that they accept the publication form and format of the Virtual Science and Health Journal. Additionally, at the moment it is sent each author must recommend the editor at least two people who must evaluate their his/her article. He/She must furnish the full name, email and institutional affiliation of the two people. 

Once the articles are accepted for publication, the authors relinquish the publishing and reproduction rights. 

Subsequently, the article goes into a revision process, which consists of two steps. The first step verifies that the article meets all the requirements such as form, presentation, consistency, grammar and methodology, although this does not guarantee the final acceptance for publication. The second phase exclusively depends on the evaluation specialists in the peer field. The outcome of the assessment will depend on whether the Editorial Board of the journal requests changes to the author. In this stage the topics novelty / originality, interest, contribution, validity, benefits and quality of the presentation or the manuscript are evaluated. 

Because the scientific edition process is an activity of academic dialogue and discussion, any correction of an article approved for publication will be revised with the appointed author before its publication. When an article has been approved for publication, the Editorial Committee will decide in which of the following numbers of the journal it will be included and this will be notified to the authors. 

The authors may follow the state of the process (reception, revision, evaluation, acceptance or rejection and publication) of the article once it is identified in the system. 

The acceptance of manuscripts, the authors must follow a norm based in the Vancouver Style (2003 update) issued by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). 

Any research involving humans, animals or biological reagents must be approved by an institutional ethics committee and consequently has been done in strict accordance with the ethical guidelines of scientific works. In this sense, the journal will come out in defense of good practices on research and possible practical applications of such works. Similarly, images including clinical photographs should make the necessary coatings to protect the identity of people. In these cases, authors should also provide informed consent and permission to publish images of patients. In addition, the magazine published shall ensure that all work is original and meets the legal copyright requirements.

 

Open Access Policy

 

This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle of making research freely available to the public, which encourages greater global exchange of knowledge.

 

Archiving

 

This journal uses the LOCKSS system to create a file distributed among participating libraries, allowing these libraries to create permanent files of the journal with preservation and restoration means. 

 

Ethic and good editorial practices declaration

 

Virtual Science and Health Journal is based on the provisions of COPE'S Good Practice Guide for Publishers of Publications [1], and in accordance with the principles of transparency established such as ethical practices regarding the publication as to the author, plagiarized articles, data manipulation and conflict of interest, establishes the following statement of editorial ethics, taking into account the following aspects: 

1.    Responsibilities of the editors: 

The publisher and the editorial board must act fairly, objectively and without any discrimination (sexual, political, religious, ethnic) in the application of the procedures described in this statement form. 

Similarly, works will be edited and published based solely on their academic, or merits, regardless of any commercial influence or conflict of interest. Therefore, the editor must be free of any conflict of interest related to the authors or funders of work, which persuades him to accept or reject a particular article.

The decision taken by the editor, whatever it this, will be based on the concept of peer reviewers. When there is suspicion of plagiarism, the editorial committee will use the free software available.

The editorial board members should not disclose information about any of the articles submitted to the journal. The only ones that can make dialogue are the authors and reviewers. Also, it ensures confidentiality using double blind assessment where the authors will not know who the reviewers are and vice versa. 

When a member of the editorial committee notices error in any article already published in Virtual Science and Health, he/she must communicate this to the other members to correct it or whatever needs to be done. He or she must also follow the relevant procedures to solve possible complaints or misunderstandings of ethical character or conflict of interests acting in accordance to the editorial policy of Corporación Universitaria Rafael Núñez.  

2. Responsibilities of the authors 

Authors must submit only original and unpublished writings, which must be declared when enrolling their work in this Virtual Science and Health journal.  Likewise it is the responsibility of the author who enrolls the or who  will maintain contact with the editor, to verify that all authors approve the content of the manuscript and all the people who made significant contributions to the work are listed as authors . Additionally, the corresponding author should ensure that work has not been published or accepted in another journal or publication and is not considered for publication in any other journal. 

If some of the content has been previously published, the authors should recognize and cite the respective sources and academic credits. They recognize that the article does not infringe copyright or personal or institutional property; therefore, figures or tables patents that warrant special permission to be reproduced must be accompanied with a letter of permission to reproduce from whoever owns the copyright. 

All items must contain a complete description of the experimental and analytical procedures that allow replication of results 2]. The presentation of these must be objective, there should be no false or distorted claims as this is unethical behavior. The articles must also bear at the end of the manuscript relevant information about funding sources and a declaration of conflict of interest. 

Authors must confirm with a  relinquish act  of copyright to the journal;  they must be actively involved in the peer review process by providing timely requests for reviewers or the editorial board; carefully review the final version of the article, in order to report any errors that may exist and should be corrected. In case of finding significant errors once their article is published,  the authors shall promptly notify the editorial committee subsequently cooperating in the publication of an erratum, or in cases where deemed necessary to remove the article from the published journal. 

3.    Responsibilities of the peers/revisers: 

Reviewers should contribute to the evaluation process of issuing items goals, free from value judgment concepts which are respectful, constructive and timely. If they are not considered sufficiently qualified experts to review the article, they must express once they have read the summary, before the complete article is sent.  At the same time, they must state whether they have a conflict of interest related to the work or funders of the same which inclines them to accept or reject the article. 

It is the responsibility of the peers to reveal the authors on relevant references were not included in the work. Similarly they should alert the editorial board on an episode of double publication that has not been noticed by the journal or if it presents elements of plagiarism. 

Meet a strictly confidential handling of the information received by the editorial committee or the author, making correct use of the same. Nevertheless, it is his decision to keep or reject the writing in the evaluation process. 

4.    Process to follow in cases of non-ethical behaviors: 

Editors should take reasonable steps to identify and prevent the publication of works where unethical or research misconduct behavior measures are found. As regards the content of the article the invention and data manipulation and plagiarism scientific fraud, manipulation of citations and falsification of data, are considered unethical behavior, and also omitting the name of an author, among others is also considered unethical behavior. 

Initially the communication of unethical behavior by the authors should be done to the editor of the magazine and then the editor and members of the editorial board of the magazine will be responsible for initiating the investigation. Information on unethical behavior must be done in writing and must be accompanied by sufficient evidence to initiate an investigation. 

Unethical behavior that is treated as a misdemeanor by the Editor who can solve it with the authors without any need to consult with the editorial board. 

In the event that unethical behavior is cataloged as a serious type, the editor, together with the editorial board, must: 

- Report in writing an official communication to the authors and reviewers in which misconduct is detailed, given the available evidence. 

- The editorial board must decide whether to put employers or entities of institutional affiliation of the authors of the unethical behavior. 

- If the allegations of misconduct are unsupported by convincing evidence, publishers may seek advice from an expert. 

- The authors should have the opportunity to respond to allegations of serious misconduct. 

-       Authors must make corrections, modifications or if necessary remove the article from the journal. 

 

[1] http://publicationethics.org/ Versión 2/22 June 2015

[2] International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), 2001