Editorial Policies

JAICCT follows the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), and the EQUATOR Network.

1. Peer Review

JAICCT uses double-anonymized peer review. All submissions are first screened by the Editor-in-Chief or a Deputy/Associate Editor for novelty, methodological rigor, clinical relevance, AI reproducibility, and completeness. Manuscripts passing pre-review are assigned to 2–3 expert reviewers, with optional statistical and AI reproducibility reviewers for relevant submissions.

Minor revisions: 14–30 days
Major revisions: 30–90 days
Final decisions are made by the Editor-in-Chief

2. Use of AI and LLMs

AI systems cannot be listed as authors under any circumstance. Authors must disclose any use of AI-assisted tools (LLMs, chatbots, generative AI) during study design, data analysis, image processing, statistical modeling, manuscript drafting, language editing, or figure generation. This disclosure must appear in both the cover letter and in the Methods, Acknowledgments, or Figure Legends section, and must include: tool name, version, developer, date accessed, and specific tasks performed.

Authors remain fully responsible for verifying all AI-generated content for accuracy, hallucinations, bias, and plagiarism. AI-generated text cannot be cited as a primary source. AI-generated images/charts require explicit labeling.

3. Human and Animal Research

Human studies must comply with the Declaration of Helsinki and include: local IRB approval (name and number), confirmation of informed consent or IRB-approved waiver, and HIPAA compliance for U.S.-based studies. Animal studies must comply with IACUC requirements and national/international animal welfare standards. Studies involving vulnerable populations require enhanced IRB oversight and documented informed consent.

4. Plagiarism and Misconduct Screening

All submissions are screened with iThenticate or equivalent tools. AI-content detection is applied where relevant. Significant overlap results in rejection without review. Misconduct — including plagiarism, data fabrication or falsification, manipulated figures, and undisclosed conflicts — is investigated following COPE flowcharts. JAICCT maintains an independent Publications Ethics Committee (no member may simultaneously serve on the editorial board).

5. Data Sharing and Transparency

All manuscripts must include a Data Availability Statement. Clinical trials must be registered before patient enrollment, with the registration number in the abstract and Methods section. AI/ML studies must share code via GitHub, GitLab, or Zenodo, and provide hyperparameters, preprocessing descriptions, training/testing splits, and bias/fairness assessments. JAICCT strongly encourages FAIR-compliant datasets.

6. Personal Data and Patient Privacy

Authors must remove all identifiers from images and metadata, avoid submitting any Protected Health Information (PHI), and flatten images to prevent metadata leakage. Identifiable images require explicit patient consent and a verification letter from the authors' institution.

7. Authorship and Contributor Roles

JAICCT follows ICMJE authorship criteria. Authors must specify contributor roles using the CRediT taxonomy. Only one corresponding author is permitted. Authorship changes are not permitted after acceptance except in exceptional circumstances, and must be approved in writing by all authors.

8. Conflicts of Interest

Authors must disclose all financial relationships, employment ties, advisory roles, equipment/software donations, patent applications, and industry influence. Disclosures are published with the article. Editors and reviewers must recuse themselves in cases of conflict.

9. Preprint Policy

Authors may post on preprint servers (arXiv, bioRxiv, medRxiv) before or during submission. Upon submission, include the statement: "This manuscript has been submitted to JAICCT for possible publication." After acceptance, update the preprint with the journal citation and a link to the final published version.

10. Fast-Track Review

Available for multi-center clinical AI trials, urgent AI safety/ethics insights, and public health-relevant AI findings. Authors must request fast-track via email and justify the urgency.

11. Appeals

Authors may appeal editorial decisions within 30 days. Appeals must address scientific reasoning — not reviewer disagreement alone. The Editor-in-Chief's decision on appeals is final.

12. Corrections, Retractions, and Transparency

Minor corrections → formal Erratum. Major errors → Retraction following COPE guidelines. Retracted articles remain accessible but watermarked.

13. Reporting Race, Ethnicity, and Demographics

Authors must state how race/ethnicity classification was obtained and why it was assessed. Racial essentialism and unsupported biological interpretations must be avoided.

14. Rights and Permissions

Authors must obtain permission for reprinted figures or tables, personal communications, non-original artwork, and any copyrighted material used for AI model training. JAICCT discourages the use of restricted-content images from commercial publishers.

15. Inclusive Name Change Policy

Authors may request name changes for gender transition, marriage/divorce, or religious/cultural reasons. No legal documentation is required. Co-authors are not notified unless requested.

16. Open Access and Copyright

JAICCT is a fully Gold Open Access journal. Authors retain copyright. All articles are distributed under CC BY 4.0 (default) or CC BY-NC 4.0 (upon request). Authors receive a perpetual license to reuse their own figures and images. No subscription content exists; all accepted articles are immediately publicly available.

17. Record Retention

Submission metadata and final files are preserved indefinitely in JAICCT's digital preservation systems (Portico or equivalent).

18. Advertising Policy

JAICCT does not accept advertising that influences editorial content. Editorial decisions are fully independent.