International Journal of Human Anatomy · ISSN 2577-2279
For editors
An IJHA editor is accountable for a fair, confidential and evidence-based decision process and for applying journal policy consistently.
Decision authority
Recommend or make a decision from the manuscript, reviewer evidence and journal policy. Fees, services, membership, personal relationships and pressure from authors, reviewers, Guest Editors or publisher staff must not influence the outcome.
Editorial workflow
Identify the human anatomical question, article type, contribution, ethics record, declarations and any immediate integrity concern.
For manuscripts that proceed to external peer review, normally choose at least two independent specialists whose expertise matches the anatomy, material and method. Check institutional, collaborative, competitive and personal conflicts.
Judge whether reports address methods, evidence, ethics and interpretation. Do not count votes or transmit abusive, irrelevant or citation-coercive comments.
Explain the basis of the decision, distinguish essential from optional revisions and state when a further review round is required.
Anatomy and integrity checks
- Human and donor material
- Check ethics oversight, provenance, consent framework, anonymization and respectful use for cadaveric or clinical material.
- Terminology and methods
- Require clear landmarks, planes, acquisition or dissection methods, calibration, sampling, repeatability and appropriate analysis.
- Figures and images
- Check orientation, scale, labels, permissions, processing disclosures and whether images faithfully represent the evidence.
- Data and reporting
- Require a data or materials statement and an applicable reporting guideline; escalate suspicious duplication or inconsistencies.
Conflicts, confidentiality and recusal
Disclose
Recognize the conflict
Consider recent collaboration, shared institution, supervision, competition, personal relationships and financial interests.
Recuse
Transfer the manuscript
Do not inspect confidential files beyond what is needed to recognize the conflict. Ask the office to assign an independent editor.
Protect
Keep content confidential
Do not share or reuse submissions, or upload them to external generative-AI tools. Discuss the record only through approved channels.
Escalation and post-publication duties
Refer suspected fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, image manipulation, authorship disputes, unethical research, legal concerns or coordinated peer-review activity to the journal's integrity lead. Preserve the evidence and avoid conducting an informal investigation alone. Editors may also be asked to assess appeals, corrections, expressions of concern or retractions without defending their original decision.
Editorial appointments are vetted
Board and handling-editor roles require verified subject expertise, current identity and an ability to perform the responsibilities above. IJHA does not offer open self-registration.