Main Focus

The Journal receives unpublished contributions distributed in the following sections: Editorial, Research articles (originals and short originals), Review, Public health stories, Case Reports, and Letters to the Editor, which are reviewed by national experts (peers). as foreigners, who have previously published similar research, give their opinion anonymously on the quality and validity of the results, publishing those articles with a favorable evaluation. The review time takes in most cases between two to four months depending on the speed of the reviewers and authors. 

Peer Review Process

The Hispano-American Journal of Health Sciences applies a double-blind peer review process for all submitted manuscripts. This process aims to ensure the quality, scientific validity, originality, and relevance of the articles published.

Preliminary editorial evaluation: All manuscripts are initially reviewed by the Editorial Committee to verify compliance with the journal’s formal requirements (submission guidelines, originality, thematic relevance, and alignment with the editorial scope). Manuscripts that do not meet these criteria may be rejected without being sent for external review.

Peer review: Manuscripts that pass the initial editorial screening are sent to two national or international reviewers, who serve as academic peers of the authors. The review is double-blind, meaning that neither the authors nor the reviewers are aware of each other’s identities.

The reviewers issue a technical opinion with observations and recommendations using a standardized evaluation form (acceptance, acceptance with comments, major revision, or rejection).

Conflict resolution: If the reviewers issue contradictory opinions, the manuscript will be sent to a third independent reviewer, whose evaluation will help determine the final editorial decision.

Return to authors: Manuscripts with revision recommendations are returned to the authors, who must respond in detail to the reviewers’ comments and submit a revised version of the manuscript.

Style and final editing: Manuscripts that receive favorable evaluation undergo language and editorial style review, followed by layout and typesetting. The final version (proof for print) is sent to the authors for verification and final approval prior to publication.

Open Access Policy

The Hispano-American Journal of Health Sciences (RHCS) ensures free and immediate access to all its content, based on the principle that scientific research should be freely available to the public. This approach promotes the democratization of knowledge and fosters greater information exchange on a global scale, benefiting researchers, professionals, and interested communities. To ensure ethical and responsible use of its content, authors are required to properly cite the articles consulted in their manuscripts.

Furthermore, the RHCS is committed to equity in knowledge dissemination. Therefore, it does not impose charges or fees for the publication of articles submitted by authors (Article Processing Charges [APC]) nor for the submission of manuscripts. This policy reflects the journal's dedication to open access and the removal of financial barriers that may limit the participation of researchers from diverse contexts and regions.

Digital Preservation

The Hispano-American Journal of Health Sciences ensures the digital preservation of its published content through strategies based on backup, redundancy, and archiving in institutional repositories and preservation networks.

Preservation Strategies

• Editorial Management System
  The journal uses the Open Journal Systems (OJS) platform, which enables secure and redundant storage of all published content.
• Backup on local and institutional servers
  Regular backups of the journal’s database and web files are performed and stored on internal servers maintained by the Universidad Hispanoamericana.
• Affiliation with the PKP Preservation Network (PKP PN) – in progress
  The journal is in the process of being integrated into the PKP Preservation Network (PKP PN), which supports long-term digital preservation for journals using OJS.
• Archiving in external repositories
  Published articles are also archived on platforms such as REDIB, Dialnet, Imbiomed, and Google Scholar, ensuring continued availability even in the event of critical system failures.
• Persistent Identifiers (DOI)
  Each article is assigned a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) registered through Crossref, guaranteeing permanent traceability and access.

Liability

The opinions expressed by the authors are their exclusive responsibility and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Editorial Committee of the Revista Hispanoamericana de Ciencias de la Salud. The mention of the commercial name of certain products or services does not imply that the Revista Hispanoamericana de Ciencias de la Salud approve, recommend or prefer them to similar ones that are not mentioned. 

Anti-plagiarism Policy

The Editorial Committee of the Revista Hispanoamericana de Ciencias de la Salud has established as an editorial policy that articles submitted to the journal for evaluation of publication will be subjected to plagiarism detection software. Only articles that have up to a maximum of 20% coincidence with other publications will be accepted, as long as said coincidence is not composed entirely of several consecutive paragraphs. Articles that exceed this percentage will be returned to the author with the corresponding report. 

Ethics in publishing

The Hispano-American Journal of Health Sciences (RHCS) is committed to the highest standards of editorial ethics, scientific integrity, and responsible academic publishing. This policy is based on the principles of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and applies to all parties involved in the editorial process: authors, reviewers, editors, and the editorial team.

Authors’ Responsibilities

• Originality and Plagiarism: Manuscripts must be original and not previously published or under consideration by another journal. Submissions found to contain plagiarism, self-plagiarism, or data manipulation will be rejected.
• Authorship: Only individuals who have made substantial contributions to the conception, design, analysis, or writing of the manuscript will be recognized as authors. All authors must approve the final version.
• Conflicts of Interest: Authors must disclose any financial or non-financial conflicts of interest that could influence the interpretation of results.
• Ethical Approval: Studies involving humans, animals, or sensitive data must have received approval from an appropriate ethics committee and must include informed consent.

Reviewers’ Responsibilities

• Objective Evaluation: Reviewers must provide technical, objective, and constructive feedback without personal or institutional bias.
• Confidentiality: All manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents.
• Conflicts of Interest: Reviewers must decline to review a manuscript if they have any conflicts that could affect their impartiality.

Editorial Board Responsibilities

• Transparency and Fair Decisions: Editorial decisions are based solely on the manuscript’s scientific relevance, methodological quality, and originality, without discrimination of any kind.
• Confidentiality: The editorial team will maintain the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts, including authorship, reviewers, and review results.
• Detection of Misconduct: Anti-plagiarism tools and integrity checks are systematically applied. In cases of misconduct, COPE guidelines will be followed (retraction, correction, or rejection).

Retractions, Corrections, and Complaints

• The journal accepts and manages retractions, corrections, and ethical complaints through its official contact email.
• Retractions will be issued when substantial error, fraud, duplication, or data manipulation is proven.
• Corrections will be issued when unintentional errors are found that do not compromise the validity of the content.

Academic Integrity and Preservation

• The scientific community is encouraged to report any suspected misconduct or ethical violation in published or under-review manuscripts.
• All complaints will be reviewed confidentially and promptly by the editorial board, and appropriate action will be taken in accordance with COPE recommendations.