Editorial policy

Peer Review

Peer Review Process

All manuscripts submitted to JBAS undergo a rigorous, transparent, and structured editorial process, consisting of the following stages:

Preliminary editorial assessment

After submission, the manuscript undergoes an initial analysis conducted by a journal editor. At this stage, the manuscript’s alignment with the journal’s scope, the originality of the work, and compliance with editorial guidelines are verified. Manuscripts that do not meet these criteria or present significant formal issues may be rejected at this stage.

Peer review

Manuscripts approved in the initial screening are sent for evaluation by two external reviewers selected according to their expertise in the subject area. JBAS adopts a double-blind review system, in which the identities of authors and reviewers are kept confidential throughout the process.

Review reports

Reviewers evaluate the manuscript based on scientific, methodological, ethical, and editorial criteria, issuing recommendations that may include:

  • acceptance of the article;

  • acceptance with revisions; or

  • rejection.

In cases of divergent opinions, the manuscript may be submitted to a third reviewer, at the discretion of the editorial team.

Author revisions

When revisions are requested, authors receive the reviewers’ comments and are invited to submit a revised version of the manuscript, along with responses to the recommendations. The revised version may undergo a new round of evaluation, either by the same reviewers or by others, depending on editorial decision.

Final editorial decision

The final decision regarding acceptance or rejection of the manuscript is based on the reviewers’ reports and the submission history. 

Average review time

The average time between initial submission and final editorial decision is at least 10 days, and may vary depending on the complexity of the manuscript and the responsiveness of reviewers and authors.

Ethics and integrity

JBAS follows best practices in ethics and scientific integrity. All manuscripts are assessed for potential conflicts of interest, ethical compliance, and originality, and may be subject to similarity checks in accordance with the journal’s editorial policies.

Plagiarism and Fraud Detection

Policy on Plagiarism and Scientific Fraud Detection

JBAS adopts rigorous practices to ensure the scientific integrity and originality of submitted manuscripts, not tolerating plagiarism, self-plagiarism, duplicate publication, or any other form of scientific misconduct.

To this end, submitted manuscripts undergo a dual originality verification process, which may occur at different stages of the editorial workflow:

  • Similarity detection software, using CopySpider, a tool specialized in identifying textual similarity in Portuguese, enabling detailed analysis of potential content overlap;

  • Editorial and peer evaluation, conducted by editors and reviewers, who perform a critical reading of the manuscript to identify inappropriate excerpts, self-plagiarism, duplicate publication, or improper use of sources.

When evidence of plagiarism, self-plagiarism, or other practices compromising scientific integrity is identified, the manuscript may be rejected, returned to the authors for clarification, or subjected to other editorial measures, depending on the severity of the case and the journal’s policies.

JBAS reaffirms its commitment to ethics and scientific integrity, encouraging authors to ensure the originality of their work and to properly cite all sources used.

Code of Ethics

Code of Ethics and Best Practices

JBAS adopts the highest standards of ethics and scientific integrity at all stages of the editorial process, committing to the promotion of best practices in research, peer review, and scientific publishing.

General principles

The journal conducts its activities based on the principles of transparency, impartiality, editorial responsibility, confidentiality, and respect for intellectual integrity, following international best practice guidelines such as those of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Responsibilities of authors

Authors must:

  • ensure the originality of submitted manuscripts;

  • properly acknowledge all sources used;

  • disclose any conflicts of interest;

  • ensure that data and results are obtained ethically and responsibly;

  • comply with ethical standards applicable to research involving human beings or animals, when relevant.

Responsibilities of reviewers

Reviewers must:

  • conduct objective, well-founded evaluations within the established timeframe;

  • maintain confidentiality regarding the manuscripts evaluated;

  • disclose any conflicts of interest that may compromise impartiality;

  • inform the editorial team of any indication of scientific misconduct identified during the review process.

Responsibilities of the editorial team

The editorial team is committed to:

  • conducting the editorial process in a fair, impartial, and transparent manner;

  • ensuring editorial independence in acceptance or rejection decisions;

  • preserving the anonymity of all parties involved in the peer review process;

  • adopting appropriate measures in cases of suspected or confirmed scientific misconduct, including plagiarism, self-plagiarism, data fabrication, or manipulation.

Handling of scientific misconduct

Suspected violations of this code will be analyzed by the JBAS editorial team and may result in editorial actions such as manuscript rejection, retraction, correction of the published article, or other measures deemed necessary, depending on the severity of the case and the journal’s ethical guidelines.

JBAS reaffirms its ongoing commitment to ethics, scientific integrity, and the promotion of good editorial practices, contributing to the credibility and quality of scientific communication.

Interoperability Protocols

Interoperability Policy

JBAS adopts internationally recognized interoperability protocols and standards to enhance the visibility, dissemination, retrieval, and preservation of its published scientific content.

The journal uses the OAI-PMH protocol (Open Archives Initiative – Protocol for Metadata Harvesting), which enables automated harvesting of metadata by indexing services, repositories, digital libraries, and scientific information systems.

Article metadata are made available in a structured and standardized format, including information such as title, authorship, institutional affiliation, abstract, keywords, and publication data, facilitating interoperability with national and international databases.

JBAS is committed to maintaining its metadata updated, consistent, and accessible, following best practices in standardization and interoperability to ensure proper indexing, efficient information retrieval, and integration with preservation and dissemination systems.

Whenever applicable, the journal may adopt other interoperability standards and services compatible with OJS to improve integration with indexers, institutional repositories, and scientific communication platforms.

Digital Preservation

Digital Preservation Policy

The Brazilian Journal of Health Auditing (JBAS) adopts policies and mechanisms for digital preservation to ensure continuous access, integrity, and permanent availability of all its published content.

The journal actively participates in the PKP Preservation Network (PKP PN), a distributed digital preservation service maintained by the Public Knowledge Project, the organization responsible for developing the OJS system.

Through PKP PN, all published content is automatically deposited into an archiving network based on LOCKSS (Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe) technology, which creates and maintains multiple secure copies of articles across different geographic locations.

This system ensures:

  • long-term preservation of content;

  • redundancy and protection against data loss;

  • content recovery in case of journal server failure;

  • continuous access even in cases of journal discontinuation.

Content is automatically deposited after publication in OJS, ensuring permanent preservation independent of local infrastructure.

As complementary best practices, the journal also:

  • assigns a DOI (Digital Object Identifier) to all articles;

  • adopts widely recognized open file formats (PDF);

  • maintains structured metadata compatible with the OAI-PMH protocol;

  • performs periodic system backups as an additional security measure.

More information about the PKP Preservation Network is available at: https://pkp.sfu.ca/pkp-pn/

Copyright and Licensing

Copyright and Licensing Policy

The Brazilian Journal of Health Auditing (JBAS) adopts an immediate open-access policy, committed to the broad dissemination of scientific knowledge, editorial transparency, and respect for authors’ rights.

Copyright

Authors retain full copyright of their works published in JBAS. By submitting and having their manuscript accepted for publication, authors grant the journal the right of first publication, without exclusivity.

Licensing

All articles published in JBAS are distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license.

This license allows third parties to copy, distribute, transmit, adapt, and reuse the content, including for commercial purposes, in any medium or format, provided that proper credit is given to the original authors and the source of publication.

No prior authorization from the authors or the journal is required for any form of reuse, provided that the terms of the CC BY 4.0 license are fully respected.

Responsibility for Content

Authors are entirely responsible for the intellectual content of their work, including the accuracy of the information presented and obtaining permission for the use of images, tables, data, or any third-party materials protected by copyright.

Self-Archiving and Repository Deposit

JBAS explicitly authorizes and encourages the deposit of the published version of articles (final publisher’s version) in institutional, thematic, or personal repositories, as well as in databases and indexing systems, without embargo, provided that full reference to the original publication in the journal is maintained, including a link to the article on the journal’s website.