Editorial board

Administrative Assistant

Mgr. Kristýna Ferjenčíková

Faculty of Health Studies, University of Pardubice

Contact: kristyna.ferjencikova@upce.cz

 

Editorial Board

Beata Babiarczyk, Ph.D., HSD, RN, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Bielsko-Biała, Poland

doc. Mgr. Ivana Bóriková, PhD., Department of Nursing, Jesenius Faculty of Medicine in Martin, Comenius Univesity in Bratislava, Slovakia

Mgr. Eva Hlaváčková, PhD., Department of Clinical Subspecialities, Faculty of Health Studies, University of Pardubice, Czechia

doc. Ing. Jana Holá, PhD., Department of Clinical Subspecialities, Faculty of Health Studies, University of Pardubice, Czechia

RNDr. Karel Hrach, Ph.D., Department of Specific Healthcare Disciplines, Faculty of Health Studies, Jan Evangelista Purkyně University, Czechia

Mgr. Radka Kurucová, Ph.D., Department of Nursing, Jesenius Faculty of Medicine in Martin, Comenius Univesity in Bratislava, Slovakia

Assist. Prof. Sotirios Plakas, PhD, Nursing Department, University of West Attica, Řecko

prof. Ing. Aleš Richter, CSc., Faculty of Health Studies, Technical University of Liberec, Czechia

Dr.in rer.cur. Daniela Schoberer, MSc, BSc, Institute of Nursing Science, Medical University of Graz, Austria

doc. RNDr. ThLic. Karel Sládek, Ph.D., MBA, Faculty of Health Studies, University of Pardubice, Czechia

doc. PhDr. Andrea Sollárová, PhD., Department of Nursing, Fakulta sociálnych vied a zdravotníctva, Univerzita Konštantína Filozofa v Nitre, Slovakia

doc. PhDr. Mária Sováriová Soósová, PhD., Department of Nursing, The Faculty of Medicine, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice, Slovakia

Mgr. Lenka  Štureková, Ph.D., Department of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, Palacký University in Olomouc, Czechia

Mgr. Jana Škvrňáková, Ph.D., Department of Nursing, Faculty of Health Studies, University of Pardubice, Czechia

doc. Mgr. Martina Tomagová, PhD., Department of Nursing, Jesenius Faculty of Medicine in Martin, Comenius Univesity in Bratislava, Slovakia

Izabella Uchmanowicz, RN, PhD, Professor, FESC, Wroclaw Medical University, Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Clinical Nursing, Polsko

doc. PhDr. Mgr. Michal Vostrý, Ph.D., Faculty of Health Studies, Jan Evangelista Purkyně University, Czechia

doc. MUDr. Jiří Votava, CSc., Faculty of Health Studies, Jan Evangelista Purkyně University, Czechia

prof. Mgr. Katarína Žiaková, PhD., Department of Nursing, Jesenius Faculty of Medicine in Martin, Comenius Univesity in Bratislava, Slovakia

The role of the Editorial Board, in collaboration with the Editor-in-Chief and other editorial staff members (e.g., Associate Editors/Administrative Assistant), is crucial for ensuring the quality, integrity, and ethical publishing in Health & Caring. The journal adheres to the recommendations of COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) and ICMJE (International Committee of Medical Journal Editors).

Key responsibilities and roles of the Editorial Board and editorial staff:

1. Adherence to publication ethics and best practices:

The editorial staff must adhere to COPE recommendations, as must authors and reviewers.

When publishing corrections or making decisions regarding retractions, the editorial staff follows the principles of COPE and ICMJE. Details are described in the Author Guidelines. Retracted articles should remain in the public domain and be clearly labelled.

2. Management of the peer-review process:

The Editorial Board/editorial staff is responsible for ensuring that systems are in place for the selection of appropriate reviewers. Author-suggested (recommended) reviewers are not permitted. Reviewers are experts in their fields and have publications in peer-reviewed journals, with a preference for experience with publishing in journals indexed in the SCOPUS/Web of Science database.

The Editor-in-Chief selects reviewers, with input from the Associate Editors, as necessary.

Health & Caring employs an anonymous peer review process (double-blind peer review). Manuscripts (the main text) are submitted without the names of the author and potential co-authors to ensure anonymity during the review process.

Every paper first undergoes an initial assessment by the Editor-in-Chief and Associate Editors to ensure it is consistent with the journal’s aims and focus and meets minimum quality standards, and a decision concerning the next step (to reject the manuscript or start a peer review) is made in a discussion that is concluded by voting. If the manuscript successfully passes the initial assessment, it is subsequently subject to peer review by two independent reviewers who are experts in the subject, are not personally or professionally related to the author(s), and are not from the same department.

The editorial staff ensures that reviewers have access to all relevant materials needed for the evaluation of the manuscript.

In case of a contradictory opinion of the two reviewers, the Editor-in-Chief, in consultation with the Associate Editors, will approach a third reviewer to make the final decision, or the Editor-in-Chief and Associate Editors will make the conclusion of the review process using a discussion that is concluded by voting.

The editorial office sends feedback to the author regarding the manuscript decision (Published without editing, Published after minor revision, Complete revision proposed/new review possible, Rejected).

Reviewers are notified about the ultimate decision to accept or reject a paper, and their contribution is acknowledged.

3. Publication decisions:

The Editorial Board/editorial staff considers for publication only original manuscripts that have not yet been published and are not under consideration by any other editorial office.

The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for the selection of all its content.

Editorial decisions are based on the relevance of a manuscript to Health & Caring and on its originality, quality, and contribution. Decisions are not influenced by commercial interests, personal relationships, or agendas, or findings that are negative or that credibly challenge accepted wisdom.

Editors will not exclude from consideration for publication studies with findings that are not statistically significant or that have inconclusive findings.

Editors can reject any article at any time before publication, including after acceptance if concerns arise about the integrity of the work.

4. Transparency and conflicts of interest:

All participants in the publication process – not only authors but also peer reviewers, editors, and editorial board members – must consider and disclose their relationships and activities when fulfilling their roles.

Editors who make final decisions about manuscripts will refrain from editorial decisions if they have relationships or activities that pose potential conflicts related to articles under consideration.

5. Managing simultaneous/duplicate publications and preprints:

The editors review and consider for publication original manuscripts that have not yet been published and are not being considered for publication by any other editorial office.

If authors submit a manuscript that overlaps with previously published work or is closely related to another paper submitted/accepted elsewhere, they will clearly state this in the cover letter and provide copies of the related material to help the editors decide how to manage the submission. The article must reference any other published or in-press outputs based on the same research and explain the relationship between the article and the other publications. These related publications must be submitted to the editorial office along with the manuscript.

The editors will consider for publication manuscripts that have been previously posted on a preprint server. Posting a manuscript as a preprint is not considered prior or duplicate publication for the purpose of editorial assessment.

If authors are submitting a manuscript that has been previously posted as a preprint, they must clearly state this fact in the cover letter. In the cover letter, the authors must also provide a link to the preprint. Authors are responsible for updating the preprint record on the preprint server after the work is published in Health & Caring to link to the final published article. Authors should not post the final published PDF file or interim versions of the manuscript incorporating revisions based on peer review on the preprint server.

6. Use of AI:

At submission, Health & Caring requires authors to disclose whether they used AI-assisted technologies in the production of submitted work.

If used, authors should describe how they used it in the cover letter and the submitted work in the appropriate section (e.g., acknowledgements for writing assistance, methods for data collection/analysis/figure generation).

Chatbots (such as ChatGPT) should not be listed as authors because they cannot be responsible for the accuracy, integrity, and originality of the work, and these responsibilities are required for authorship. Humans are responsible for any submitted material that included the use of AI-assisted technologies.

Editors must be aware that using AI technology in the processing of manuscripts may violate confidentiality. Similarly, reviewers should request permission from Health & Caring prior to using AI technology to facilitate their review and be aware of confidentiality risks. The editors may refuse to grant this permission. Referencing AI-generated material as the primary source is not acceptable.

7. Research ethics and informed consent:

For research involving patients, Health & Caring requires details regarding approval by the relevant ethics committee, including the registration number and/or a statement that the research was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki.

Authors are responsible for ensuring full anonymity of patients. Images must not contain identifying data (names, birth dates, personal identification numbers, or any other personal data), and patients’ eyes must be covered (in accordance with GDPR requirements).

For research with patients or human participants, informed consent must be obtained from all participants if relevant and necessary for the publication of identifiable data or images. Informed consent for this purpose requires that an identifiable patient be shown the manuscript to be published. When informed consent has been obtained, it should be indicated in the published article.

8. Handling appeals and complaints:

Any appeal against a manuscript decision must be submitted within 31 days of the decision notification. The appeal should be in the form of a letter addressed to the editor-in-chief, stating the reasons, and will be reviewed by the journal’s management team, led by the editor-in-chief.

Complaints must be submitted in writing to the editor-in-chief. The complaint will be investigated by the management team, and feedback will be provided.

9. Confidentiality:

Manuscripts submitted to Health & Caring are the authors’ private, confidential property. Editors must not share information about manuscripts with anyone other than the authors and reviewers.

Editors will not publish or publicize peer reviewers’ comments without the permission of the reviewer and author.

In case of legal action, editors will defend the confidentiality of authors and peer reviewers. Confidentiality may have to be breached if dishonesty or fraud is alleged, but editors will notify authors or reviewers if they intend to do so.

10. Transparency of fees:

Health & Caring is an open-access journal, and articles are published free of charge. All content is free to the user.

11. Editorial freedom:

The editors will base decisions on the validity of the work and its importance to the journal’s readers, not on the commercial implications for the journal.

An independent and diverse editorial board is encouraged to help the editors establish and maintain editorial policy.

These are the main aspects of the role of the Editorial Board and editorial staff of Health & Caring, based on the journal's requirements and ICMJE recommendations.