About the Journal

Journal of Ayurveda Campus (JAC) is a peer-reviewed and open-access international journal of Ayurveda Medicine, A Scientific Publication of Ayurveda Campus & Teaching Hospital, Institute of Medicine (IOM), Tribhuvan University Kathmandu, Nepal. It is dedicated to publishing academic work and clinical studies of Ayurveda medicine. It aims to accelerate the translation of scientific discovery into new or improved standards of clinical practise and promotes a wide-ranging exchange between basic, preclinical, clinical, epidemiologic, and health outcomes research in the field of Ayurveda medicine. It encourages the submission of the results of novel research investigations that bridge the laboratory and clinical settings of Ayurveda medicine with the overall goal of improving the clinical care of patients. Specially, reports of preclinical research, preliminary human experimentation, and case reports or series about Ayurveda medicine with potential for application to human disease and illumination of important mechanistic insight are encouraged to be submitted. Article types include, but are not limited to, translational and patient-centered effectiveness outcome studies, basic research, clinical research, randomised controlled trials, case reports and series, protocols, preclinical studies, reviews, meta-analyses, editorials, commentaries, and theoretical discussion.

 Peer review policy
The Journal of Ayurveda Campus (JAC) follows a double-blind peer review process to ensure impartial editorial decision-making. All submissions to the Journal of Ayurveda Campus (JAC) are assessed by an editor, who will decide whether they are suitable for peer review. If an editor is on the author list or has any other competing interest regarding a specific manuscript, another member of the Editorial Board will be assigned to assume responsibility for overseeing peer review. Submissions that feel suitable for consideration will be sent for peer review to appropriate independent experts. Editors will make a decision based on the reviewers’ reports, and authors are sent these reports along with the editorial decision on their manuscript. Authors should note that even in light of one positive report, concerns raised by another reviewer may fundamentally undermine the study and result in the manuscript being rejected.
 
Peer reviewers
Authors may suggest potential reviewers if they wish; however, whether or not to consider these reviewers is at the editor's discretion. Authors should not suggest recent collaborators or colleagues who work in the same institution as themselves. Authors who wish to suggest peer reviewers can do so in the cover letter and should provide institutional email addresses where possible or information that will help the editor verify the identity of the reviewer.
Authors may request the exclusion of individuals as peer reviewers, but they should explain the reasons in their cover letter on submission. Authors should not exclude too many individuals, as this may hinder the peer review process. Please note that the editor may choose to invite excluded peer reviewers.
Intentionally falsifying information, for example, by suggesting reviewers with a false name or email address, will result in rejection of the manuscript and may lead to further investigation in line with our misconduct policy.
 
Confidentiality
Reviewers are therefore required to respect the confidentiality of the peer review process and not reveal any details of a manuscript or its review, during or after the peer review process, beyond the information released by the journal. If reviewers wish to involve a colleague in the review process, they should first obtain permission from the journal. The editor should be informed of the names of any individuals who assisted in the review process when the report is returned.
 
Article-processing charges
In 2023, article processing charges and submission charges will be free. All accepted papers will be published free of charge.

Plagiarism Policy

    1. The journal is strictly against any unethical act of copying or plagiarism in any form. Plagiarism is said to have occurred when large portions of a manuscript have been copied from existing, previously published resources. All manuscripts submitted for publication in the Journal of Ayurveda Campus (JAC) are cross-checked for plagiarism using iThenticate software.
    2. Plagiarism is the unethical act of copying someone else's prior ideas, processes, results, or words without explicit acknowledgement of the original author and source. Self-plagiarism occurs when an author utilises a large part of his or her own previously published work without using appropriate references. This can range from getting the same manuscript published in multiple journals to modifying a previously published manuscript with some new data.
    3. Manuscripts found to be plagiarised during the initial stages of review are outright rejected and not considered for publication in the journal. In case a manuscript is found to be plagiarised after publication, the Editor-in-Chief will conduct a preliminary investigation, possibly with the help of a suitable committee constituted for the purpose.
    4. If the manuscript is found to be plagiarised beyond acceptable limits, the journal will contact the author's institute, college, or university and funding agency, if any. A determination of misconduct will lead JAC to run a statement bi-directionally linked online to and from the original paper to note the plagiarism and provide a reference to the plagiarised material.
    5. The paper containing the plagiarism will also be marked on each page of the PDF. Upon determination of the extent of plagiarism, the paper may also be formally retracted.

Types of Plagiarism

The following types of plagiarism are considered by JAC:

  1. Full Plagiarism: Previously published content without any changes to the text, idea, or grammar is considered full plagiarism. It involves presenting exact text from a source as one's own.
  2. Partial Plagiarism: If content is a mixture from multiple different sources, where the author has extensively rephrased text, then it is known as partial plagiarism.
  3. Self-Plagiarism: When an author reuses complete or portions of their pre-published research, then it is known as self-plagiarism. Complete self-plagiarism is a case when an author republishes their own previously published work in a new journal.

JAC respects intellectual property and aims at protecting and promoting the original work of its authors. Manuscripts containing plagiarised material are against the standards of quality, research, and innovation. Hence, all authors submitting articles to JAC are expected to abide by ethical standards and abstain from plagiarism in any form. If an author is found to be suspected of plagiarism in a submitted or published manuscript, then JAC shall contact the author(s) to submit his or her explanation within two weeks, which may be forwarded to the Fact Finding Committee (FFC) constituted for the purpose of further action. If JAC does not receive any response from the author within the stipulated time period, then the director or head of the concerned college, institution, or organisation, or the vice chancellor of the university to which the author is affiliated, shall be contacted to take strict action against the concerned author.

JAC shall take serious action against published manuscripts found to contain plagiarism and shall completely remove them from the JAC website and other third-party websites where the paper is listed and indexed. The moment any article published in the JAC database is reported to be plagiarised, JAC will constitute a Fact Finding Committee (FFC) to investigate the same. Upon having established that the manuscript is plagiarised from some previously published work, JAC shall support the original author and manuscript, irrespective of the publisher, and may take any or all of the following immediate actions or follow the additional course of action as recommended by the committee:

      1. The JAC editorial office shall immediately contact the director or head of the concerned college, institution, or organisation, or the vice chancellor of the university to which the author(s) are affiliated, to take strict action against the concerned author.
      2. JAC shall remove the PDF copy of the published manuscript from the website and disable all links to full-text articles. The term plagiarised manuscript shall be appended to the published manuscript title.
      3. JAC shall disable the author account with the journal and reject all future submissions from the author for a period of 03, 05, 10 years, or even ban the authors permanently.
      4. JAC may also display the list of such authors along with their full contact details on the JAC website.

Any other course of action, as recommended by the Committee or as deemed fit for the instant case or as decided by the Editorial Board, from time to time.