Post-Publication Discussion Policy

1. PURPOSE AND SCOPE

Rapid Responses serve as a platform for timely, transparent, and rigorous academic debate post-publication. Accepted responses are published online alongside the target article and become part of the indexed scholarly record. Selected high-impact responses may also be chosen by the Editor-in-Chief for publication as a formal Letter to the Editor in print editions.

2. SUBMISSION CRITERIA & POLICY

✓ Acceptable Submissions

✕ Unacceptable Content

· Constructive methodological critiques.

· Relevant clinical or epidemiological data.

· Clariﬁcation or re-interpretation of ﬁndings.

· Evidence-based perspective on health policy.

· Personal attacks or ad hominem language.

· Unsubstantiated claims without references.

· Commercial promotions or political lobbying.

· Anonymous submissions (unveriﬁed identity).

3. AUTHOR GUIDELINES & FORMATTING CONSTRAINTS

Authors must adhere strictly to the following parameters prior to submitting a Rapid Response:

Word Count Limit: Maximum 500 words (excluding references and author metadata).
References: Maximum 5 key references formatted in standard Vancouver
Submission Window: Recommended within 8 weeks of the primary article's publication
Competing Interests: Mandatory declaration of all ﬁnancial and non-ﬁnancial conﬂicts of
AI Policy: AI tools may only be used for basic language assistance and proofreading (must be declared).

4. EDITORIAL WORKFLOW & MODERATION PROCESS

Submissions do not appear automatically. All entries undergo editorial screening to ensure scientiﬁc validity, ethical compliance, and tone of discourse.

Stage	Description of Action	Estimated Timeframe
1 . Submission	Author submits response via the oﬃcial online JHS portal form.	Day 0
2. Editorial Screening	Editor checks for ethical compliance, language quality, and scientiﬁc relevance.	1 –3 Business Days
3. Author's Right of Reply	Original article authors are invited to provide a counter-response if appropriate.	5–7 Business Days
4. Publication	Approved response is published on the JHS portal under the target article.	Immediate upon approval

5. CITATION & INDEXING

Published Rapid Responses are citable electronic communications. When citing a Rapid Response, please format as:
[Author Name]. Re: [Target Article Title]. J Health Sci. [Year]; Online Rapid Response.

6. SUBMISSION FORM TEMPLATE

Use this structural template when submitting your response through the JHS editorial management system:

1. Target Article Information:

Re: [Title of Original JHS Article / DOI]

2. Response Title:

[Short, concise title reﬂecting the core argument — Max 1 5 words]

3. Author Metadata:

[Full Name, Degree, Academic Position, Department, Institution, Oﬃcial Email]

4. Response Text (Max 500 words):

[Introduction & objective critique → Evidence/Data analysis → Clinical or scientiﬁc summary]

5. Declarations:

Competing Interests: [None declared / Details] | AI Use: [None / Tool used for language editing]