Editorial Policies
A. EDITORIAL INDEPENDENCE
The Journal of the Kenya Association of Physicians (JOKAP) upholds strict editorial independence to ensure that publishing decisions are based solely on the academic merit, originality, and relevance of submissions. Decisions are not influenced by funding bodies, advertisers, or institutional affiliations. The Editor-in-Chief and the editorial board retain full authority over the selection, revision, and acceptance of manuscripts. External stakeholders cannot interfere in editorial processes. This independence safeguards the journal's integrity, ensuring that its content reflects unbiased scientific evidence. JOKAP aligns with COPE and ICMJE standards, thereby protecting both the credibility of published work and the trust of its readership.
B. EDITORIAL DECISION-MAKING
Editorial decisions at JOKAP are transparent, impartial, and evidence-driven. Each submission undergoes preliminary editorial screening, followed by double-blind peer review by at least two independent experts. Section editors, in consultation with the Editor-in-Chief, provide recommendations based on reviewers’ feedback. Authors are notified promptly of decisions, which may include acceptance, minor revision, major revision, or rejection. In cases of conflicting reviews, a third reviewer may be invited. This layered decision-making process ensures balance, fairness, and rigor. JOKAP’s editorial workflow is designed to guarantee the timely handling of manuscripts while maintaining the highest academic and ethical standards.
C. CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
To protect the integrity of its editorial processes, JOKAP requires full disclosure of potential conflicts of interest from authors, reviewers, and editors. Authors must declare financial relationships, institutional affiliations, or other factors that may bias their research. Reviewers must recuse themselves if conflicts exist, while editors must disclose and manage their own competing interests transparently. When editorial board members submit manuscripts, they are excluded from the decision-making process to avoid bias. All disclosed conflicts are published alongside articles where relevant. This transparent approach ensures accountability and aligns with COPE and ICMJE guidelines on responsible publishing practices.
D. CORRECTIONS, RETRACTIONS, AND WITHDRAWALS
JOKAP follows internationally recognized best practices for addressing post-publication issues. Minor errors that do not affect the overall conclusions of a paper are corrected through errata or corrigenda linked to the original article. Retractions are issued when major ethical or scientific breaches, such as plagiarism, data fabrication, or research misconduct, are identified. Withdrawal of manuscripts may occur at the request of authors or editors if ethical violations are discovered pre-publication. In rare cases requiring removal for legal or security reasons, a “tombstone page” is maintained to preserve the scholarly record. All actions follow COPE’s retraction guidelines.
E. OPEN ACCESS AND LICENSING
JOKAP is a fully open-access journal, providing unrestricted access to all published content. No subscription or paywall barriers exist, ensuring equitable dissemination of scientific knowledge. Articles are distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution license 4.0 (CC BY 4.0). This licensing model supports academic collaboration, promotes wider citation, and ensures that African medical research contributes to global knowledge. The journal’s commitment to open access reflects its mission of advancing healthcare, education, and innovation by making research outputs accessible to practitioners, scholars, and the public worldwide. Read the JOKAP Licensing policy here.
F. TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY
Transparency is central to JOKAP’s editorial operations. Peer review policies, ethical standards, and authorship guidelines are publicly available on the journal’s website to ensure clarity for contributors and readers alike. Editorial board members are listed with full affiliations, and any updates to policies are communicated openly. The journal encourages post-publication dialogue by publishing letters to the editor, commentaries, and responses to promote scholarly debate. Complaints and appeals are managed fairly and documented in accordance with COPE principles. This commitment to transparency and accountability builds confidence in JOKAP as a trusted platform for credible and responsible medical publishing.
PEER-REVIEW PROCESS
A. Scope
All original research, systematic reviews, case reports, and expert perspectives submitted to JOKAP undergo rigorous double-blind peer review before publication. Editorials, commentaries, and news items are exempt from external peer review but are internally assessed for relevance and quality by the editorial team. This selective process ensures that only content meeting the journal’s standards of scientific merit, ethical compliance, and clinical significance is published. By maintaining a clear distinction between peer-reviewed and non-peer-reviewed content, JOKAP promotes transparency, strengthens its scholarly reputation, and provides readers with confidence in the quality and reliability of the published material.
B. Review Model
JOKAP employs a double-blind peer review system, ensuring that the identities of both authors and reviewers remain confidential throughout the review process. This approach minimizes the risk of bias based on gender, institutional affiliation, seniority, or nationality, allowing manuscripts to be judged fairly on their academic quality and scientific rigor. Double-blind review encourages objective feedback, detailed critique, and constructive recommendations from reviewers. The model also empowers early-career researchers to submit work without fear of prejudice. Through this system, JOKAP reinforces its commitment to equity, inclusivity, and impartiality in scientific publishing, aligning with best international practices and DOAJ standards.
C. Reviewer Selection
Reviewers are carefully selected based on subject expertise, academic reputation, and prior peer review experience. The editorial board ensures that each submission is assigned to at least two independent reviewers with no conflicts of interest. Reviewers may be drawn from JOKAP’s reviewer database or invited based on professional recommendations. The journal seeks diversity among reviewers, ensuring broad representation in terms of discipline, geography, and career stage. All reviewers must adhere to confidentiality agreements and ethical standards. This rigorous selection process safeguards the integrity of the review process while ensuring high-quality, expert evaluations of all submitted manuscripts.
D. Review Process
The review process is systematic, transparent, and designed to ensure fairness.
Stage 1: Submission and Initial Screening
Once a manuscript is submitted, the section editor conducts a thorough preliminary check. This involves verifying alignment with the journal’s scope, compliance with formatting guidelines, and confirmation of ethical approvals. Plagiarism detection tools are applied to safeguard originality. Manuscripts that fail the minimum requirements are returned, while eligible ones proceed to peer review.
Stage 2: Double blind peer review
Manuscripts that pass screening are assigned to at least two independent reviewers. Reviewer selection considers subject expertise, impartiality, and the absence of conflicts of interest. Reviewers are invited formally and must confirm their availability. This step ensures that qualified professionals objectively assess the manuscript’s methodological quality, originality, and scientific contribution.
Stage 3: Editorial board review
After peer review, at least one editorial board member provides a recommendation regarding the manuscript. They ensure decisions uphold scientific merit, journal standards, and ethical integrity. Editorial independence is strictly observed to maintain fairness and transparency in publishing.
Stage 4: Editorial Decision
The assigned section editor, in consultation with the editor-in-chief, consolidates reviewer feedback, weighs the quality of arguments presented, and ensures consistency with journal standards. Decisions may involve acceptance, revisions, or rejection. For revised submissions, the editor may initiate further review rounds. Final judgments prioritize scientific merit, ethical integrity, and contribution to knowledge, ensuring fairness and editorial independence.
Stage 5: Publication
Once a manuscript is formally accepted following peer review and editorial board approval, or revisions are completed and approved, it enters the publication stage. Accepted manuscripts undergo professional copyediting to correct language, style, and formatting inconsistencies while preserving author intent. Articles are then typeset and prepared for online publication. Authors receive proofs for final approval, ensuring accuracy and completeness.
Peer review infographic:
E. Confidentiality
Confidentiality is central to the peer review process. Manuscripts under review are treated as privileged documents and may not be shared with unauthorized persons. Reviewers are required to keep the content of submissions confidential and must not use any information from manuscripts for personal advantage or research purposes before publication. Editors ensure that communication is secure and restricted to relevant parties. Author identities are concealed during review, and reviewer identities are not disclosed to authors. This commitment to confidentiality maintains trust in the peer review process and safeguards the rights of all contributors in the publishing process.
F. Appeals and Complaints
JOKAP provides authors with the right to appeal editorial decisions they consider unfair or inconsistent with journal policy. Appeals must be submitted in writing, outlining the specific grounds for reconsideration. The Editor-in-Chief reviews appeals in consultation with an independent senior editor or additional reviewers where necessary. Complaints regarding editorial conduct, peer review, or ethical breaches are handled promptly and transparently in line with COPE guidelines. This system of appeals and complaints ensures accountability, fairness, and the continuous improvement of JOKAP’s editorial practices.
RESEARCH ETHICS
JOKAP is committed to upholding the highest standards of integrity in research involving human participants, animals, and sensitive data. All studies submitted for publication must comply with internationally accepted ethical principles, including the WMA Declaration of Helsinki for human studies and the ICMJE Recommendations for biomedical research. Authors are responsible for ensuring that appropriate ethical approvals were obtained before initiating research. Ethical compliance must be clearly stated within the manuscript, including the name of the approving committee, protocol number, and date of approval. Submissions that lack evidence of ethical clearance may be rejected at the screening stage.
A. Human Subjects Research
All manuscripts involving human participants must include a clear statement confirming that written informed consent was obtained from participants, or from parents/guardians in the case of minors. The manuscript should also specify that participation was voluntary and that confidentiality and anonymity were safeguarded. Patient consent is mandatory for publication of identifying data, images, or case details. Where consent has not been obtained, authors must provide a valid justification approved by an institutional review body. JOKAP requires strict adherence to local, regional, and international laws governing patient rights, privacy, and ethical treatment in clinical and observational research.
B. Animal Research
Studies involving animals must demonstrate compliance with ethical standards for humane treatment, including approval by an Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) or an equivalent body. Authors must describe the welfare considerations applied in their research, including housing, feeding, anesthesia, and humane endpoints. Manuscripts must contain a clear statement of ethical approval and adherence to international guidelines, such as those of the International Council for Laboratory Animal Science (ICLAS). JOKAP reserves the right to request further documentation of ethical approval and to reject manuscripts that fail to uphold accepted standards of animal welfare.
C. Clinical Trials
All clinical trials must be prospectively registered in a recognized public trial registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov, the Pan African Clinical Trials Registry (PACTR), or equivalent. Registration details, including the unique trial identification number, must be included in the submitted manuscript. JOKAP requires that randomized controlled trials follow the CONSORT guidelines for reporting to ensure accuracy and transparency. Failure to register a trial prior to patient enrollment will result in rejection. This requirement safeguards the integrity of clinical research and ensures that results—positive, negative, or inconclusive—are accessible to the wider medical community and general public.
D. Plagiarism, Misconduct, and Data Integrity
All submissions undergo plagiarism checks using recognized detection software before review. JOKAP prohibits data fabrication, falsification, duplicate submission, and redundant publication. Authors are expected to maintain accurate research records and to make raw data available upon request for editorial verification. Any suspected misconduct will be investigated following COPE’s retraction and misconduct guidelines, with possible actions including manuscript rejection, article retraction, notification of the authors’ institutions, or banning of future submissions. These policies preserve the reliability of published research and reinforce the journal’s commitment to scientific integrity.
PUBLICATION AND DISTRIBUTION POLICIES
A. Publication Frequency
The Journal of the Kenya Association of Physicians (JOKAP) follows a consistent biannual publication cycle, with two issues released each year in March and September. This schedule allows for the timely dissemination of research while maintaining a manageable review and editorial process. JOKAP also accommodates “online first” publication, whereby accepted manuscripts are made available on the journal website ahead of the official issue release. This practice accelerates the availability of important scientific findings and ensures that new knowledge reaches the medical community promptly, thereby supporting evidence-based practice and advancing scholarship in Africa and the wider international research community.
B. Online Distribution
JOKAP is an exclusively online, open-access journal that ensures universal access to its content without subscription or paywall barriers. Articles are hosted on the official journal website, where readers can freely download, cite, and share research. Each publication is assigned a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) to ensure persistent linking and reliable citation. The journal employs metadata standards to improve discoverability across digital platforms. Online distribution is enhanced through search engine optimization (SEO), integration with institutional repositories, and promotion via social media channels, ensuring that published work reaches clinicians, researchers, policymakers, and the broader public across global contexts.
C. Licensing and Copyright
Read the JOKAP Licensing policy here.
D. Indexing and Visibility
To maximize scholarly reach, JOKAP actively pursues indexing in reputable regional and international databases. Currently, the journal is indexed in African Journals Online and the African Researchers Magazine (AR) Index, with ongoing applications for inclusion in PubMed Central, Scopus, and Web of Science. Metadata is formatted to meet indexing standards, ensuring visibility. The journal’s commitment to digital discoverability is reinforced through integration with CrossRef for DOI assignment, citation tracking, and archiving. By enhancing indexing and visibility, JOKAP ensures that African medical scholarship is globally accessible and widely recognized.
E. Archiving and Preservation
Long-term preservation of scholarly content is a central component of JOKAP’s publishing mission. All published articles are deposited in secure archiving systems, including LOCKSS, CLOCKSS, and PKP PN, to ensure permanent accessibility even in cases of system failure. The journal also collaborates with institutional repositories and libraries to safeguard digital content. Regular backups, version control, and redundancy protocols are implemented to minimize data loss. By adopting robust preservation strategies, JOKAP guarantees that the medical knowledge it disseminates will remain available for future generations, securing the continuity of African research contributions to the global scientific community.
F. Distribution and Outreach
Beyond its digital platforms, JOKAP prioritizes broad dissemination and outreach to maximize impact. Published articles are shared through academic mailing lists, institutional partnerships, and professional associations. The journal leverages social media platforms such as Twitter (X), Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp to promote new issues, articles, and calls for papers. Distribution strategies include newsletters and targeted communication with universities, hospitals, and research centers. Outreach initiatives emphasize both regional and international audiences, ensuring that African health research informs global medical practice. This proactive distribution strategy enhances readership, citation rates, and policy impact, furthering JOKAP’s mission of advancing health research visibility.
G. PUBLICATION ETHICS
The Journal of the Kenya Association of Physicians (JOKAP) is fully committed to upholding the highest standards of publication ethics. Our policies are guided by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Core Practices, the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) recommendations, and other globally recognized frameworks that safeguard integrity in scholarly publishing. Ethical standards apply to all parties involved in the publication process, including authors, editors, reviewers, and the publisher. JOKAP recognizes that the credibility of academic publishing depends upon trust, transparency, and accountability, and therefore implements rigorous safeguards against misconduct.
A. Responsibilities of Authors:
Authors must ensure that submitted manuscripts are original, accurate, and prepared with honesty and transparency. Plagiarism, falsification of data, redundant publication, and misrepresentation of results are strictly prohibited. All authors listed must have made substantial contributions to the conception, execution, or interpretation of the research. Authorship cannot be granted as a courtesy or denied to rightful contributors. Conflicts of interest and sources of funding must be fully disclosed at submission. Where applicable, studies must include evidence of prior approval by an Institutional Review Board (IRB) or Ethics Committee.
B. Responsibilities of Editors:
Editors are entrusted with the responsibility of making impartial and transparent decisions based solely on the scientific merit of submitted manuscripts. Editorial decisions are never influenced by race, gender, institutional affiliation, nationality, or personal beliefs of the authors. Editors are also responsible for safeguarding confidentiality, managing potential conflicts of interest, and ensuring timely, constructive peer review. Where ethical concerns are raised about a manuscript, editors are required to follow COPE guidelines to investigate fairly and take corrective measures, which may include issuing corrections, retractions, or expressions of concern.
C. Responsibilities of Reviewers:
Peer reviewers play a central role in maintaining the scholarly integrity of JOKAP. Reviewers are expected to provide fair, objective, and timely evaluations of manuscripts, avoiding personal bias and maintaining confidentiality. They must disclose any conflicts of interest and decline to review where such conflicts exist. Reviewers should identify instances of suspected plagiarism, duplication, or methodological flaws and provide constructive feedback to help authors strengthen their work. Under no circumstances may reviewers use unpublished data or insights from manuscripts for personal advantage or research gain.
D. Research Integrity and Misconduct:
JOKAP enforces a zero-tolerance policy toward research and publication misconduct. Cases of plagiarism, data manipulation, or duplicate submission will result in immediate rejection or retraction. The journal follows COPE’s retraction guidelines in cases where published articles are found to be fraudulent or unethical. Where necessary, institutional investigations will be initiated, and sanctions may be applied. Authors found guilty of misconduct may be blacklisted from future submissions. At all times, the journal prioritizes the protection of the scholarly record and upholds accountability to its readers, contributors, and the wider research community.
E. Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI):
JOKAP acknowledges the increasing use of artificial intelligence (AI) in manuscript preparation. Authors are permitted to use AI tools strictly for grammar checks, improving readability, and formatting assistance. However, AI-generated text, figures, or interpretations that replace genuine scholarly contributions are prohibited. AI tools cannot be listed as authors, and any permitted use must be transparently declared in the acknowledgments section. Authors remain fully responsible for the originality, accuracy, and ethical standards of their manuscripts, even where AI tools have been used. Breaches in AI-use transparency may be considered a violation of publication ethics.
F. Post-Publication Responsibilities:
JOKAP is committed to maintaining the accuracy and reliability of the academic record. Authors are expected to cooperate with editors if significant errors are discovered post-publication. Where minor errors are identified, corrections (errata or corrigenda) will be issued. Where findings are invalidated by misconduct or serious mistakes, articles may be retracted following COPE guidelines. In rare cases requiring article removal, for example, in legal or ethical disputes, JOKAP ensures transparency by retaining metadata, DOI records, and issuing a formal statement of removal. The ultimate goal is to maintain the integrity and accessibility of scientific knowledge.
G. Archiving and Digital Preservation
JOKAP is committed to the long-term preservation of published scholarly content through secure digital archiving systems. All articles are deposited in institutional repositories and indexed in international databases to ensure permanent accessibility. The journal employs DOI assignment for every article, enabling reliable citation and retrieval. In addition, multiple backup systems safeguard against data loss. By adopting international archiving standards and collaborating with digital preservation initiatives, JOKAP guarantees that its content remains accessible to researchers, clinicians, and policymakers worldwide. This commitment reflects the journal’s mission of ensuring that African medical scholarship contributes to global knowledge for generations.
