Editorial policies
These policies describe how JCAII handles submissions and what we expect of authors, reviewers and editors. We follow the guidance of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the ICMJE Recommendations.
Draft for editorial approval. These policies will be finalised by the editorial board before submissions open.
Open access
JCAII is a gold open-access journal. All articles are freely available on publication under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence (CC BY 4.0), which allows anyone to share and adapt the work with appropriate credit. Authors keep copyright. An article processing charge applies after acceptance; it never affects editorial decisions.
Peer review
Submissions are screened by the editors for scope, quality and compliance with these policies. Those sent for review are assessed by at least two independent experts under a single-anonymised model. A statistical or methods reviewer is added where needed. Editors make the final decision and are not bound by reviewers’ recommendations.
Reviewers must declare any competing interests, keep manuscripts confidential, and decline if they cannot review impartially. Editors with a conflict of interest in a submission take no part in its handling.
Research ethics and consent
Research involving people, their data or their tissue must have been approved by an appropriate ethics committee, or the authors must explain why approval was not needed. Studies must comply with the Declaration of Helsinki and applicable data protection law, including the GDPR where relevant.
Any image or description that could identify a patient requires their written consent for publication. Clinical images must be de-identified.
Conflicts of interest
Authors, reviewers and editors must declare financial and non-financial interests that could be seen to influence their work. In clinical AI this explicitly includes employment by, consultancy for, equity in, or funding from companies that develop or sell AI products. Authors should use the ICMJE disclosure form.
Use of AI tools
Authors must disclose any use of generative AI in preparing a manuscript, stating the tool and how it was used, in the methods or acknowledgements. AI tools cannot be listed as authors, because they cannot take responsibility for the work. Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality and integrity of everything they submit.
Reviewers and editors must not upload manuscripts or reviews into AI tools that may store, reuse or train on the content, because this breaches confidentiality.
AI used as part of the research itself, for example as the intervention or as an analysis tool, should be described fully in the methods.
Data and code sharing
Every research article must include a data availability statement. We encourage authors to share data, code and model details in a public repository where legally and ethically possible. Where data cannot be shared, explain why and describe how qualified researchers could request access.
Preprints
Posting a preprint before or during submission is welcome and does not affect consideration. Please tell us about any preprint when you submit, and link it to the published article once available.
Corrections and retractions
We correct errors promptly and transparently. Corrections, expressions of concern and retractions are handled under COPE guidance and are linked to the original article, which stays available with a clear notice.
Appeals and complaints
Authors may appeal an editorial decision once, giving reasons, by contacting the editorial office. Complaints about the journal’s processes are investigated by an editor not involved in the original decision.
Editorial office: email address to be announced