Editorial Processes and Policies

PEER REVIEW PROCESS

Research articles and review articles are subject to double peer review, whereby the authors' and reviewers' identities are concealed.

Research articles and review articles are subject to double peer review, whereby the authors' and reviewers' identities are concealed. The editorials and commentaries are reviewed by the editorial team but are not subject to double-blind peer review.

Manuscripts are submitted online. Manuscripts undergo pre-screening by the editorial office to ensure compliance with the submission guidelines and suitability for the journal.

Manuscripts are then assigned to the Editor-in-Chief to decide whether they fall under the scope of the journal. The Editor-in-Chief may seek further guidance from the Editor and/or the Associate Editors.

Manuscripts suitable for a review may undergo a similarity check using similarity detection software.

The Editor-in-Chief appoints and invites the reviewers. The Editor-in-Chief may request that the author suggests possible reviewers, however, it is up to the Editor to select reviewers recommended by authors or include reviewers who are not on the recommended list.

Once at least two reviews are received, the Editor-in-Chief decides on the manuscript. In case of conflicting reviews, the Editor may request a third review or consult members of the Editorial Board.

Revised manuscripts should be submitted via the online submission system within the time stipulated by the Editorial Team. The Editor-in-Chief makes the decision on minor and moderate revisions and refers major revisions to at least one of the original or new reviewers to seek their recommendations before making the final decision.

Accepted manuscripts are sent to the editorial office to undergo the production process, which includes copy editing and layout.

Proofs are checked by the editorial office and sent to authors for correction. Only minor corrections can be implemented at this stage. No changes can be made after the proof has been approved for publication.

The article will be published online. Once the issue is complete, the article will be allocated page numbers.

Communicare subscribes to the practice of not changing the content of a peer review report before it is shared with authors. In some cases, peer review reports may be redacted before being shared with authors to protect the reviewer's anonymity or to tackle any inappropriate language. The changes will not alter the meaning or the verdict of the reviewer about the merit or content of the manuscript under review. In some rare instances, if peer review report is offensive or unfounded, the Editor, at their discretion, may decide not to share the report with the authors.

This policy was informed by the Committee on Publication Ethics guidelines on editing peer reviews https://publicationethics.org/resources/guidelines/editing-peer-reviews

REVIEWER GUIDELINES

Reviewers are selected based on their expertise. Reviewers are expected to be constructive by highlighting the problems and suggesting solutions and improvements, as well as pointing to the strong points of the manuscripts.

• Reviews should be conducted in the spirit of collegiality in substance and tone.
• The emphasis is on the academic merit within the context of the academic/research approach towards the study. For example, reflexive/interpretative/literary/exploratory/polemic/historical/critical or eclectic approaches must be reviewed theoretically and methodologically in the context of the nature of such approaches.
• Please ensure the confidentiality of the peer review process. Do not share, copy or discuss the manuscript with third parties during the review process.
• Please declare any conflict of interest to the Editor-in-Chief upon receipt of the manuscript.
• The reviewers should consider the quality of the article in terms of conceptual or empirical contribution to the field based on a strong conceptual premise, novel perspective and methodological rigour.
• It is expected that reviewers, where relevant, comment on such aspects as the title, introduction, problem statement/hypothesis, quality of literature review, the relevance of sources, appropriateness of research method and application, the relevance of analysis, clarity of writing, the significance of the contribution to the field's theory or practice.
• Make a recommendation to the Editor-in-Chief to:

1. accept – publish as is
2. revisions required (minor and moderate revisions)
3. resubmit for review (major revision required)
4. reject – article not suitable for publication
5. submit elsewhere (article is outside the scope of the journal)

To streamline the refereeing process, Communicare will appreciate feedback within 30 days of receiving an article or resubmission.

ETHICAL STANDARDS

Communicare is committed to upholding the integrity of the scholarly record. The journal editors, peer reviewers and authors are expected to follow the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines on professional publishing standards available from https://publicationethics.org/core-practices

Authors

Authors must ensure the following:

• The manuscript is not submitted to other journals for consideration.
• The manuscript is original work and has not been published elsewhere.
• All authors significantly contributed to the research design, execution and/or writing of the article.
• Results are based on data that was not fabricated, falsified or inappropriately manipulated.
• Authors should comply with ethical research standards.
• When suggesting the reviewers, authors must ensure that the reviewers have the correct expertise and are not connected to or aware of the work. Communicare reserves the right not to use the reviewers suggested by authors.
• Authors should declare a conflict of interest that may have influenced the work or its results. This includes disclosing funding sources or any other support for the execution of research.
• Authors should not re-submit a manuscript previously rejected by Communicare unless they were invited by the editor to do so

 Reviewers

Reviewers should disclose competing interests and may be excluded from the review process if a conflict of interest arises.

PLAGIARISM POLICY

Manuscripts submitted to Communicare will be scanned for potential plagiarism, which occurs when a person uses someone else's words, concepts, ideas, data or other work, whether written or visual, as their own original intellectual work, without adequately acknowledging the original author.

For submitted manuscripts

The Editor-in-Chief will analyse manuscripts suspected of plagiarism in consultation with the Editor or Associate Editors to determine the extent of the plagiarism.

If the material has been plagiarised, the Editorial Office will inform the corresponding author that the manuscript is rejected due to plagiarism.

In the case of extensive plagiarism, the Editor-in-Chief may report the offence to the author/s’ institution and/or funding bodies. 

Authors will be notified about the Editor-in-Chief’s response to the plagiarism.

Authors will be banned from submitting any future work to Communicare if they are found guilty of extensive plagiarism.

The person reporting the suspected plagiarism will be informed of the outcome of the probe.

For published articles

Manuscripts suspected of plagiarism will be analysed by the Editor-in-Chief in consultation with the Editor or Associate Editors to determine the extent of the plagiarism.

If the material has been plagiarised, the Editorial Office will inform the corresponding author.

In case of minor or not intentional plagiarism, a statement indicating the plagiarised material and appropriate reference will be published online.

In the case of extensive plagiarism, the article will be retracted, and a statement published acknowledging the original authorship.

Authors will be banned from submitting any future work to Communicare if they are found guilty of extensive plagiarism.

If applicable, the person reporting the suspected plagiarism will be informed of the outcome of the probe.

The Editor-in-Chief may report the offence to the author/s’ institution and/or funding bodies.

Use of AI tools

Communicare conforms to the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME) recommendations on chat bots, ChatGPT and scholarly manuscripts and the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)’s position statement on Authorship and AI tools.

AI bots like ChatGPT cannot be credited as authors on your submission.

Authors are required to explicitly mention the use of tools powered by large language models and generative AI in the manuscript (specifying which tool was used and for what purpose), ideally in the methods or acknowledgements sections.

Authors are accountable for the accuracy, validity, and appropriateness of any content produced by tools powered by large language models and generative AI. They must also verify the correctness of cited references and ensure the submission is free from plagiarism.

Editors and reviewers are required to maintain the confidentiality of the peer review process. Editors should not share details of submitted manuscripts or peer review reports with any tools based on large language models and generative AI. Reviewers must refrain from using such tools to generate review reports.

OPEN ACCESS POLICY

Communicare articles are published with open access under an Attribution - Non-Commercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

Under Creative Commons licences, authors retain the copyright of their articles. In terms of this licence, readers can copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format, and alter, transform, or build upon the material, providing the original author is credited.

CORRECTIONS AND RETRACTION POLICY

As a general rule, articles published in Communicare will not be altered or removed. However, the authors have an obligation to inform the Editorial Office if significant mistakes are uncovered. At the discretion of the Editor-in-Chief, Communicare may publish a correction or retraction if a published article contains a substantial error, such as incorrectly reported research results. The publication of a correction will be indicated in the article title and on the article landing page. Typographical and other minor errors will generally not be corrected.

Under rare circumstances involving plagiarism or data error, articles may need to be retracted or replaced in order to protect academic and research integrity. In case of retraction, Communicare will publish a notice of retraction, which will include the title and authors of the article, the reason for the retraction and who is retracting the article. The notice will be linked to the article online and be indicated on the article landing page.

 

APPEALS AND COMPLAINTS

Authors have the right to appeal a decision if they believe it to be unfair. The appeal should consist of a letter explaining the nature of the appeal and specifying why the initial decision was erroneous. The letter should be sent to the Editor-in-Chief within ten days of the decision. The Editor-in-Chief will consider the appeal and may consult the Editor, Associate Editors, or members of the Editorial Board before deciding on the appeal. The decision of the Editor-in-Chief will be final.

Complaints should be sent to the Editorial Office or the Editor-in-Chief. The Editor-in-Chief shall respond to the complaint within 15 working days (excluding university holidays).

ARCHIVING POLICY

Communicare is preserved using LOCKSS, CLOCKSS and PKP PN.

ARTICLE PROCESSING CHARGES POLICY

Communicare bills article processing charges (APCs) to cover the production costs and ensure the journal’s sustainability. APCs apply only to articles accepted for publication. In same case at the discretion of the Editors fees may be waivered or discounted for authors from African countries other than South Africa.

The authors who received APC waiver are not eligible for another waiver for 3 years.

DISCLAIMER

The views expressed in the published works do not express the views of the Editors and Editorial Staff. The authors take legal and moral responsibility for the ideas expressed in the articles. The publisher shall have no liability in the event of issuance of any claims for damages. The Publisher will not be held legally responsible should there be any claims for compensation.