Editorial Policy and Peer Review

PUBLICATION ETHICS

The Croatian Journal of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Medicine (CJAIM) adheres to the highest standards of publication ethics based on guidelines established by:

  • COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics)
  • ICMJE (International Committee of Medical Journal Editors)
  • WAME (World Association of Medical Editors)
  • Declaration of Helsinki (2024 revision) for research involving human subjects

PEER REVIEW PROCESS

All submitted manuscripts undergo rigorous double-blind peer review. Each manuscript is evaluated by at least two independent reviewers who are experts in the relevant field. The review process typically takes 8-12 weeks.

REVIEW BY ARTICLE TYPE

CJAIM uses different review pathways depending on article type:

  • Original research, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, narrative reviews: Double-blind external peer review (minimum two independent reviewers)
  • Case reports: Double-blind external peer review (minimum two independent reviewers)
  • Editorials, invited commentaries: Editorial review only (no external double-blind peer review)
  • Letters to the Editor: Editorial review (and, where appropriate, response from original authors)

EDITORIALS AND INVITED PIECES

Editorials and invited commentaries are scholarly contributions that synthesise context or highlight developments. They are not primary research reports. In line with widespread practice in peer-reviewed medical journals, such manuscripts are assessed through editorial review only, not external double-blind peer review. Published editorials are clearly labelled so readers can distinguish them from externally peer-reviewed research.

REVIEW CRITERIA

Reviewers assess manuscripts based on:

  • Originality and scientific merit
  • Methodology and statistical analysis
  • Clarity of presentation
  • Relevance to the journal's scope
  • Ethical considerations

OPEN ACCESS POLICY

CJAIM is a fully open-access journal operating under the Diamond Open Access model (also known as Platinum Open Access). This means:

  • All articles are freely available immediately upon publication
  • There are no article processing charges (APCs)
  • There are no submission fees
  • Articles are published under Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0)

Upon acceptance, authors are required to sign an Author Agreement (License to Publish) granting the journal a non-exclusive licence to publish the article. Authors retain copyright.

AUTHORSHIP

All authors must meet the ICMJE criteria for authorship:

  1. Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work
  2. Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content
  3. Final approval of the version to be published
  4. Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work

All persons designated as authors must qualify for authorship, and all those who qualify should be listed. Contributors who do not meet all criteria should be acknowledged.

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

Authors must disclose all financial and non-financial conflicts of interest that could influence the interpretation of results. This includes:

  • Funding sources
  • Employment relationships
  • Consultancies
  • Stock ownership
  • Patent applications
  • Personal relationships

EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS AS AUTHORS

Editors, editorial board members, and advisory board members may submit manuscripts to CJAIM. Their manuscripts are judged by the same criteria as any other, with the following additional safeguards:

  • The manuscript is handled by an editor who has no conflict of interest with the author - not from the same institution and not a recent collaborator. Manuscripts authored by the Editor-in-Chief are handled by a Deputy Editor.
  • The author is excluded from the entire process for their own manuscript: no access to reviewer identities, to the reviews, or to the editorial discussion, and no editorial role over that manuscript in OJS.
  • Reviewers are selected, and the final decision is taken, by the handling editor. The decision is never made by the author or by anyone who reports to the author on the editorial team.
  • The published article states that the author is a member of the editorial team and that the manuscript was handled under this procedure.

This follows COPE guidance on editor and editorial board member submissions and the Principles of Transparency (COPE/DOAJ/OASPA/WAME).

PLAGIARISM AND RESEARCH INTEGRITY

All submissions are screened for plagiarism using Crossref Similarity Check (powered by iThenticate). Plagiarism in any form is unacceptable and will result in immediate rejection or retraction. This includes:

  • Text plagiarism
  • Data fabrication or falsification
  • Image manipulation
  • Redundant publication

DATA AVAILABILITY

Authors are encouraged to make their research data available in appropriate repositories. Data availability statements should be included in manuscripts where applicable.

USE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

CJAIM applies a tiered disclosure framework for artificial intelligence and generative tools. Authors remain fully accountable for the accuracy, originality and integrity of everything they submit, including the verification of doses, clinical guidance and citations produced with such a tool.

  • Tier 1 — Linguistic assistance (grammar, spelling, light rewording): disclose in the Acknowledgements, with the tool name, version and date of use
  • Tier 2 — Research assistance (literature search and summarisation, coding help): disclose in the Methods, with the tool name and version, the prompts or prompt categories, the verification procedure, and the author responsible
  • Tier 3 — Methodological assistance (data analysis, image and figure generation, synthetic data): disclose in the Methods with full prompt transparency, model specificity, the validation procedure, and confirmation that no un-anonymised patient data was entered into public or non-secure models; synthetic data must be clearly labelled
  • AI-generated text, figures, images, or data without proper disclosure constitutes research misconduct

AI tools cannot be listed as authors, because they cannot take responsibility for the work. AI must not be used to peer review a manuscript: a manuscript is a confidential document, and entering it into an external model breaches that confidentiality. Editorial decisions are always made by a human. The full AI policy is published on the journal's site. This policy aligns with recommendations from COPE, ICMJE, and WAME regarding the responsible use of AI in scholarly publishing.

CORRECTIONS AND RETRACTIONS

Corrections: Errors identified after publication are corrected through:

  • Errata — for publisher errors
  • Corrigenda — for author errors

Retractions: Articles may be retracted in cases of:

  • Serious ethical violations
  • Unreliable findings due to misconduct or error
  • Plagiarism or duplicate publication
  • Inappropriate authorship

APPEALS AND COMPLAINTS

Authors may appeal editorial decisions by providing detailed justification. Appeals are reviewed by the Editor-in-Chief and, if necessary, additional reviewers.

EDITORIAL INDEPENDENCE

The journal maintains editorial independence from its publisher and sponsors. Editorial decisions are based solely on scientific merit and are not influenced by commercial or political considerations. The Editor-in-Chief has full authority and responsibility for the scholarly content of the journal.

PATIENT PRIVACY AND CONSENT

For case reports and studies involving patients:

  • Patient confidentiality must be protected
  • Written informed consent must be obtained for publication of identifiable information
  • Authors must follow applicable privacy laws (e.g., GDPR)

POST-PUBLICATION DISCUSSIONS

CJAIM encourages post-publication discussion through Letters to the Editor, which undergo editorial review. Authors of the original article will be given an opportunity to respond.

JOURNAL SCOPE

CJAIM publishes original research articles, review articles, case reports, editorials, and letters to the editor in the fields of:

  • Anaesthesiology
  • Intensive care medicine
  • Perioperative medicine
  • Pain medicine
  • Emergency medicine
  • Related clinical and basic medical disciplines

LANGUAGE

The journal accepts manuscripts in English. All manuscripts must be written in clear, concise English and follow standard scientific writing conventions.

This Editorial Policy is subject to periodic review and may be updated to reflect changes in best practices and journal operations.