About the Journal

Revised and Updated: Aug, 28 2023
Aim and Scope

"Galician Medical Journal" is a double-blinded peer-reviewed scholarly journal dedicated to advancing and sharing medical knowledge, experience, and meaningful scientific communication in the field of medicine. The aim and scope of the journal covers the following key areas:

  • Internal Medicine and Pathology: The journal welcomes original research articles, comprehensive reviews, and clinical case reports that contribute to the understanding of disease mechanisms, diagnostic techniques, and therapeutic approaches within the domains of internal medicine and pathology, including experimental studies.
  • Dentistry: The journal invites scholarly works focused on various aspects of dentistry, including oral health, dental innovations, clinical studies, and advancements in dental procedures.
  • Medical Education: In recognition of the importance of training future medical professionals, the journal seeks articles that would contribute to the development of medical education, i.e. exploring educational methodologies, developing curriculum, and other vital aspects of medical education within the field of internal medicine and dentistry.

Founder and Publisher: Ivano-Frankivsk National Medical University
ISSN 2414-1518 (English ed. Online) ISSN 2306-4285 (Ukrainian ed. Print)
ID in the Register of Media Entities - R30-01104

The Editorial Team supports the Sustainable Development Goals to accelerate the pace of progress in achieving the target goals in "Good Health and Well-Being" according to the aim and scope of the journal. Aiming to reach these goals, the Editorial Team adheres to the strategy of Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion to prevent any unlawful discrimination defined in C4DISC Principles. We respect everyone and provide our readers, authors, referees, editorial board members, and other stakeholders with equal opportunities to contribute to the development of medicine and medical science via the Galician Medical Journal.

The journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), adhering to their guidelines and principles of publication ethics.

Indexing and Listing

Indexing: WoS ESCI, CABI, DOAJ, Google Scholar, WorldCat, BASE, CORE

Listed in: Ulrich’s, Journalytics Medicine, Sherpa Romeo

Publication Schedule

"Galician Medical Journal" is a quarterly published journal. The scheduled release of issues is as follows:

  • Issue No. 1: March
  • Issue No. 2: June
  • Issue No. 3: September
  • Issue No. 4: December

The Editorial Office is pleased to announce the "Online First" publication of accepted manuscripts, aimed at immediately sharing knowledge within the medical community. These articles will be continuously published throughout the year and will include a minimal set of bibliographic details such as a publication date, article number, and DOI. The "Online First" version will be removed after the article is assigned to the published volume/issue.

Publication Ethics Statement

Authors wishing to publish their papers in Galician Medical Journal are asked to abide to the following rules:

  • Authorship and authors' contributions to the paper need to be fully and accurately disclosed (see here).
  • Any facts that might be perceived as a possible conflict of interest of the author(s) need to be disclosed in the paper prior to submission (Conflict of Interest Statement see here).
  • All funding of the research needs to be precisely disclosed.
  • Authors should accurately present their research findings and include an objective discussion of the significance of their findings.
  • Data and methods used in the research need to be presented in sufficient detail in the paper, so that other researchers can replicate the work.
  • Plagiarism, data fabrication and image manipulation are not tolerated. Simultaneous submission of manuscripts to more than one journal is not tolerated.
  • Republishing content is not tolerated (including an English translation of a paper that is already published in another language is not tolerated).
  • If errors and inaccuracies are found by the authors after publication of their paper, those need to be promptly communicated to the editors of this journal, so that editors can issue a correction, updates or retraction of the paper.
Authorship

All authors should have made substantial contributions to all of the following:

  • the conception and design of the study, or acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data;
  • drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content;
  • final approval of the version to be submitted.

Authorship needs to be disclosed in the "Title page" file.

Conflict of Interest

The editorial board of the journal provides authors with the highest quality review service by a team of peer reviewers who are able to judge the quality of the manuscript being fully independent of disqualifying conflicts of interest.

All authors are requested to disclose any conflicts of interest, including any financial, personal or other relationships with other people or organizations that could inappropriately influence, or be perceived to influence, their work.

We, the Editorial Office of the journal, respect and support the request of the authors not to involve some reviewers if these requests are well-grounded and reasonable. If misconduct by reviewers is suspected, we adhere to COPE guidelines and terminate the cooperation with the reviewers providing us with poor-quality and untimely reviews.

All reviewers are requested to declare any potential conflicts of interest to the journal editor before undertaking any peer review. If questions being not under consideration by COPE guidelines arise or new types of research misconduct are suspected the editorial board of the journal appeals to the COPE.

All conflicts of interest should be indicated by authors in the "Title page" file.

Statement of Human and Animal Rights

All research, submitted for consideration for possible publication, must have been conducted according to ethical principles stated in the international and local guidelines.

When submitting the manuscript to Galician Medical Journal for consideration, authors should indicate whether human subjects research was conducted in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and according to the WMA DECLARATION OF HELSINKI – ETHICAL PRINCIPLES FOR MEDICAL RESEARCH INVOLVING HUMAN SUBJECTS.

When authors report research experiments on animals, it should be declared whether the research was conducted according to the institutional and national Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals and Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals.

This information should be indicated in the "Title page" file.


Authors, reporting research involving human subjects, should indicate obtaining patients' informed consent, based on the WMA DECLARATION OF HELSINKI – ETHICAL PRINCIPLES FOR MEDICAL RESEARCH INVOLVING HUMAN SUBJECTS. Informed consent should be obtained if there is any doubt that anonymity can be maintained.

Any identifying information, such as names, initials, or hospital numbers, should not be available in the manuscript text, photographs, etc (if such information is essential for scientific aims, a written informed consent for publication should be obtained from the patient).

Informed Consent should be stated in the "Title page" file.

Data Availability Policy

Availability of datasets underlying the results provides a wide range of benefits to the scientific community. This promotes cooperation, time reduction, research reproducibility, results verification, and the effectiveness of further studies in the field. The Galician Medical Journal encourages authors to share the primary data (but not limited to raw data, supporting metadata, and dictionaries) upon reasonable request or making them publicly available (by hosting on institutional repositories, special services like figshare [https://figshare.com/] or Zenodo [https://zenodo.org/]).

Authors should declare the data availability in the "Title page" file according to data sharing model they prefer.

If the data are available via data sharing platform, the URL or persistent identifier should be provided. Authors should cite their publicly available dataset in Methods section of the manuscript alongside with "Data Availability Statement". Another option of data availability is hosting supplementary files (see Instructions for Authors, section “Supplementary Material”).

In case of "data sharing upon request", authors should disclose details "to whom" and "what" data will be shared, for what purpose the data can be obtained, third-party restrictions, time frame or embargo period (if any), if there are any additional data (study protocols, methods, algorithms, analysis plan) available.

For studies involving human subjects, shared data should be de-identified and authors should prevent public availability of any sensitive data.

If there are no underlying data or no new data generated, authors should state "Data sharing not applicable".

The editors will not consider manuscripts without “Data Availability Statement” ("Title page" file) or reasonable explanation of data access restriction.

Citations & Plagiarism

Authors must cite timely and verified (peer-reviewed) scientific literature, relevant to the article, to prove any hypothesis or claims in the article.

At the same time, authors must avoid inappropriate, excessive, and not-relevant citation (including self-citation) or citation manipulation.

We suggest become familiar with COPE guidelines about citation manipulation (https://doi.org/10.24318/cope.2019.3.1)


Authors must avoid plagiarism. Any data, illustrations, materials, ideas, text taken from any materials should be cited.

Plagiarism includes direct copying text, with/without paraphrasing a source without proper citation, self-plagiarism (reusing your own work, including its translation; salami-publication), patchwork plagiarism.

The Editorial Team of "Galician Medical Journal" uses Crossref Similarity Check Powered by iThenticate.

Each manuscript is checked for plagiarism before the peer-review stage. Editors may resubmit a manuscript for similarity check at any peer-review or production stage if required.

Similarity check report is analyzed individually for each manuscript using the COPE flowcharts, if applicable. If plagiarism/self-plagiarism is found, the authors will be informed.

Overlapping can be not considered as plagiarism in the Methods section, if method description is common for such kind of research.

Crossref Similarity Check logo
Peer Review

Manuscripts submitted to "Galician Medical Journal" undergo a comprehensive review process to ensure their suitability for publication.

Upon manuscript submission, it undergoes an initial assessment by the Editor-in-Chief to evaluate its potential novelty and contribution into the field, originality, serious scientific drawbacks, and ensure adherence to plagiarism guidelines outlined by COPE. Then, manuscript is assigned to Managing Editor (and Associate Editor), undergoes peer review stage. This stage involves at least two independent external reviewers, that are invited based on their areas of expertise according to past publications. Additionally, to the recommendations of external reviewers, the editorial comments are provided. In case of conflict between external reviewers’ opinion, the feedback given by additionally involved Editorial Board Member is provided. The manuscript may be published without alteration (acceptance decision), returned for revisions - minor or major revisions, or rejected. Usually, major revisions will require additional peer review round(s); however, in cases where substantial revisions are deemed necessary and would significantly affect the entirety of the manuscript, the rejection decision may be considered.

The identification of issues related to methodology, study design, or settings will result in the decision to reject the submission. Should Editor(s)/reviewers express concerns regarding data analysis, the Editorial Office may request the sharing of primary data and/or verification of the statistical analysis. Furthermore, if any evidence of data fabrication or image manipulation is discovered, the manuscript will face rejection.

Our commitment to quality includes periodic editorial reviews of peer review practices to identify avenues for improvement. We ensure reviewers are appropriately trained, equipped with the latest guidelines, recommendations, and technological advancements in the peer review process.

When selecting reviewers, editors prioritize transparency and impartiality. Reviewers are asked to disclose any potential competing interests before accepting the review assignment. Editors then grant reviewers access to all relevant materials crucial for a comprehensive manuscript evaluation.

When (co)authorship involves an Editorial Board Member, the peer review stage is exclusively overseen by the Editor-in-Chief and Senior Editor. The principles of transparent peer review are preserved, however without involving any other Editorial Board Members, and only external peer reviewers are invited for assessment. In cases where conflicting opinions arise among reviewers, additional external reviewer(s) may be invited (1-2, depending on the complexity of the situation).

The submission, wherever Editors of this journal are (co)authors, are prohibited. The Editorial Staff may publish only editorial notes, that reflect Editorial Office opinions, points of view, inform potential audience about changes in journal life cycle, updating policies, etc.

Guide for Reviewers

Peer reviewing is a form of collaboration between authors, journal editors, and other experts in a research field. Reviewer feedback is of critical importance for evaluating a manuscript. At the same time, such form of collaboration helps in improving the manuscript.

Being a peer reviewer means providing comments, suggestions, and recommendations, as well as getting involved in journal community, which allows you to keep track of the latest research trends and improve your skills in academic writing.

The Galician Medical Journal uses double-blind review, which means that both authors and referees are kept anonymous. However, there are several options to get the recognition for your review efforts (registering in Web of Science Researcher Profile - https://webofscience.help.clarivate.com/en-us/Content/peer-review-in-wos-researcher-profile.html, downloading the “Certificate of Reviewing”, and attaching it to your CV).

Rigorous peer review is a vital part of the publishing process at the Galician Medical Journal. To assist reviewers, the Editorial Office staff collects useful sources at https://ifnmujournal.com/gmj/resources#Reviewers

The review process includes several stages. First, the editors assign the referees and send request emails with links, due dates (the response due date is 1 week, the review due date is 2 weeks; the Editorial Office may extend deadlines if there is a review deadline extension request), title of the paper and abstract. Using these links, potential reviewers are than redirected to the Journal website to accept or decline a request to review. Before accepting an invitation, reviewers are asked to disclose any competing interests (if a competing interest exists, it will be handled by the editor according to the COPE guidelines, if applicable). If the invitation is accepted, reviewers are redirected to Stage 2 (guidelines). Stage 3 provides access to all necessary files and contains a survey aimed to help the reviewer in focusing on evaluation report depending on the type of manuscript (research, review, case report, letter to editor), and comment fields. Please note that comments in the text field are of utmost importance, as they should include substantial and clear suggestions/recommendations/notes for authors, explaining the reviewers' responses to survey questions. If a reviewer requires additional communication with the handling editor, this can be facilitated through an additional text field located at the bottom of the page or by initiating a discussion after submitting the review. Upon providing feedback, reviewers are directed to Stage 4, where they can download their "Certificate of Reviewing." Additionally, the editor sends acknowledgments to reviewers via email.

If you have any technical issues with submitting the reviewer report, please contact the Editorial Office (editor@ifnmujournal.com) or the editor who requested a review.

If you feel inspired to become a member of our reviewer community, please fill in the form: https://forms.office.com/r/cgnwyijXm8

Article-processing Charges (APC) and Fees

"Galician Medical Journal" is non-profit and designed to promote open access without any Article Processing Charges (APC) or fees. Currently, the journal is supported by sponsors. Nevertheless, in line with our commitment to sustaining open access and aligning with the Sustainable Development Goals (advancing progress within "Good Health and Well-Being"), adhering to the strategy of Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (C4DISC), we kindly encourage our audience to consider making voluntary donations. These donations will help us to develop the journal, enhance technical support, implement new trends in publishing and support the journal's mission.

While electronic publication costs are covered by sponsors, we offer traditional hard print versions of published issues on a subscription basis. Individuals or organizations interested in obtaining the printed version are welcome to contact the editorial office for further details.

Open Access

This is an open access journal which means that all content is freely available without charge to the user or his/her institution. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. This is in accordance with the BOAI definition of open access.

Our journal's Open Access policies can be found on Sherpa Romeo at https://v2.sherpa.ac.uk/id/publication/43784.

Copyright Notice

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

  • Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY-NC) that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
  • Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
  • Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
Preservation and Deposit

Galician Medical Journal is currently archived in Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine and PKP Preservation Network.

Authors are allowed to deposit the submitted version, accepted version (Author Accepted Manuscript) and the published version (VoR) in any institutional or other repository, share in social media, without any embargo (additional information - see Resources for Authors).

Complaints Process

In case of disagree with reviewer comments, it is required to provide evidence and/or information in response to comments via opening discussion at peer-review stage.

If authors want to submit a complaint, or if they have any questions, please feel free to write us:

Principal Contact (Editor-in-Chief)
Oksana Popadynets, professor
Ivano-Frankivsk National Medical University
Email: glvisnyk@ifnmu.edu.ua

Support Contact
Taras Kotyk, associate professor
Ivano-Frankivsk National Medical University
Email: tkotyk@ifnmu.edu.ua

Sponsors

The Sponsoring Organization of Galician Medical Journal is Ivano-Frankivsk National Medical University

The Partners:

  • Open Science in Ukraine (Crossref Sponsors)
  • Scientific Society of Anatomists, Histologists, Embryologists and Topography Anatomists of Ukraine
Support

Taras Kotyk (tkotyk@ifnmu.edu.ua)