Journal Policies

1. Editorial & Peer Review Process

The Journal of Ayurveda Academia places great importance on academic rigor and fairness, which is why it follows a double-blind peer review system. In this model, the identities of both the author and the reviewers are kept hidden from one another throughout the evaluation process. This mutual anonymity is designed to eliminate bias, ensuring that a manuscript is judged strictly on the strength of its research, methodology, and findings rather than on who wrote it or any personal or institutional reputation attached to it. This approach also helps protect early-career researchers and those from lesser-known institutions from being unfairly overlooked in favor of more established names in the field.

The journey of a manuscript begins with an initial editorial screening, where the editorial team checks whether the submission aligns with the journal's scope, follows basic formatting expectations, and meets a minimum threshold of academic quality. Manuscripts that fall outside the journal's subject focus, or that are clearly incomplete or poorly structured, may be returned to the author at this early stage without proceeding further, saving both the author and reviewers unnecessary time. Papers that clear this first stage are then sent out to a minimum of two independent, subject-matter expert reviewers who evaluate the work in depth — examining everything from the validity of the research design to the clarity of the conclusions drawn, as well as the relevance of the study to the broader field of Ayurveda and allied health sciences.

Once the reviewers have submitted their detailed feedback and recommendations, the responsibility of making the final call rests with the Editor-in-Chief, who weighs the reviewers' comments alongside the manuscript's overall contribution to the field before arriving at a decision. They may choose to accept the manuscript, reject it, or send it back to the author with a request for major or minor revisions based on reviewer comments. It's important for authors to understand that once this editorial decision is made, it is considered final and binding — there is no appeals process built into the policy, so decisions are not open to negotiation or reversal, and authors are encouraged to carefully address all reviewer feedback in any resubmission to improve the manuscript's chances of acceptance.

2. Publication Ethics & Malpractice

Upholding ethical research practices is central to the journal's mission, and JAA aligns itself with the standards laid out by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), a globally recognized body that sets benchmarks for ethical conduct in academic publishing. By adhering to these internationally accepted guidelines, the journal aims to maintain the trust of its readers, contributors, and the broader academic community.

Authors submitting to the journal are required to ensure that their work is entirely original — meaning it hasn't been copied from elsewhere and hasn't already been published, in full or substantial part, in any other journal or outlet, including as a preprint or conference paper without proper disclosure. The journal maintains a zero-tolerance stance toward several forms of misconduct, including plagiarism (using someone else's work without proper credit), fabrication (making up data or results), falsification (manipulating data to misrepresent findings), and duplicate submission (submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal at the same time). Any manuscript found to involve such practices, whether before or after publication, is subject to immediate corrective action, which may include rejection, retraction, or a formal notice to the author's affiliated institution.

Beyond the content itself, the journal also cares about who gets credit for the work. Every person listed as an author must genuinely satisfy recognized authorship criteria — meaning they made a substantial contribution to the research, not just a peripheral or honorary one, and all authors are expected to have reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript before submission. Additionally, if any author has a financial, personal, or professional relationship that could be seen as influencing the research or its interpretation, this conflict of interest must be transparently disclosed at the time of submission. In the event that any accusations of misconduct surface — whether during review or after publication — the journal commits to investigating and resolving them in accordance with established ethical guidelines and best practices in the field, involving institutional authorities where necessary to ensure a fair and thorough resolution.

3. Publication Charges

As is common practice among many academic and open-access journals, JAA levies an Article Processing Charge (APC) to help offset the costs associated with peer review coordination, editorial work, typesetting, hosting, and long-term archiving. These charges enable the journal to remain freely accessible to readers worldwide while still covering the operational expenses that go into producing a professionally edited and properly indexed publication. The only exception to this fee applies to invited articles, which are published free of charge as a courtesy to authors specifically invited to contribute.

Beginning January 1, 2026, the revised fee structure will apply as follows, based on the author's country of origin:

• Authors based in India will be charged ₹3,000
• Authors from SAARC member countries (such as Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives) will be charged $100 USD
• Authors from all other countries outside the SAARC region will be charged $200 USD

One detail authors should keep in mind is that this charge is only applicable after a manuscript has successfully passed peer review and been formally accepted — you are never asked to pay simply to have your paper considered or reviewed, which helps ensure that the review process remains free from any financial pressure or bias. Additionally, the journal recognizes that not every author is in the same financial position, so in exceptional or genuinely difficult circumstances, authors may formally request a waiver or reduction of the APC. Such requests are reviewed and approved entirely at the journal's discretion, on a case-by-case basis, and authors are generally encouraged to submit these requests along with a brief explanation at the time of manuscript acceptance.

4. Payment & Refund Policy

Once a manuscript clears peer review and receives formal acceptance, the journal's editorial office will reach out with official payment instructions. These instructions typically include multiple payment channels — such as direct bank transfer, UPI (for Indian authors), or other online payment gateways — to make the process as convenient as possible depending on the author's location and preferred method of transaction.

It's important to note that the publication process does not move forward until the payment has been received and officially confirmed by the journal. In other words, acceptance alone does not guarantee immediate publication; the payment step is a required checkpoint in between, and delays in payment may correspondingly delay the article's scheduled publication date. For their own records and in case of any future disputes or queries, authors are strongly advised to save and retain proof of their transaction, such as a receipt, confirmation email, or transaction ID, which may be requested by the editorial office to verify successful payment.

The journal maintains a strict no-refund stance once an Article Processing Charge has been paid — this holds true regardless of the circumstances surrounding the request, and authors are encouraged to carefully review all policies before initiating payment. However, the policy does account for genuine payment errors: if an author accidentally overpays or submits a duplicate payment, that excess amount won't be lost. Instead, it will be credited and adjusted against a future submission to the journal, provided the author notifies the editorial office of the discrepancy in a timely manner.

There are also specific situations in which no refund will be issued under any condition — these include cases where an author chooses to withdraw their manuscript after payment, instances where plagiarism is later discovered in the published or submitted work, and situations involving legal disputes of any kind. Authors are therefore strongly advised to finalize their decision to publish, and to ensure the originality and accuracy of their work, before proceeding with payment.

5. Copyright & Licensing

One reassuring aspect of publishing with JAA is that authors are not required to sign away ownership of their work — copyright remains with the author at all times, giving them continued control over how their research is used and represented elsewhere. However, in order to make the research freely and legally shareable, all published articles are released under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0), one of the most widely recognized open-access licensing frameworks in academic publishing today.

In practical terms, this license means that other researchers, students, or readers are free to share, copy, and even adapt or build upon the published work — but only for non-commercial purposes, such as academic study, teaching, or further research. Anyone using the work must give proper credit to the original author(s), and if they create a modified or derivative version, they are required to distribute that new version under this exact same license, keeping the same open terms alive for future users as well. Should any individual or organization wish to use the work for commercial purposes — such as in a paid product, textbook, or service — they would need to seek explicit prior permission from either the journal, the authors, or both, ensuring that commercial exploitation of the research does not occur without proper authorization and compensation where applicable.

6. Open Access Policy

JAA operates as a fully open-access journal, which is a significant commitment in academic publishing. This means that every single article published in the journal is made freely available online, with no subscription fees, paywalls, or institutional login requirements standing between the research and its readers.

Anyone in the world — whether a fellow researcher, a student, a practitioner, or simply an interested member of the public — is free to read, download, copy, and further distribute the published content. The only expectation placed on readers is that they provide proper citation when referencing or reusing the material, giving appropriate credit to the original authors and the journal.

7. Archiving & Long-Term Preservation

Recognizing that the value of published research extends far beyond its initial release, the journal has put systems in place to ensure its long-term survival and accessibility, understanding that scholarly work often continues to be referenced and built upon for decades after its original publication date. This is achieved through secure digital archiving practices combined with deposits into recognized institutional repositories, which serve as independent, redundant backups of the journal's complete body of published work.

The goal of this approach is to guarantee that published content remains permanently accessible to readers and researchers, safeguarding the journal's body of work against risks such as website downtime, technical failures, or even the unlikely event of the journal ceasing operations in the future. This commitment to preservation reflects the journal's understanding that authors entrust their research to JAA not just for immediate visibility, but for its lasting place within the broader scientific record.

8. Data Sharing Policy

In keeping with growing trends toward transparency and reproducibility in scientific research, JAA encourages (though does not strictly mandate) authors to include a data availability statement within their manuscript. This statement typically explains where interested readers can access the underlying data used in the study, or clarifies if the data is restricted for privacy or ethical reasons, such as when the research involves sensitive patient information or proprietary formulations.

Where it's practical and relevant to do so, authors also have the option to submit their supporting datasets directly as supplementary files alongside their main manuscript, making it easier for other researchers to verify, replicate, or build upon the study's findings. This practice not only strengthens the credibility of the published research but also contributes to a more collaborative and transparent scientific culture within the field of Ayurvedic studies.

9. Ethical Approval Policy

For any research involving human participants or animal subjects, the journal requires that authors clearly document and disclose the ethical approval obtained prior to conducting the study. This typically involves approval from an institutional ethics committee or review board and helps confirm that the research was conducted responsibly and in line with accepted ethical standards, protecting the rights, safety, and wellbeing of all individuals involved in the study.

Wherever applicable, authors must also confirm that informed consent was properly obtained from human participants before their involvement in the study, ensuring that all subjects were fully aware of the nature, purpose, and any potential risks associated with their participation. Additionally, if the submitted research involves a clinical trial, the journal requires that it be registered with an appropriate regulatory authority — such as the Clinical Trials Registry of India (CTRI) — as a standard practice for ensuring transparency and accountability in clinical research, and the corresponding registration number should typically be included within the manuscript itself.

10. Timeline From Submission to Publication

For authors curious about how long the overall process might take, the journal provides an approximate timeline for each stage, giving contributors a realistic sense of when they can expect updates and allowing them to plan accordingly for their own academic or professional deadlines:

• Initial screening: Typically completed within 5–7 days of submission, during which the editorial team checks basic suitability, scope alignment, and formatting.
• Peer review: Generally takes between 30–35 days, as reviewers thoroughly evaluate the manuscript's content, methodology, and overall contribution to the field.
• Final decision: Authors can expect to receive a final verdict — acceptance, rejection, or revision request — within 45–50 days from the original submission date, along with detailed reviewer comments where applicable.
• Publication: Once a manuscript is accepted and the required payment is confirmed, the actual publication typically follows within 8–10 days, after which the article is assigned its final formatting and made live on the journal's platform.

These timelines offer a general guide, though actual processing times may vary depending on reviewer availability, the complexity of the submitted research, and the volume of manuscripts the journal is handling at any given time.

11. DOI Assignment & Indexing

Every article published in JAA is assigned a unique Digital Object Identifier (DOI) through CrossRef, a service that provides authors with a stable, citable reference for their work regardless of where it may later be hosted, mirrored, or archived online. This DOI acts as a permanent digital address for the article, making it easily citable, discoverable, and traceable even if web addresses or hosting platforms change over time, which is particularly valuable for authors who wish to reference their published work in future research, grant applications, or academic profiles.

12. Ownership & Governance

The Journal of Ayurveda Academia is published under the umbrella of AYURVEDA PANDIT, a publication house based near J.N.B. School, in Village Post Office Paprola, Tehsil Baijnath, in the Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh, India (PIN code 176115). This regional grounding reflects the journal's connection to the broader tradition of Ayurvedic scholarship while its editorial reach and readership extend well beyond local or national boundaries.

Despite operating under this publishing house, the journal's editorial board functions with complete and full academic independence, meaning that decisions about what gets published are made purely on academic and scientific merit, free from any undue commercial or institutional pressure. This separation between ownership and editorial decision-making is a core principle intended to protect the scholarly integrity of every article that appears in the journal.

13. Privacy & Confidentiality Policy

The journal takes the privacy of everyone involved in its publishing process seriously, recognizing that authors, reviewers, and editorial staff alike share sensitive information as part of the submission and evaluation process. Any personal information submitted by authors or reviewers — such as contact details, institutional affiliations, or identifying information — is kept strictly confidential throughout the process and is not disclosed to unauthorized parties at any stage.

This data is used exclusively for purposes directly tied to manuscript handling, peer review coordination, and publication-related communication, and is not shared with third parties or used for any unrelated purpose, such as marketing or unrelated research activities. Authors and reviewers can therefore engage with the journal's editorial process with confidence that their personal and professional information remains protected.

14. Withdrawal Policy

Authors retain the right to withdraw their manuscript from consideration at any point before it receives formal acceptance, provided they offer a valid and reasonable justification for doing so — this might include reasons like discovering an error, wanting to submit elsewhere, identifying a more suitable journal for their work, or other legitimate concerns that arise during the review process. Authors wishing to withdraw are typically expected to formally notify the editorial office in writing, outlining their reasons for the request.

However, once a manuscript has been formally accepted for publication, withdrawal is no longer permitted under the journal's policy, as significant editorial and administrative resources have already been committed to the article by that stage. Even after an article has been published, removal from the record is only considered in genuinely serious situations — such as confirmed cases of ethical misconduct or active legal disputes surrounding the content — and any such removal would follow a formal review process to ensure it is warranted and properly documented.