Editorial Policies

Sections

 

EDITORIAL POLICIES

Individual Submissions

Single manuscripts are submitted individually through the Journal website for publication on a first-come-first-served basis. A corresponding author needs to be designated in the case of manuscripts with more than one author. The corresponding author receives all communications from the journal needed to complete the publication process. This person is responsible for conveying to the other authors as necessary any information related to the publication workflow. 

Once submission requirements are completed (see Submission Requirements), the manuscript is sent for peer review to at least two (2) knowledge experts in the field of study of the article (see Peer Review policy). 

Any comments from reviewers are sent back through the Corresponding Author for response and consideration. Appropriate revisions incorporating comments and/or responses to comments need to be sent back to the Journal Editorial Staff through the Journal platform. The Journal reserves the right to make the final decision to accept the responses, and revisions, or to reject the submission. The corresponding author is notified in a timely manner about this decision. 

Institutional Submissions

The Journal also accepts collections of several manuscripts (minimum of 11 and maximum of 15) upon request by Institutions and/or professional groups. These are intended to be published together as a single issue at a date that an Institution may request. Requirements for each manuscript are the same as those that are individually submitted (See Submission Requirements). 

A Guest Editor for this issue must be designated at the outset by the Institution. The roles and responsibilities of this person are detailed in a Conforme to be agreed with and signed by the Guest Editor. Among the responsibilities, the Guest Editor is tasked with identifying and sending out each manuscript to at least two (2) peer reviewers, sharing the comments and reviews with the Corresponding Author of each manuscript, and securing the responses and/or revisions of the manuscript. The Guest Editor then makes a recommendation to the Journal regarding the acceptance and eventual publication of the article.

The Journal Editorial Staff works closely with the Guest Editor, including helping with sending out communications to all relevant authors and reviewers through the portal.

The Journal also conducts training and familiarization in using the Journal platform (See OJS Platform) with the Institutional staff and Guest Editor/s.

A Declaration of Relationships is required from the Guest Editor. In case the Guest Editor is also an author in one or more of the manuscripts being considered for publication, he/she cannot make any editorial actions and decisions related to those manuscripts. In such instances, another Guest Editor must be designated by the Institution to work on manuscripts that the first Guest Editor is prevented from working on.

Similar to peer reviewers, any administrative and/or advisory position of the Guest Editor which may impact a decision on a submitted manuscript (e.g., Chair or Head of an institution, Training Committee member, Research Committee member, Technical adviser, Ethics adviser, etc.) are also restrictions on assignment of such Guest Editor.

A Memorandum of Agreement is signed by the Institution which details the arrangements between the Institution and the Journal. The Journal reserves the right to make final editorial decisions on articles to be included in the Institutional issue. The Journal also reserves the right to change the publication date in case the Institution and its affiliated authors cannot complete the publication requirements in a timely manner.

Authorship and CRediT Taxonomy

Introduction and Scope

This policy outlines the standards for defining authorship and contributor roles for all manuscripts submitted to Acta Medica Philippina. It adopts the Contributor Roles Taxonomy (CRediT) to provide transparency regarding individual contributions to scholarly work. This policy applies to all authors, co-authors, and researchers submitting work for publication.

Policy Statement

Acta Medica Philippina requires all submitting authors to adhere to the following rules regarding authorship:

  • Pre-Submission Resolution: All authorship issues, including the order of authors and the specific roles assigned, must be definitively resolved by the research team and all contributing authors PRIOR to manuscript submission.
  • Adoption of CRediT: Authors must utilize the CRediT taxonomy to describe each contributor's specific role in the research and writing process.
  • Final Conforme: During the copyediting phase, the journal will solicit a FINAL conforme from all listed authors to verify the accuracy of authorship and content. Withdrawal is allowed at this phase, but no reassignment or addition to the list authors will be entertained. The authors may change their affiliations or titles at this stage.
  • Finality of Certification: Once the copy editor has conducted due diligence and obtained the final conforme, no further authorship changes will be entertained by the journal.
  • Restrictions on Errata/Corrigenda: Post-publication changes to authorship via an erratum or corrigendum will only be considered upon the presentation of compelling proof of oversight or omissions by the co-authors who previously provided their conforme. The journal reserves the right to reject any corrigendum applied for by the authors and may decide to retract the publication from the website.

Procedures

  1. Submission Declaration: At the time of submission, the corresponding author must provide a statement detailing the contributions of each author based on the 14 CRediT roles.
  2. Conflict Resolution: Any disputes regarding authorship must be settled internally by the authors before the journal begins the peer-review process.
  3. Copyediting Verification: The copy editor will send the final proof to all authors, requesting a formal conforme to signify agreement with the final version of the manuscript and the author list.
  4. Post-Publication Requests: Requests for authorship amendments after publication must be submitted in writing to the Editor-in-Chief and must include documented evidence of an error that survived the conforme process.

Adoption of COPE Requirement for Ethical Approval

Introduction and Scope

The Acta Medica Philippina is committed to maintaining the highest standards of integrity, transparency, and ethical conduct in medical and health‑science publishing. The Journal adopts and implements the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Core Practices as the foundation of its editorial, peer review, and post‑publication processes.

This policy outlines the ethical responsibilities of authors, reviewers, editors, and the Journal, and establishes procedures for handling misconduct, corrections, and disputes.

This policy applies to all submissions, editorial decisions, peer review activities, and post‑publication actions involving manuscripts submitted to Acta Medica Philippina.

Policy Statements

The Journal adheres to the following COPE‑aligned principles:

A. Integrity of the Scholarly Record
  • Manuscripts must present accurate, honest, and reproducible findings.
  • Fabrication, falsification, or manipulation of data is strictly prohibited.
  • All research involving human participants or animals must include appropriate ethical approvals.
B. Authorship and Contribution Transparency
  • Authorship must follow the CRediT taxonomy.
  • All authorship issues must be resolved prior to submission.
  • The Journal will not mediate authorship disputes post‑submission unless compelling evidence of oversight or omission is provided.
C. Conflicts of Interest
  • Authors, reviewers, and editors must disclose all financial, institutional, or personal conflicts.
  • Undisclosed conflicts may lead to rejection, correction, or retraction. D. Peer Review Ethics
  • The Journal uses a single‑blind review system: reviewers remain anonymous; authors are identifiable.
  • Reviewers must:
    • Maintain confidentiality
    • Provide objective, evidence‑based evaluations
    • Avoid personal bias
    • Decline reviews when conflicts exist
E. Editorial Independence
  • Editorial decisions are based solely on scientific merit, relevance, and ethical compliance.
  • Editors must avoid conflicts of interest and recuse themselves when necessary.
F. Data Sharing and Transparency
    • Authors must provide underlying data when requested.
    • Clinical trials must include registration numbers.
    • Images, figures, and graphs must not be manipulated in ways that distort meaning. G. Ethical Oversight
    • The Journal follows COPE flowcharts for handling:
      • Plagiarism
      • Duplicate publication
      • Data fabrication/falsification
      • Authorship disputes
      • Undisclosed conflicts
      • Ethical violations in human/animal research
H. Policy Acceptance

Submission of a manuscript constitutes acceptance of this Ethical Guidelines Policy and agreement to abide by COPE‑aligned standards.

Procedures

Step 1: Misconduct Handling Procedures

a. Initial Assessment

    • Allegations of misconduct are reviewed by the Editor‑in‑Chief and the Ethics Committee.
    • The Journal may request explanations, raw data, or institutional documentation.

b. Investigation

    • Investigations follow COPE guidelines and may involve:
      • Authors
      • Reviewers
      • Institutions
      • Funding agencies

c. Outcomes

Depending on severity, actions may include:

    • Rejection of manuscript
    • Correction (erratum/corrigendum)
    • Expression of concern
    • Retraction
    • Notification to institutions or regulatory bodies

All outcomes are documented for indexing compliance.

Step 2: Post‑Publication Corrections

Corrections follow COPE standards:

    • Erratum — publisher error
    • Corrigendum — author error
    • Retraction — severe ethical breach
    • Addendum — additional clarifications
    • Expression of Concern — unresolved or ongoing investigations

Copyright to Use

Introduction and Scope

This policy establishes the copyright, licensing, and permissions framework governing all content published in Acta Medica Philippina. It ensures legal clarity, protects authors’ rights, and supports ethical dissemination of scholarly work.

Policy Statement

A. Copyright Ownership

1. Author Copyright Retention

Authors retain full copyright over their manuscripts.

Upon acceptance, authors grant Acta Medica Philippina a non‑exclusive license to publish, archive, distribute, and index the work in print and digital formats.

2. Journal Publishing Rights

By submitting and subsequently accepting publication, authors grant the Journal the right to:

  • Publish the article in print and online
  • Deposit the article in indexing services and repositories
  • Use the article for educational, promotional, and archival purposes
  • Maintain the article in perpetuity within the Journal’s official records
B. Licensing Terms

1. Open Access License

All articles are published under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license unless otherwise specified.

Under CC BY 4.0, users may:

  • Share — copy and redistribute the material; Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material
  • Provided that proper attribution is given to the authors and the Journal. 2. Author Responsibilities Under CC BY

Authors must ensure that:

  • All third‑party materials included in the manuscript have appropriate permissions
  • Copyrighted images, tables, or figures from other sources are properly licensed or cleared
  • Any restrictions on reuse are clearly disclosed in the manuscript
C. Third‑Party Content

Authors are responsible for securing permissions for any copyrighted material not covered under fair use or open licenses, including:

  • Figures, tables, or images from previously published works
  • Proprietary instruments, scales, or questionnaires
  • Multimedia content

Proof of permission must be submitted with the manuscript.

D. Self‑Archiving & Repository Deposit

1. Author Self‑Archiving Rights

Authors may deposit any version of their manuscript (preprint, accepted manuscript, or published version) in:

  • Institutional repositories
  • Funding agency repositories
  • Personal websites
  • Preprint servers

2. Required Citation

All archived versions must include:

  • Full citation of the published article
  • DOI link to the final version in Acta Medica Philippina
E. Use of Published Content

1. Educational & Non‑Commercial Use.

Readers may use published content for teaching, training, and scholarly purposes with proper attribution.

2. Commercial Use.

Commercial reuse is permitted under CC BY 4.0 provided attribution is maintained.

Requests for commercial republication of entire issues or curated collections must be directed to the Editorial Office.

F. Copyright Infringement & Ethical Compliance

The Journal follows COPE Core Practices for handling allegations of copyright infringement, including:

  • Investigation of claims
  • Communication with authors and complainants
  • Issuance of corrections, retractions, or removal of infringing content when necessary
G. Policy Acceptance

Submission of a manuscript constitutes the authors’ acceptance of this Copyright & Licensing Policy.

Open Access Policy

All Acta Medica Philippina (AMP) materials are openly accessible and readily downloadable in PDF format without the need for a subscription. The Journal has no paywall.

Link to Current Issue:
https://actamedicaphilippina.upm.edu.ph/index.php/acta/issue/current
Link to Issues:
https://actamedicaphilippina.upm.edu.ph/index.php/acta/issue/archive

The author must state in their submitted manuscript that subjects had read, signed, and possess a copy of their Informed Consent Form (ICF). The ICF must have a statement that says that the subject understood that research results can be used for publication, but that all personal identification will remain confidential.

All interventional studies (clinical trials) require a statement that individual patient ICFs have been obtained.

Copies of individual ICFs are not required for submission.

In the case of non-interventional studies and case reports, a general consent form to use patient data as obtained by the institution upon patient admission is acceptable for this purpose. A statement that such consent has received institutional legal approval however needs to be included.

Publication Processing Fees

The Journal charges processing fees to evaluate manuscript submissions from outside the Philippines. No evaluation for compliance with Journal requirements and progress of the submission will take place until complete payment is received by the Journal. Manuscripts considered inappropriate at the outset for publication by the Journal do not need to pay the processing fee.

Payment of fees do not guarantee publication.

All submissions need to comply with the requirements of the Journal as part of the quality assurance and due diligence needed to ensure transparency, integrity, and ethical conduct of scientific publications. These include the documentary requirements and undergoing peer review. Regardless of payment, manuscripts will also need to satisfy editorial decisions.

Submissions from Outside the Philippines

Material/s originating from outside of the Philippines are covered in this requirement. These include studies done and/or involving patients coming from outside of the Philippines. This applies as well to manuscripts that include some authors connected with Philippine institutions.

    • For individual manuscripts, a fee of USD 250.00 needs to be paid before any evaluation can be made.Bank transfer details will be provided upon request. Author(s) will still need to comply with submission requirements as detailed.
    • For several manuscripts that are intended to be published together in a single issue, (Institutional Issues), host institutions will need to pay USD 5,000.00. A minimum of 11 and a maximum of 15 manuscripts is recommended for these issues. Bank details will be provided upon request.

Submissions from the Philippines

Individual submissions from authors connected with Philippine public or private learning institutions currently do not need to pay the processing fee.

Individual submissions from authors connected with commercial institutions (e.g., pharmaceutical and/or marketing companies) will need to pay PhP 30,000.00. The commercial use of any published article is covered under the Section on License.

Institutional Issues (a compilation of 11-15 articles in a single issue) will require payment of a processing fee. This is set at PhP 250,000.00. Bank details will be provided upon request. No processing of manuscripts included in such institutional issues will be done prior to full payment of the processing fees.

Any study that has received institutional assistance for publication (e.g., from a sponsoring agency) will need to pay a processing fee that is at least 50% of the publication assistance received; subject to the provisions of the sponsoring agency. All submissions require an attestation of whether publication assistance was received. The Journal can provide an Acknowledgement or Official Receipt in the name of the sponsoring agency for such fees.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is defined by the Journal as the presentation of a piece of work that has been copied in whole or in part from the work of another individual or group of individuals (for example, someone else’s work, partly or in entirety, published or unpublished books, periodicals, internet sites, etc.) without proper documentation and/or acknowledgement.

Even if articles and/or work are cited, but substantial portions are incorporated, and/or very little original information is provided, it can still be considered as plagiarism. Infrequent and occasional self-citation may be allowed if found appropriate (e.g., for previously published study procedures and/or data).

The Journal uses software and editorial scrutiny to detect possible plagiarism.

Author(s) may be given the opportunity to make revisions and/or respond to clarification regarding instances of possible plagiarism.

Preprints

The Journal accepts manuscripts that have been uploaded to any preprint server. A link to the uploaded manuscript must be provided.

Appeals, Complaints, Disputes

A manuscript can be rejected for publication in Acta Medica Philippina. It can be rejected outright because it is not in a subject area that the Journal publishes (see About the Journal). Or the authors have failed to comply with submission requirements in a timely manner (see Submission Requirements). Failure to respond in an appropriate and timely manner to reviewer comments can also be a reason for rejection (see Author Responses and Revisions). Finally, failure to participate and/or approve the article galley in a timely manner can be a reason for rejection.

In such cases, an appeal, complaint, or dispute can be raised. These are reviewed according to the Editorial Policies shared on this website. Additionally, the COPE Guidelines can be used to evaluate such appeals, complaints, or disputes.
https://publicationethics.org/

Communication related to rejected manuscripts should be submitted formally to the Editor-in-Chief, either as a message in the manuscript document tracking using the submission portal or directly to the Editor-in-Chief: acta_eic.upmanila@up.edu.ph

Specific response(s) to the issue raised (e.g., the reason for manuscript rejection) should be stated as part of the appeal. Supporting documents can be provided as appropriate (e.g., timeliness of author responses).

The Journal will acknowledge receipt of this communication. An investigation of the matter will be conducted. As needed, particularly if it involves Journal Editorial policies, the Editorial Board will also be consulted.

The Journal endeavors to address this within a two (2) week period. In case extra time is needed (e.g., to gather more evidence), a notification of the need to extend the time will be sent.

Once a decision is reached, this will be shared with the complainant. These decisions are held final.

Article Withdrawal, Retractions and Corrections

Article withdrawal refers to a decision by authors to remove submitted manuscripts from further consideration in the journal. This can be done at any time during the publication workflow.

The withdrawal request must be in writing and signed by all authors. Given the time and resources invested in the peer-review process, article withdrawal must be accompanied by a strong justification for the same.

The Journal reserves the right to blacklist author(s) who requests article withdrawal with no valid reason.

Article correction refers to the issuance of a correction notice for published articles that contain errors or omissions that do not alter a paper’s scientific integrity. Authors may submit requests for corrections in writing to the journal Editorial Office. Requests for corrections shall be decided by the Editor-in-Chief considering relevant ICMJE recommendations (http://icmje.org/recommendations/browse/publishing-and-editorial-issues/corrections-and-version-control.html). Corrections will be published under erratum in a later issue of the journal.

Article retraction pertains to a mechanism for correcting the literature in relation to a published article that has serious flaws or erroneous content. Acta Medica Philippina shall consider and manage retractions consistent with the COPE retraction guidelines (https://doi.org/10.24318/cope.2019.1.4). Authors are given the opportunity to respond to claims of fraud or otherwise anomalous activity in connection with the manuscript sent by a reader.

Articles may be retracted upon approval of a submitted signed statement from all the article authors. A notice of retraction, including the reasons for the retraction, will be published. The original article will then be marked as retracted.

Data Sharing Policy

Acta Medica Philippina requires Clinical Trials to be registered in a public database and that a data-sharing statement be provided. This policy will be effective upon its publication on the Journal's website (https://actamedicaphilippina.upm.edu.ph/index.php/acta).

Clinical Trials are defined as studies that compare the effects of new tests, devices, treatments, and interventions with another.1-4 It may involve patients, healthy people, or both. All Phases (1 to 4) of a clinical trial are within the scope of this requirement. Clinical Trials involving human subjects residing in the Philippines must be compliant with the Philippine FDA Regulations on the Conduct of Clinical Trials for Investigational Products.5 A clear statement from authors that their Clinical Trial is fully compliant with such Regulations need to be included in the Methodology (or equivalent) part of the manuscript. The The journal does not verify such statements but leaves this responsibility to the authors.

Clinical Trials need to be registered as per the laws of the country where such clinical trials are conducted. The registry used for that purpose should be clearly stated in the Methodology (or equivalent) part of the manuscript.6-8 In cases where such registration is not required in the country where the clinical trial was conducted, a clear statement from the author(s) needs to be made and included in the Methodology (or equivalent) part of the manuscript. Author(s) are likewise encouraged to update the registration with the results as well as the full journal citation when the results are published.

Acta Medica Philippina requires that a statement on data sharing is included in the manuscript reporting clinical trial results in line with ICMJE recommendations.9 Data sharing statements must indicate the following: whether individual deidentified participant data (including data dictionaries) will be shared (“undecided” is not an acceptable answer); what data in particular will be shared; whether additional, related documents will be available (e.g., study protocol, statistical analysis plan, etc.); when the data will become available and for how long; by what access criteria data will be shared (including with whom, for what types of analyses, and by what mechanism). Some illustrative examples are provided on the ICMJE website.9

References
  1. National Health Service. Clinical Trials. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/clinical-trials/
  2. US FDA. Basics About Clinical Trials. https://www.fda.gov/patients/clinical-trials-what-patients-need-know/basics-about-clinical-trials
  3. WHO. Clinical Trials. https://www.who.int/health-topics/clinical-trials#tab=tab_1
  4. National Institute on Aging. US NIH. What are Clinical Trials and Studies? https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/what-are-clinical-trials-and-studies
  5. Office of the Secretary. Department of Health. Republic of the Philippines. Administrative Order No. 2020-0010 Regulations on the Conduct of Clinical Trials for Investigational Products. https://www.fda.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Administrative-Order-2020-0010.pdf
  6. WHO. International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP). https://www.who.int/clinical-trials-registry-platform
  7. US FDA. Clinical Trials. https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/search
  8. Philippine Health Research Registry. Philippine Council for Health Research and Development. https://registry.healthresearch.ph/index.php/registry
  9. International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. Clinical Trials. https://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/publishing-and-editorial-issues/clinical-trial-registration.html

Advertising Policy

Acta Medica Philippina accepts advertisements (ads) as part of its income-generating activities to sustain its ability to publish articles related to the human health sciences. It strictly reviews what will be included as advertisements in line with the purely academic and scientific nature of its publication. The Editor-in-Chief, in consultation with the Editorial Board, as needed, provides the final approval for materials that can be used as advertisements on its pages. The Journal reserves the right to reject any request for advertisement if it is found to be contrary to this policy.

The Journal does not solicit advertisements from parties who may have potential interest and/or commercial gain in an article for publication. Institutions who contract to publish an issue related to their work should discuss first with the Journal any interest in including advertisements related to a product or service that they provide. Acta Medica Philippina reserves the right to refuse any and/or all such materials requested if it is found to be contrary to this advertisement policy.

Advertisements should not be placed side by side or near an article that provides information relevant to its use as this would appear to promote its use. Commercial use of articles including (hard copy) reprints published in the Journal is not allowed without the explicit permission of the Journal. Such reprints should be used and distributed separately and in no way appear to be attached to any advertisement promoting the use of their products (drugs, supplements, devices, diagnostic procedures, etc.) discussed in the said article. Links to the published article from any commercial/promotional platform or corporate website are not allowed. Proper citation of articles in line with scientific discourse is allowed in commercial or promotional materials without the permission of the Journal.

Direct-to-patient promotions should follow the Regulations promulgated by the Philippines FDA. Prescription products of regulated products should consider this in line with the Open Access nature of Acta Medica Philippina. Advertiser represents and warrants that all advertisements and pharmaceutical products they advertise are compliant with all applicable laws, rules, and regulations in the country where the advertisement will be seen.

The Journal accepts unrestricted CME grants that involve corporate logos and taglines. The number of times an advertisement will appear in an issue of the Journal can also be agreed upon.

A contract is required detailing the mutual agreement in the publication of the advertisement. This includes an exact graphic of the intended advertisement as well as details on the page in the Journal issue where it will appear. The advertiser assumes the responsibility of ensuring the accuracy of the information contained in their advertisement. The Journal will not be responsible for incidental or consequential damage for errors in displaying a material that has been agreed with the advertiser. The advertiser also assumes all liability in case of complaints related to the advertisement, including but not limited to claims or suits for libel, violation of privacy, copyright infringement, or plagiarism.

Advertisements will not be published in the Journal issue unless payments have already been made.

The advertisement should clearly indicate the source of the material, including appropriate published references for any medical claims as well as its corporate address. A means to contact the sponsor should also be made available in case of concerns about adverse events and/or other clarifications regarding the use of the product or procedure being advertised (e.g., a Consumer Hotline).

Interested advertisers may contact the Managing Editor to discuss further details. (mmdelima@up.edu.ph)

Privacy Statement

The names and contact details provided to the journal submission portal will be used exclusively for getting in touch with the Corresponding Author concerning the submission. In line with the journal peer review policy, authors may be invited to participate in peer review of future submitted manuscripts.

Acceptance of manuscripts will not be affected by acceptance to do peer review.

All contact details are not made available to external parties. The contact details of the Corresponding Author in the publication are included to allow readers to get in touch with the authors for clarifications and other purposes which may be related to the article.