Communications

This page presents instructions for Communications. For Research Papers, please see the Authors Guidelines page.

JIS follows COPE's (Committee on Publication Ethics) core practices in its editorial process and published materials. More than guaranteeing JIS adherence to high standards of ethical practices, JIS is committed to educating and supporting authors, reviewers, editors, readers, and all those involved in publication ethics towards more ethical practices.

Therefore, JIS recognizes the importance of post-publication commentary on published research as necessary to advancing scientific discourse. Formal post-publication commentary on published papers can address any relevant issue about a published paper and, after peer review, may be published online as Communications, usually alongside a reply from the commented paper's authors.

Communications serve to present comments directly related to the published research rather than discussing scientific development or unfoldings. Submissions intended only to point out issues that may lead to corrections or retractions must be submitted as "Request to Editors." Similarly, submissions aimed at developing further discussions with authors and readers should be posted as online comments on JIS social media.

In any case, JIS strongly encourages correspondents to contact the published paper's authors directly, as this can be enough to clarify and resolve matters arising from misunderstandings or specific doubts.

Submissions

Submissions of communications commenting on a published paper must be made to the "Communications" Section using the "Make a New Submission" functionality. 

The following points must be followed: i) Submissions should be measured in tone and not contain aggressive language. ii) Comments should have been sent to the authors of the paper before submission to JIS so that disputes could be resolved immediately. iii) Correspondences with the authors should be included as supplementary materials using the "Other" submission file type. If contact with the original authors has been unsuccessful, this should be indicated in the submission cover letter.

JIS does not consider communications on papers published in other journals. Communications on papers published more than 24 months ago are not expected and will be accepted only in extraordinary cases. Submissions not complying with this section's submission criteria and guides will not be considered.

Formatting

Manuscripts must adopt the same template used for regular submissions. Ideally, the main text should be as concise as possible and up to 1000 words. The abstract and introduction of a manuscript should contain a brief and direct paragraph summarizing its key message and be understandable for a non-specialist readership. Figures, tables, and references must be formatted according to the JIS template for regular submissions. This submission type requires a statement in the Competing Interests section (already included in the manuscript template).

Review Process

Editors-in-Chief analyze the submitted communications and then decide how to proceed considering the style and content of the submission, the potential interest to readers, and the importance and timeliness of the contribution. 

Communications that meet JIS' initial requirements will follow the editorial workflow and may be sent to the original paper's authors for a formal response. The submission and the formal response may then be sent for review by experts on the topic.

If accepted, the Communication and the response will be published, and a DOI number will be assigned to the publication. The response is included when it adds to the debate. Authors are encouraged to post their Communication online on the journal's social media profiles or an appropriate preprint server, if rejected.