Advertising & Sponsorship Policy

This policy may apply to:

• website advertising;
• issue or article-page advertising;
• sponsored announcements;
• event sponsorship;
• educational sponsorship;
• institutional partnerships;
• commercial banners or notices;
• newsletter sponsorship;
• conference or campaign sponsorship;
• promotional collaborations;
• third-party advertising networks; and
• other commercial relationships associated with the journal.

Advertisers, sponsors, donors, commercial partners, and other financial contributors must not determine:

• whether a manuscript is sent for review;
• which reviewers are invited;
• reviewer recommendations;
• whether a manuscript is accepted or rejected;
• the wording of editorial decisions;
• the timing of acceptance;
• the scientific conclusions of an article;
• whether criticism of a sponsor may be published;
• whether a correction is issued;
• whether an article is retracted; or
• how an integrity concern is handled.

Commercial benefit or potential loss of sponsorship is not a valid reason to alter a scholarly decision.

Publisher or administrative personnel may manage:

• advertising administration;
• sponsorship agreements;
• invoicing;
• website placement;
• technical implementation;
• commercial correspondence; or
• other non-editorial operational matters.

They must not use these functions to override or pressure the Editor-in-Chief or authorised editors on scientific decisions.

The journal or publisher may consider:

• relevance to a professional or scholarly audience;
• accuracy of the advertisement;
• legal compliance;
• potential conflicts of interest;
• risk of misleading health claims;
• privacy implications;
• reputational concerns;
• whether the advertiser could reasonably be mistaken for a journal sponsor or endorser; and
• whether the placement could undermine editorial independence.

Advertising may be refused where it:

• contains materially false or misleading claims;
• misrepresents scientific evidence;
• uses fabricated professional endorsements;
• promotes fraudulent publishing or academic services;
• promotes plagiarism, ghostwriting, fabricated data, or authorship-for-sale services;
• impersonates JPMHR or its publisher;
• creates a serious patient-safety concern;
• violates applicable law;
• contains discriminatory or abusive content;
• misuses confidential information;
• creates a substantial malware or cybersecurity risk; or
• is otherwise incompatible with the journal's integrity obligations.

Where health-related advertising is accepted, JPMHR should seek to ensure that:

• advertising is visibly distinguishable from editorial content;
• the advertiser is identifiable;
• unsupported efficacy or safety claims are not presented as journal findings;
• article publication does not imply endorsement of an advertised product;
• advertisement placement does not manipulate scientific context; and
• readers are not misled into believing that the advertisement has undergone peer review.

Advertising should not be designed or positioned in a way that:

• resembles a peer-reviewed article;
• resembles an editorial decision;
• appears to be part of an author's scientific conclusions;
• obscures article content;
• misleads users concerning journal endorsement;
• interferes materially with access to open-access content; or
• makes reading an article conditional on commercial interaction.

Confidential information from:

• submitted manuscripts;
• peer-review reports;
• editorial deliberations;
• unpublished research;
• reviewer profiles;
• integrity investigations; or
• other non-public editorial records

must not be used for advertising targeting.

Sponsorship may relate to:

• educational activities;
• journal events;
• conference-related activities;
• awards;
• publications or thematic initiatives;
• technical infrastructure; or
• other legitimate scholarly activities.

The sponsor's role should be disclosed where relevant.

Sponsorship must not guarantee:

• publication of an article;
• favourable peer review;
• editorial appointments;
• preferred citation;
• suppression of criticism;
• positive product coverage; or
• other scholarly advantage.

Where JPMHR publishes or hosts sponsored material, it should be labelled using clear terminology such as:

• Sponsored Content;
• Advertisement;
• Sponsored Announcement;
• Partner Message; or
• another unambiguous designation appropriate to the material.

Sponsored material must not be formatted so as to imitate a peer-reviewed research article unless it has actually undergone the journal's applicable editorial and peer-review process and its sponsorship is disclosed transparently.

Authors should disclose:

• the funding source;
• relevant grant information;
• the sponsor's role in study design;
• data collection;
• analysis;
• interpretation;
• manuscript preparation;
• decision to submit; and
• relevant competing interests.

A sponsor must not be permitted to suppress findings or require a favourable editorial outcome as a condition of publication.

The APC:

• is payable only after formal acceptance;
• does not purchase peer review;
• does not guarantee acceptance;
• does not permit authors to influence reviewer selection;
• does not purchase favourable conclusions;
• does not exempt a publication from correction or retraction; and
• must remain separate from editorial judgement.

Recusal may be appropriate where an editor:

• has a financial relationship with the sponsor;
• provides consultancy to the advertiser;
• holds relevant stock or ownership interests;
• is involved in the sponsored research;
• has another material relationship capable of affecting impartiality; or
• faces direct commercial pressure concerning the decision.

Where a special issue or collection receives external support:

• the sponsorship should be disclosed;
• JPMHR retains authority over editorial standards;
• guest editors must disclose conflicts;
• reviewers should be selected independently;
• the sponsor must not approve or veto individual manuscripts;
• acceptance must remain based on scholarly criteria; and
• conflicted submissions require independent handling.

Readers should distinguish between:

• peer-reviewed evidence;
• author opinion;
• editorial commentary;
• advertising claims;
• sponsor statements; and
• third-party promotional material.

An advertiser may not represent commercial placement in JPMHR as scientific approval by the journal unless a separate factual statement explicitly supports such a claim.

Where feasible, JPMHR should avoid placing advertisements in a manner that could reasonably suggest:

• an author endorses the product;
• the advertisement forms part of the study;
• the product has been evaluated by the article;
• the journal recommends the product because of the nearby article; or
• commercial content constitutes peer-reviewed evidence.

Where third-party advertising or analytics technology is used, the journal should consider:

• cookies;
• tracking technologies;
• device identifiers;
• third-party scripts;
• cross-site profiling;
• data retention;
• security;
• user transparency; and
• applicable consent requirements.

Confidential manuscript, reviewer, author-account, or editorial data must not be supplied to advertisers for behavioural targeting.

Advertisers or sponsors must not receive, merely because of their commercial relationship:

• confidential manuscript files;
• reviewer identities;
• peer-review reports;
• unpublished acceptance decisions;
• author personal data unrelated to the commercial transaction;
• integrity-investigation records;
• editorial deliberations; or
• other confidential journal information.

Examples include pressure to:

• accept a manuscript;
• reject competing research;
• suppress negative findings;
• remove criticism of a commercial product;
• alter an editorial;
• delay publication;
• prevent correction or retraction;
• select preferred reviewers; or
• provide confidential information.

JPMHR may discontinue or refuse sponsorship or advertising where such interference occurs.

Concerns may involve:

• misleading advertising;
• undisclosed sponsorship;
• advertiser influence;
• conflicts of interest;
• privacy violations;
• inappropriate placement;
• misrepresentation of journal endorsement; or
• another material commercial-integrity concern.

Grounds may include:

• misleading claims;
• legal concerns;
• cybersecurity risk;
• undisclosed conflicts;
• editorial interference;
• privacy concerns;
• misuse of JPMHR branding;
• significant reputational risk; or
• breach of an applicable agreement.

Depending on context, disclosure may identify:

• the sponsor;
• the nature of support;
• whether support was financial or in-kind;
• the sponsor's role;
• editorial safeguards; and
• relevant competing interests.

• ICMJE Recommendations
• COPE Guidance and Resources
• Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing

Reference to external guidance does not imply membership, accreditation, certification, or endorsement unless independently established.