Name and Pronoun Change Policy

Requests may relate to:

• author name changes;
• changes in spelling or transliteration;
• changes in surname;
• changes in initials;
• changes in pronouns;
• changes required for personal safety or privacy;
• correction of identity-related metadata; or
• other legitimate identity-related updates.

This policy applies principally to author-identification information and does not replace the journal's general correction policy for scientific or factual errors.

JPMHR aims to:

• respect an author's current name and pronouns;
• avoid requiring disclosure of unnecessary personal details;
• preserve accurate authorship attribution;
• maintain DOI and citation continuity;
• update publication metadata where feasible;
• avoid unnecessary public disclosure of the former name;
• minimise administrative burden; and
• apply reasonable safeguards against fraudulent requests.

Changes may arise from many circumstances, including:

• marriage or divorce;
• gender transition;
• cultural or religious reasons;
• change in transliteration;
• personal preference;
• professional identity;
• correction of earlier publication inconsistency;
• safety or privacy concerns; or
• other personal circumstances.

The author need not select or disclose a category unless that information is necessary to resolve a specific administrative issue.

The request should ordinarily identify:

• the author's current name;
• the name currently displayed on the publication;
• the desired updated name;
• the affected article title or titles;
• the DOI or article URL where available; and
• any related metadata that should also be updated.

Requests may be sent to:

Editorial Office
editor@jpmhr.com

Verification may include:

• contact through the email address associated with the submission;
• confirmation through an institutional email address;
• confirmation through an existing journal account;
• ORCID or other scholarly-identity information where appropriate;
• direct confirmation from the corresponding author where relevant; or
• another reasonable method proportionate to the risk of impersonation.

JPMHR should avoid requesting intrusive personal documentation where less burdensome verification is sufficient.

JPMHR should not routinely require:

• marriage certificates;
• divorce records;
• court orders;
• gender-recognition documents;
• identity-change certificates; or
• other sensitive legal documentation

where the author's identity can be reasonably verified through a less intrusive method.

Updates may include:

• article landing-page author name;
• PDF or other full-text version;
• HTML full text where applicable;
• citation metadata;
• author metadata;
• ORCID association where applicable;
• table of contents;
• issue metadata; and
• other journal-controlled records containing the former name.

Technical limitations may prevent simultaneous modification of every downstream system, but JPMHR should update journal-controlled records and metadata within its reasonable control.

A conventional correction notice may unnecessarily:

• preserve the former name in public metadata;
• draw attention to private personal circumstances;
• create unwanted disclosure;
• expose an author to discrimination or harassment; or
• defeat the purpose of the requested change.

Accordingly, JPMHR may update the article directly without publishing a separate notice where the change concerns identity information and does not alter the scientific content or authorship itself.

A notice may be considered where the matter involves:

• addition or removal of an author;
• change in authorship order arising from an authorship dispute;
• correction of an incorrectly attributed author;
• fraudulent or mistaken authorship;
• major changes affecting responsibility for the work; or
• another issue requiring transparent amendment of the scholarly record.

Such matters are authorship corrections rather than routine name changes.

JPMHR should:

• use the author's current requested pronouns where relevant;
• avoid unnecessary publication of former pronouns;
• update journal-controlled profile information where feasible; and
• avoid requiring an explanation of personal circumstances.

JPMHR should ordinarily preserve:

• the existing DOI;
• the original publication date;
• volume and issue details;
• article pagination or article number;
• publication history; and
• other citation elements unrelated to the author's identity update.

The updated name becomes the preferred author representation in journal-controlled metadata.

External systems may include:

• DOI registration infrastructure;
• indexing services;
• library catalogues;
• repositories;
• search engines;
• citation databases;
• researcher-profile services; and
• other scholarly discovery systems.

Once JPMHR has updated its own records, the journal may take reasonable steps to transmit updated metadata where supported.

Historical copies, cached pages, independent repositories, or third-party databases may retain earlier metadata outside JPMHR's direct control.

An ORCID iD can help connect publications across:

• name changes;
• different transliterations;
• changes in initials;
• changes in institutional affiliation; and
• different publication systems.

ORCID is supportive but is not a prerequisite for JPMHR to consider a legitimate name-change request.

A name change normally concerns the identity representation of the requesting author and does not alter:

• authorship eligibility;
• author order;
• scientific responsibility;
• contribution statements; or
• the substantive content of the publication.

Where a request would affect another author's identity or the composition of the author list, additional confirmation may be necessary.

A name change:

• preserves the same underlying author;
• does not change authorship order;
• does not alter contribution attribution; and
• does not normally require an authorship investigation.

Requests involving a different person or disputed authorship require separate editorial assessment.

JPMHR should avoid unnecessarily recording, publishing, or sharing:

• the personal reason for the change;
• gender-transition information;
• marital information;
• legal documentation;
• personal safety concerns;
• former identity details; or
• other sensitive information not required for implementation.

Where an author indicates that continued publication of a former name creates a credible safety risk, JPMHR should consider:

• limiting internal access to the request;
• avoiding public correction notices;
• removing unnecessary former-name references from journal-controlled pages;
• updating metadata promptly where feasible; and
• communicating only the minimum information necessary to technical or indexing services.

Further verification may be appropriate where:

• the requester cannot establish a connection with the publication;
• multiple persons claim to be the same author;
• a proposed change would effectively replace one author with another;
• co-authors report a genuine authorship dispute;
• the request appears intended to conceal misconduct; or
• other credible evidence indicates that the request is not a routine identity update.

Additional verification should remain proportionate to the specific concern.

If an article is subject to:

• a correction;
• Expression of Concern;
• retraction;
• authorship investigation; or
• other formal scholarly-record action,

the author's updated name should ordinarily be used without removing the legitimate publication-history record.

Concerns may include:

• incorrect implementation;
• unnecessary disclosure of a former name;
• failure to update journal-controlled metadata;
• privacy concerns;
• procedural delay; or
• another material issue.

• COPE Guidance and Resources
• ORCID
• DOI Foundation

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