Commitment to Open Science

JAFF adopts editorial practices aligned with the principles of Open Science, promoting transparency, collaboration, and reproducibility in knowledge production.

• Preprints: Manuscripts previously deposited in recognized preprint repositories, such as SciELO Preprints, are accepted. Submission to these repositories is not mandatory and does not prevent simultaneous submission to JAFF, provided that the DOI and the repository server are properly indicated.
• Data sharing: Authors are encouraged to make their research data available in open and publicly accessible repositories. The journal recommends using the repositories suggested by SciELO (https://data.scielo.org) and requires completion of the Open Science Compliance Form, which must be submitted as a supplementary document at the time of manuscript submission.
• Peer review: JAFF adopts a double-blind peer review system. Reviewers are selected from professionals affiliated with institutions different from those of the authors, and based on their expertise in the topic addressed. Authors may opt for one or more informed peer review modalities offered by the journal.
• Publication frequency: JAFF follows a continuous publication model, making articles available online as soon as the editorial process is completed. Publications are organized into four issues per year.
• Licensing: JAFF applies the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license to all works published in the journal. Under this license, authors agree to legally make their articles available for reuse, without prior permission or fees, for virtually any purpose. Anyone may copy, distribute, or reuse these articles, provided that the author and the original source are properly cited.

Open Access

This is an open-access journal, meaning that all content is available free of charge, with no cost to the user or their institution.

Privacy Statement

The names and addresses provided in this journal will be used exclusively for the purposes of the services offered by this publication and will not be made available for any other purpose or to any third parties.

Languages and Types of Articles Accepted

The journal accepts submissions in Portuguese, Spanish, and English, including the following types of manuscripts: original articles, review articles, case reports, commentaries, study protocols, letters to the editor, short communications, and perspective articles.

Only original and unpublished works are accepted.

When submitting an article for publication in JAFF, the corresponding author must certify that:

1. They are authorized by their co-authors to enter into these agreements.

2. They guarantee, on behalf of themselves and their co-authors, that:

​​The article is original, has not been formally published in any other peer-reviewed journal, is not under consideration by any other journal, and does not infringe any existing copyrights or other third-party rights;

They are (we are) the sole author(s) of the article and have full authority to enter into this agreement, and by granting rights to JAFF, they do not violate any other obligation;

The article does not contain anything that is illegal, libelous, or that, if published, would constitute a breach of contract, trust, or confidentiality;

They (we) have taken due care to ensure the integrity of the article. To the best of my/our knowledge—and as currently accepted in scientific practice—all statements contained therein that purport to be factual are true, and any formula or instruction contained in the article, if followed accurately, will not cause any injury, illness, or harm to the user.

I and all co-authors agree that the article, if editorially accepted for publication, will be licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Copyright

The copyright of any open access article published in JAFF is retained by the author(s).

The authors grant JAFF a license to publish the article and identify themselves as the original publisher.

The authors also grant any third party the right to use the article freely, provided that its integrity is maintained and the original authors, citation details, and publisher are identified.

The Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License formalizes these and other terms and conditions for publishing articles.

When an author is unable to hold the copyright (e.g., in the case of public servants), small variations may be required. In these cases, the copyright line and license statement in individual articles will be adjusted, for example, to indicate '© 2016 Crown copyright.' Authors who require such a variation must inform JAFF during or immediately after submitting their article. Changes to the copyright line cannot be made once the article has been published.

Exceptions to the copyright policy:

Our policies page provides details about copyright and licensing for articles previously published under different policies than those outlined above. For example, JAFF may occasionally co-publish articles with other publishers, in which case different licensing conditions may apply. However, in all these cases, access to these articles remains free of charge and without any access restrictions.

Specific information about permissions and reprints can be found here. Please contact us if you have any questions.

Ethics and Plagiarism

The use of texts or ideas from other sources without proper credit is not accepted. All sources used in the manuscript must be fully disclosed.

To use images from other sources, it is necessary to obtain explicit permission from the copyright holder.

JAFF uses the CopySpider® and Similarity Check plagiarism detection software to identify similarities, which are analyzed on a case-by-case basis.

The editors and the Editorial Board are responsible for upholding the ethical standards of the Journal of Pharmaceutical Assistance and Pharmacoeconomics and must resolve any conflicts transparently, always aiming to maintain the journal’s credibility. Transparency and quality control are aspects of the editorial process that fall under the responsibility of the Editor-in-Chief.

Guidelines for the Use of Artificial Intelligence

JAFF expects submissions to report the results and ideas of the listed authors themselves. Therefore, any contributions from other sources must be clearly and accurately described.

The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the execution of a work or the writing of an article must be clearly reported in the Methods section of the manuscript or in the Acknowledgments section (for manuscripts that do not have a Methods section). The report must include the name(s) of all tools used, as well as a description of how these tools were used and in which aspects of the study or article content they were employed.

The use of AI to fabricate or misrepresent primary research data is unacceptable.

Failure to comply with any aspect of these guidelines will be considered a misrepresentation of methods, contributions, and/or results. If there are concerns about non-compliance with these guidelines, JAFF may notify the author(s)' institution(s) and the journal may reject (pre-publication), retract (post-publication), or publish an editorial notice about the article.

Conduct in Cases of Suspected Ethical Violations

The following are considered ethical violations: plagiarism, duplicate publication, data fabrication, authorship issues (e.g., changes, ghost authorship), undisclosed conflicts of interest, misappropriation of ideas or data by reviewers, and other ethical concerns related to research.

The recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) https://publicationethics.org/guidance will be followed in cases of suspected ethical violations.

In cases of suspected ethical misconduct, it may be necessary for the Editor to request study data from the author(s) for inspection or verification. The Editor may reject a manuscript and contact, for example, the author's institution(s) and ethics committee(s). Any concerns regarding data integrity raised during or after the peer review process will be referred to the Editor.

For published papers in which misconduct is identified, a retraction will be issued, including in the document the reason for the retraction with proper reference, upon notification by the author or the editor. Cases involving errors or failures that do not constitute misconduct will be corrected through an erratum.

Article Submission and Processing Fees

The Journal of Pharmaceutical Services and Pharmacoeconomics is an open access journal with no submission, publication, or manuscript processing fees.

Funding

INAFF fully covers the publication costs of JAFF, in line with the institute's mission to promote technical and scientific development through research.

Selection and Peer Review Process

Submitted materials are initially evaluated by the Scientific Editor to ensure their alignment with the journal's editorial scope and compliance with its guidelines.

If deemed within the scope of JAFF, the material is forwarded to the Editorial Board without author-identifying information for a decision on whether it meets the criteria to proceed to peer review, based on its scientific merit and relevance to the fields of pharmaceutical services, health technology assessment, and/or pharmacoeconomics.

If accepted for review, anonymized manuscripts are evaluated by experts under a double-blind peer review system. Reviewers will assess whether the manuscript is suitable for publication as submitted, requires revisions before acceptance, or should be rejected due to significant flaws or issues.

JAFF encourages reviewers to submit two distinct sets of comments:

1. An anonymous report addressed to the authors, containing suggestions, required revisions, and general guidance for improving the manuscript;

2. A confidential report to the Scientific Editor, detailing the assessment of scientific merit, methodology, and manuscript quality, along with a summary of the recommended changes for the authors.

Based on recommendations from the Editorial Board, reviewers, or the Scientific Editor, accepted articles may undergo editorial revision. This may include changes to the text, the removal or repositioning of illustrations or other elements, and the correction or adaptation of references and citations. The revised version will be submitted to the author for approval prior to publication. Once approved, the manuscript will be typeset and published in the current issue.

Reviewers are selected from professionals affiliated with institutions different from those of the authors. They are chosen based on their expertise in the research area related to the submitted work and evaluate the manuscripts in terms of relevance, originality, and validity. Reviewers then determine whether the manuscript meets the criteria for publication in the journal, whether revisions should be requested, or whether the manuscript should be rejected. Authors may choose one or more peer review models offered by the journal, as indicated in the Open Science Compliance Form.

Archiving

To ensure permanent preservation, JAFF is deposited in the PKP Private LOCKSS/CLOCKSS network.

Advertising Policy and Editorial Independence

1. Absence of Advertising: JAFF does not accept or publish any type of advertising content, commercial announcements, or sponsorships on any of its platforms (website, PDF editions, or social media). This decision aims to ensure that the editorial space is dedicated exclusively to the dissemination of high-quality scientific research.

2. Guarantee of Editorial Independence: By not allowing advertising, the journal ensures that its editorial decisions remain completely independent of commercial pressures or external financial interests. The evaluation and acceptance of manuscripts are based strictly on scientific merit and relevance to the academic community, following rigorous peer review processes and best editorial management practices advocated by COPE.

3. Prevention of Conflicts of Interest: The absence of advertising revenue eliminates potential financial conflicts of interest that could compromise the integrity of published articles. The journal maintains its commitment to acting impartially in handling allegations of misconduct or post-publication errors, without any influence from commercial entities.