Publication Ethics

Ethical Guidelines for Publishing in the Primary Health Care Journal (Sothern Edition)

"Announcement from the Health Service Support Center 11, Re: Establishment of Guidelines, Ethical Principles, and Codes of Conduct for the Publication and Dissemination of Academic Works in the Primary Health Care Journal (Sothern Edition), Regarding the Guidelines for Ethical Practices and Publication Ethics in the Northeastern Primary Health Care Journal"

The Primary Health Care Journal (Sothern Edition) is committed to the continuous development and improvement of the quality of academic journals in order to enhance the capacity for academic knowledge development through high-quality scholarly publications. One of the key components in improving the quality of an academic journal is the proper management of the journal in accordance with principles of publication ethics and codes of conduct. Therefore, the Primary Health Care Journal (Southern Edition) has considered ethical principles and codes of conduct to ensure alignment with the criteria for ethical evaluation of Thai academic journals as prescribed by the Thai-Journal Citation Index (TCI). Accordingly, the Journal has established guidelines, ethical principles, and codes of conduct for the publication and dissemination of academic works in the following aspects:

Roles and Responsibilities of Editors

  1. Editors are responsible for considering, reviewing, and selecting manuscripts for publication, ensuring that the content is consistent with the aims, scope, and policies of the Journal.
  2. Editors review the accuracy and quality of academic work before publication.
  3. Editors manage the Journal in accordance with its stated objectives and continuously improve and develop the Journal to meet recognized academic and publishing standards.
  4. Editors must have no conflicts of interest or vested interests with authors and/or engage in the collection of article processing charges (APCs) for expedited or fast-track review and publication processes.
  5. Editors must avoid any conflicts of interest or personal gain involving authors, peer reviewers, or members of the editorial board, including the use of published articles for commercial purposes or the misappropriation of academic works as their own.
  6. Editors must evaluate manuscripts based solely on academic merit and scholarly rationale, without bias or discrimination related to race, gender, religion, culture, political views, or institutional affiliation of the authors.
  7. Editors must perform their duties in accordance with the editorial workflow and procedures as officially established by the Journal.
  8. Editors must not alter, abridge, or modify the content of manuscripts, academic works, or the evaluation reports provided by peer reviewers.

Roles and Responsibilities of Authors

  1. Authors must conduct research and prepare manuscripts with honesty, integrity, and adherence to ethical principles and academic codes of conduct.
  2. Authors must certify that the submitted work is based on factual findings derived from the study, and that the data have not been fabricated, falsified, or distorted in any manner.
  3. Authors must appropriately cite and acknowledge the works of others that are referenced or incorporated into their manuscripts.
  4. Authors must not plagiarize or unlawfully copy the works of others.
  5. Authors are fully responsible for the submitted manuscript and must certify that the work has not been previously published, nor is it under consideration for publication elsewhere.
  6. Authors must clearly identify all co-authors and specify their respective roles and proportions of responsibility in the research and manuscript preparation.
  7. Authors must disclose all sources of funding that supported the research reported in the manuscript.
  8. Authors request the withdrawal or retraction of a manuscript after peer review, authors must require to pay a manuscript evaluation fee in the amount of 3,000 Baht.
  9. If authors violate the Journal’s regulations, particularly those stated in Items 2, 3, 4, and 5, the Journal reserves the right to prohibit the authors from submitting manuscripts for publication for a period of not less than three years. The Journal may also notify the authors’ affiliated institutions or relevant authorities accordingly.

Roles and Responsibilities of Peer Reviewers

  1. Peer reviewers must maintain the confidentiality of all manuscripts submitted for review and must not disclose any information to individuals who are not directly involved in the review process.
  2. Peer reviewers must declare any conflicts of interest with the authors or any other circumstances that may compromise their ability to provide an independent and objective assessment. In such cases, reviewers must inform the editor and decline to review the manuscript.
  3. Peer reviewers should evaluate manuscripts within their expertise and assess the quality of the journal based on internationally recognized academic standards. If personal opinions that are not supported by academic evidence must not be used as criteria for manuscript evaluation.
  4. If peer reviewers identify any part of the assessed article that resembles or duplicates another work, they must notify the journal editor.

Ethics of Human Research

  1. Respect for free and informed consent by providing complete information and allowing participants to make decisions independently, without coercion, compulsion, intimidation, or the provision of incentives or rewards.
  2. Respect for the privacy of research participants (respect for privacy). Privacy refers to the individual, personal privacy, individual rights, personal behaviors, and concealed behaviors. Respect for participants’ privacy shall be ensured by providing appropriate settings for obtaining informed consent and for history taking and physical examinations, and by avoiding the use of clinic signage that explicitly identifies sensitive conditions, such as “HIV/AIDS clinic” or “Drug addiction clinic.”
  3. Respect for the confidentiality of participants’ personal data such as case report forms, consent forms, and audio or visual recordings (tape, video, and photographs) and including measures for maintaining confidentiality include the use of identification codes, storage in locked cabinets, storage on password-protected computers, and the encryption of data transmitted via e-mail.
  4. Respect for vulnerable persons such individuals include persons with intellectual or mental impairments, patients with HIV/AIDS, comatose patients, persons with disabilities, prisoners, students, soldiers, marginalized people such as immigrants and ethnic minorities, sexual minority groups or homosexual persons, and socially vulnerable groups such as sex workers and drug addicts.
  5. CIOMS Guidelines 13 and 14 stipulate that research involving these groups must be justified, obtain legal representative consent, and seek individual consent where possible. Research involving children should avoid institutional settings unless direct benefits are expected for the participants or potential benefits for other children. Caregivers in institutional settings act as consent providers, with assent procedures also required as appropriate.

Announced on March, 10 2026