About the Journal
The Journal of Natural Health Product Research (JNHPR) was launched in 2018 in response to the rapidly growing interest in natural health products (NHPs) among researchers and scientists. NHP Publications, the publisher of the JNHPR, is a publishing company supported in part by the Federal Government of Canada. In 2019, NHP Publications formed a mutual partnership with the Natural Health Product Research Society of Canada (NHPRS), a federally incorporated non-profit organization founded in 2003 by a collaboration of academic, industry, and government researchers from across Canada, and the JNHPR currently serves as the official journal of the society. The JNHPR accepts research articles focussed on NHPs; the publication's broad scope serves multiple purposes, allowing NHP researchers from multiple disciplines to publish their work on a platform that provides rigorous, peer-reviewed feedback regardless of whether their expertise lies in laboratory science, clinical epidemiology, sociology, health policy or any other NHP-related discipline.
The JNHPR provides a unique platform for NHP researchers from multiple disciplines across academia and fills a significant gap that has been lacking for years. While academic researchers based at universities are accustomed to publishing their work in peer-reviewed journals, studies conducted in the area of NHPs are currently published in a smattering of scholarly journals which do not focus exclusively (or at all) on the topic of NHPs. Thus, to our knowledge, the JNHPR is the world’s first journal that focusses exclusively on publishing high-quality, peer-reviewed, open access, multisector, and multidisciplinary research on NHPs.
One key feature that the JNHPR prides itself on is its continuous publication frequency. The JNHPR endeavours to shorten the time between submission and a peer-reviewed decision, as this advantages our authors and readers in multiple ways. A faster turn-around time allows NHP researchers to showcase their work to the relevant audience sooner. This is especially important as the field of NHP research is rapidly growing, with new findings being published on a daily basis. Laboratory findings need to be published in a timely fashion in order to provide the justification for viable clinical studies, which in turn need to be published rapidly, especially in cases where the general public is consuming a popularized NHP that currently lacks an evidence base for safety and/or efficacy. NHP case reports and research investigating the adverse effects of NHPs or NHP-drug interactions should be published as soon as possible, arguably for the same reason. Furthermore, as countries across the world begin or continue to address the regulation of NHPs, prompt publication of health policy NHP research is crucial in reaching optimized models that balance NHP safety and efficacy while respecting patients’ freedom of choice and cultural diversity.
Do you know a researcher who would be interested in publishing their article in the JNHPR? Download and share the journal's introductory editorial here.
Aims and Scope
The JNHPR accepts English-language manuscript submissions that relate to NHP research. Articles can originate from a wide variety of subject areas without restriction and may be submitted by authors who study NHPs in any setting (such as a university, a government department, or a NHP manufacturing company) and applying any research methodology. NHP Publications prides itself on publishing NHP research from all sectors, with the goal of providing the NHP industry to publically share their findings surrounding the safety and effectiveness of their product, while also allowing academic and government researchers and healthcare practitioners to better understand the methodologies employed to create an evidence base which will serve to ultimately increase transparency for consumers of NHPs.
Examples of acceptable research submissions to the JNHPR include, but are certainly not limited to, the following:
○ Traditional use, phytochemical composition, and therapeutic properties of NHPs
○ Medical cannabis
○ Innovations and best practices in NHP cultivation, harvest, and processing
○ Industrial innovations and emerging technologies in the NHP industry
○ NHP manufacturing and quality control
○ NHP regulatory affairs
○ Adverse effects of NHPs
○ NHP-drug interactions
○ NHPs in clinical settings and healthcare education
○ Use of NHPs in society
If you are unsure whether your article meets the scope of the JNHPR, please contact our editorial office at [email protected] and one of our staff will be more than happy to assist you.
Target Audience
Our hope is that this publication will serve to bridge the gap between researchers internationally who are committed to studying NHPs from a variety of settings, allowing this publication to serve as a central, open-access resource for authors and readers alike with a vested interest in advancing knowledge surrounding NHPs.
Types of Articles
For Authors: The JNHPR publishes seven types of articles as follows: 1) original research, 2) systematic review and/or meta-analysis, 3) research protocol, 4) case report, 5) short communication, 6) editorial and 7) conference abstract book. Please note that editorials are submitted by invitation only. Please familiarize yourself with the formatting guidelines for each article type which can be found on the Instructions for Authors page.
Conference Planners: The journal also publishes abstracts accepted for presentation at NHP-research conferences. Given the fact that NHP research is often combined with related topics (i.e. complementary and alternative medicine, for example), the JNHPR will only consider publishing an abstract book for a research conference provided that the majority of the abstracts relate to the journal’s NHP-research scope. As an example, the JNHPR will consider publishing the abstract book for a conference that focuses on NHP research but also accepts a handful of abstracts relating to non-NHP complementary and alternative medicines, but not the other way around. If you are on the planning committee of an NHP research conference, and are interested in publishing your conference abstract book in the JNHPR, please view the Instructions for Conference Planners page and contact us at [email protected].
Peer Review Process
Prior to submission, authors must ensure that all studies described in the manuscript have been conducted ethically (i.e. if your study involved human or animal participants, you are required to state in your manuscript that your study was approved by your institution’s research ethics board). Authors should only submit original material and ensure that the methodology is appropriate for the study conducted, and that the results, discussion and conclusions are reported appropriately and accurately. It is expected that all authors will consult with the study’s leader or principal investigator to ensure that the manuscript meets all of these criteria prior to making a submission to the JNHPR. If the section editor finds that one or more of these criteria are not met when reviewing a submission, they will contact the author to make the necessary revisions prior to sending the manuscript out for peer-review.
During the submission process, authors should provide the names of up to 4 peer-reviewers with whom they do not have conflicts of interest, and believe are suitable experts in reviewing their study. Authors may also declare the names of people who they do not wish to serve as peer-reviewers. The JNHPR conducts open peer review.
Upon receiving a manuscript submission, the manuscript will be assigned to a section editor who will first determine if the manuscript adheres to the following two conditions: 1) the manuscript meets the criteria outlined in the Instructions for Authors and 2) the manuscript falls within the scope of the JNHPR. If both conditions are satisfied, section editors will send the manuscript out for peer-review to at least 2 experts in the field, which may or may not include one or more author-suggested peer-reviewers. The JNHPR reserves the right to make the final decision on which peer-reviewers are assigned to manuscripts submitted to the publication. The JNHPR section editors and peer-reviewers will both be acknowledged in the published manuscript should it be accepted for publication.
Once at least 2 peer-reviewers have submitted their review and a section editor has had the opportunity to review their comments and deems that no further peer-reviewers are required, the section editor will advise the editor-in-chief or lead editor, who will inform you of our decision on whether to accept, request revisions, or reject your manuscript. If your manuscript is rejected by the editor, this decision is final and cannot be appealed. If your manuscript is recommended for acceptance pending major or minor revisions, the editor will provide further instructions and a turnaround time during which you will have the opportunity to address the requested revisions, after which your revised manuscript may or may not be sent back to the peer-reviewers at the editor’s discretion. If the editor informs you that your manuscript is suitable for publication, s/he will provide you with all the necessary details to move forward with the publication of your article and you will also be required to sign a publishing agreement form provided by the publisher upon acceptance.
Journal Structure and Format
The JNHPR is an innovative research journal that publishes articles on an ongoing and continuous basis, meaning that your article is published online immediately into the current issue following their acceptance as opposed to being published when a certain number of articles have been accepted. The JNHPR issues and volumes are time- and not article-dependent, where the journal will endeavour to archive 2 issues per year (i.e. 1 per every 6 months) and 1 volume per year.
The JNHPR strives to be an environmentally-conscious journal and thus only publishes articles in easily-accessible online formats.
Open Access Policy
NHP Publications is an open access publisher meaning that all articles can be accessed and read by anyone with an internet connection. The Budapest statement (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read) defined open access as follows:
“There are many degrees and kinds of wider and easier access to this literature. By 'open access' to this literature, we mean its free availability on the public internet, permitting any users to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of these articles, crawl them for indexing, pass them as data to software, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without financial, legal, or technical barriers other than those inseparable from gaining access to the internet itself. The only constraint on reproduction and distribution, and the only role for copyright in this domain, should be to give authors control over the integrity of their work and the right to be properly acknowledged and cited.”
Copyright is retained by the authors and articles can be freely used and distributed by others. Articles are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published by the NHP Publications, is properly cited.
NHP Publications is an open access publisher in compliance with the guidelines set out by Plan-S (https://www.coalition-s.org/), an initiative for Open Access publishing that was launched in September 2018, which seeks to ensure that scientific publications that result from research funded by public grants must be published in compliant Open Access journals or platforms. Furthermore, NHP Publications has future plans to be a member of the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) as it grows its archive (https://www.doaj.org/).
Journal Indexing and Social Media
The editorial office will inform you once an article is published in the JNHPR. We will also write a message promoting your article on the NHP Publications Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn pages, though you are certainly welcomed (and encouraged) to share your published article with your own social media networks too! All articles published in the JNHPR are immediately indexed to Google Scholar. As a new journal, we have future plans for all articles to be indexed in other well-known electronic databases (i.e. PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science) once the journal meets the eligibility criteria to apply for indexing.
Journal Governance
The JNHPR’s Editorial Board is comprised of accomplished researchers hailing from all sectors where NHP research is conducted and who have expertise in one or more subject areas comprising the scope of the journal. Members of the Editorial Board are appointed by the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief for a renewable 3-year term. If you are interested in joining the JNHPR’s editorial team or nominating a colleague, please email us at [email protected], indicating to us below which role you/they wish to undertake. Please note that all applicants will be required to submit their CV containing their education, relevant work-related experience, and a list of research publications, along with any other items the applicant feels will demonstrate his/her suitability as a board member.
Please note that we are currently only recruiting for the following positions: 1) Associate Editors and 2) Editorial and Advisory Board Members
The JNHPR roles are outlined below as follows:
Editor-in-Chief
The Editor-in-Chief will:
○ set and/or review with members of editorial board the journal’s policies, including those regarding authorship, peer review, quality control and ethical issues;
○ monitor and maintain agreed policies;
○ ensure that the journal’s processes are transparent to stakeholders;
○ take final responsibility for the editorial content of the journal;
○ maintain editorial independence;
○ make final decisions on manuscripts;
○ manage and organize the editorial office and ensure good working practice;
○ attract authors to submit quality manuscripts to the journal;
○ try to develop the journal in every way possible;
○ plan for the future of the journal;
○ represent the journal in national and international forums.
Associate Editors
Associate Editors will:
○ assist the editor in implementing the policies of the journal and in monitoring the efficiency of its systems;
○ act as reviewers or suggest reviewers;
○ contribute to the writing of editorials and invited articles;
○ solicit articles for the journal;
○ correspond and work with authors and reviewers;
○ review and revise papers for quality and relevance;
○ help in decision-making when reviewers’ opinions on submitted manuscripts are not in agreement;
○ recommend a course of action for submitted manuscripts in their specialist area.
Editorial Board Members
Editorial Board Members will:
○ act as a source of advice and support to the editor;
○ discuss and solve any problems that might face the journal;
○ make policy decisions and approve the journal’s by-laws;
○ supervise and monitor the implementation of journal policies;
○ serve as the journal’s representative to the international scientific community;
○ use their professional influence to help raise the profile of the journal.
Editorial Assistants
Editorial Assistants will:
○ assist the editor in implementing the policies of the journal;
○ correspond and work with authors, editorial board members and reviewers;
○ manage and maintain the manuscript tracking system;
○ maintain records and produce reports of manuscripts received, accepted, rejected, etc.;
○ communicate decisions to authors and deal with queries;
○ ensure efficient flow of papers through the editorial office, and develop improvements in the management of papers.
Technical Editors, Language Editors and Copy Editors
Technical Editors, Language Editors and Copy Editors will:
○ ensure that the correct structure for the corresponding section of the journal has been followed;
○ improve the presentation and wording so that the text is easy to read and understand;
○ develop and maintain a style sheet as a record of decisions taken concerning spelling, hyphenation, format, etc.;
○ ensure correctness and consistency in the use of terms, especially technical ones;
○ eliminate unnecessary and repeated material, simplify long and complicated sentences, eliminate unnecessary words;
○ check that tables and figures are correctly cited in the text;
○ advise on the selection and effective use of tables and illustrations;
○ edit tables and figures so that they prove their point and their information ties with the text; check all totals and percentages;
○ ensure that all cross-references are correct and that all bibliographic citations match the reference list;
○ check that the references used are not grossly or overwhelmingly outdated;
○ ensure that the article is complete – that it has the author addresses, email contact numbers, etc.;
○ mark up the manuscript or proof with all necessary instructions for composition or printing.
Trademarks
Certain material found on this Website (including without limitation certain graphics, icons, HTML, javascripts, color schemes, multimedia, logos, photographs, and copywriting) is protected by copyright. Certain names, graphics, logos, icons, designs, words, titles or phrases on this Website may constitute trade names, trademarks or service marks of the NHP Publications or Open Journal Systems. Trademarks may be registered in Canada and in other countries, as applicable. The display of trademarks on pages at this Website does not imply that a license of any kind has been granted.
Fee Schedule
The JNHPR strives to keep submissions free of charge, however, we require that authors pay a minimal one-time publication fee per article, in the event that it is accepted. Just as you would pay for transport, food, the printing of a poster, and registration to attend a conference, the JNHPR fees are the primary source of revenue that allows us to cover our costs associated with maintaining our web domain/hosting, open access system, peer-review, copyediting, typesetting, improving the visibility of your articles, and membership fees. That being said, opportunities to receive discounts are explained below. Furthermore, if you are an author wishing to publish research originating from a research conference that had their abstract book published by the JNHPR, please apply your discount coupon received at the conference.
Our fee schedule is as follows:
|
Article Type |
Submission Fee |
Publication Fee |
|
Original Research |
$0 USD |
|
|
Systematic or Scoping Review or Meta-Analysis) |
$0 USD |
|
|
*Research Protocol |
$0 USD |
|
|
Case Report |
$0 USD |
|
|
Short Communication |
$0 USD |
|
|
Editorial |
$0 USD; by invitation only |
$0 USD; by invitation only |
|
Conference Abstract Book |
$0 USD |
Inquire with us at [email protected] |
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*A 20% discount will be applied to the original research article IF the associated research protocol was already published in the JNHPR. |
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As a newly launched journal, we are currently offering a limited time offer discount of 20% on your first accepted full-article’s publication fee!
Article Publication Fee Discounts and Waivers
If after all funding avenues have been exhausted, in such circumstances authors who may lack the funds needed to cover the article publication fee (i.e. student/trainees, researchers from lower-middle-income countries, etc.) can request an additional discount by filling out an Article Publication Fee Discount and Waiver Request Form. Note: If you are unable to download the form, please re-try using the Firefox browser.
Publication Ethics and Misconduct
NHP Publications seeks to publish research of the highest quality and takes publication ethics and misconduct very seriously. Whether you are an editor, peer-reviewer, or author, if you are unfamiliar with publication ethics and misconduct, please take a moment to read about it on the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) website here. In the event of a party suspecting a case of misconduct this should be reported to the Editor-in-Chief immediately, and the NHP Publications team will handle each situation on a case-by-case basis by referring to the COPE flowcharts.
