Open Access Policy
All journals under HCL Press operate under a full Open Access model. Articles are freely available online immediately upon publication, without subscription or access barriers.
Content is published under the Creative Commons Attribution–ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) license, permitting use, distribution, and adaptation, provided appropriate credit is given, and derivative works are distributed under the same license.
Peer Review Policy
HCL Press employs a double-blind peer-review system for all manuscript categories, including original research articles, short communications, reviews, perspectives, technical papers, and continuing medical education (CME) material.
Both author and reviewer identities remain concealed throughout the evaluation process to ensure impartiality and scientific rigor.
Copyright and Licensing
Authors retain copyright of their published work.
By submitting to HCL Press, authors grant the publisher the right of first publication.
All articles are distributed under the Creative Commons CC BY-SA 4.0 International License, allowing unrestricted sharing and reuse with proper attribution and identical licensing of derivative works.
Confidentiality Policy
All submissions are treated as confidential documents.
- Authors must ensure that submitted manuscripts do not violate participant or institutional confidentiality.
- Reviewers are required to treat manuscripts and reviewer’s comments as strictly confidential.
- Editors are responsible for safeguarding all submission materials, reviewer identities, and deliberation records.
The peer-review process is conducted anonymously unless otherwise specified. Breaches of confidentiality will result in appropriate action.
Plagiarism and Duplicate Publication Policy
HCL Press maintains zero tolerance toward plagiarism or redundant publication. Prohibited practices include:
- direct copying of text or data
- paraphrasing without attribution
- patchwork or mosaic plagiarism
- self-plagiarism or duplicate publication
- salami slicing of data
- auto-plagiarism
Authors must ensure previously published or unpublished content is appropriately cited, and permissions secured.
HCL Press uses Similarity Check powered by Crossref (or equivalent similarity detection tools) to screen submissions.
Post-Publication Corrections and Retractions
HCL Press follows standardized post-publication update procedures:
Publisher Correction
Issued when an editorial or production error affects scientific accuracy, indexing, author reputation, or journal integrity.
Author Correction
If authors identify an error in the published article, they must notify the editorial office promptly. Following editorial assessment, a corrigendum may be issued if warranted.
Retraction / Withdrawal
Manuscripts may be withdrawn or retracted for:
- plagiarism
- fabrication or falsification of data
- unethical research conduct
- major authorship disputes
- serious methodological or analytical error
A retraction notice will be permanently linked to the article’s record.
Author Name Change
Name changes due to personal, professional, or legal reasons will be updated upon request, without requiring public disclosure of the reason.
Competing Interests Policy
All authors, reviewers, and editorial board members must declare any conflicts of interest that may influence interpretation or evaluation of the work. A formal Conflict of Interest Statement must be submitted with each manuscript.