Review process of the health scientific journals according to explanation of experts

Reviewing articles are one of the most important methods for maintaining and improving the scientific quality of research outputs, especially in the field of health and medicine, and are often accompanied with various challenges.

The current study was carried out to Health Promotion in the Review Process of the Health Scientific Journals according to Explanation of Experts.

This study has a qualitative approach and was carried out using the content analysis method. Data were gathered through semi‑structured interviews with experts with direct and related experiences with health scientific journals including editors in chief, internal managers, editorial boards, authors’ council and members of national journal commission with at least 2 years of continuous related work experience in journals and review of at least 10 articles. Sampling was carried out using purposeful snowball sampling, and data were analyzed using content analysis method. Lincoln and Guba tests were used to determine the validity and reliability of the analysis based on the following four criteria – credibility, transferability, certainty, and verifiability.

Experts’ opinions were categorized based on criteria for reviewer selection with three dimensions of technical expertise, ethical behavior, and orientation and order; reviewer selection methods including emphasis on others and emphasis on self; and review problems in the Iranian Health Science and Research Journals including incentive system, reviewer characteristics, and structural problems.

Findings of the current study are usable for all Iranian Health Scientific Journals, editors, editors in chief, and internal managers as well as lawmakers in the area of scientific research.