Authors must submit manuscripts exclusively through the JDHK OJS platform. Submissions sent via email or other channels will not be processed. Authors must be registered as an Author in the OJS system before submitting.

Required at Submission

The Editorial Secretariat conducts an initial administrative check within 1–3 working days to ensure the submission meets JDHK's basic requirements before proceeding to substantive editorial review. Incomplete or non-conforming submissions will be returned to the author with specific feedback.

All manuscripts that pass administrative screening are subjected to plagiarism detection using Turnitin software. Authors are encouraged to self-check their manuscript before submission. JDHK also checks for undisclosed AI-generated content in accordance with COPE Guidelines on AI in Academic Publishing (2023).

Following successful screening, the Editor-in-Chief (EiC) conducts a desk review within 3–5 working days to assess the manuscript's scientific merit, originality, and suitability for JDHK's readership. The EiC may reject manuscripts at this stage without external peer review if the work does not meet the journal's minimum scientific standards or scope.

EiC Evaluates

JDHK employs a double-blind peer review process in which the identities of both authors and reviewers remain confidential throughout the review process. A minimum of two independent reviewers with relevant expertise are invited to evaluate each manuscript. Reviewer selection is based on expertise, absence of conflict of interest, and availability.

After receiving reviewer reports, the Handling Editor and Editor-in-Chief deliberate and issue one of four editorial decisions. The decision letter, together with anonymised reviewer comments, is communicated to all authors via OJS within 3–5 working days of receiving the final reviewer report.

Authors who receive a revision decision must submit a revised manuscript along with a detailed Response Letter addressing each reviewer comment individually. Revisions submitted after the deadline without prior editorial approval will be processed as new submissions.

Response Letter Requirements

Once the revised manuscript satisfactorily addresses all reviewer and editorial comments, the Editor-in-Chief issues a formal Letter of Acceptance via OJS. This letter confirms that the manuscript has been accepted for publication in JDHK and will proceed to the production stage. The acceptance date recorded in the published article refers to the date of this letter.

Accepted manuscripts are forwarded to the JDHK copyeditor for professional language editing and formatting. The copyeditor checks grammar, spelling, punctuation, consistency, and adherence to the Vancouver referencing style. Authors may be contacted for clarification on specific points during this stage.

The typeset galley proof (PDF and/or HTML format) is sent to the corresponding author via OJS for final review and approval. Authors must review the proof carefully and return it with any corrections within 3–5 working days. Only typographical or factual errors may be corrected at this stage; substantial content changes are not permitted after acceptance.

Following author approval of the galley proof, the article is published online on the JDHK OJS platform within 1–3 working days. JDHK publishes articles on a rolling basis as they become ready (continuous online publication), with articles formally assigned to a volume and issue according to the publication schedule.

Upon publication, each article is assigned a unique Digital Object Identifier (DOI) via Crossref, ensuring permanent and persistent access to the published work. The article is simultaneously submitted for indexing and deposited in digital preservation systems.