The selection or refusal of submissions, the sending of papers for peer review, and the publication and correction of the published content follow blinding and impersonality rules. Whether by the authors or the reviewers, any suspicion of misconduct will be submitted to the investigation by the Editorial Board and the Responsible Editor. If suspected fraud is detected while still in the review process, the editorial flow will be suspended and resumed until suspicions are resolved. Ad-hoc editors and reviewers suspected of misconduct will be removed from their duties and may no longer participate in any future editorial process. Authors who are proven to have committed misconduct will no longer be accepted for evaluation.

The journal's scientific content (editorials and scientific articles) receives a unique DOI identifier (Digital Object Identifier) ​​and is permanently published. Even after publication, authors can and are encouraged to review, change, or update the content of their articles by publishing new versions, which are added to their history. However, previous versions, corrected or retracted, will not be changed or removed from the publication page and will remain available under the same DOI.

The Health Sciences Journal, through ABEC, uses the Crossmark, a Crossref tool and a multi-editorial initiative that standardizes how readers can identify the current version of the article and any changes. Therefore, the Editorial Board is responsible to informing and making the necessary changes or retractions and keeping the most current content available. Readers will be able to receive alerts of corrections when and if they occur. By clicking on the Crossmark logo (on the publication page or in the final PDF file), readers will have standardized access to the publication's current status, the most recent version, and additional information, such as author information (ORCID), important dates, and funding.

For Crossmark, there are two categories of updates: minor and major.

Minor Changes. They include formatting and spelling changes that do not affect the text's credit or interpretation, where there is no need to alert readers. In these cases, the status of the Crossmark is current. The same applies to article version control - if the article versions do not reflect significant changes.

Major Changes. Significant changes should affect the Crossmark state, such as the retraction of an article due to an error, a correction in an author's name, or more extensive content. It is good practice to publish a notice of correction or retraction (with its own DOI) and not place it behind access control. This allows readers to follow the link on the Crossmark button and find more details about the update.

In the case of errata, the original publication is maintained, and an addendum is inserted at the end of the text, mentioning the correction to be made. The errata can occur due to a conceptual change in a paragraph, a change in figure or table, in the name of authors, or other significant modifications, but which do not affect the article's credibility.

In the case of retraction, the original PDF document is kept with the indication of retraction (RETRACTED). A message is attached, informing its withdrawal and directing to the document containing the retraction details (Note of Retraction). The note will include, in addition to details of the reasons for the removal, the identification of the individuals who initiated the process or complaint. Retraction can occur for several reasons, including errors reported by the authors themselves (exchange of samples or use of flawed scientific tools, for example), poor conduct of research (data fabrication), duplicate publication, fraudulent data, overt plagiarism, or unethical research. Removing an article for republication in another journal will not be allowed. If this occurs and is discovered, the Editor-in-Chief will contact the second journal to make the report. COPE gives clear examples of retraction guidelines.

The Editorial Note is a third alert option for a publication. It refers to situations unresolved in a publication and under the Editors' analysis and decision. They may include complaints received about bad practice or ethical deviation, but not finally concluded, disputes between authors or between authors and third parties. The Editorial Note will accompany the article's publication until a more permanent solution occurs (Errata or Retraction).