Policies

Open Access Policy
European Journal of Rheumatology is an open access publication. 

Starting on December 2018, all content published in the journal is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC) 4.0 International License which allows third parties to use the content for non-commercial purposes as long as they give credit to the original work. This license allows for the content to be shared and adapted for non-commercial purposes, promoting the dissemination and use of the research published in the journal. 

The content published before December 2018 was licensed under a traditional copyright, but the archive is still available for free access.

All published content is available online, free of charge at https://www.eurjrheumatol.org/.

Authors retain unrestricted copyrights and publishing rights in the European Journal of Rheumatology.

Copyright Policy
A Copyright Agreement and Acknowledgement of Authorship form should be submitted with all manuscripts. By signing this form, authors agree that the article, if accepted for publication by the European Journal of Rheumatology, will be licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0) which permits third parties to share and adapt the content for non-commercial purposes by giving the appropriate credit to the original work.  

When using previously published content, including figures, tables, or any other material in both print and electronic formats, authors must obtain permission from the copyright holder. Legal, financial and criminal liabilities in this regard belong to the author(s). 

Authors retain the copyright of their published work in the European Journal of Rheumatology. 

Self-Archiving Policy
Authors retain the right to self-archive their work on their institutional or personal websites, as well as in open access repositories, after publication. It is expected that authors appropriately acknowledge the original publication and include the DOI number when sharing their articles. Additionally, authors are requested to provide a link from the deposited version to the URL of the publisher's website. This requirement is intended to safeguard the integrity and authenticity of the scientific record, with the online published version on the publisher's website clearly identified as the definitive version of record.

Publication Fee Policy

Starting January 24, 2025, European Journal of Rheumatology will implement an article processing charge (APC) for all articles.

Upon acceptance of a manuscript, authors are required to transfer the APC payment to the account specified in the acceptance letter. After the payment is made, please send the payment receipt to eurjrheum@avespublishing.com.

•              Research Article/Review: 1950 USD + 3% Transaction Fee (59 USD) = 2009 USD

•              Letter to the Editor: 1170 USD + 3% Transaction Fee (35 USD) = 1205 USD

•              Case Report: 1170 USD + 3% Transaction Fee (35 USD) = 1205 USD

•              Images in Rheumatology: 780 USD + 3% Transaction Fee (23 USD) = 803 USD

There are no additional fees or surcharges for the evaluation or publication process beyond the APC. For manuscripts submitted and accepted before January 24, 2025, the APC will be waived.

Any financial contribution or support received from third parties for a manuscript must be disclosed at the time of initial submission. If the APC is paid by a third party (other than the author or the author's institution), this information must be included on the title page and the ICMJE Disclosure Form.

APCs cover the costs associated with the publishing services the journal provides, including peer review management, professional production of articles in PDF and other formats, dissemination of published papers across various platforms, and other publishing functions.

We kindly request that authors whose manuscripts are accepted complete the APC payment within 90 days. Please note that publication will be on hold until payment is received. If the payment is not made within this period, the manuscript will be considered withdrawn. This policy helps ensure a timely and efficient publication process.

Waiver Policy
European Journal of Rheumatology offers 100% waivers on manuscripts whose submitting authors are based in countries classified by the World Bank as low-income economies.

Advertising Policy 
European Journal of Rheumatology accepts digital advertisements on its website. These ads must be approved by the journal's Editorial Board and management and must be clearly labeled as advertisements. Advertisers have no influence on editorial decisions or advertising policies. 

Those interested in advertising in the journal should contact the Editorial Office.

Peer Review Process
Manuscripts submitted to the European Journal of Rheumatology will go through a single anonymized peer-review process where the names of the reviewers are hidden from the author.  Each submission will be reviewed by at least two external, independent peer reviewers who are experts in their fields in order to ensure an unbiased evaluation process. 

Submissions will first go through a technical evaluation process during which the editorial office staff will ensure that the manuscript was prepared and submitted in accordance with the journal’s guidelines. Submissions that do not conform to the journal’s guidelines will be returned to the submitting authors with technical correction requests. 

Submissions that conform to the journal’s guidelines will be assigned to the Editor in Chief who will assess each submission’s suitability to the journal in terms of scope and quality. Submissions that are not suitable for the journal can be rejected at this stage. 

For papers that are suitable for the journal, the Editor in Chief will work with Associate Editors who will recruit reviewers for the manuscript. Once assigned, Associate Editors can decide to reject a manuscript, continue with the peer review process, or request revisions before further peer-review. 

Associate editors will submit their recommendations that are based on reports submitted by the reviewers to the Editor in Chief. Revised manuscripts will be reassessed by the Associate Editors who will aim to work with the original reviewers to make a new recommendation.

The Editor in Chief is the final authority in the decision-making process for all submissions.

In the event of delays, authors will be informed of the reason for the delay and given the opportunity to withdraw their manuscript.

Once the peer-review process is completed, the authors will receive anonymous peer-review reports along with the editorial decision on their manuscript. Peer-review reports will not be posted publicly in any medium. The submitted material is considered confidential and must not be used in any way until after its publication. If it is suspected that a reviewer has appropriated an author’s ideas or data, the Editorial Board will handle the matter in accordance with the relevant COPE’s guideline.

Authors can recommend peer-reviewers during submission. The handling editor is the sole authority to decide whether or not recommended peer-reviewers will be invited to evaluate the manuscript. 

Peer reviewers are required to adhere to the principles of COPE's Ethical Guidelines for Peer-reviewers and  These guidelines provide a framework for reviewers to follow in order to ensure the integrity and fairness of the peer review process. The Editorial Board follows COPE’s relevant flowchart to minimize peer review manipulation. If there is suspicion of peer review manipulation after publication, the Editorial Board will follow the appropriate flowchart of COPE.

Potential peer reviewers should inform the Editor of any possible conflicts of interest before accepting an invitation to review a manuscript. Informing the editor of any potential conflicts of interest allows them to make an informed decision about whether or not to invite the potential reviewer to participate in the review process. It also helps to ensure the integrity and transparency of the review process.

Communications between Editors and peer reviewers contain confidential information that should not be shared with third parties.

To ensure an equitable peer-review process, the European Journal of Rheumatology will recruit external editors for manuscripts submitted by the Journal’s editorial board members. External editors will be selected based on academic qualifications and peer-review experience. We uphold the confidentiality of external editors and reviewers to preserve impartiality. Reviewers and external editors are asked to disclose any potential conflicts of interest, promoting transparency and a reliable evaluation process.

If an article's peer review is an exception to the journal’s usual policy, the type of the review it received will be displayed on the article to ensure the transparency and accountability of the review process.

Revisions
Submitting authors of manuscripts that require a “minor revision” or a “major revision” will receive the decision letter from the Editor in Chief. The decision letter will include the suggestions of the reviewers and editors along with a deadline to submit the revised and updated version of the manuscript. 

When submitting a revised version of a paper, authors must submit a detailed “Response to the reviewers” that states point by point how each issue raised by the reviewers has been covered and where it can be found (each reviewer’s comment, followed by the author’s reply and line numbers where the changes have been made) as well as an annotated copy of the main document. 

Revised manuscripts must be submitted within the time frame specified in the decision letter. If the revised version of the manuscript is not submitted within the allocated time, the revision option may be canceled. If the submitting author(s) believe that additional time is required, they should request an extension before the initial period is over.

Authorship
All individuals listed as an author should meet the authorship criteria recommended by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). The ICMJE recommends that authorship is based on the following four criteria:
1. Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work.
2. Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content.
3. Final approval of the version to be published.
4. Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

In addition to being accountable for the parts of the work they have done, authors should also be able to identify which co-authors are responsible for specific other parts of the work to ensure that the contributions of all authors are accurately and appropriately acknowledged. Authors may use CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) to provide information about individual contributions at the time of submission. It is expected that all authors agreed upon their individual contributions as shared by the corresponding author. The authors’ contribution statement will be published with the final article and should accurately reflect contributions to the work.

Furthermore, authors should have confidence in the integrity of the contributions of their co-authors. This means that they should trust that their co-authors have conducted the research in an ethical and responsible manner, and that the data and results presented in the manuscript are accurate and reliable.

Individuals who do not meet all four of the authorship criteria should not be included as authors on the manuscript. However, they can still be acknowledged on the title page of the manuscript for their contributions to the research in order to recognize the contributions of these individuals and to provide transparency about who was involved in the research.

If the editorial board suspects a case of ghost, honorary or gift authorship, the submission will be suspended and the <a href="https://publicationethics.org/resources/flowcharts/ghost-guest-gift-authorship-submitted-manuscript

The Role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Manuscript Preparation
European Journal of Rheumatology follows the position of of Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and WAME Recommendations on Chatbots and Generative Artificial Intelligence in Relation to Scholarly Publications with regards to the utilization of AI and AI-assisted technology in manuscript preparation.  

Use of AI Tools and Transparency: 
AI tools may only be utilized for limited tasks, such as language editing and technical data processing. All such use must be clearly declared in the manuscript, specifying the tool's name, version, and the exact purpose for which it was used. AI tools and/or articles generated or written by AI tools cannot be cited as authoritative sources or references within the manuscript. Authors retain sole responsibility for the final content of the manuscript. All AI-generated output must be rigorously audited for factual errors, "hallucinations," and algorithmic bias before submission.

Authorship and Accountability: 
Authorship encompasses a range of tasks that can only be performed by humans, and authors are accountable for ensuring the article's originality and possessing the requisite qualifications for authorship. While AI can be employed for language corrections during the article writing process (and this should be explicitly stated in the article), it cannot be included as an author, as it is essential to maintain the originality and quality of the article. Authors must take full responsibility for all aspects of the manuscript, including data collection, analysis, interpretation, and writing. AI tools cannot be used to delegate this responsibility. Authors are responsible for the accuracy and reliability of all claims and conclusions in the manuscript.

Declaration of Artificial Intelligence Usage

Authors who utilize AI or AI-assisted technologies in the production of their manuscript must provide disclosure as follows:

  • Title Page & Cover Letter: Authors must declare the use of AI tools in the title page and cover letter submitted at the time of manuscript submission. The authors may use below statements depending on usage cases:
  • - The author(s) declared that no AI and/or LLM tool was used in the preparation of this manuscript.
  • - The author(s) declared that [name of the tool/service] to [reason] was used and/or employed. The author(s) confirm and acknowledge that the declared usage on preparation, submission and publication (if accepted) of the study aligns with the journal’s policies. The author(s) acknowledge that they are responsible and credible for the content published in the study.
  • Material and Methods: The specific tool name, version, and the purpose of its use (e.g., "for literature search," "for grammatical improvement," or "for image processing") must be clearly stated in the Material and Methods section of the paper. The statement may be added in the Material and Methods section as:
  • AI and/or LLM [tool – version - producer] was used in this study for [e.g. grammatical improvement].

Data & Research Integrity on Artificial Intelligence Usage

Fact-Checking: Authors must independently verify that all citations, clinical data, and medical claims generated by AI are accurate and not "hallucinations."

Originality: Authors must ensure that AI usage does not constitute plagiarism. The final submitted text must be the original contribution of the authors.

Data Integrity: Authors must ensure that no sensitive or identifiable patient data is uploaded to any AI tool, as these systems may not guarantee confidentiality.

Artificial Intelligence Usage Policy on Peer Review and Editorial Process

European Journal of Rheumatology ’s policy on Artificial Usage may allow editors and reviewers to use LLM tools for certain task in their review processes, e.g. language editing, raw and/or bulk data accuracy checking, research integrity AI tools, detection of papermills and/or unusual activity. To protect the confidentiality of the submission and the intellectual property of the authors:

  • Reviewers and Editors are advised against uploading any part of a submitted, unpublished manuscript to an AI tool or LLM to ensure data privacy.
  • Any use of AI tools for administrative tasks (e.g., grammar checking) during the review process must be explicitly approved by the editorial office and should not involve sharing the manuscript text with third-party servers.

Image Generation and Copyright: 
European Journal of Rheumatology is committed to upholding existing copyright laws and recognized best practices in publication ethics. Due to ongoing legal uncertainties surrounding AI-generated visual content, the use of such material in our publications is generally not permitted—except in the following cases: 

- Licensed Content from Agencies: Images or artwork sourced from agencies with which we have contractual agreements, provided the content was created in a legally and ethically sound manner. 

- Content Discussing AI: Visual or video content that is directly referenced in an article focused on artificial intelligence. These cases will be reviewed individually. 

- All approved exceptions must be clearly labeled as “AI-generated” within the image or figure caption. 

Human Responsibility, Data Privacy, and Legal Compliance

Authors are fully accountable for the integrity of their work. When utilizing AI tools, authors, reviewers and editors must adhere to the following standards to protect research ethics and intellectual property:

  • Data Confidentiality and Privacy: Before using any AI tool, authors, reviewers and editors must review its Terms of Service to ensure that their data, inputs, and unpublished manuscripts are kept private and secure. Authors, reviewers and editors are strictly prohibited from inputting personally identifiable information or sensitive research data into any system that does not provide adequate confidentiality guarantees.
  • Intellectual Property and Rights: Authors, reviewers and editors must ensure that they do not grant AI service providers ownership rights or permissions to use their input data for model training or any other secondary purposes. Furthermore, authors, reviewers and editors must confirm that the tool’s usage terms do not impose restrictions that could hinder the subsequent publication, copyright, or dissemination of the research.
  • Content Restrictions: AI tools must not be used to generate content that infringes upon third-party rights. This includes, but is not limited to:
    • Images that duplicate or reference existing copyrighted material, brands, or trademarks.
    • Content depicting identifiable real individuals without authorization.
    • Replication of an individual’s voice or likeness.
  • Accuracy, Ethical and Research Integrity: Authors retain sole responsibility for the final content of the manuscript. All AI-generated output must be rigorously audited for factual errors, "hallucinations," and algorithmic bias before submission.