Ciencia y Salud, the journal of the University of Medical Sciences (UCIMED), is an academic publication devoted to exploring and disseminating advances in health and the medical sciences since 2017. It is distinguished by its commitment to research and to sharing knowledge that matters to the academic and professional community.

Starting with Volume 10, Issue 1, the journal is published every four months, in the periods January 1 to April 30, May 1 to August 31, and September 1 to December 31, for three issues per year.

Ciencia y Salud (ISSN 2215-4949) is an open-access journal. It charges no article processing charges (APCs) and uses double-blind peer review.

The journal covers a wide range of health disciplines, including medicine, microbiology, pharmacy, physiotherapy, nutrition and bioengineering. Its main aim is to encourage the exchange of ideas and the development of new approaches in clinical practice, health management and scientific research.

Each issue of Ciencia y Salud includes original articles, systematic reviews, case studies and theoretical contributions, all evaluated by expert peer reviewers in their fields. This rigorous review process ensures the quality and relevance of the published content and makes the journal a reliable, up-to-date resource for health professionals and academics interested in the latest research and trends in the field.

Beyond serving as a platform for research, Ciencia y Salud encourages debate and critical reflection on emerging issues in public health, health policy and innovative medical technologies. Through its content, the journal helps advance knowledge in health and supports the academic and professional development of its readers and contributors, both nationally and internationally.

Mission

The mission of Ciencia y Salud is to disseminate high-quality original research in the health and biomedical sciences through a rigorous, transparent and ethical editorial process. In doing so, it contributes to the generation, exchange and application of scientific knowledge for the benefit of the health of individuals and communities.

Vision

To be a leading scientific journal in the health sciences, recognized for the quality and integrity of its editorial process, its visibility in indexes and databases, and its commitment to open science.

Values

• Scientific rigor: Commitment to methodological quality and to the validity of published results.
• Integrity and ethics: Adherence to good practices in academic publishing and to current regulations.
• Transparency: Clarity and traceability at every stage of the editorial process.
• Open access: Free and unrestricted access to knowledge for anyone interested.
• Respect and fairness: Impartial and respectful treatment of authors, reviewers and readers.
• Social responsibility: Putting scientific knowledge to work for the well-being of society.

Aims and Scope

The journal publishes manuscripts in the health and biomedical sciences, in the fields of medicine, nutrition, microbiology, pharmacy, physiotherapy and biomedical engineering. Manuscripts must fall within this scope, as set out in the Guidelines for Authors. Manuscripts outside this scope may be rejected during the scope check carried out at the submission stage.

The journal is aimed at teachers, students, and professionals in the health sciences, as well as the general public interested in these fields. Its purpose is to bring together knowledge from various disciplines in a single publication to promote a comprehensive approach to health.

 

Editorial Policies

As part of its commitment to the quality of every manuscript, the journal has a set of policies that ensure authors, readers and peer reviewers a transparent and ethical publication process. These policies are set out below.

Manuscript Submission Policies

Statement of Originality and Prior Publication

The journal accepts only original manuscripts, meaning manuscripts written by their listed authors. The authors must take full responsibility for the content and declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Manuscripts must also be unpublished, meaning they have not been published before, in part or in full, in any other outlet, such as journals, repositories, websites, blogs or print media.

Manuscripts that do not comply with this requirement will be rejected immediately.

Authorship

Only those who took part in preparing the manuscript may be listed as authors, in accordance with the guidelines of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) and the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Artificial intelligence tools cannot be credited as authors.

Language of Publication

The journal publishes articles in both Spanish and English.

Format, Style and Citation System

When preparing their manuscripts, authors must follow the guidelines in the Submissions section.

Plagiarism and Misconduct Screening

During the first stage of the editorial process, all manuscripts are screened with Turnitin, a plagiarism and similarity detection tool.

Turnitin compares the manuscript against its database, which includes international databases, and produces a similarity report. The Editorial Board reviews this report and assesses each case individually, paying particular attention to manuscripts with a similarity index above 25%.

Authors will be told the outcome of the report and any actions they must take regarding their manuscript. If the editor finds that the flagged passages are due to oversights or unintentional poor writing practice, the authors will be given the chance to revise the text.

Intentionally plagiarized texts and manuscripts that fail to cite their sources will be rejected immediately.

Artificial Intelligence Tools

Any use of artificial intelligence tools to write the manuscript, create graphics or analyze data must be declared in the Materials and Methods section, naming the tool used. Authors are responsible for any content the tool generates and for any conflict arising from copyright infringement caused by it, in accordance with the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidance (Authorship and AI tools | COPE: Committee on Publication Ethics).

Review and Publication Policies

Peer Review and Editorial Decisions

As set out in the editorial workflow, manuscripts that pass the initial scope and similarity checks go to double-blind peer review, which keeps the identities of authors and reviewers anonymous.

The editor selects at least two reviewers, who are asked to assess the originality and quality of the submitted manuscripts.

If the reviewers' opinions differ significantly, additional reviewers will be invited for a second round of review. The editor mediates between the reviewers and the authors, and the Editor-in-Chief makes the final decision.

Publication Frequency

The journal is published every four months, for three issues per year. Submissions are accepted year-round.

Access, Licensing and Fees Policies

Open Access and Open Science

The journal is open access and follows the principles of open science. Its content is available online freely, immediately and at no cost, with no subscription, registration or payment required. It may be read, downloaded and shared for academic purposes under the license assigned to each article.

License and Copyright

Each article will be assigned the appropriate Creative Commons license under the journal's policies. Once a manuscript is accepted, all authors must sign and submit a transfer of reproduction rights. From the date of publication, authors may share the article on social networks and other platforms, respecting the journal's distribution rights under the assigned license.

Article Processing Charges (APC) Statement

The journal does not charge article processing charges (APCs) or any other fees to authors for the submission, review, editing, typesetting or publication of manuscripts. Access to the content is also free for readers.

Ethical and Legal Policies

Code of Ethics

The journal promotes good practice in academic publishing. It therefore adopts and endorses the policies of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). Following these internationally recognized standards ensures the integrity, transparency and quality of its publication process. Authors must comply with these ethical guidelines, which cover authorship, conflicts of interest, data integrity and peer review standards.

See the Code of Ethics here.

Registration of Biomedical Trials

In line with current ethical and legal standards, all biomedical trials submitted for consideration must comply with Costa Rica's Biomedical Research Regulatory Law (Ley Reguladora de Investigación Biomédica), Law No. 9234. Under this law, all biomedical research conducted in Costa Rica must follow the procedures and regulations set by the National Health Research Council (Consejo Nacional de Investigación en Salud, CONIS).

To comply with this law, authors must review the applicable legislation and submit the trial registration documents to CONIS. More information is available at the following link: Trámites (ministeriodesalud.go.cr).

The journal reserves the right to request proof of registration and legal compliance before reviewing and publishing the manuscript.

Failure to comply with these ethical and legal regulations may lead to the manuscript not being considered or being rejected for publication.

Information Management Policies

Digital Preservation of Content

The journal takes the following measures to preserve its content:

The final publication files (PDF, XML and HTML) and the editable files (Adobe InDesign) are stored and safeguarded on the server of the Educational Technology Department of the University of Medical Sciences (UCIMED).

The server automatically makes a full daily backup using the Acronis client application, which stores the data remotely, encrypted and incrementally. This service is provided and monitored by UCIMED's IT Department.

As required by the National Library System (Sistema Nacional de Bibliotecas), legal deposit is made to preserve the record.

Interoperability Service

The journal provides an open OAI-PMH service so that information systems can query its content and content management systems can interoperate with it.

The public link to this service is: https://revistacienciaysalud.ac.cr/ojs/index.php/cienciaysalud/oai