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Best Practice

Compliance of Journal of Acupuncture and Meridian Studies to the Principles of transparency and best practice in scholarly publishing
(joint statement by COPE, DOAJ, WAME, and OASPA; http://doaj.org/bestpractice)

Updated November 23, 2020

  • 1. Website
    • i. The URL address of official journal web site: https://www.journal-jams.org/
    • ii. ‘Aims & Scope’ statement: The Journal of Acupuncture and Meridian Studies (JAMS) is a bimonthly, peer-reviewed journal featuring high-quality studies related to anatomy and physiology of acupoints and meridians, and mechanism of action of acupuncture treatment, and clinical effects of acupuncture. The following subjects will be covered by the journal: acupuncture (acupressure, electroacupuncture, laser acupuncture, moxibustion, cupping, etc.), pharmacopuncture, and veterinary acupuncture.
    • iii. Readership: JAMS is primarily for medical researchers and clinicians of acupuncture, traditional medicine, integrative medicine, complementary and alternative medicine, and other personnel who work in the field of medicine. Its readership can be expanded to other positions related to subjects described in aims and scope.
    • iv. Authorship criteria: Anyone listed as author on JAMS manuscript submission must meet all the following criteria below (adapted from https://www.nature.com/nature-research/editorial-policies/authorship):
      • Each author is expected to have made substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data; or the creation of new software used in the work; or have drafted the work or substantively revised it;
      • AND to have approved the submitted version (and any substantially modified version that involves the author's contribution to the study);
      • AND to have agreed both to be personally accountable for the author's own contributions and to ensure that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work, even ones in which the author was not personally involved, are appropriately investigated, resolved, and the resolution documented in the literature.
      JAMS requires that all published papers include the names and affiliations of all authors listed on the paper, as well as provide accurate contact information to JAMS as required in the JAMS rights contract. JAMS does not allow anonymous authors, and any papers published without author names and affiliations may be retracted by JAMS.
      Other contributors may be acknowledged at the end of the paper, before the bibliography, with explicitly described roles, preferably using the roles found in the CASRAI Contributor Roles Taxonomy at http://casrai.org/CRediT.
    • v. Duplicate submission and redundant publication: Submitted manuscripts must not have been previously published or be under consideration for publication elsewhere. No part of the accepted manuscript should be duplicated in any other scientific journal without the permission of the Editorial Board. Submitted manuscripts are screened for possible plagiarism or duplicate publication by Similarity Check upon arrival. If plagiarism or duplicate publication is detected, the manuscripts may be rejected, the authors will be announced in the journal, and their institutions will be informed. There will also be penalties for the authors.
    • A letter of permission is required for any and all material that has been published previously. It is the responsibility of the author to request permission from the publisher for any material that is being reproduced. This requirement applies to text, figures, and tables.
    • vi. pISSN 2005-2901 eISSN 2093-8152
  • 2. Name of journal
    • The official journal title is Journal of Acupuncture and Meridian Studies. The abbreviated title is J Acupunct Meridian Stud.
  • 3. Peer review process
    • JAMS operates a double-blind review process. All information on the reviewers is confidential and so is that of the contributing authors. Authors’ names and affiliations are removed during peer review. All contributions will be initially assessed by the editor for suitability for the journal. Papers deemed suitable are then sent to a minimum of two independent expert reviewers to assess the scientific quality of the paper.

      The invited reviewers should response to the offer of review within 14 days. Recommended decisions can vary from “Accept,” “Major revision,” “Minor revision,” or “Reject.” Reviewers should submit their decisions on the journal’s electronic manuscript system. Emails from reviewers and authors are considered as digital signatures.

      Upon the review decision, the paper may return back to the corresponding author. Each comment by the reviewers should be addressed one point by one point. The corresponding author should clearly indicate what alterations have been made using underline or highlight. The revised version should be uploaded online.

      The Editor is responsible for the final decision regarding acceptance or rejection of articles. There may be additional requests to improve the quality and to avoid potential weak points prior to publication. If necessary, certificates issued by professional English language editing company or English proofreading by language experts may be requested to the authors.
  • 4. Ownership and management
    • This journal is owned and managed by the Medical Association of Pharmacopuncture Institute (http://www.mapi.or.kr).
  • 5. Governing body
    • The governing body is the journal’s editorial board.
  • 6. Editorial team and contact information
    • i. Editorial team is available from the Editorial Board page at the front part of the journal.
    • ii. Contact information
    • SangHyeon Lee
    • Administrative Manager
    • JAMS Editorial office
    • 4F AKOM Building, 91, Heojun-ro, Gangseo-gu, Seoul 07525, Republic of Korea, Tel: +82-2-2658-9051, Fax: +82-2-2658-9136, E-mail: journalams@gmail.com
  • 7. Copyright and licensing
    • i. Copyright policy: All published papers become the permanent property of the Medical Association of Pharmacopuncture Institute. Copyrights of all published materials are owned by the Medical Association of Pharmacopuncture Institute. Permission must be obtained from the Medical Association of Pharmacopuncture Institute for any commercial use of materials. Every author should sign the copyright transfer agreement forms.
    • ii. Licensing information: This is an open-access journal distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND) license, which is for non-commercial purposes, lets others distribute and copy the article, and to include in a collective work (such as an anthology), as long as they credit the author(s) and provided they do not alter or modify the article.
  • 8. Author fees
    • Neither page charge, article processing charge (also known as a publication fee) for accepted articles nor submission fee will be applied. It is the platinum open access journal.
  • 9. Process for the identification of and dealing with allegations of research misconduct
    • When the journal faces suspected cases of research and publication misconduct such as redundant (duplicate) publication, plagiarism, fraudulent or fabricated data, changes in authorship, an undisclosed conflict of interest, ethical problems with a submitted manuscript, a reviewer who has appropriated an author’s idea or data, complaints against editors, and so on, the resolution process will follow the flowchart provided by the Committee on Publication Ethics (http://publicationethics.org/resources/flowcharts). The discussion and decision on the suspected cases are carried out by the Editorial Board.
  • 10. Publication ethics
    • i. Journal policies on authorship and contributorship: The Corresponding author must submit a completed Author Consent Form (Copyright Transfer Agreement form) to the JAMS editorial office with manuscripts. All authors must sign the Author Consent Form. The JAMS follows the recommendations for authorship of the ICMJE (www.icmje.org/icmje-recommendations.pdf).
      The ‘Uniform Requirements’ of the ICMJE presents authorship recommendations as follows. “Authorship credit should be based on 1) substantial contributions to conception and design, acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data; and 2) drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content; and 3) final approval of the version to be published; and 4) agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that the questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.” The authors should meet these 4 conditions. All individuals who meet the first criterion should have the opportunity to participate in the review, drafting, and final approval of the manuscript.
      The contribution of each author must be stated according to the CRediT (Contrubutor Roles Taxonomy) Taxonomy of author roles (casrai.org/credit/) and presented on the title page. If a person does not meet the above four criteria, they may be mentioned as a contributor to the manuscript’s acknowledgments section.

      Examples of author contributions
      Conceptualization: name; Data curation: name; Formal analysis: name; Funding acquisition: name; Investigation: name; Methodology: name; Project administration: name; Resources: name; Software: name; Supervision: name; Validation: name; Visualization: name; Writing - original draft: name; Writing - review & editing: name.

      The Editor assumes that all author(s) listed in a manuscript have agreed with the following JAMS policies on manuscript submission: 1) The manuscript submitted to the JAMS must be previously unpublished and not be under consideration for publication elsewhere; 2) the identities of referees will not be revealed under any circumstances; and 3) if an author(s) should be added or deleted after submission of manuscript, it is the responsibility of the corresponding author to ensure that all the authors involved are aware of and agree to the change in authorship. JAMS has no responsibility for such changes.

      ii. How the journal will handle complaints and appeals: The policy of the journal is primarily aimed at protecting the authors, reviewers, editors, and the publisher of the journal. If not described below, the process of handling complaints and appeals follows the guidelines of the Committee of Publication Ethics available from: https://publicationethics.org/appeals
      • Who complains or makes an appeal?: Submitters, authors, reviewers, and readers may register complaints and appeals in a variety of cases as follows: falsification, fabrication, plagiarism, duplicate publication, authorship dispute, conflict of interest, ethical treatment of animals, informed consent, bias or unfair/inappropriate competitive acts, copyright, stolen data, defamation, and legal problem. If any individuals or institutions want to inform the cases, they can send a letter to the editor. For the complaints or appeals, concrete data with answers to all factual questions (who, when, where, what, how, why) should be provided.
      • Who is responsible to resolve and handle complaints and appeals?: The Editor, Editorial Board, or Editorial Office is responsible for them.
      • What may be the consequence of remedy?: It depends on the type or degree of misconduct. The consequence of resolution will follow the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
    • iii. Journal policies on conflicts of interest / competing interests: The corresponding author of an article is asked to inform the Editor of the authors' potential conflicts of interest that may possibly influence the research or interpretation of data. A potential conflict of interest should be disclosed in a ‘Disclosure’ statement, and in the cover letter even when the authors are confident that their judgments have not been influenced during the study or in preparing the manuscript. Such conflicts may include financial support or private connections to pharmaceutical companies, political pressure from interest groups, or academic problems.
      The submitted Disclosure format shall follow that of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) Uniform Disclosure Form for Potential Conflicts of Interest (http://www.icmje.org/about-icmje/faqs/conflict-of-interest-disclosure-forms/). The Editor will decide whether the information on the conflict should be included in the published paper. In particular, all sources of funding for a study should be explicitly stated. The JAMS asks referees to let the Editor know of any conflict of interest before undertaking a review of a given manuscript.
      All authors are requested to disclose any actual or potential conflict of interest including any financial, personal or other relationships with other people or organizations within three years of beginning the submitted work that could inappropriately influence, or be perceived to influence, their work.
    • iv. Journal policies on data sharing and reproducibility: Open data policy: For clarification on result accuracy and reproducibility of the results, raw data or analysis data will be deposited to a public repository after acceptance of the manuscript. Therefore, the submission of the raw data or analysis data is mandatory. If the data is already a public one, its URL site or sources should be disclosed. If data cannot be publicized, it can be negotiated with the editor. If there are any inquiries on depositing data or waiver of data sharing, the authors should contact the editorial office. Clinical data sharing policy: This journal follows the data sharing policy described in “Data Sharing Statements for Clinical Trials: A Requirement of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors” (https://synapse.koreamed.org/Synapse/Data/PDFData/0063JKMS/jkms-32-1051.pdf). The ICMJE's policy regarding trial registration is explained at http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/publishing-and-editorial-issues/clinical-trial-registration.html.
      If the data sharing plan changes after registration this should be reflected in the statement submitted and published with the manuscript, and updated in the registry record. All of the authors of research articles that deal with interventional clinical trials must submit data sharing plan. Based on the degree of sharing plan, authors should deposit their data after deidentification and report the DOI of the data and the registered site.
    • v. Journal's policy on ethical oversight: When the Journal faces suspected cases of research and publication misconduct such as a redundant (duplicate) publication, plagiarism, fabricated data, changes in authorship, undisclosed conflicts of interest, and ethical problem discovered with the submitted manuscript, a reviewer who has appropriated an author’s idea or data, complaints against editors, and other issues, the resolving process will follow the flowchart provided by the Committee on Publication Ethics (http://publicationethics.org/resources/flowcharts). All studies involving human subjects or human data must be reviewed and approved by a responsible Institutional Review Board (IRB). The Editorial Board will discuss the suspected cases and reach a decision. We will not hesitate to publish errata, corrigenda, clarifications, retractions, and apologies when needed.
    • vi. Journal's policy on intellectual property: All published papers become the permanent property of the Medical Association of Pharmacopuncture Institute. Copyrights of all published materials are owned by the Medical Association of Pharmacopuncture Institute.
    • vii. Journal's options for post-publication discussions and corrections: The post-publication discussion is available through letter to editor. If any readers have a concern on any articles published, they can submit letter to editor on the articles. If there founds any errors or mistakes in the article, it can be corrected through erratum, corrigenda, or retraction.
  • 11. Publishing schedule
    • It is to be published bimonthly (February, April, June, August, October, and December). Supplement issues may be published.
  • 12. Access
    • This is an open-access journal distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND) license, which is for non-commercial purposes, lets others distribute and copy the article, and to include in a collective work (such as an anthology), as long as they credit the author(s) and provided they do not alter or modify the article.
  • 13. Archiving
  • 14. Revenue sources
    • Revenue sources of journal are from the support of publisher (the Medical Association of Pharmacopuncture Institute), Korea Government’s support, and advertising rates.
  • 15. Advertising
    • Journal of Acupuncture and Meridian Studies accepts any advertisements on the following basis:
    • Eligibility of the advertised products or services
      All products or services should be safe and reliable, and not cause any harm to the health and welfare of humans. Advertisements may promote information and technologies relevant for authors, editors, reviewers, and readers. Pharmaceutical products may also be considered.
      - Advertising is separate from content. Advertisers and sponsors have no advance knowledge of our editorial contents, nor do the editors have advance knowledge of advertisers. Content is never altered, added, or deleted to accommodate advertising. Advertisers and sponsors have no input regarding any of our editorial decisions or advertising policies.
      - We reserves the right to decline or cancel any advertisement at any time.
      - Advertisements for pharmaceutical products must conform to all regulations and policies of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, Republic of Korea in every respect.
    • Advertisement inquiries
      For advertisement inquiries, please contact JAMS editorial office (journalams@gmail.com).
    • Disclaimer
      Liability: Neither the publisher nor the editors will be legally liable for advertisements presented in the journal. In addition, they cannot guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of the information provided.
      Endorsement: The publisher and the editors do not endorse any products or services that are advertised.
      Disclaimer: Neither the publisher nor the authors will be legally liable for any of the content of advertisements, so readers must keep this in mind when reading or seeing advertisements.
  • 16. Direct marketing
    • Journal propagation has been done through the journal web site and distribution of an introduction pamphlet. Invitations to submit a manuscript are usually focused on the presenters at conferences, seminars, or workshops if the topic is related to the journal's aims and scope.

Journal Info

JOURNAL OF MICROBIOLOGY AND BIOTECHNOLOGY
August, 2023
Vol.16 No.4

pISSN 2005-2901
eISSN 2093-8152

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  • Case Report2021-10-31

    Role of Acupuncture and Fire Cupping in Reducing the Thyroxine Dose and Improving the Thyroid Function in Hypothyroidism Patients: A Case Series

    Pradeep M. K. Nair1,*, Naga Jyothi2
    J Acupunct Meridian Stud 2021; 14(5): 200-205 https://doi.org/10.51507/j.jams.2021.14.5.200
    Abstract

    Hypothyroidism is one of the most common endocrine disorders linked to various systemic diseases ranging from obesity to cancers. The present line of management is insufficient as reports suggest that there is persistence of symptoms and poor adherence that makes the management of said disease challenging. Acupuncture and other Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) therapies are proven to alleviate endocrine dysfunctions. However, reports on acupuncture and cupping therapy on hypothyroidism are very scarce. Here, we report 5 cases of hypothyroid patients aged between 38-44 yrs who were treated with acupuncture and fire cupping for a period of three months. At the baseline, the patients presented with either a weak, wiry or vacuum pulse which represents spleen Qi deficiency. Further, they presented with elevated levels of Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH), and higher Body Mass Index (BMI). Acupuncture treatment at ST36, LI4, SP6, and BL20 was given bilaterally whilst CV4, LR3, LR4, SP9, ST40, SP10, GV4, KI3, ST12, and SI17 were punctured unilaterally. At the end of the time period of three months, patients progressed to normal levels of TSH, reduction in BMI and had succeeded in tapering their medication doses. Supplementing this, the patients reported marked improvement in other symptoms like fatigue, hair loss, and cold feet post-treatment. The effects were consistent even during the three month follow-up period post-interventions. The results encourage the utilization of acupuncture and fire cupping in the management of hypothyroidism. However, large scale studies are warranted to strengthen this recommendation.

  • Research Article2022-04-30

    Trigger Point Acupuncture and Exercise for Chronic Low Back Pain in Older Adult: a Preliminary Randomized Clinical Trial

    Yoichi Minakawa1,2,*, Shogo Miyazaki1,2, Hideaki Waki1,2, Naruto Yoshida1,2, Kaori Iimura3, Kazunori Itoh4
    J Acupunct Meridian Stud 2022; 15(2): 143-151 https://doi.org/10.51507/j.jams.2022.15.2.143
    Abstract

    Background: Exercise therapy is the first choice non-pharmacotherapeutic approach for musculoskeletal pain; however, it often interferes with the implementation and continuation of exercise due to fear-avoidance behaviors. Trigger point acupuncture (TrPAcp) has been reported to reduce musculoskeletal pain.Objectives: To examine the efficacy of exercise combined with TrPAcp compared to exercise alone for older patients with chronic low back pain (CLBP), the most common subjective symptom reported by old people of both sexes in Japan.Methods: In this single-center randomized controlled trial conducted at Teikyo Heisei University, 15 men and women aged ≥ 65 years with low back pain for at least 3 months who met the eligibility criteria were included. The Ex+TrPAcp group received exercise and trigger point acupuncture, while the Ex group received only exercise for 3 months. The main outcome, pain intensity, was measured using the numerical rating scale (NRS). Improvement was defined as a decrease in NRS of ≥ 2 or less than moderate (NRS < 4).Results: The analysis included 7 of 8 cases in the Ex+TrPAcp group and 7 of 7 cases in the Ex group. NRS improved in 6 of 7 and 1 of 7 patients in the intervention and control groups, respectively, with a significant difference between groups (p = 0.03, φ = 0.71). Regarding adverse events due to acupuncture, one patient (14.3%) complained of heaviness after acupuncture. Nothing specific was reported with exercise.Conclusion: Compared with Ex alone, Ex+TrPAcp may be more effective therapy for older people with CLBP who do not have an exercise habit.

  • Perspective Article2022-08-31

    Correlation Between the Sinew Channels with the Myofascial System, Pathology, and Treatment

    Pablo Nava Jaimes*, Alejandro Martínez Reyes, Daniel García Lara, Abel Cristian Patiño Coyuca
    J Acupunct Meridian Stud 2022; 15(4): 201-213 https://doi.org/10.51507/j.jams.2022.15.4.201

    The sinew channels are a tendon and muscle network, and their description is based on the observation presented on the Huangdi Neijing Ling Shu. However, the myofascial system is an uninterrupted series of connective tissue that is comprised of layers that run in different directions. The similarities on these pathways are compared, such as a brief description on the myofascial pain syndrome and its similitude with the Impediment disorder from the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Furthermore, we discuss the treatment of these conditions from a Traditional Chinese Medicine perspective.

All Newest Articles
  • Research Article2021-12-31

    Effect of Dry Cupping Therapy on Pain and Functional Disability in Persistent Non-Specific Low Back Pain: A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial

    Marianna de Melo Salemi1,*, Vanessa Maria da Silva Alves Gomes1, Laylla Marjorye Rebouças Bezerra1, Thania Maion de Souza Melo1, Geisa Guimarães de Alencar1, Iracema Hermes Pires de Mélo Montenegro2, Alessandra Paula de Melo Calado3, Eduardo José Nepomuceno Montenegro1, Gisela Rocha de Siqueira1
    J Acupunct Meridian Stud 2021; 14(6): 219-230 https://doi.org/10.51507/j.jams.2021.14.6.219
    Abstract

    Background: Cupping therapy is used to treat musculoskeletal conditions, including low back pain.Objectives: The study assessed the effects of dry cupping on pain and functional disability from persistent nonspecific low back pain. Methods: This was a randomized controlled trial, where participants were allocated to a cupping therapy (n = 19) or sham (n = 18) group, for five 10-minute sessions of cupping therapy, twice a week, to stimulate the acupoints related to low back pain (GV4, BL23, BL24, BL25, and BL30, BL40 and BL58) and emotional aspects (HT3 and ST36). All participants were assessed at baseline, post-treatment and follow up (a finalization period of four weeks) using a visual analogue scale (VAS) and the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI). Groups were compared using the analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) and the effect size was calculated using Cohen̓s d. Results: The cupping therapy group presented a lower mean VAS when compared to the sham, at post-treatment (mean difference: –2.36; standard error [SE]: 0.58; p < 0.001; “large” effect size: –0.94) and follow up (mean difference: –1.71; SE: 0.81; p < 0.042; ‘large’ effect size: –0.83). The cupping therapy group presented a lower mean ODI when compared to the sham post-treatment (mean difference: –4.68; SE: 1.85; p: 0.017; ‘large’ effect size: –0.87), although in follow-up, there was no difference between the groups (mean difference: 4.16; SE: 2.97; p: 0.17; “medium” effect size: –0.70). Conclusion: Dry cupping was more effective in improving pain and functional disability in people with persistent nonspecific low back pain when compared to the sham.

  • Perspective Article2022-08-31

    Correlation Between the Sinew Channels with the Myofascial System, Pathology, and Treatment

    Pablo Nava Jaimes*, Alejandro Martínez Reyes, Daniel García Lara, Abel Cristian Patiño Coyuca
    J Acupunct Meridian Stud 2022; 15(4): 201-213 https://doi.org/10.51507/j.jams.2022.15.4.201

    The sinew channels are a tendon and muscle network, and their description is based on the observation presented on the Huangdi Neijing Ling Shu. However, the myofascial system is an uninterrupted series of connective tissue that is comprised of layers that run in different directions. The similarities on these pathways are compared, such as a brief description on the myofascial pain syndrome and its similitude with the Impediment disorder from the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Furthermore, we discuss the treatment of these conditions from a Traditional Chinese Medicine perspective.

  • Research Article2022-04-30

    Trigger Point Acupuncture and Exercise for Chronic Low Back Pain in Older Adult: a Preliminary Randomized Clinical Trial

    Yoichi Minakawa1,2,*, Shogo Miyazaki1,2, Hideaki Waki1,2, Naruto Yoshida1,2, Kaori Iimura3, Kazunori Itoh4
    J Acupunct Meridian Stud 2022; 15(2): 143-151 https://doi.org/10.51507/j.jams.2022.15.2.143
    Abstract

    Background: Exercise therapy is the first choice non-pharmacotherapeutic approach for musculoskeletal pain; however, it often interferes with the implementation and continuation of exercise due to fear-avoidance behaviors. Trigger point acupuncture (TrPAcp) has been reported to reduce musculoskeletal pain.Objectives: To examine the efficacy of exercise combined with TrPAcp compared to exercise alone for older patients with chronic low back pain (CLBP), the most common subjective symptom reported by old people of both sexes in Japan.Methods: In this single-center randomized controlled trial conducted at Teikyo Heisei University, 15 men and women aged ≥ 65 years with low back pain for at least 3 months who met the eligibility criteria were included. The Ex+TrPAcp group received exercise and trigger point acupuncture, while the Ex group received only exercise for 3 months. The main outcome, pain intensity, was measured using the numerical rating scale (NRS). Improvement was defined as a decrease in NRS of ≥ 2 or less than moderate (NRS < 4).Results: The analysis included 7 of 8 cases in the Ex+TrPAcp group and 7 of 7 cases in the Ex group. NRS improved in 6 of 7 and 1 of 7 patients in the intervention and control groups, respectively, with a significant difference between groups (p = 0.03, φ = 0.71). Regarding adverse events due to acupuncture, one patient (14.3%) complained of heaviness after acupuncture. Nothing specific was reported with exercise.Conclusion: Compared with Ex alone, Ex+TrPAcp may be more effective therapy for older people with CLBP who do not have an exercise habit.

All Newest Articles

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