About the Journal

Aim and scope

The Health Sciences Libraries Journal (HSLJ) provides a forum for those working in the library and information sector to share and showcase knowledge and experience. Through harnessing our collective knowledge, we aim to enhance our ability to make evidence-informed decisions in practice, enable creativity and change, and promote our value and professional abilities.

The HSLJ has two issues per year and is diamond open access. It provides an opportunity to publish original peer reviewed research articles, but also practice or experience-based articles, regular features, commentaries on ideas or new developments, and reviews of events or products. To facilitate the open exchange of ideas, we do not apply article processing charges or other author fees. Our readers are primarily based in Ireland, however we welcome international submissions that meet our criteria.

Submissions can be made on a wide range of topics that are timely and relevant to those involved in health information and librarianship. This may include articles with a health or social related focus but is not restricted to those areas. Submissions can also address broader general themes, such as, literature searching, user experience, service evaluation, research and data support and access, mobilising evidence, technology and system design, continuing professional development, and project and management skills.

Recurring sections include: 

  • Research articles – involving original research or evaluation. These will be peer reviewed. 
  • Practice-based articles – provide knowledge based on real-world experience and may include: case studies, project reports, commentaries, dissertation summaries. 
  • Reports and reviews – on conferences and other events, publications, tools or products, websites or other information resources. 
  • Regular features – articles submitted by regular contributors or on regular topics/themes of interest. For example, ‘Librarians in interesting roles’ and ‘Librarians past and present’. 
  • Updates and editorials – from the HSLG.

We aim to publish two issues each year.

  • The deadline for general submissions is 01 April (for summer) or 01 October (for winter).
  • The deadline for (peer-reviewed) research articles is 10 January (for summer) or 10 July (for winter).

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Rights and open access policy

The Health Sciences Libraries Journal is fully open access (diamond) and under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)  license. All authors must agree to this provision, which means that they retain copyright for their work, and it will be made freely available online. Anyone may reuse the content freely for non-commercial purposes as long as they give appropriate credit to the author’s work, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. Authors may re-publish the HSLJ’s version of their work (including posting to a repository, their website, or publishing in a book) with a link and acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal. Authors are responsible for obtaining permission to reproduce any third-party material and clearly identify this within their work. We do not apply article processing charges or other author fees.

Archiving

The UCC journal platform provides secure, replicated storage for files. To ensure electronic backup and long-term digital preservation of the journal, copies of journal will be uploaded to CORA, UCC’s open access repository (and uploaded to the HSLG website.) Authors may add their article to an online repository (with acknowledgement).

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Privacy and consent policy

Authors – The corresponding author, making a submission to this journal, is required to register on the University College Cork's journal hosting platform (OJS). By doing this, they consent to the personal information they supply being stored in, and processed by, the platform and journal editorial team. The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that all contributors have read this policy and provides consent to our use of their personal information. Authors are also responsible for all elements of consent and the appropriate reporting of personal or institutional data in their submissions.

Website visitors - UCC's journal hosting platform (OJS) collects anonymised usage log data, including IP addresses, operating system and browser type, for system administration and to report aggregate information to the webmasters. This information is not used to identify visitors personally and it is not used for any other purpose. To receive a table of contents by email for each new issue of the journal, website visitors may register via the link at the top of the journal home page.

Any personal information processed by the University in connection with their websites will be treated in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Acts 1988 to 2018. For more information please review the UCC privacy policy and UCC cookie policy.

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Quality and integrity policy

The Health Sciences Libraries Journal aims to provide a trusted source of information for its readers. The editorial team may conduct an internet search to ascertain the veracity of details relating to the submission, including the author’s credentials. The team may reject a submission if they believe there is a significant or undisclosed use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) technology or conflict of interest; or if there are other issues that may bring the quality or integrity of the submission into question.

Where issues or errors are identified in a published article, the item may be temporarily removed. If corrections or additions are made, this will be clearly noted on the new version. In the unlikely event that an error or issue is so significant that it cannot be rectified, an article may be permanently retracted. The editorial advisory board may assist the editorial team to resolve issues as they arise.

Competing interests/conflicts of interest

Competing or conflicts of interest can be described as factors that influence or interfere with the objective integrity of a publication (or could be perceived to do so) (COPE 2016). All authors and anyone editing or reviewing submissions are required to disclose any relevant conflict of interest. Such interests may be financial or non-financial. For example:

  • associations or benefits related to a product or process under discussion, such as personal financial gain
  • associations with commercial entities relating to, or providing support for, the submitted work (noting any association within 36 months of submission)
  • relevant non-financial associations

Declaring a competing interest does not necessarily preclude publication.

Members of the editorial team and editorial advisory board may make submissions to the journal. Their role will be added as an affiliation. If an editor is an author on a submission (other than an editorial), another member of the editorial team or advisory board will be asked to process the submission.

Reviewers will not review a submission from a colleague at their own institution.

Use of artificial intelligence

Authors are asked to disclose and describe any use of artificial intelligence (AI), (such as Large Language Models [LLMs], chatbots, or image creators) in the production of their submission. This will include what, why and how AI technology was used.

Data and reproducibility

To achieve greater transparency and trust, where relevant, authors are encouraged to share associated anonymous data, code and other materials that support replicability. This may be provided with the submission or shared via an online repository or website.

The HSLJ editorial team encourages all authors to link their academic work to their ORCID iD http://orcid.org/content/initiative, and include this link in their submission. 

Plagiarism

The editorial team may reject or retract submissions if it is believed that there has been significant plagiarism. This may involve use of verbatim or paraphrased use of text, data, images, figures, tables of their own or another person’s work without clear acknowledgement.

Communication with the journal editors.

Please use the following email address to communicate with journal staff - hslj.hslg@gmail.com. Add 'HSLJ query' to the beginning of the subject field.

Allegations of misconduct

All allegations of ethical misconduct or expressions of concern are taken seriously. COPE, provide flowcharts that outline steps for editors to follow when issues arise. The editor is the main point of contact for all queries or complaints hslj.hslg@gmail.com. All allegations will be dealt with discretely and objectively. Where necessary, a retraction or correction may be made.

Complaints and appeals

If an author believes that their article has been rejected or retracted unfairly, they may submit an appeal letter on the journal’s online submission system within 14 days of the decision notification. Appeals should address all points or comments raised by the editor (and reviewer, where relevant). The editor will decide whether to invite a resubmission, send it to another external reviewer, or uphold the original decision. In all cases, the editor’s decision is final.

Authorship and contributorship

It is important to be transparent about contributions to published work. The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (n.d.) recommends that authorship be based on the following four criteria:

  • Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; AND
  • Drafting the work or reviewing it critically for important intellectual content; AND
  • Final approval of the version to be published; AND
  • 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.

Contributors who meet fewer than all four of the above criteria for authorship should not be listed as authors, but they should be acknowledged. The corresponding author should obtain written permission to be acknowledged from all individuals. (See the ICMJE website for more information). 

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Disclaimer

The content published in the HSLJ represents the views of the author(s) only. Publication does not imply endorsement of any view or opinion stated in the journal.

It is the sole responsibility of authors to ensure that they abide by all relevant laws and that they do not infringe on the privacy, intellectual or other rights of third parties (person or entity).

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Journal History

The HSLJ continues the Health Information News & Thinking (HINT), the ezine of the Health Sciences Libraries Group (2003-2024).