·         License:  

·         Publisher: Romanian Association of Balneology / Asociația Română de Balneologie

Publisher or Society responsibilities
·         Romanian Association of Balneology shall ensure that good practice is maintained to the standards outlined in this document.

Publication ethics
Romanian Association of Balneology will take reasonable steps to identify and prevent the publication of papers where research misconduct has occurred.

The Society and the editors will discourage such misconduct, or knowingly allow such misconduct to take place.
The Balneo and PRM Research Journal will retract or correct articles when needed.
Romanian Association of Balneology will publish corrections, clarifications, retractions and apologies when needed.
Editors' responsibilities
To act in a balanced, objective and fair way while carrying out their expected duties, without discrimination on grounds of gender, sexual orientation, religious or political beliefs, ethnic or geographical origin of the authors.

To handle submissions so that articles are considered and accepted solely on their academic merit and without commercial influence.
To adopt and follow reasonable procedures in the event of complaints of an ethical or conflict nature, in accordance with the policies and procedures adopted ;
To give authors a reasonable opportunity to respond to any complaints. All complaints should be investigated no matter when the original publication was approved. Documentation associated with any such complaints should be retained.
Articles use persistent article identifiers: DOI
Article metadata is uploaded to DOAJ regularly
The author who has the quality of editor-in-chief or editor does not participate in any way in the decision-making process of selection and publication of the respective article. 

EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS:
- participate in the peer-review process of some submitted papers
- suggest peer-reviewers for our journal
- recommend editorial board members with qualified academic records
- submit articles to be published in our journal with a 50% APC discount when the article has collective authorship, with an editorial board member of our journal included, or free of charge when the article has as the only author one of the editorial board members.
- make suggestions for the progress of our journal
- promote Balneo and PRM Research Journal in all academic and scientific social media

Authors
·       Authors can use the online submission link:   
·       Balneo and PRM Research Journal was recognized by the Romanian College of Physicians for 10 CME credits, based on yearly subscription - Recognition Letter for 2020
·       The Journal publishes peer-reviewed original papers,  systematic reviews based on the PRISMA methodology, short communications and letters to the editor in the following fields: Balneology, Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine (PRM), Healthy Ageing, Climatology and Hydrothermotherapy.
 ·       For submitting systematic review articles based on the PRISMA methodology for Balneo and PRM Research Journal, authors must provide additionally: PRISMA Abstract checklist, PRISMA checklist and PRISMA registration
·       Article Publication Charges: 200 Euro per admitted for publication article - it covers all publishing costs (indexing, editing, printing, evaluation)

·       Editorial Team can invite between 3 and 5 authors per issue for publishing in Balneo and PRM Research Journal free of charge.
·       For submitting articles for Balneo and PRM Research Journal, authors must use the following template: Balneo Template
·       The Peer Review process is a double-blind process.
·       Peer-reviewers will send their Peer-review evaluation form by email: peer@bioclima.ro
·       Editors and Editor-in-chief of Balneo and PRM Research Journal can publish also their articles in the journal after the peer-review process.
·       The articles with at least one peer-review report are finally peer-reviewed by a second peer-reviewer established by the editorial team for a final decision
·       The editor has the final decision to publish an article.
·       Authors must provide the Published Conflict-of-Interest Statement: Link
·       Authors must provide the Published Statement of Informed Consent: Link
·       Authors must provide the Published Statement of Human and Animal Rights: Link
·       Authors must provide the Assignment of copyright and authorship responsibilities: Link
·       Authors retain unrestricted copyright and all publishing rights when publishing under any license permitted by the journal
·       The author who has the quality of editor-in-chief or editor does not participate in any way in the decision-making process of selection and publication of the respective article.
·       Authors are permitted to deposit all versions of their paper in an institutional or subject repository. Preprint Author’s Accepted Manuscript Published article (Version of Record)
- Authors are obliged to participate in peer review process, responding to peer-reviewers comments/evaluations.
- All authors have significantly contributed to the research.
- All authors are obliged to provide retractions or corrections of mistakes.
- All authors must provise list of references, financial support.
- It is forbidden to publish same research in more than one journal.

 
Authors' responsibilities:
·        To maintain accurate records of data associated with their submitted manuscript, and to supply or provide access to these data, on reasonable request. Where appropriate and where allowed by employer, funding body and others who might have an interest, to deposit data in a suitable repository or storage location, for sharing and further use by others.
·        To confirm/assert that the manuscript as submitted is not under consideration or accepted for publication elsewhere. Where portions of the content overlap with published or submitted content, to acknowledge and cite those sources. Additionally, to provide the editor with a copy of any submitted manuscript that might contain overlapping or closely related content.
·        To confirm that all the work in the submitted manuscript is original and to acknowledge and cite content reproduced from other sources. To obtain permission to reproduce any content from other sources.
·        Authors should ensure that any studies involving human or animal subjects conform to national, local and institutional laws and requirements (e.g. WMA Declaration of Helsinki, NIH Policy on Use of Laboratory Animals, EU Directive on Use of Animals) and confirm that approval has been sought and obtained where appropriate. Authors should obtain express permission from human subjects and respect their privacy.
·        To declare any potential conflicts of interest (e.g. where the author has a competing interest (real or apparent) that could be considered or viewed as exerting an undue influence on his or her duties at any stage during the publication process).
·        To notify promptly the journal editor or publisher if a significant error in their publication is identified. To cooperate with the editor and publisher to publish an erratum, addendum, corrigendum notice, or to retract the paper, where this is deemed necessary.
 
Balneo and PRM Research Journal provides a platform for authors to publish their articles as peer-reviewed original papers,  systematic reviews, meta-analyses, short communications and letters to the editor in the following fields: Balneology, Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine (PRM), Healthy Ageing, Climatology and Hydrothermotherapy.
 
We consider as general rules those included in the document: Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals: Writing and Editing for Biomedical Publication - updated February 2006 by International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, which can be found on the journal web page: http://bioclima.ro/Journal.htm .

The manuscripts will be submitted via the online submission system at http://bioclima.ro/ojs or by email as an attachment in Word format to articleonbrj@bioclima.ro.

For submitting articles for Balneo and PRM Research Journal, authors must use the following template: Balneo Template

The manuscripts must be accompanied by Published Conflict-of-Interest Statement (see Form), Published Statement of Informed Consent (see Form), and Published Statement of Human and Animal Rights (see Form), signed by the main author, in the name of all authors, scanned and attached to the email.
 
Authors retain unrestricted copyright and all publishing rights when publishing under any license permitted by the journal.
 
The language of papers is English.

After manuscript receipt, the corresponding author will receive a short e-mail confirming the receipt which will contain the registration number, the date the manuscript was received and the fact that the manuscript was send for peer-review. The Journal Peer-review Board Secretary chooses aleatory 2 peer-reviewers (from the Peer-review Board) and sends them by e-mail the manuscript.

The reviewer's decision (approval with no changes, approval with major/minor changes, rejection), taken on the responsibility of the peer-reviewers, will be immediately communicated by e-mail to the corresponding author by the editor.

If the manuscript gets approval with changes, the corresponding author shall send the improved manuscript within 4 weeks. The editor will convey the corresponding author's answer to the peer reviewers. If they are satisfied with the corresponding author's answer, they will send the executive editor the decision of approval for publication of the improved manuscript.

If the peer reviewers consider that the corresponding author did not meet/or met poorly the revision requests, they will deny the approval for publication, which will be communicated to the editor. The approval for publication once taken by the reviewers, the decision will be communicated in the editorial meeting.

The author who has the quality of editor-in-chief or editor does not participate in any way in the decision-making process of selection and publication of the respective article.
 
Peer-review process
- All the journal’s content should be subjected to peer-review.
- Peer-review is defined as obtaining advice on individual manuscripts from reviewers’ expert in the field.
- Peer-review Board: http://bioclima.ro/JPR.pdf
- Peer-review protocol: http://bioclima.ro/JPRV.pdf
- Editing regulations: http://bioclima.ro/Edit..pdf
- Reviewers should have no conflict of interest
- Reviewers should point out relevant published work which is not yet cited.
- Reviewed articles should be treated confidentially.
·           An article is accepted by an editor only after the receiving one completed peer-review article evaluation forms from two peer-reviewers. 
·           Peer-reviewers send their Peer-reviewarticle evaluation form by email: peer@bioclima.ro
·           Peer-reviewers Board of Balneo and PRM Research Journal - pdf link
·           The editor has the final decision to publish an article.

Reviewers' responsibilities
·         To contribute to the decision-making process, and to assist in improving the quality of the published paper by reviewing the manuscript objectively, in a timely manner.
·         To maintain the confidentiality of any information supplied by the editor or author. To not retain or copy the manuscript.
·         To alert the editor to any published or submitted content that is substantially similar to that under review.
·         To be aware of any potential conflicts of interest (financial, institutional, collaborative or other relationships between the reviewer and author) and to alert the editor to these, if necessary withdrawing their services for that manuscript.
 
Copyright and Access
·         License:  
All the articles are available to readers in an open-access way.

Archiving
All published articles in Balneo and PRM Research Journal are archived and published online: http://bioclima.ro/Journal.htm
The journal content is continuously deposited in the National Library of Romania, CrossRef, Internet Archive, DOAJ
 

Procedures for dealing with unethical behaviour
Identification of unethical behaviour
·           Misconduct and unethical behaviour may be identified and brought to the attention of the editor and publisher at any time, by anyone.
·           Misconduct and unethical behaviour may include, but need not be limited to, examples as outlined above.
·           Whoever informs the editor or publisher of such conduct should provide sufficient information and evidence in order for an investigation to be initiated. All allegations should be taken seriously and treated in the same way, until a successful decision or conclusion is reached.
Investigation
·           An initial decision should be taken by the editor, who should consult with or seek advice from the publisher, if appropriate.
·           Evidence should be gathered, while avoiding spreading any allegations beyond those who need to know.

Minor breaches
·           Minor misconduct might be dealt with without the need to consult more widely. In any event, the author should be given the opportunity to respond to any allegations.

Serious breaches
·           Serious misconduct might require that the employers of the accused be notified. The editor, in consultation with the publisher or Society as appropriate, should make the decision whether or not to involve the employers, either by examining the available evidence themselves or by further consultation with a limited number of experts.

Outcomes (in increasing order of severity; may be applied separately or in conjunction)
·           Informing or educating the author or reviewer where there appears to be a misunderstanding or misapplication of acceptable standards.
·           A more strongly worded letter to the author or reviewer covering the misconduct and as a warning to future behaviour.
·           Publication of a formal notice detailing the misconduct.
·           Publication of an editorial detailing the misconduct.
·           A formal letter to the head of the author's or reviewer's department or funding agency.
·           Formal retraction or withdrawal of a publication from the journal, in conjunction with informing the head of the author or reviewer's department, Abstracting & Indexing services and the readership of the publication.
·           Imposition of a formal embargo on contributions from an individual for a defined period.
·           Reporting the case and outcome to a professional organisation or higher authority for further investigation and action.