For Authors
For Authors
Instructions for Authors
Conflict of Interest Form Copyright Transfer Agreement Form
Once your manuscript has been accepted, please download the Conflict of Interest (COI) and Copyright Transfer Agreement (CTA) forms and submit them to the Editorial Office.
Editorial Office Email Address:
jowhsr-edit[at]je.bunken.co.jp
(Please replace “[at]” with “@” when sending your email.)
Journal of Work Health and Safety Regulation
Instructions for Authors
1. Aims and Scope
The Journal of Work Health and Safety Regulation (JOWHSR) is a peer-reviewed open-access multidisciplinary journal of international scope in work health and safety regulation. It is published in English and administered by the Japan Association of Occupational Health Law. Articles are published online as they become available, and a printed issue is compiled twice a year.
The journal aims to advance academic research and to inform policy debate and decision-making in all aspects of work health and safety regulation, including prevention, compensation, and rehabilitation/return to work.
The Journal is interested in submissions that include analysis of legislative, administrative, or judicial developments in a single country that have transnational implications or that relate to potential international trends; doctrinal (legal analytical) comparisons addressing common work health and safety issues across two or more countries; empirical analyses; case studies; analysis of theoretical, methodological, or historical issues in work health and safety regulation; scholarship on mixed systems of law or of supranational legal regulation; and discussion of economic, social, or cultural aspects of work health and safety regulation and/or the ‘transferability’ of legal rules or policy approaches.
Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives on work health and safety regulation – including from occupational health, medicine, sociology, regulatory studies, industrial relations, psychology, social policy, criminology, socio-legal studies, and history – are welcome.
The journal is also interested in submissions that analyze important court decisions (case notes), reports on work health and safety regulation issues (reports) and developments in work health and safety legislation (legislation notes), as well as reviews of books on work health and safety regulation (book reviews). The journal will also publish occasional editorials (including guest editorials) reporting on developments in work health and safety regulation from around the world. If it contains implications for regulation, it does not matter what the discipline is.
2. Manuscript Types
The journal welcomes the following manuscript types, all of which are subject to peer review.
General details are provided below; more specific instructions can be found in the Manuscript Preparation section.
2-1. Editorials
Essays authored by the editors or editor-in-chief of this journal
2-2. Articles
Full and comprehensive reports describing original research
2-3. Position Paper
Papers systematically outlining the stance, views, or recommendations of an author or research group on a particular issue
2-4. Reports
Notes on significant reports on work health and safety law and policy issues
2-5. Legislation Notes
Notes on new legislation in one or more countries
2-6. Case Notes
Introduction or analysis of one or more cases that merit international attention
2-7. Country Report
A systematic report on legal systems, policies, practices, or case law in a given country, organized around a specific theme
2-8. Book Reviews
Review of books concerning OSH regulation
2-9. Letters to the Editor
Letters to the Editor are brief, constructive commentaries in response to recently published articles in JOWHSR
3. Journal & Ethics Policies
JOWHSR upholds the highest standards in scholarly publishing. Before submitting a manuscript to the journal, authors must ensure that they have read and complied with the journal’s policies. The journal reserves the right to reject without review, or retract, any manuscript that the Editor believes may not comply with these policies.
The responsibilities of the journal’s authors, editors, reviewers, and publisher regarding research and publication ethics are described in full below.
Submission to the journal implies that the manuscript has not been previously published (in part or in whole), is not in press, and is not under consideration for publication elsewhere. The journal considers secondary publication for articles previously published in another language, as defined in the Secondary Publication section.
Authors must inform the editors if any related manuscripts are under consideration, in press or published elsewhere. The availability of a manuscript on a publicly accessible preprint server does not constitute prior publication (see ‘3-3. Preprints’).
If authors choose to submit their manuscript elsewhere before a final decision has been made on its suitability for publication in JOWHSR, they should first withdraw it from the journal.
3-1. Submission
JOWHSR welcomes manuscript submissions from all authors based anywhere in the world.
Submission of a manuscript to the journal implies that all authors have approved it, warrant that it is factual, have agreed to its submission, and have the right to publish it.
3-2. Originality
Submission to the journal implies that the manuscript is original work. Any manuscript with an unacceptable level of unoriginal material may be rejected or retracted at the Editors’ discretion.
3-3. Preprints
To support the wide dissemination of research, the journal encourages authors to post their research manuscripts on community-recognized preprint servers, either before or alongside submission to the journal. This policy applies only to the original version of a manuscript that describes primary research. Any version of a manuscript that has been revised in response to reviewers’ comments, accepted for publication or published in the journal should not be posted on a preprint server. Instead, forward links to the published manuscript may be posted on the preprint server.
Authors should retain copyright in their work when posting to a preprint server.
3-4. Scooping
When assessing the novelty of a manuscript submitted to the journal, the editors will not be influenced by other manuscripts that are posted on community-recognized preprint servers after the date of submission to JOWHSR (or after the date of posting on a preprint server, if the manuscript is submitted to JOWHSR within 4 months).
3-5. Authorship
Submission to the JOWHSR implies that all listed authors have seen and approved the submitted version of the manuscript, and that they have agreed to their order of authorship. Any changes to the author list after manuscript submission – such as the addition or removal of author names, or a rearrangement of author order – must be approved by all authors and the editor.
To promote transparency and accountability in scholarly contributions, the journal adopts authorship principles consistent with the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) Recommendations on ‘Defining the Role of Authors and Contributors’, which are widely recognized across academic disciplines.
According to these principles, authorship should be based on the following four criteria:
• Substantial contribution to the conception or design of the work, or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; AND
• Drafting the manuscript or revising it critically for important intellectual content; AND
• Approving the final version of the manuscript for publication; AND
• Agreeing to be held 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.
All individuals who meet all four criteria should be listed as authors. Contributors who do not meet all four criteria should not be listed as authors but may be acknowledged in the Acknowledgements section for their specific contributions.
These guidelines apply to all manuscript types, including those in legal, policy, and health-related fields, and aim to ensure fairness, clarity, and ethical integrity in authorship attribution.
Given that Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools such as Large Language Models (LLMs) and various openly available services cannot meet the requirements above, they cannot be listed as an author of a manuscript.
3-6. Data falsification, data fabrication and image integrity
Authors must not falsify or fabricate data. Authors may digitally manipulate or process images, but only if the adjustments are kept to a minimum, are applied to the entire image, meet community standards, and are clearly described in the manuscript. All images in a manuscript must accurately reflect the original data on which they are based. Authors must not move, remove, add or enhance individual parts of an image. The editors reserve the right to request original, unprocessed images from the authors. Failure to provide requested images may result in a manuscript being rejected or retracted.
3-7. Reproducing copyrighted material
If a manuscript includes material that is not under the authors’ own copyright, the authors must obtain permission from the copyright holder(s) to reproduce it.
If a manuscript includes previously published material, the authors must obtain permission from the copyright owners and the publisher of the original work to reproduce it. The authors must cite the original work and state clearly in their manuscript that they have received permission to reproduce the material.
Copies of all reproduction permissions must be included with the manuscript when it is
first submitted.
3-8. Secondary publication
One of the main ambitions of JOWHSR is to ensure the dissemination of knowledge, especially knowledge that is inaccessible to the journal’s broad international audience. Following ICMJE policies on this issue, the journal therefore considers articles that have been previously published in another language if the following conditions are met:
• All authors of the original publication agree to the secondary publication, but understand that acceptance in the journal is not guaranteed.
• The manuscript undergoes full peer review.
• Editors from both journals approve of the re-publication.
• Full copyright permissions, per the section ‘Reproducing copyrighted material’, are supplied upon manuscript submission.
• A reasonable period of time has elapsed before the publication of the English version, to maintain the priority of the original publication. This time will be decided by the editors of both journals.
• JOWHSR’s audience is different from that of the original publication. Differentiating elements can include the following: the original publication and its journal are published entirely in another language; the original journal is not indexed in PubMed, the Science Citation Index Expanded (Clarivate Analytics), Scopus (Elsevier), or other major international databases; and the original journal has a restricted distribution (e.g., in print only to members of a society). Authors should contact the Editor-in-Chief for clarification if needed.
• The secondary publication faithfully reflects the data and interpretations of the original publication.
Secondary publications will include text that indicates they are fully peer-reviewed translations of an original publication. They will contain a statement such as: “This article is based on a study first reported in [journal title, with full reference].”
3-9. Availability of data and materials
(Applicable to medical or health-related research only)
Where ethically feasible, JOWHSR strongly encourages authors to make all data and software code on which the conclusions of the paper rely available to readers. Authors are required to include a Data Availability Statement in their paper.
When data and software underlying the research article are available in an online source, authors should include a full citation in their reference list. Authors must disclose the source of publicly available data and materials, such as public repositories or commercial manufacturers, by including accession numbers or company details in their manuscript, as appropriate.
Authors may make their own data and materials available in Supplementary Material, or by linking to recognized public databases or digital repositories. All data sets must be made fully available to the editors and reviewers during the peer review process, and must be made publicly available by the date of publication.
Authors also commit to preserving their data sets for at least three years from the date of publication in the journal.
The journal encourages authors to grant reasonable requests from colleagues to share any data, materials, and experimental protocols described in their manuscript.
3-10. Human subject
(Applicable to medical or health-related research only)
If the research involves human participants, authors should indicate whether the procedures followed were in accordance with Declaration of Helsinki and whether the study received approval from an appropriate institutional review board (IRB) or equivalent ethics committee.
Authors must confirm that informed consent was obtained from all participants, and that any personal or identifying information has been fully anonymized in accordance with community-accepted ethical standards.
3-11. Clinical trial registration
(Applicable to medical or health-related research only)
JOWHSR adheres to the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) policy on Clinical Trials Registration. In accordance with this policy, all clinical trials submitted to the journal must be registered in a publicly accessible trials registry at or before the time of first participant enrollment, as a condition for publication consideration.
Trials should be registered in a publicly accessible database, such as UMIN-CTR, JMACCT, JapicCIT, or other as appropriate. Manuscripts must include the registration number at the end of the abstract.
3-12. Reporting guidelines
(Applicable to medical or health-related research only)
The journal requires authors to follow the EQUATOR Network’s Reporting Guidelines for health research. Study types include, but are not limited to, randomized trials, observational studies, systematic reviews, case reports, qualitative research, diagnostic and prognostic studies, economic evaluations, animal pre-clinical studies, and study protocols.
3-13. Author competing interests and conflicts of interest (COI)
In the interests of transparency, the journal requires all authors to declare any competing or conflicts of interest related to their submitted manuscript. A conflict of interest exists when there are actual, perceived, or potential circumstances that could influence an author’s ability to conduct or report research impartially.
Potential conflicts include but are not limited to competing commercial or financial interests, commercial affiliations, consulting roles, or ownership of stock or equity.
Manuscripts must comply with the ICMJE standards regarding conflicts of interest. All authors must disclose any financial and personal relationships with other individuals or organizations within the three years preceding submission.
All authors are required to submit a Conflict of Interest (COI) form and to disclose any potential conflicts of interest in the manuscript.
3-14. Confidentiality
The journal maintains the confidentiality of all unpublished manuscripts. By submitting their manuscript to the journal, the authors warrant that they will keep all correspondence about their manuscript (from the Editorial Office, editors, and reviewers) strictly confidential.
3-15. Self-archiving (Green Open Access) policy
Self-archiving, also known as Green Open Access, enables authors to deposit a copy of their manuscript in an online repository. JOWHSR encourages authors to upload their article to an institutional or public repository immediately after publication in the journal.
3-16. Long-term digital archiving
J-STAGE preserves its full digital library, including JOWHSR, with Portico in a dark archive (see https://www.portico.org/publishers/jstage/). In the event that the material becomes unavailable at J-STAGE, it will be released and made available by Portico.
3-17. Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools
As per COPE guidance, authors must disclose and fully describe any use of generative or non-generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools (also known as Large Language Models or LLMs) in a suitable part of the manuscript. This includes, but is not limited to, using AI tools to collect or analyse data, produce or amend images or graphics used in the manuscript, or write all or part of the manuscript. Authors must describe which tools they used and how the tools were used. In general, the use of generative AI tools is allowed only where that use is an integral part of the research design or methods. Other uses will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. In all cases, authors remain responsible for all the content of their submitted manuscript.
Authors should be aware that there are ongoing concerns about the copyright status of any AI-generated content. Authors must adhere to the instructions in the ‘Reproducing copyrighted material’ section of this document and comply with relevant statutory and other copyright laws.
It is acceptable to use non-generative AI tools to improve the readability of a manuscript, such as through spelling and grammar checking.
If a manuscript is found to contain citations to non-existent, fabricated, or unverifiable references generated using AI tools, the manuscript may be rejected.
Authors are fully responsible for verifying the accuracy and existence of all cited references, regardless of whether AI tools were used during literature search or manuscript preparation.
Reviewers and Editors must not upload unpublished manuscripts to any AI tool or service. Doing so would breach privacy and confidentiality provisions, as described elsewhere in this document. There are also potential copyright issues if unpublished material is uploaded to a third-party service.
3-18. Advertising Policy
The journal follows ICMJE recommendations for advertising. That is, all journal content is independently curated, and advertising does not influence editorial decisions. Advertising in the journal is clearly marked as such, and the editors have full and final authority for approving advertisements and for ensuring compliance with this policy. The journal does not carry advertisements for products known to harm health, and the editors review feedback received about published advertisements.
4. Peer Review Process
JOWHSR operates a double-blind peer review system, in which both the authors and reviewers remain anonymous to each other. Authors should ensure that their manuscripts are prepared in a way that does not reveal their identity, including removing names, affiliations, and self-identifying citations from the main text and file metadata.
4-1. Editorial and peer review process
JOWHSR operates a double-blind peer review system, in which both authors and reviewers remain anonymous throughout the review process.
When a manuscript is submitted, it is first assigned to the Editor-in-Chief, who conducts an initial screening to assess whether the manuscript fits the scope of the journal and meets basic publication standards. Manuscripts that do not meet these criteria may be rejected without external review.
Manuscripts that pass this initial screening are then assigned to an Associate Editor, who selects two, or when necessary, three reviewers based on their expertise, reputation, and previous experience. These reviewers evaluate whether the manuscript is valid, original, coherent, and clearly written. They assess the rigor and soundness of the arguments presented, the appropriate use and interpretation of relevant laws, regulations, scientific evidence, and literature, as well as the manuscript’s overall contribution to knowledge and practice in occupational health, safety regulation, and related fields. They also assess the novelty, significance, and overall contribution of the work to the field.
Upon receiving the reviewers’ reports, the Associate Editor makes a recommendation to the Editor-in-Chief, who then makes the initial decision on the manuscript. If revisions are requested, authors must submit a revised manuscript by the stated deadline. Delays may result in the manuscript being treated as a new submission. Authors should respond point-by-point to each reviewer comment, indicating clearly how and where the manuscript has been revised (using page and line numbers), and highlight changes in the text (e.g., with colored font or underlining).
Revised manuscripts may be re-evaluated by the original reviewers or assessed directly by the Associate Editor, who determines whether the authors have adequately addressed the comments. The Associate Editor then provides a final recommendation. The Editor-in-Chief makes the final decision on the manuscript, based on the reviewers’ reports and, where necessary, in consultation with members of the Editorial Board.
4-2. Reviewer selection, timing and suggestions
Reviewers are selected based on their expertise in the field, reputation, recommendation by others, and/or previous experience as peer reviewers for the journal.
Reviewers are asked to submit their first review within 4 weeks of accepting the invitation to review. Reviewers who anticipate any delays should inform the Editorial Office as soon as possible.
When submitting a manuscript to the journal, authors may suggest reviewers that they would like included in or excluded from the peer review process. The Editor may consider these suggestions but is under no obligation to follow them. The selection, invitation and assignment of peer reviewers is at the Editor’s sole discretion.
4-3. Reviewer reports
It is the journal’s policy to transmit reviewers’ comments to the authors in their original form. However, the journal reserves the right to edit reviewers’ comments, without consulting the reviewers, if they contain offensive language, confidential information or recommendations for publication.
4-4. Acceptance criteria
If a manuscript satisfies the journal’s requirements and represents a significant contribution to the published literature, the Editor may recommend acceptance for publication in the journal.
Articles in JOWHSR must be:
within the subject area of the journal’s scope
• novel and original
• descriptions of technically rigorous research
• within the subject area of the journal’s scope
• well-constructed and written
• of high interest to the journal’s audience
• important additions to the field.
If a manuscript does not meet the journal’s requirements for acceptance or revision, the Editor may recommend rejection.
4-5. Editorial independence
The Japan Association of Occupational Health Law (the “Society”) has granted the journal’s Editorial Committee complete and sole responsibility for all editorial decisions. The Society will not become involved in editorial decisions, except in cases of a fundamental breakdown of the process.
Editorial decisions are based only on a manuscript’s academic merit and are kept completely separate from the journal’s other interests.
4-6. Appeals
Authors who believe that an editorial decision has been made in error may lodge an appeal with the Editorial Office. Appeals are only considered if the authors provide detailed evidence of a misunderstanding or mistake by a reviewer or editor. Appeals are considered carefully by the Editor-in-Chief, whose decision is final. The guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) are followed where and when relevant.
4-7. Confidentiality in peer review
The journal maintains the confidentiality of all unpublished manuscripts. Editors and reviewers will not:
• disclose a reviewer’s identity unless the reviewer makes a reasonable request for such disclosure
• discuss the manuscript or its contents with anyone not directly involved with the manuscript or its peer review
• use any data or information from the manuscript in their own work or publications
• use information obtained from the peer review process to provide an advantage to themselves or anyone else, or to disadvantage any individual or organization.
In addition, reviewers will not reveal their identity to any of the authors of the manuscript or involve anyone else in the review (for example, a post-doc or PhD student) without first receiving permission from the Editor.
4-8. Editor and reviewer conflicts of interest in peer review
A conflict of interest exists when there are actual, perceived, or potential circumstances that could influence an editor or reviewer’s ability to act impartially when assessing a manuscript. Although the identities of authors are concealed in the double-blind review process, conflicts may still arise from personal or professional relationships, competition in the same research area, financial interests related to the work or its publication, or prior involvement with earlier versions of the manuscript.
Reviewers and members of the journal’s Editorial Committee undertake to declare any conflicts of interest when handling manuscripts. An editor or reviewer who declares a conflict of interest is unassigned from the manuscript in question and is replaced by a new editor or reviewer.
Editors try to avoid conflicts of interest when inviting reviewers, but it is not always possible to identify potential bias.
4-9. Errata and retractions
The journal recognizes the importance of maintaining the integrity of published literature.
A published article that contains an error may be corrected through the publication of an Erratum. Errata describe errors that significantly affect the academic integrity of a publication, the reputation of the authors, or the journal itself. Authors who wish to correct a published article should contact the editor who handled their manuscript or the Editorial Office with full details of the error(s) and their requested changes. In cases where co-authors disagree over a correction, the Editor-in-Chief may consult the Editorial Committee or external peer reviewers for advice. If an Erratum is published, any dissenting authors will be noted in the text.
A published article that contains invalid or unreliable results or conclusions, has been published elsewhere, or has infringed codes of conduct (covering research or publication ethics) may be retracted. Individuals who believe that a published article should be retracted are encouraged to contact the journal’s Editorial Office with full details of their concerns. The Editor-in-Chief will investigate further and contact the authors of the published article for their response. In cases where co-authors disagree over a retraction, the Editor-in-Chief may consult the Editorial Committee or external peer reviewers for advice. If a Retraction is published, any dissenting authors will be noted in the text.
The decision to publish Errata or Retractions is made at the sole discretion of the Editor-in-Chief.
4-10. Editors as authors in the journal
Any member of the journal’s Editorial Committee, including the Editor-in-Chief, who is an author on a submitted manuscript, is excluded from the peer review process and from viewing details about their manuscript.
A manuscript authored by an editor of JOWHSR is subject to the same high standards of peer review and editorial decision-making as any manuscript considered by the journal.
4-11. Responding to potential ethical breaches
The journal will respond to allegations of ethical breaches by following its own policies and, where possible, the guidelines of COPE.
5. Copyright, Open Access and Fees
JOWHSR is fully Open Access and published under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) license.
5-1. Copyright and licensing
Authors are required to assign all copyrights in the work to the Society.
5-2. Open access fees and waivers
There are no submission fees, page charges, or article processing charges (APCs) for publication in JOWHSR. All published articles are made freely available online immediately upon publication.
6. Manuscript Preparation
The manuscript should be prepared using Microsoft Word or a compatible word processor, single-spaced, with 12-point font and standard margins. Pages and lines should be numbered sequentially to facilitate peer review.
The manuscript should be submitted in separate files for the following components:
• Title page
• Main text
• References
• Tables, figures, appendices, and supporting information
6-1. Structure of the main text
Authors should include the following structural sections in their manuscript, as applicable based on the study type:
• Ethics approval and consent to participate (applicable to medical or health-related research only)
• Consent for publication (applicable to medical or health-related research only)
• Availability of data and materials (applicable to medical or health-related research only)
• Funding
• Authors’ contributions
• Competing interests
7. Manuscript Submission
Manuscripts must be submitted electronically via the journal’s online submission system or sent directly to the Editorial Office via email as instructed.
Authors must ensure that all required submission materials, including the Title Page, Main Text, Conflict of Interest Form, and Copyright Transfer Agreement, are complete upon submission.
8. Accepted Manuscripts
Once a manuscript is accepted for publication, the authors will receive proof copies for final checking. Authors are responsible for reviewing the proofs carefully and returning any corrections within the designated timeframe.
Changes at the proof stage should be limited to typographical or minor factual corrections.
9. Contact
Editorial Office Email Address:
jowhsr-edit[at]je.bunken.co.jp
(Please replace “[at]” with “@” when sending your email.)