Initial Examination

All articles submitted and accepted by Ibnu Sina: Jurnal Kedokteran dan Kesehatan - Fakultas Kedokteran Universitas Islam Sumatera Utara will be examined by the Editor to determine whether the manuscript is prepared correctly (please note that manuscripts submitted for publication to Ibnu Sina: Journal of Medicine and Health - Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Islam Sumatera Utara will be checked for plagiarism using the Plagiarism Checker X application) and whether the manuscript adheres to the journal's ethical policies, including those concerning human and animal experiments.

After this examination, the Editor will determine whether the manuscript fits the journal's scope and whether it is scientifically reasonable. We will reject manuscripts without review if they are insufficient in content, incorrectly formatted, poorly presented, or unclear. No assessment of the potential impact of the work will be made at this stage.

Editors are generally not allowed to communicate directly with authors, especially if one of the authors is a member of the editorial board. Manuscripts that pass the initial evaluation will be handled by the Section Editor to oversee the review process, focusing on contribution, originality, relevance, and presentation.

Peer Review

After a manuscript passes the initial examination, it will be assigned to independent experts for peer review. The Section Editor will remove the names of all authors and contributors. A double-blind review is applied, where the reviewers do not know the authors' identities, and the authors do not know who reviewed their manuscript.

In routine submissions, the Section Editor will invite potential reviewers. Reviews should be conducted objectively, and observations should be clearly formulated with supporting arguments so the authors can use them to improve the manuscript. Personal criticism of the authors is inappropriate. Any invited reviewer who has a conflict of interest due to a relationship or competitive, collaborative, or other connections with any of the authors, the company, or institution involved with the manuscript must immediately notify the Editor. Editors who declare conflicts of interest and decline to review will be replaced by alternative reviewers. These experts may also include members of the Editorial Board. Please refer to the Reviewer’s Tasks in Publication Ethics. Peer review comments are confidential and will only be disclosed with the reviewer's explicit consent.

Editors may publish original articles in their own journal, but they must ensure there is a process for rejection, meaning they cannot be involved in the peer review process and editorial decision-making for their own articles.

All manuscripts are subject to peer review, and authors can expect decisions or explanations regarding delays. The final decision is made by the Journal Editorial Board based on the information obtained through the peer-review process.

Editorial Decision

All articles, reviews, and communications published in Ibnu Sina: Journal of Medicine and Health - Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Islam Sumatera Utara undergo peer review by a reviewer. The Section Editor will communicate the decision to the authors, which may be one of the following:

1. Accepted with Minor Revisions – The manuscript is, in principle, accepted after revisions based on the reviewer’s comments. Authors are given seven days to make minor revisions.
2. Revise and Resubmit – Acceptance of the manuscript will depend on the revisions. Authors need to respond point by point or provide rebuttals if any reviewer comments cannot be revised. Usually, only one round of major revisions is allowed. Authors will be asked to resubmit the revised manuscript within an appropriate timeframe, and the revised version will be returned to reviewers for further comments. All reviewer comments must be addressed point by point. If the authors disagree with a reviewer, they must provide a clear response.
3. Rejected with Encouragement to Resubmit – If additional experiments are required to support the conclusions, the manuscript will be rejected, and authors will be encouraged to resubmit the manuscript after further research is conducted.
4. Rejected – The manuscript has serious deficiencies and/or does not make a significant contribution. No resubmission offer is extended to the journal.

Author’s Appeal

In the case of special issues, the journal Editor will forward the manuscript and related information (including the identity of referees) to the Editorial Team, which will be asked to provide advisory recommendations on the manuscript and may recommend acceptance, further peer review, or upholding the initial rejection decision. The rejection decision at this stage is final and cannot be overturned.

Production and Publication

Once accepted, the manuscript will undergo professional copyediting, English language editing, proofreading, and final corrections