General Policy

ZENTIME adheres to the highest standards concerning its editorial policies on publication ethics, scientific misconduct, consent and peer review criteria. ZENTIME journals follow the guidance enacted by bodies of the Committee on Publication Ethics, the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME; www.wame.org) and the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE; www.icmje.org).

All submitted manuscripts shouldn' t have been published elsewhere (except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture or thesis) and are not currently under consideration for publication by another journal. The corresponding author(s) should ensure that all authors have contributed to the design or conduction of the study, read and approved the final manuscript for submission. The authors should keep a copy of the manuscript in case of loss or damage. Accepted manuscripts may be subject to editorial revision without notice. The contents of the published manuscripts are available online at the official journal website under the open access policy.

At any time, once a manuscript is submitted for review and possible publication in ZENTIME, the editor will evaluate the contents of manuscript, which is absolutely not treated with prejudice on race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy of the author(s).

The editor and any editorial staff do not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the reviewers, potential reviewers and other editorial advisers. Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript will be never used in any editor's research without the written consent of the author(s).

Peer Review Policy

All manuscripts are subjected to peer review and are expected to meet the rigorous standards of academic excellence. The authors should provide 3 potential peer reviewers, who have expertise in their field of study and will be able to provide objective comments regarding the manuscript, with detailed contact information including e-mail address. If not provided, potential reviewers will be identified by their publication record or recommended by the Editorial Board members. Recommended reviewers who have been a co-author with the corresponding author will not be assigned. Reviewers recommended by authors will be only considered when other appropriate ones are not available.

As a policy, any manuscript received for review is treated as confidential documents. They are never shown to or discussed with others except those authorized by the editor. The review process is conducted objectively, and personal criticism of the author(s) is inappropriate. All reviewers should express their comments clearly with supporting arguments.

Editorial Board Policy

The Editorial Board oversees the peer review process for the journal, e.g., evaluating submissions, selecting reviewers and assessing their comments, and making editorial decisions. The Board are involved in the development of journal policies, ethics standards, and work to promote ZENTIME's mission to provide a great forum for academic exchange.

Our Editorial Board Members enjoy the benefits of submitting two manuscripts each year with publishing fee waived and are expected to review a minimum of 2 articles in their field of expertise. All Editorial Board members are expected to develop and make a great contribution to the Open Access publication community where possible and appropriate.

Open Access Policy

All content is freely available without charge to the user or his/her institution. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. 

Plagiarism Policy

The practice of using or copying someone else's work, and reusing without proper citations to the creator or without copyright permissions obtained is regarded as plagiarism.

All submitted manuscripts will be evaluated using plagiarism detection software. If having a high repetition rate with previously published articles after preliminary review, the article will be rejected within 7 days after submission generally.

AI Policy

Authors may use AI tools to improve language and readability in manuscripts but must disclose their use and retain full responsibility for content accuracy, as AI-generated content may contain errors or biases. AI cannot be listed as an author, as authorship entails human accountability. The creation or alteration of images using AI is generally prohibited unless it is part of the research methodology, which must be transparently described. Reviewers and editors must not upload confidential manuscripts or reports into AI tools to protect confidentiality and intellectual property. ZENTIME emphasizes human oversight in peer review and editorial decisions, prohibiting AI from making critical assessments. ZENTIME will continue to monitor AI advancements and may update policies accordingly to ensure ethical and responsible AI use in scholarly publishing.

Digital Archiving Policy

ZENTIME is committed to ensuring the long-term preservation and accessibility of its digital content. To this end, we have established a primary partnership with Portico, a leading global digital preservation service. All content is preserved in an archival version and is not publicly accessible through Portico, but will be made available under specific circumstances, such as the discontinuation of a collection or catastrophic website failure.

Our journals are submitted directly to Portico in full compliance with its ingestion policy. We guarantee that all archived content is complete, properly formatted, and accompanied by the relevant metadata.

PRINCIPLES of TRANSPARENCY

Ownership and Management

ZENTIME PUBLISHING CORPORATION LIMITED (ZENTIME) is an academic publishing service provider focused on international medical publishing. The company was established on July 30, 2021.

ZENTIME provides ISSN application support, a submission and peer-review system, proof preparation, and publishing services. ZENTIME does not participate in editorial decision-making and has no influence over academic evaluation or content. All editorial decisions are made independently by the editorial teams of the respective journals. These journals are owned and academically governed by their respective institutions. Detailed information is provided in the Aims and Scope section.

The shareholders of ZENTIME are a mainland China–based entity (75%) and individuals (25%). The ownership and management structure does not influence editorial decision-making, which is conducted independently in accordance with recognized scholarly publishing standards.

Following independent editorial decisions, ZENTIME conducts a publishing compliance review solely to ensure adherence to applicable laws, ethical standards, and publishing regulations.

In exceptional and clearly defined circumstances, where serious and confirmed issues are identified—such as substantiated breaches of publication ethics, violations of applicable laws or regulations, or content involving discrimination or other unlawful practices—ZENTIME may temporarily suspend publication for compliance review purposes only.

Any such action is procedural and non-editorial in nature, is undertaken in consultation with the journal owner and editorial leadership, and is limited strictly to publishing compliance and risk management.

ZENTIME does not participate in peer review, editorial evaluation, or academic decision-making, and the final responsibility for scholarly content and editorial decisions remains with the journal’s editorial board.

To support this process, ZENTIME maintains an independent publishing ethics and compliance unit, which operates separately from the journal owner, editorial board, and production or typesetting teams, ensuring objectivity, procedural fairness, and compliance with international publishing standards.

Key Management Staff:

Emma Greene, General Manager, US

Vivian Wei, Business Manager, China

Suki Xiao, Production Manager, China

Paul McCleary, Technical Manager, France

Housel Wiler, Head of the Ethical Review Team, Germany

Wendy Pang, Index Manager, China

Jay Priede, Marketing Manager, UK

Lena Mehn, Marketing Manager, UK

Amy Zou, Financial Manager, China

Peer Review Process and Identity Transparency

All journals published by ZENTIME adopt a single-blind peer review model.

• Reviewer identities are not disclosed to authors.

• Author identities are visible to reviewers.

• Both reviewer and author identities are visible to the handling editor and the editorial decision-making team.

• Editorial decisions are made independently and are based solely on the academic merit, originality, and relevance of the submitted work.

Publishing Schedule

ZENTIME is an open access publisher. All accepted papers are published regualrly after completion of the manuscript production process and made freely available on the journal's website immediately upon publication. Authors receive finalized PDFs of their papers.

Publication Ethics Statement & Copyright and Licensing

Please click here to check the details. 

BUSINESS PRACTICES

Author Fees

The article processing charge (APC) policy for each journal is clearly stated on its websites (Review Cycle and Publication Fee SECTION). This includes the specific amount, scope, effective date, and any applicable waiver or exemption policies.

APC policies and fee levels are  jointly established by ZENTIME and the journal owner. Where applicable, ZENTIME may provide administrative and payment processing support and collect fees on behalf of the journal owner, without involvement in editorial decision-making.

Authors are charged APCs solely to cover publication-related services, such as manuscript production and proofreading after acceptance. No submission fees, subscription fees, or other hidden charges are imposed on authors.

Revenue Sources

ZENTIME's revenue is derived from service-based fees paid by journal owners or sponsoring institutions (such as universities or hospitals). During the early development stage of a journal, ZENTIME charges the journal owner a fixed annual service fee, determined by submission volume, journal scale, and service scope. This fee supports essential publishing infrastructure and operational services, including ISSN application support, submission and peer-review systems, production workflows, and publishing services. No APCs are collected from authors at this stage.

This low-margin service fee model reflects ZENTIME's founding principle of supporting emerging journals, enabling them to establish academic quality and editorial capacity without transferring financial pressure to authors.

As journals mature and, where applicable, introduce APCs, APC policies and pricing are jointly established by ZENTIME and the journal owner, in accordance with the journal’s academic mission and financial policies. APCs are structured on a cost-recovery basis, incorporating modest and reasonable margins to support essential publishing operations. This approach aims to maintain long-term affordability, and ensure transparent and predictable pricing.

Considering administrative and publishing policies, ZENTIME may act as a payment processing agent and collect APCs strictly on behalf of the journal owner. Following settlement with the journal owner, ZENTIME may receive a pre-agreed share of revenue as per the service agreement, for the provision of ongoing publishing and technical support. This arrangement is limited to cost recovery with modest, low-margin service fees and does not influence APC pricing, editorial independence, or academic decision-making.

Throughout all stages of journal development, ZENTIME remains committed to transparent, sustainable publishing practices and works with journal owners who share the same philosophy of maintaining affordability, promoting equitable access to scholarly publishing.

Funding

The company does not receive funding from government, educational, charitable, or other external sources and does not accept paid advertising in its journals or on its publishing platforms.

Direct Marketing

As a responsible publishing service provider, ZENTIME complies with applicable global anti-spam, data protection, and privacy regulations. ZENTIME does not engage in indiscriminate or unsolicited mass email marketing.

Any outreach activities, if conducted, are limited to cooperation with reputable medical or academic list providers that supply fully opt-in, consent-based mailing lists. Such communications are intended solely for informational and academic purposes, such as journal announcements or calls for papers, and always include a clear opt-out or unsubscribe mechanism.

ZENTIME does not sell, rent, or otherwise misuse personal data, and does not use author or reviewer contact information for commercial marketing purposes.

Advertising

ZENTIME does not accept paid advertising in any of its publications or platforms, including journal articles, journal websites, or manuscript submission systems.

Advertising content is not permitted to influence editorial decisions, peer review, or academic content. Should this policy change in the future, any advertising practices would be clearly disclosed and strictly separated from editorial and academic decision-making, in accordance with recognized scholarly publishing standards.