About the Journal

Focus and Scope

MedEst Journal is the official scientific dissemination organ of the University Student Federation (FEU) of the University of Medical Sciences of Matanzas, in the Republic of Cuba. It is aimed at students of any branch of health or linked to this sector in the country and other parts of the world. It publishes serial issues quarterly, as well as supplements and special issues dedicated to different scientific topics of interest.

It emerged as a counterpart of the Electronic Medical Journal of Matanzas, exactly in the year of its centenary. Its name is the acronym for Student Medical Magazine. Its logo is made up of a crosier or staff, similar to that of Aesculapius, in which a snake is wrapped and on which a cap rests, symbolizing future professionals in health sciences.

Due to the increase in student research in the province and the need for visualization and positioning thereof, it became necessary to open a new publication source aimed at all students of Medical Sciences; In this way, motivating the interest of future health professionals in entering scientific publication, in order to successfully contribute to the sustainability of the Cuban health system.

AIM

Respond to and cover the publication needs of students of Medical Sciences or those linked to that sector, both Cuban and from other countries; complying with Agreement 25 of Commission 3 of the VII National Congress of the FEU.

MISSION

Manage the quality publication of the MedEst Magazine, from Matanzas, with the mission of disseminating the scientific-technical work of students and health professionals, Cubans and foreigners; covering all aspects of Medical Sciences.

VISION

MedEst aims to achieve a publication that disseminates quality scientific material, with transparency and accessibility that is a framework of reference at a national and international level for health sciences researchers. Additionally, achieve and maintain better positioning.

Adheres to the uniform requirements for the submission of articles to biomedical journals: writing and editing of biomedical publications (www.icmje.com), and promotes the application of international standards or established good practices both for the preparation of articles and for your publication.

Manuscripts that have been previously published or are being evaluated for possible publication in another journal are not accepted. However, documents previously published on recognized preprint servers (Scielo Preprints, Medxiv, ArXiv, bioRxiv, Plos and others that are considered by the editorial committee) are accepted.

If an article is published totally or partially on the web pages of an event or conference, on a preprints server (Scielo Preprints, PMC, Plos, MedRxiv) or academic social network (ResearchGate), the authors must mention the provision in their submission. of the document on any of these servers, as well as its exact location.

Each issue is published in electronic version and is accessible through https://revmedest.sld.cu/index.php/medest, with open format Open Journal System (OJS), ISSN 2789-7567 and RNPS 2524.

The MedEst Journal adheres to the uniform requirements for the submission of articles in biomedical journals - publication writing and editing (www.icmje.com) - and promotes the application of international standards or established good practices, both for the preparation of the articles and for publication.

Peer Review Process

MedEst Journal follows the policy of double-blind peer review, a process in which neither the reviewer nor the author has any data that allows them to identify themselves; Special care is taken with established ethical standards to avoid conflicts of interest. The magazine has the collaboration of external evaluators outside the publishing institution.

Each article is reviewed by two or more reviewers who give their opinion on the scientific articles presented by the authors, whether or not they meet the publication standards. The corresponding author will receive a notification of receipt of the manuscript with his or her identification number, which he or she must use from this moment on.

The articles are received by the director, who performs the first reading and determines whether the manuscript meets the general requirements according to the journal's publication standards and subjects it to an evaluation in a specialized plagiarism detector; It is referred to the section editors and these to each of the pairs of referees or trios, if a third evaluation is necessary.

If these requirements are not met, methodological deficiencies are present or the general requirements of content, form and structure are not met, according to the journal's publication standards. The director or executive editor determines whether the editorial course continues or is rejected. In this case it will be returned to the author for correction before beginning the evaluation process.

The maximum time agreed upon by the magazine is 30 business days. The date of receipt of the article will not begin to be counted until it is correctly received. The responsible author is informed so that he can correct these first comments. Peer review will only begin for manuscripts that meet the required requirements.

The director or executive editor and/or the section editor maintains contact with the reviewers, the section editor selects the pairs of evaluators and controls the times and the evaluation cycle. First you are asked about your availability for the review and once accepted, you are given a period of 30 business days, extendable only upon express request. If necessary, a third evaluator will be requested. The executive editor receives feedback by contacting him systematically and externally through user criteria.

Compliance with the methodological requirements of the different types of articles:

  • Originality, novelty and validity of the proposed study.
  • Methodological quality and content of the work.
  • Compliance with ethical and anti-plagiarism standards.
  • 60% of bibliographic references updated.
  • Importance for research or practice in the treated field.
  • Each referee is sent a guide to facilitate the review, where they must define one of the following categories: accept this submission, publishable with modifications, re-evaluable or unpublishable.

The observations and suggestions of the Editorial Board and the reviewers will be sent to the responsible author, who must respond as soon as possible (maximum 30 days).

The Editorial Committee will rule on the final decision to publish the manuscript, taking into consideration the decision of the referees.

Once the manuscript is accepted, it is sent for editing and style correction and subsequently goes to production to prepare the proofs. Once the author gives approval to upload the proof, it will not be downloaded from the platform.

Open Access Policy

This journal DOES NOT APPLY CHARGES FOR PROCESSING OR PUBLICATION OF ARTICLES, but rather complies with the declaration of open access to information and its texts are available on its website.

The journal provides free and immediate access to its content, under the principle of offering ―available and free― the results of research and other scientific articles included in its sections to readers, in addition to supporting the flow of information necessary for greater exchange. of global knowledge.

This means that its copying and distribution by any means is permitted, as long as it maintains the recognition of its authors and does not make commercial use of the works.

Journal History

MedEst Journal is the official scientific dissemination organ of the University Student Federation (FEU) of the University of Medical Sciences of Matanzas, in the Republic of Cuba. It is aimed at students of any branch of health or linked to this sector in the country and other parts of the world. It publishes serial issues quarterly, as well as supplements and special issues dedicated to different scientific topics of interest.