About the Journal

Focus and Scope

The Peruvian Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics (Revista Peruana de Ginecologia y Obstetricia) is the official publication of the Peruvian Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Its purpose is to disseminate knowledge about gynecology, obstetrics, human reproduction and other topics related to women among its members and professionals of the specialty and related specialties and health professionals in general. The Peruvian Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics was founded in 1955 and publishes the results of research in the field of gynecology and obstetrics and subspecialties such as maternal-fetal medicine and surgery, reproductive endocrinology and infertility, gynecologic oncology and others related to women's health, as well as gender and violence, teaching and research, and public health. Unpublished items of interest for the Revista Peruana de Ginecologia y Obstetricia may pertain to basic sciences, controlled clinical trials, effectiveness of diagnostic tests, epidemiological aspects, public health, and continual medical education related to the field of the OB/GYN. The RPGO has an editorial committee designated by the Peruvian Society of Gynecology and Obstetrics, chaired by the journal’s Editor; additionally, the mission, vision, objectives and functions of the editorial board are established in its internal regulations. The Peruvian Journal in Gynecology and Obstetrics is published quarterly in four issues that comprise one volume per year. Our journal is peer-reviewed and indexed in the following databases: LIPECS, LATINDEX, IMBIOMED, REDALYC, DOAJ, HINARI, REDIB, SciELO, DIALNET, ESCI Web of Science, and MIAR. These databases periodically provide statistical information about the reading and impact of the articles published in the RPGO. Also, the RPGO is entirely financed by the Peruvian Society of Gynecology and Obstetrics, implying no cost for the authors who wish to publish nor charge for the processing of articles. In its electronic version, it is accessible free of charge in its entirety through the Open Journal Systems platform:  http://51.222.106.123/index.php/RPGO

Peer review process

Peer review or arbitration is a method used to ensure the quality, originality, feasibility and scientific rigor of a research paper. Peer review is a process that is mandatory for all types of articles which are presented to the RPGO, except for editorials, special articles, symposia proceedings, articles addressing controversies and letters to the Editor, which are evaluated by the Editorial Committee. Papers submitted to the RPGO are evaluated by reviewers with experience and knowledge in the subject referred to in the article they assess. The aim of the peer review process is that the paper’s concepts are clearly presented and achieve a high quality in order to be published. Preferably, the reviewers are external to the Peruvian Society of Gynecology and Obstetrics and the RPGO.

The requirements to be a reviewer in the RPGO are knowledge of the topic, impartiality, academic rigor, research experience, responsibility and ethical conduct. The reviewer’s opinions will be objective,
without any conflicts of interest concerning the research, authors or research funders. Should the contrary happen, they will not accept to undertake the peer review process. Reviewers will handle
their work with confidentiality. They must highlight relevant published papers that have not yet been cited.

Reviewers selected for the RPGO are not remunerated, but they are mentioned in the printed volume where they contributed. When required by the article, there are reviewers with expertise in the field of biostatistics and epidemiology. The authors of articles should not suggest reviewers, since this constitutes a conflict of interest.

Papers submitted to the RPGO will be initially evaluated by the Editorial Committee to ensure they follow the established requirements. Afterwards, they will be subject to peer review. For this, the Editorial Committee will invite 2 or more reviewers per article who will anonymously qualify the article in a period of 15 days through an evaluation form provided by the journal. The content of these evaluation forms is available in the following URL as information for authors and readers: http://www.spog.org.pe/web/index.php/informacion-para-los-autores The review process is double-blind. Referees or reviewers issue suggestions and recommendations on how to improve the article. The Editorial Committee and the reviewers for methodology may require that the authors send the database described in the methods and employed to obtain the results presented in the article.

The evaluation of referees considers the article:

  • Suitable for publication without changes
  • Suitable for publication with minor changes
  • Suitable for publication with major changes
  • Not suitable for publication.

The suggestions and recommendations are sent to the author, who is given 15 days to submit the modified article. No article will be definitively accepted until all of the corrections have been clarified and modified. In this first stage, if the author doesn’t send the modified paper within the given timeframe, he or she will be notified for immediate submission; after the deadline, the article will be archived for lack of response from the authors.

To ease the task of the Editorial Committee, when the authors send a manuscript previously evaluated, they must enclose a letter of response to the evaluators enumerating the new modifications (section, page, line) and, when necessary, diverging points of view. Depending on the case, the RPGO can resubmit the corrected article to a reviewer before considering its publication. Should there be any controversy or tie in the evaluation by external reviewers or by the members of the Editorial Committee, the journal’s Director is responsible for the final decision regarding the paper’s publication. If the corrections were not sent within a period of up to six months, the article will be rejected for publication, and the manuscript’s file will be eliminated.

The RPGO reserves the right to make changes or amendments to the article for the sake of a better understanding. These changes will not modify the article’s content. The corresponding author will approve the pdf file before final publication. Reviewers may suggest for the original article to be published as a short communication or as a letter to the Editor.

The average time of the editorial process from reception of the item to the final decision of the Editorial Committee to publish it, including the peer review process and corrections, varies between 2
and 4 months. The author may request information on the progress of the review of the article as well as the stage of the publishing process in which the article is. The average annual rejection rate for
articles sent to the RPGO is 41%.

In order to promote open access, disseminate scientific research, and foster the participation of readers, authors may publish preliminary versions of their articles in electronic format before the corresponding peer review (preprint) in any preprint platform or repository, such as: https://arxiv.org/ or https://www.medrxiv.org/. This way, readers and researchers may offer suggestions and observations to improve the manuscript, before it is sent to the RPGO.

The Editorial Committee will also consider publishing in electronic format items that have been peer-reviewed and
are suitable for publication prior to the quarterly deadlines of regular publication of the RPGO (advance publication).

Permissions for the publication or dissemination of the contents of the RPGO – Digital preservation policy

Under the aegis of the regulations, all rights are reserved by the Sociedad Peruana de Obstetricia y Ginecologia. The dissemination of the contents of the RPGO (text, tables, and figures) is authorized provided the source is cited. You may go to the journal’s Editor to ask for the reprinting of an issue of the RPGO. The RPGO has legal deposit. The RPGO provides open access to its contents, based on the principle that offering open access to research will contribute to a greater global exchange of knowledge. 

The RPGO uses the LOCKSS program through the OJS platform to create a digital storage system that allows creating permanent records in the journal as an aid to preserve and restore. In the same way, through the Creative Commons license, we allow the public to use our contents without having to request author permits, while guaranteeing their intellectual property. The RPGO archives the intellectual content of the electronic documents in their records for long periods, following the principles of integrity, authenticity, immutability, originality, reli-ability and accessibility.

Declaration of copyright transfer 

At the time of sending the sworn statement of authorship and permission for publication of the article, authors submitting papers to the RPGO give up
their patrimonial rights to the Sociedad Peruana de Obstetricia y Ginecología for releasing the article in all conditions, procedures and means available to
it. The authors will not receive royalties or compensation from the Sociedad Peruana de Obstetricia y Ginecologia for the publication of the article in the
RPGO. Accordingly, the intellectual property of the articles published in the RPGO belongs exclusively to the authors.

Publication ethics

The editor’s decision to accept or refuse to publish an article will be based solely on the importance, originality and clarity of the paper, as well as on the relevance of the study. The RPGO is committed to act free of discrimination based on authors’ gender, sexual orientation, religious or political beliefs, ethnic or geographic origin.

We adopt and follow reasonable proceedings to handle complaints of conflict or of ethical nature, according to the RPGO and the Sociedad Peruana de Obstetricia y Ginecología’s policies and methods, as the case may require. We will give the authors the pertinent opportunity to answer to the claim. The Sociedad Peruana de Obstetricia y Ginecología guarantees that the RPGO subscribes to the aforementioned principles.

The editor will not revoke his decisions to accept the presentation of articles unless serious problems in said presentation are identified. The new editors must not override the decisions to publish presentations made by the previous editor, unless grave issues are found.

Misconduct and ethical misbehavior can be identified and mentioned to the editor and the Sociedad Peruana de Obstetricia y Ginecología at any time, by any person, as long as enough information and evidence are provided in order to begin an investigation. The RPGO uses a software to detect plagiarism and ethical misconduct. It also uses tools such as that proposed by Nature to evaluate publication integrity: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-03959-6

Intentional distortion or negligence in the research / publication process that may lead to the fabrication of data, text, hypotheses or methods in the manuscript, or the publication of another researcher’s work, or the distortion of the research process in other ways, all represent scientific misbehavior. The RPGO will not accept plagiarism or fraudulent information. In case any misconduct in publication ethics was detected, the RPGO will reject the article and will follow the steps recommended by the Committee on Publication Ethics, which include informing of the author’s misconduct to the other authors, to the institution he/she belongs to, to his superiors, to the research funders, to his institution’s ethics committee, and to other scientific journals. Be- sides, in the case of Peruvian researchers, ethical misconduct will be informed to Concytec for the corresponding sanctions, according to their facul- ties stated by the law:  https://tinyurl.com/yd3x85hj 

 

Open access policy

This journal provides open access to its content, based on the principle that providing the public with free access to research contributes to a greater global exchange of knowledge.