Open Access Policy   

Archives of Rheumatology is an open access publication.   

Starting on June 2025 issue, all content published in the journal is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 International License which allows third parties to read, copy and redistribute the material in any format and adapt the material for any purpose immediately upon publication by giving the appropriate credit to the original work.   

The content published before June 2025 was licensed under a traditional copyright, but the archive is still available for free access.  

All published content is available online, free of charge at archivesofrheumatology.org.  

Copyright Policy  

A Copyright Agreement and Acknowledgement of Authorship form should be submitted with all manuscripts. By signing this form, authors agree that the article, if accepted for publication by the Archives of Rheumatology will be licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 International License which allows third parties to read, copy and redistribute the material in any format and adapt the material for any purpose immediately upon publication by giving the appropriate credit to the original work.   

When using previously published content, including figures, tables, or any other material in both print and electronic formats, authors must obtain permission from the copyright holder. Legal, financial, and criminal liabilities in this regard belong to the author(s).   

Authors retain the copyright of their published work in the Archives of Rheumatology.  

Self-Archiving Policy  

Authors retain the right to self-archive their work on their institutional or personal websites, as well as in open access repositories, after publication. It is expected that authors appropriately acknowledge the original publication and include the DOI number when sharing their articles. Additionally, authors are requested to provide a link from the deposited version to the URL of the publisher's website. This requirement is intended to safeguard the integrity and authenticity of the scientific record, with the online published version on the publisher's website clearly identified as the definitive version of record.   

Publication Fee Policy 

Effective April 9 2025, the APC for the Archives of Rheumatology will be adjusted. Below is the updated article processing charge (APC) amount:   

1980 USD (VAT included) + 3% Transaction Fee (59.40 USD) 

For articles where one of the authors is a member of the Turkish League Against Rheumatism (TLAR), the article processing charge is stated below:  

660 USD (VAT included) + 3% Transaction Fee (19.80 USD)  

For manuscripts submitted and accepted before April 9, 2025, the APC amount is based on the number of pages the article occupies in the journal. The publishing fee is €38 per page for ready to publish articles. 

For example: 

38 € x 5 per page = 190 Euro + 38 Euro (20% € VAT) = 228.00 € [Euro] 
38 € x 10 per page = 380 Euro + 76 Euro (20% € VAT) = 456.00 € [Euro] 

Upon acceptance of the manuscript, authors should transfer the payment to the account stated in the acceptance letter. Following the transfer, please send your receipt of payment to archrheumatol@avespublishing.com.  

Please note that all submissions are evaluated by the Editorial Board and the external reviewers in terms of scientific quality and ethical standards. APC payments do not affect the outcome of the article's evaluation or its publication priority. 
 
There are no surcharges based on the length of an article, figures, or supplementary data for the submitted and accepted articles after April 9, 2025.  
 
Any financial contribution or support received from third parties for a manuscript should be disclosed at the time of initial submission. Should APC be paid by a third party other than the author or the author's institution, authors must provide this information on the title page and ICMJE Disclosure Form. 
 
APCs cover the expenses for publishing services the journal provides, including costs of peer review administration and management, professional production of articles in PDF and other formats, and dissemination of published papers in various venues and other publishing functions. 

We kindly request that authors whose manuscripts have been accepted complete the Article Processing Charge (APC) payment within 90 days. Please note that until the payment is received, the publication of the article will be on hold. If the payment is not made within this period, the manuscript will be considered withdrawn. This policy helps us ensure a timely and efficient publication process.

Waiver Policy

To acknowledge the valuable contributions of our peer reviewers, Archives of Rheumatology offers an Article Processing Charge (APC) waiver for reviewers who complete five comprehensive peer reviews.

Eligibility Criteria:

     - The reviewer must complete five full peer reviews through the journal’s official submission and review system (Manuscript Manager).

     - ⁠Only comprehensive reviews (not short comments or initial editorial evaluations) are considered eligible.

     - The quality and completeness of each review will be assessed by the editorial team to determine eligibility.

     - Upon confirmation of eligibility, the reviewer will receive a one-time APC waiver applicable to one manuscript submitted to Archives of Rheumatology as the first or corresponding author.

     - The waiver must be used within 12 months following the completion of the fifth qualifying review.

     - The waiver is non-transferable and non-redeemable for cash.

This policy is designed to recognize and reward the critical role of peer reviewers in maintaining the scientific quality of the journal.

Advertising Policy   

Archives of Rheumatology accepts digital advertisements on its website. These ads must be approved by the journal's Editorial Board and management and must be clearly labeled as advertisements. Advertisers have no influence on editorial decisions or advertising policies.   

Those interested in advertising in the journal should contact the Editorial Office. 

Peer Review Process 

Manuscripts submitted to Archives of Rheumatology will go through a double anonymized peer-review process where both authors and reviewers are anonymous to each other.  Each submission will be reviewed by at least two external, independent peer reviewers who are experts in their fields to ensure an unbiased evaluation process.   

Submissions will first go through a technical evaluation process during which the editorial office staff will ensure that the manuscript was prepared and submitted in accordance with the journal’s guidelines. Submissions that do not conform to the journal’s guidelines will be returned to the submitting authors with technical correction requests.   

Submissions that conform to the journal’s guidelines will be assigned to the Editor in Chief who will assess each submission’s suitability to the journal in terms of scope and quality. Submissions that are not suitable for the journal can be rejected at this stage.   

For papers that are suitable for the journal, the Editor in Chief will work with Associate Editors who will recruit reviewers for the manuscript. Once assigned, Associate Editors can decide to reject a manuscript, continue with the peer review process, or request revisions before further peer-review.   

Associate editors will submit their recommendations that are based on reports submitted by the reviewers to the Editor in Chief. Revised manuscripts will be reassessed by the Associate Editors who will aim to work with the original reviewers to make a new recommendation.  

The Editor in Chief is the final authority in the decision-making process for all submissions.  

In the event of delays, authors will be informed of the reason for the delay and given the opportunity to withdraw their manuscript.  

Once the peer-review process is completed, the authors will receive anonymous peer-review reports along with the editorial decision on their manuscript. Peer-review reports will not be posted publicly in any medium. The submitted material is considered confidential and must not be used in any way until after its publication. If it is suspected that a reviewer has appropriated an author’s ideas or data, the Editorial Board will handle the matter in accordance with the relevant COPE’s guideline.  

Authors can recommend peer-reviewers during submission. The handling editor is the sole authority to decide whether recommended peer-reviewers will be invited to evaluate the manuscript.   

Peer reviewers are required to adhere to the principles of COPE's Ethical Guidelines for Peer-reviewers and  These guidelines provide a framework for reviewers to follow in order to ensure the integrity and fairness of the peer review process. The Editorial Board follows COPE’s relevant flowchart to minimize peer review manipulation. If there is suspicion of peer review manipulation after publication, the Editorial Board will follow the appropriate flowchart of COPE.  

Potential peer reviewers should inform the Editor of any possible conflicts of interest before accepting an invitation to review a manuscript. Informing the editor of any potential conflicts of interest allows them to make an informed decision about whether to invite the potential reviewer to participate in the review process. It also helps to ensure the integrity and transparency of the review process.    

Communications between Editors and peer reviewers contain confidential information that should not be shared with third parties.    

To ensure an equitable peer-review process, the Archives of Rheumatology will recruit external editors for manuscripts submitted by the Journal’s editorial board members. External editors will be selected based on academic qualifications and peer-review experience. We uphold the confidentiality of external editors and reviewers to preserve impartiality. Reviewers and external editors are asked to disclose any potential conflicts of interest, promoting transparency and a reliable evaluation process.  

If an article's peer review is an exception to the journal’s usual policy, the type of the review it received will be displayed on the article to ensure the transparency and accountability of the review process.   

Revisions    

Submitting authors of manuscripts that require a “minor revision” or a “major revision” will receive the decision letter from the Editor in Chief. The decision letter will include the suggestions of the reviewers and editors along with a deadline to submit the revised and updated version of the manuscript.     

When submitting a revised version of a paper, authors must submit a detailed “Response to the reviewers” that states point by point how each issue raised by the reviewers has been covered and where it can be found (each reviewer’s comment, followed by the author’s reply and line numbers where the changes have been made) as well as an annotated copy of the main document.     

Revised manuscripts must be submitted within the time frame specified in the decision letter. If the revised version of the manuscript is not submitted within the allocated time, the revision option may be canceled. If the submitting author(s) believe that additional time is required, they should request an extension before the initial period is over.  

Publication Ethics   

Archives of Rheumatology aims to adhere to the guidelines and core practices set forth by several organizations, including the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines, the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholar