Advanced Interdisciplinary Care in periOperative Practice (AICO Journal) is the official scientific journal of AICO – the Italian Association of Operating Room Nurses, a recognized scientific society committed to advancing perioperative research, education, and professional development.

AICO Journal is an international, peer-reviewed, fully open-access scientific journal dedicated to advancing rigorous and globally relevant scholarship across the perioperative continuum of care. The Journal promotes the development, integration, and exchange of knowledge that informs clinical practice, interdisciplinary collaboration, patient safety, and healthcare policy in surgical settings. AICO Journal particularly welcomes studies that evaluate and address complex perioperative interventions, healthcare systems, technological innovation, and organizational models using rigorous and appropriate research designs. The Journal also supports high-quality methodological contributions that strengthen research standards in perioperative science, including advancements in measurement tools, implementation research, quality improvement methodologies, and analytical approaches.

All submissions undergo double-anonymized peer review. The Journal publishes original contributions of relevance to the international perioperative and healthcare community. AICO Journal is published in English and is accessible worldwide without subscription or publication fees.

Editorial Policies

The editorial policies of AICO Journal include:

• Rapid initial screening for suitability and editorial interest

• Structured and transparent editorial workflows

• Double-blind external peer review

• Online publication of “Just Accepted” manuscripts shortly after acceptance

• DOI assignment to all published articles

• Ongoing efforts toward indexing in recognized scientific databases to ensure broad discoverability

The Journal is led by an interdisciplinary editorial team representing nursing, surgery, anesthesia, and related health disciplines. Its international orientation provides a forum for the dissemination and exchange of research findings, clinical innovations, and organizational experiences in perioperative care.

The Journal’s audience includes nurses, surgeons, anesthesiologists, clinicians, educators, researchers, healthcare managers, policy-makers, and professionals engaged in surgical and perioperative practice.

External Rigorous Peer Review

Each submission undergoes rigorous quality control and external peer review before a final editorial decision is made.

The initial editorial assessment evaluates:

• Relevance to the Journal’s scope

• Ethical compliance for studies involving human participants

• Disclosure of conflicts of interest and funding sources

• Data transparency and methodological integrity

• Compliance with reporting standards

Manuscripts deemed suitable are sent to at least two independent external reviewers under a double-blind peer-review process, ensuring anonymity of both authors and reviewers. If revisions are required, authors are invited to submit a revised manuscript addressing reviewers’ and editors’ comments. To safeguard originality and scientific integrity, all submissions undergo plagiarism screening using recognized similarity detection software. The Editors retain full responsibility for the final decision on each manuscript.

Open Access Policy
Interdisciplinary Journal of Nursing and Health is a fully open access journal. For detailed information on copyright, licensing, and reuse conditions, please refer to the Open Access Policy page.

Publication Frequency

 

Articles are published online as “Just Accepted” shortly after acceptance and are assigned a DOI. The Journal publishes four regular issues per year. Manuscripts are accepted continuously through the online submission system.

Publication Fees

AICO Journal does not charge any submission or publication fees.

Publication Ethics

The Journal adheres to internationally recognized standards of publication ethics and integrity, in alignment with the principles of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Responsibilities of editors, reviewers, and authors are detailed in the Journal’s Publication Ethics Statement.

Corrections and Retractions

In accordance with established scholarly publishing standards, published articles remain part of the permanent scientific record.

Corrections

In cases of significant errors that affect interpretation but not the overall validity of the work, the Journal publishes a correction notice linked to the original article.

Retractions

In accordance with COPE Retraction Guidelines, the Journal will retract an article if:

• There is clear evidence that findings are unreliable due to misconduct or serious error

• The work constitutes redundant publication

• Plagiarism is identified

• The research violates ethical standards

Retraction notices will be clearly linked to the original article. Where appropriate, the Journal may publish an expression of concern during ongoing investigations.

Archiving

AICO Journal ensures long-term digital preservation through recognized archiving systems integrated within the Open Journal Systems (OJS) platform, including the PKP Preservation Network (PKP PN) and LOCKSS-based preservation services. These systems guarantee permanent accessibility and integrity of the published scientific record.