Editorial Policies

Editorial Policy

The Journal of Pak International Medical College (JPIMC) is committed to publishing high-quality, ethical, and evidence-based biomedical research. The journal maintains editorial independence and ensures that all editorial decisions are based solely on scientific merit, originality, methodological quality, ethical compliance, and relevance to the journal's scope.

JPIMC follows internationally accepted standards of scholarly publishing and is committed to maintaining transparency, integrity, and fairness throughout the editorial and peer-review process.

Editorial Independence

The Editor-in-Chief and Editorial Board have full responsibility for editorial decisions. Editorial decisions are made independently and are not influenced by the publisher, sponsoring institution, advertisers, funding agencies, or any commercial or political interests.

Peer Review Policy

JPIMC operates a double-blind peer-review system, where both authors and reviewers remain anonymous throughout the review process.

Each manuscript undergoes:

  1. Initial technical screening.
  2. Similarity (plagiarism) assessment.
  3. Editorial evaluation.
  4. Double-blind peer review by at least two independent reviewers.
  5. Statistical review (where applicable).
  6. Final editorial decision.

Editorial decisions may include:

  • Accept
  • Minor Revision
  • Major Revision
  • Reject

The Editor-in-Chief reserves the right to make the final publication decision.

Publication Ethics

JPIMC is committed to maintaining the highest standards of publication ethics and follows the recommendations of:

  • International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE)
  • Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Principles
  • World Association of Medical Editors (WAME)
  • Declaration of Helsinki
  • EQUATOR Network Reporting Guidelines

The journal has zero tolerance for:

  • Plagiarism
  • Data fabrication
  • Data falsification
  • Duplicate publication
  • Redundant publication
  • Citation manipulation
  • Image manipulation
  • Undisclosed conflicts of interest

Any allegation of publication misconduct will be investigated according to the journal's editorial procedures.

Authorship Policy

Authorship should be based on substantial contributions to:

  • Study conception or design.
  • Data collection.
  • Data analysis or interpretation.
  • Drafting or critically revising the manuscript.
  • Approval of the final version.
  • Accountability for all aspects of the work.

All authors must meet the ICMJE authorship criteria.

Conflict of Interest Policy

All authors, reviewers, and editors must disclose any financial, professional, institutional, or personal relationships that could influence the objectivity of the research or editorial process.

Where conflicts exist, appropriate management measures will be implemented before editorial decisions are made.

Ethical Approval

Research involving human participants must have prior approval from an Institutional Review Board (IRB) or Institutional Ethical Review Committee (IERC).

Authors must provide:

  • Name of Ethics Committee.
  • Approval Number.
  • Date of Approval.

For animal studies, approval from the relevant Animal Ethics Committee is required.

Informed Consent

Authors must confirm that written informed consent was obtained from all participants before enrollment in the study.

For identifiable photographs or clinical information, separate consent for publication must be obtained.

Clinical Trial Registration

Clinical trials should be prospectively registered in a publicly accessible trial registry before participant enrollment.

The registration number and registry name must be reported in the manuscript.

Reporting Guidelines

Authors should prepare manuscripts according to the appropriate EQUATOR reporting guideline.

Examples include:

  • CONSORT
  • STROBE
  • PRISMA 2020
  • CARE
  • STARD
  • ARRIVE
  • SRQR
  • SQUIRE

Completed reporting checklists should be submitted with the manuscript where applicable.

Plagiarism Policy

All submitted manuscripts undergo similarity screening using plagiarism detection software such as Turnitin or an equivalent tool.

Authors should ensure that the overall similarity index is within the limits specified in the journal's Instructions for Authors. Manuscripts with unacceptable similarity or evidence of plagiarism may be returned, rejected, or withdrawn according to the editorial policies.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy

Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools may be used only for language editing, grammar correction, and formatting assistance.

AI tools must not be used to:

  • Generate research data.
  • Fabricate results.
  • Perform scientific interpretation.
  • Replace human authorship.
  • Create misleading images or figures.

Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, and integrity of their work and must disclose any AI-assisted tools used during manuscript preparation.

Data Availability Policy

Authors should include a Data Availability Statement describing how the data supporting the findings of the study can be accessed.

Where ethical and legal considerations permit, authors are encouraged to make research data publicly available.

Copyright and Licensing

Authors retain copyright of their published work.

Upon acceptance, authors grant JPIMC a non-exclusive license to publish, archive, index, and distribute the article under the Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) License.

Corrections and Retractions

When significant errors or concerns are identified after publication, JPIMC may publish:

  • Corrections (Errata)
  • Corrigenda
  • Expressions of Concern
  • Retractions

Such actions are taken to maintain the accuracy and integrity of the scholarly record.

Appeals and Complaints

Authors who disagree with an editorial decision may submit a written appeal to the Editor-in-Chief. Appeals are reviewed independently, and the resulting decision is considered final.

Complaints related to editorial conduct, peer review, or publication ethics will be investigated confidentially and impartially.

Advertising Policy

Editorial decisions are independent of advertising or commercial interests. Advertising content does not influence manuscript evaluation or publication decisions.

Disclaimer

The opinions and conclusions expressed in published articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editorial Board, the Publisher, or Pak International Medical College. Authors are solely responsible for the accuracy and integrity of the information presented in their manuscripts.