Editorial Policy
EDITORIAL POLICY
Annals Pak Med (Annals of Pakistan Medical & Allied Professionals)
Published by MEDSCI PRESS (SMC-PRIVATE) LIMITED
ISSN (Online): 3106-5635 | ISSN (Print): 3106-5627
Open Access License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Link: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
The Editorial Policy of Annals Pak Med is grounded in international publication ethics and follows guidelines issued by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) (https://www.icmje.org), the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) (https://publicationethics.org), the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME) (https://wame.org), the Pakistan Medical & Dental Council (PMDC) (https://pmdc.pk), and the Higher Education Commission (HEC) Pakistan (https://hec.gov.pk). The journal is committed to ensuring academic integrity, transparency, fairness, accountability, and the highest standards of ethical scientific publishing.
Authorship Criteria
Definition of Authorship
Annals Pak Med fully adheres to the authorship criteria established by ICMJE, specifically outlined at:
https://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/roles-and-responsibilities/defining-the-role-of-authors-and-contributors.html
Authorship is not an honorary status but a reflection of meaningful, direct, intellectual contribution to the research and manuscript. An author must have played a substantive role in shaping the scholarly work, and authorship must reflect responsibility, accountability, intellectual ownership, and ethical stewardship of the research.
Core Requirements for Authorship
In accordance with ICMJE, every listed author must satisfy four essential criteria: significant contribution to the conception or design of the study or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data; active involvement in drafting or critically revising the manuscript for important intellectual content; final approval of the version to be published; and willingness to be accountable for the accuracy and integrity of all aspects of the work. Meeting only one criterion does not justify authorship. These criteria ensure that authorship represents active intellectual involvement, collegial cooperation, and a commitment to scientific integrity.
Non-Author Contributions and Acknowledgements
Individuals who contribute to the research without meeting the ICMJE authorship criteria may be acknowledged in the Acknowledgement section, as per ICMJE guidance:
https://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/roles-and-responsibilities/defining-the-role-of-authors-and-contributors.html#contributors
Such contributions may include technical support, language editing, administrative assistance, statistical consultation, or supervision. These contributors must consent to being acknowledged to maintain ethical transparency and accuracy of reported contributions.
Prohibition of Unethical Authorship Practices
The journal prohibits unethical authorship practices such as gift authorship, guest authorship, honorary authorship, ghost authorship, and purchased authorship. Such misconduct violates COPE Core Practices and undermines academic credibility. Authorship manipulations—including adding names for prestige or omitting deserving contributors—are handled as cases of scientific misconduct, and appropriate disciplinary actions are taken by the journal.
Group Authorship and Multi-Center Collaborations
For studies involving research groups, consortia, or multi-center collaborations, the journal follows ICMJE’s guidance on group authorship:
https://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/roles-and-responsibilities/group-authorship.html
Group authorship must specify the roles of each contributor and identify the individual(s) who take responsibility for the overall integrity of the work. Large collaborations must maintain clarity about contributions and accountability.
Accountability and Ethical Responsibility
All authors share collective responsibility for ensuring that the research is ethically conducted, the data is genuine, and the manuscript is free from falsification, fabrication, misrepresentation, or plagiarism. Responsibility extends to disclosure of ethical approval, conflicts of interest, funding support, and the originality of submitted content.
CrossMark Policy
Annals Pak Med participates in the CrossMark® service, which ensures that readers can access the current, verified, and most updated version of an article. CrossMark enhances transparency in the scholarly record by tracking corrections, retractions, amendments, and updates. This aligns with COPE’s principles of maintaining an accurate and trustworthy scientific record.
Similarity-Index & Single-Source Overlap Policy (Turnitin)
The journal enforces a strict plagiarism screening protocol using Turnitin. The acceptable plagiarism and similarity threshold is below 19% overall, with no single source exceeding 5% overlap. Similarity derived from references, standard phrases, or common methodological descriptions may be exempted at editorial discretion. Any manuscript exceeding the threshold is returned for correction or rejected immediately. Deliberate plagiarism, including self-plagiarism, image plagiarism, paraphrasing fraud, and AI-generated disguised plagiarism, constitutes serious scientific misconduct and leads to rejection, retraction, author sanctions, and notification to institutions, HEC, and PMDC.
Double-Blind Peer Review Policy
Commitment to Integrity and Impartiality
Annals Pak Med employs a double-blind peer review model in which authors and reviewers remain anonymous to one another. This ensures fairness, objectivity, and elimination of personal or institutional bias. The journal’s review system is guided by COPE Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers.
Editorial Screening and Reviewer Selection
Manuscripts undergo a preliminary editorial screening to evaluate their suitability, structural completeness, ethical compliance, formatting accuracy, and plagiarism score. Qualified reviewers with subject expertise, academic professionalism, and no conflicts of interest are selected. Reviewer selection follows WAME recommendations for ethical editorial behavior.
Reviewer Responsibilities and Ethical Expectations
Reviewers must evaluate manuscripts impartially, identify methodological flaws, comment on ethical concerns, and ensure originality and academic rigor. They must maintain strict confidentiality and refrain from using manuscript content for personal advancement. Reviewers must adhere to COPE’s reviewer ethics:
https://publicationethics.org/resources/guidelines-new/cope-ethical-guidelines-peer-reviewers
Evaluation Process and Editorial Decisions
Editorial decisions are based on scientific merit, methodological sophistication, originality, clarity, statistical validity, and ethical compliance. Decisions are communicated transparently, and authors may be asked to revise manuscripts according to reviewer feedback. Editorial independence is maintained at all times and decisions are not influenced by personal, institutional, or financial considerations.
Confidentiality and Ethical Safeguards
All manuscript content, reviewer reports, and author communications are confidential. Only authorized editorial staff may access manuscripts.
Commitment to Quality, Transparency, and Editorial Independence
Annals Pak Med is committed to unbiased editorial handling, scientific integrity, and compliance with global best practices set by COPE, ICMJE, WAME, PMDC, and HEC.
Rejected Articles Appeals Policy
Right to Appeal and Editorial Transparency
Authors may appeal editorial decisions when they believe that a decision resulted from oversight, misinterpretation, or procedural error. Appeals must be based on rational, academic reasoning.
Grounds for Appeal and Author Responsibilities
Appeals must provide clear evidence supporting the authors’ claims. Emotional, accusatory, or unprofessional language disqualifies the appeal.
Editorial Review of Appeals
Appeals are evaluated by senior editors not involved in the original decision. Manuscripts may undergo re-review if warranted.
Final Decision and Editorial Independence
The final decision is binding, reflecting academic judgment and ethical standards.
Ethical Conduct Throughout the Appeals Process
Professional communication is required. Any misconduct may result in denial of the appeal.
Ethical Approval of Research Policy
Commitment to Ethical Conduct in Human and Animal Research
The journal requires adherence to the Declaration of Helsinki, ICMJE ethical guidelines, COPE integrity principles, PMDC research ethics rules, and HEC National Bioethics guidelines.
Informed Consent, Privacy, and Participant Protection
Human participants must provide voluntary informed consent. Identifiable data, including images, require explicit written permission. Vulnerable populations deserve heightened protection.
Animal Research and Laboratory Ethics
Animal studies must follow internationally accepted ethical standards such as the ARRIVE guidelines, ensuring humane treatment and minimizing suffering.
Compliance, Documentation, and Editorial Oversight
Ethical approval numbers and institutional details must be clearly stated. Misrepresentation of ethical compliance results in rejection or retraction.
Upholding Integrity and Transparency
The journal ensures ethical compliance in all research involving humans, animals, tissues, or sensitive data.
Privacy Statement
Commitment to Confidentiality and Protection of Personal Information
The journal protects all personal information of authors, reviewers, and participants. Data is used solely for editorial processes.
Protection of Authors’ and Reviewers’ Identities
Double-blind review ensures complete identity confidentiality.
Data Handling, Security, and Digital Protection
All data is stored securely in accordance with international digital protection norms.
Confidentiality of Research Participants and Sensitive Information
Sensitive information is handled with strict ethical and legal compliance.
Use of Personal Information and Limitations
Data is never sold, shared, or misused. The journal complies with global publication ethics.
Withdrawal Policy
Manuscript withdrawal is permitted only for valid ethical or academic reasons. Withdrawal after peer review or acceptance is restricted and requires editorial approval. Improper withdrawal practices may result in sanctions or blacklisting.
Scientific Misconduct Policy
Annals Pak Med condemns scientific misconduct, including plagiarism, fabricated data, falsification, duplicate submission, unethical authorship, undisclosed conflicts, and image manipulation. Investigations follow COPE flowcharts:
https://publicationethics.org/guidance/Flowcharts
Misconduct may lead to rejection, retraction, author blacklisting, and institutional notification.
Conflicts of Interest / Competing Interests Policy
Authors, editors, and reviewers must disclose financial, personal, academic, or institutional conflicts of interest. The journal evaluates and manages conflicts ethically, ensuring transparency and adherence to ICMJE and COPE standards.
Open Citation Policy
Annals Pak Med supports open scholarship by making citation metadata publicly available to improve discoverability, transparency, and global academic integration.
Repository Policy
All published content is preserved through PKP PN, LOCKSS, CLOCKSS, and institutional repositories. Authors may deposit preprint, accepted, and published versions under CC BY 4.0.
Open Access, Licensing & Copyright Policy
The journal operates under the Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license, enabling unrestricted use with appropriate citation. Authors retain copyright.
Corrections and Retractions Policy
Corrections are published for minor errors, and retractions for major ethical or scientific flaws. Retractions follow COPE and CrossMark® procedures.
Pre-Print Policy
The journal accepts manuscripts previously posted on preprint servers with full disclosure.
Acknowledgement Criteria
Contributors not meeting authorship criteria may be acknowledged with permission, according to ICMJE guidance.
Post-Publication Discussions & Corrections
Readers may submit scientifically valid concerns that may lead to corrections, editorials, or retractions.
Data & Reproducibility Policy
Authors must ensure data transparency and reproducibility through the availability of raw data, analysis code, or repository links.
Complaints and Appeals Policy
All complaints are handled ethically following COPE recommendations.
Contact Us
Office No. 7 & 8, Basement Barkat Center, Royal Park, Lahore, Pakistan
Lahore Punjab Pakistan
Principal Contact
Dr. Umair Asghar
Punjab Institute of Cardiology, Lahore.
Phone 0300-9676452
Support Contact
Nouman Abbas
Phone 0321-8464355
