Publication Policy

 Introduction

This document highlights the mission, aims, objectives, ethical and editorial policy of “Pakistan” in regard to publication process by adhering to the guidelines by COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics). Each component of the editorial policy is explained in the next sections.

 Mission

To publish research for the benefit of research scholars working on the history, politics, languages, foreign policy and land and people of Pakistan.

Scope

The journal is to publish articles on variety of topics specifically related to Pakistan. It provides a forum to the researchers to publish their work in a widely read journal. The journal publishes only original work which can really add to the body of knowledge and can provide material to the policy makers.The Journal accepts articles from authors/contributors on the following topics.

History. (Ancient, medieval, modern), Politics, Current affairs, Foreign policy, Culture, Religion, Economics, Education, Languages through the lenses of Social Sciences, Arts and Hummanities.

Aims and Objectives

  • To promote scholarly exchange and cooperation among Pakistani and international scholars and specialists in all subfields of Social Sciences particularly on the subject area;
  • To disseminate theoretically grounded research and advance knowledge pertaining to its area of research i.e history, politics, languages, foreign policy and land and people of Pakistan.
  • To publish results of original research on a broad range of interdisciplinary issues relating to politics, international relations, foreign policy, culture, history, economics, language etc.;

Ethical Consideration

The research journal “Pakistan” is abide by COPE’s code of conduct and aim to adhere to its Best Practice Guidelines.   Authors, editors, and reviewers comply with, best practice in publication ethics. The following are the ethical considerations:

  1. Adequate level of confidentiality of the research data is ensured.
  2. The journal corresponding authors for information about reviewers’ comments. Authors send their papers after formal correction/changes.
  3. Anonymity of individuals and organisations participating in the research has to be ensured.
  4. Any deception or exaggeration about the aims and objectives of the research must be avoided.
  5. Any type of communication in relation to the research should be done with honesty and transparency.
  6. Any type of misleading information, as well as representation of primary data findings in a biased way must be avoided.
  7. The editor and assistant editors do not publish their research papers in the journal as per the policy of the journal/HEC.
  8. Self-institution publications are discouraged as per the policy of the journal/HEC.
  9. The protection of the privacy of research participants is ensured.
  10. Reviewers and editors are required to treat manuscripts fairly and in confidence.
  11. While submission a paper plagiarism must be less than 19% as per HEC policy.
  12. Respect for the dignity of research participants is a priority.
  13. The journal acknowledges the work of authors and reviewers.
  14. Dual submission and consecutive submission is discouraged/not allowed for authors.

Standard Process of Reviewing/Timeline

 The journal is following timeline for processing manuscripts. Editors ensure timely processing of manuscripts by adopting the following procedure:

  1. Call for papers is issued and a particular date is given for the submission of papers.
  2. No paper is accepted after the due date for a particular issue.
  3. The disk review process normally took 2 weeks, if a paper is fulfilling the criteria, it is processed for review to both internal and external reviewers. The reviewers are always requested to send their reports within 4 weeks.
  4. Changes suggested by reviewers are send to authors and they send their modified papers within 2 weeks.
  5. If a research paper is not fulfilling the criteria, the authors are informed accordingly.
  6. The journal is bi-annual and the first issue is published by the end of June and the second issue is published by the end of December every year.

 

Editorial Policies

  • Open Access Policy

“Pakistan” is an open-access journal which means that all contents are freely available without charge to the users. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles but only for non-commercial purposes, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. 

  • Plagiarism Policy

The journal is following the plagiarism policy of Higher Education Commission of Pakistan. To verify the originality of articles submitted to “Pakistan”, all submitted manuscripts are scanned and compared with the Turnitin database. If plagiarism is detected by the editorial board member, reviewer, editor etc., in any stage of article process- before or after acceptance, the article is sent back to the author(s) and ask them to rewrite the content to cite the references from where the content has been taken. If more than 19% of the paper is similar- the article is rejected and the same is notified to the author.

  • Copyright Policy

Pakistan Study Center University of Peshawar holds the copyright of the journal. No one is allowed to publish and or copy any article or any part thereof without the permission. Otherwise the institution has the right for legal action against the offender(s). 

  • Peer Review Policy

All the articles/ papers submitted to the journal for publication are to go through double blind peer review. The editor has the right to reject any article not meeting the required standard and criterion. All the papers are also passed from plagiarism test. Any article found plagiarized will be rejected. Journal accepts articles written in English language only. The contributors are strictly advised to use correct and standard language. Any articles with weak language or with mistakes (grammatical or other) will also be rejected.

  • Authorship

“Pakistan” allows paper(s) having maximum of two authors’ i.e a principal and a co-author, taking responsibility for the authenticity and integrity of all the research process. The co-author should declare his role and contribution in the research process explicitly. If authors request removal, addition or change in the sequence of an author after manuscript submission or publication, journal editors should seek an explanation and signed statement of agreement for the requested change from all listed authors and from the author to be removed or added. The corresponding author is the one individual who takes primary responsibility for communication with the journal during the manuscript submission, peer review, and publication process. The corresponding author typically ensures that all the journal’s administrative requirements, such as providing details of authorship, ethics committee approval, clinical trial registration documentation, and disclosures of relationships and activities, are properly completed and reported.

  • Submission of manuscript

The manuscript should be submitted through journal website which is using the Online Journal System (OJS). The article should have the following format:

  • The abstract should be structured with word count of not more than 250 words.
  • The fonts should be times new roman, with size 12, and spacing of 5, with justified margins in MS office format.
  • Manuscript size should be in the range of 4000 to 5000 words.
  • The text/s of the articles should be in British style of English writing.
  • The Journal follows APA Style of Citation.
  • Confidentiality

The editorial board in no way publicize the work of a researcher in any form unless it is published. They are not publicize the comments and critique given by reviewers. Similarly, the reviewers are bound to keep the confidentiality of the work of researchers during and after the review. The work of researchers and the critique should never be discussed or exemplified in forums. The confidentiality of the researchers should be maintained in every possible way when the documents are sent for review.  The only situation where confidentiality needs to be breached is when a situation of fraud or misconduct is found during the review process or after publication. Still, the authors and sometimes the reviewers, have to be notified.  

  • Correspondence

Correspondence for submitting an article in “Pakistan” will be through a corresponding author. The duties of a corresponding author have already been mentioned in a previous section. 

 Roles of Editorial Board, Editors and Members

The editorial board of “Pakistan” is following the Higher Education Commission (HEC) policy for research journals. The roles of the editorial board for “Pakistan” are mentioned below:

The Roles of the Editorial Board are

  • To offer expertise in their specialist area. 
  • To advise on journal policy and scope.
  • To work with the Editor to ensure ongoing development of the journal. 

 Editor

The criteria for selection of Editor are:

  1. Expertise and experience in the specialist field related to the journal.
  2. Senior research position with equivalent experience in research and scholarship
  3. Publication record of a number of articles and /or books (usually in / related to the specialist field)
  4. A reviewer for an international or national peer reviewed journal
  5. Enthusiasm to undertake the Editor role

It is not necessary to fulfill all the criteria to become an editor.

The roles of Editor are:

  1. The key role of a journal`s editor is to promote scholarship in the specialist field associated with the journal, whilst also promoting the journal as the best journal to publish in.  For any journal, the editor will need to encourage new and established authors to submit articles and set up a reliable panel of expert reviewers. Editors are also responsible for offering feedback to reviewers when required and ensure that any feedback to authors is constructive.
  2. An editor should also familiarize themselves with the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) ‘Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors’.
  3. Editor may have to make all the decisions regarding which articles to accept or reject for publication.
  4. To evaluate the research articles presented for publication
  5. To help the editorial board in policy making
  6. To help the editorial board in smooth publishing
  7. To communicate with reviewers and collaborate with external agencies for relevant purposes

 Managing editor / Assistant Editor

The roles of managing editor are:

  1. To help the editor to achieve the above-mentioned goals.
  2. To communicate with the authors, reviewers, publishers and other agencies for smooth running of the journal.
  3. To communicate with funding and regulating agencies (HEC and others) for grants and accreditations.

Editorial Advisory Board:

Editorial advisory board members consist of national and international senior academicians, specialists, researchers, clinicians and others in subject area to help the current editorial board in designing, implementing and evaluating policies regarding upgrading the quality of research work. These people also share best practices to help the editorial team to refine their research work.

 Contact information

The office of managing editor or editor should be contacted anytime in working hours or can be contacted through their emails for correspondence.

Editor: shahbazkhanpsc@yahoo.com

Managing/Assistant Editor: khan.ps@uop.edu.pk

Contact: 091-9221413

References:

  • Committee on Publications Ethics (COPE) guidelines
  • SCOPUS

 

Dr. Shahbaz Khan

Editor/Director

“Pakistan”

Bi-Annual Research Journal