Policies
AUTHORSHIP POLICY
The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) and the Higher Education Commission (HEC) have mandated that the Pakistan Journal of Rehabilitation accept and publish papers in compliance with their requirements. HEC standards are available on the official Higher Education Commission website, and information on ICMJE can be accessed at www.icmje.org.
According to the ICMJE, authorship should be determined by the following four factors:
- Notable contributions to the work’s idea or design, or to the gathering, processing, or interpretation of data for the
- Creating a draught or significantly editing the work to remove any unnecessary intellectual filler.
- Final clearance for the published
- A commitment to take full responsibility for the job, including making sure that any concerns about the correctness or integrity of any component are duly looked into and addressed. Author must follow the HEC guideline before submission of manuscript:
Reporting Standards:
For reproducibility, authors must include all necessary information and references. It is unethical and improper to make false or erroneous comments.
Originality and Plagiarism:
Authors need to provide original writing, provide adequate attribution, and refrain from plagiarism. Any text that is directly quoted needs to be quoted. Reject or accept with conditions if the similarity is more than 15%.
Declaration:
Author’s must state that their work is original and should not be considered elsewhere. Statements of individual contributions are required for co-authored papers. Authorship agreement is ensured by the corresponding author. Declaration form is available on Journal website.
Privacy of Participants:
Participants’ privacy must be respected, informed consent must be obtained, only relevant information may be shared, and explicit consent must be obtained before revealing identities. The participant’s relatives must give their approval if the participant has deceased.
Data Access and Retention:
In case the review process generates questions regarding the validity or accuracy of the research, authors are required to provide the Editor with the raw data.
Corresponding Author:
The primary responsibility for journal communication resides with the corresponding author. They must be accessible for inquiries and support with requests for data at all times during submission, peer review, and publishing.
Author’s Address/ Affiliation:
Authors are required to provide their current address along with their organization, email address, credentials, and the corresponding author’s phone number. ORCID is mandatory for submission of an article.
PRIVACY POLICY STATEMENT
We at PJR value our relationship and mutual trust with each and every contributor and reviewer very highly. We recognize the importance of protecting private data and identity. This policy oughtto be weighed against further directives and guarantees that PJR has sent to its subscribers, which encompass authors and reviewers. These documents outline the conditions under which data and personal information are used for correspondence about the submission and review procedures for articles.
All authors and reviewers read this policy, if you have any questions or need any clarification, email [email protected].
Authors personal Information:
Information about manuscript submissions, publication enquiries, conversations, and service purchases—such as editing and formatting—can be shared via email, phone, or mail.
- All personally identifiable information received by PJR is kept secure in the office record and used only for that reason.
- Data is stored in password-protected electronic
The editorial board and PJR, PJR’s publisher, must approve any changes to the privacy policy.
Author’s/ reviewer’s rights:
It is the right of authors and reviewers to receive an impartial and fair assessment of their work. Throughout the review process, they ought to get timely communication, confidentiality, constructive criticism, and protection for their intellectual property. Reviewers who feel they have a conflict of interest are free to reject to review.
NOTE: The Pakistan Journal of Rehabilitation (PJR) owns and operates this website. PJR is dedicated to upholding the trust and confidence of its users. Any names and email addresses provided on this site are solely for the journal’s intended purposes and will not be shared with any other party or used for other purposes.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
Author’s Declaration Process:
Authors are advised to submit declaration of conflict of interest by adding a statement at the end of their manuscript. They can add a statement that “The author (s) have no conflict of interest regarding any of the activity perform by PJR”. If any of the author have not attached the declaration statement at the end of their manuscript, it will be considered as “No Conflict of Interest” with Pakistan Journal of Rehabilitation.
ALLEGATION OF MISCONDUCT AND PLAGIARISM POLICY
Plagiarism Policy:
Pakistan journal of rehabilitation belongs to a reputable educational institute that believes in ethical, genuine and innovative effort. Plagiarism is defined as stealing others’ ideas, text or results, pass off the idea and incorporating them into one’s own manuscript which is one of the depraved misconducts.
The plagiarized manuscript that is presented with large copy-pasted data or another’s work without crediting the source is inappropriate and would not be considered for publication in PJR. Authors are needed to announce upon accommodation that the composition isn’t getting looked at somewhere else, and as such the identification of a copy accommodation or distribution is commonly viewed as a purposeful demonstration. This incorporates articles recently distributed in another dialect. For adequate types of optional entries or distributions (for example an article converted into English), writers should look for consent from the distributer and copyright holder of the first article, and should illuminate the Editor regarding the accepting diary about the historical backdrop of the first article. It should likewise be clarified to peruse that the article is a deciphered rendition, with a reference gave to the first article.
PJR refuses self-plagiarism too which the authors usually beliefs that their own work which published any other place by their name already cannot be used without the consent of that journal and will need to be mentioned in reference.
If any article under process in PJR is identified having plagiarism will lead to an explanation from authors and the publication process will be stopped. The authors will be given a fair chance to explain and justify their actions. In case of an unsatisfactory response that is more than 15% plagiarism, the article will be retracted. The notice of such retraction will be published online immediately and in the next issue of the printed version of the journal.
Once plagiarism turns out to be evident post-publication, PJR might correct or retract the publication depending on the degree of plagiarism. PJR uses software named “Turnitin” for Similarity Check which is one of the most authentic tools to serve the purpose and promote original work.
OPEN ACCESS POLICY AND TIMELINESS
Open Access Policy:
Pakistan Journal of Rehabilitation publishes fully open access journals, which means that all articles are available on the internet to all users immediately upon publication, without requiring a subscription to the journal.
PJR provides free access for all users globally which increases the Journal’s readership and visibility without any spatial constraints.
Timeliness Policy:
In order to maintain timely publications, the reviewers are asked to respond within the days assigned for the review of the particular manuscript. All the Editors and Reviewers are advised to generate their OJS Ziauddin Account in order to receive an article for review and editing. The Editors will advise writers in due time, if their article is acknowledged or whether there is a need to modify something. Likewise, the Editors maintain whatever authority is needed to alter articles appropriately. Papers that have been printed or sent for distribution to different journals won’t be acknowledged. Only fresh/ unpublished articles / papers will be entertained in Pakistan Journal of Rehabilitation. All writers ought to send a complete version of their work containing a composed assertion proposing the article for accommodation, promising to notice the morals of reference of sources utilized (bibliographic references, figures, tables, polls). In case of delay, the reviewers are recommended to inform the journal editor so that the status regarding the manuscript can be communicated to the authors and meanwhile other alternatives can be preferred by the staff editors. PJR editorial team have a full right to accept or reject a paper in any of the upcoming volume of their Journal. Authors are advised to cooperate with the team while applying for their publication.
For More Information : https://www.openaccess.nl/en/what-is-open-access
COPY RIGHT POLICY
Copyright refers to the legal right of the author for his/her manuscript. The right to copy is reserved till the original author gives permission for reproducing the work again.
PJR Copyright policy gives authors of original material the exclusive right to further use and duplicate that material for a given amount of time, at which point the copyrighted item becomes public domain. Authors reserve the right to use the article freely as long as its original authors and citation details are acknowledged. PJR requires complete authority from the authors to grant rights of their publication. Authors have to incorporate with PJR that they can use any of their work into their publications and copies along with their name and identity.
The article and any associated published material are distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0). Under the Creative Commons Attribution License, any scholar is free to share or allowed to copy the work along with proper referencing to the original author whereas, the scholar who is adapting the work is restricted to use the statements like ‘all rights reserved’ OR any other statement which takes the work under their proprietorship. Writers should acquire the important authorization to reuse outsider material in the article. The utilization of short concentrates of text and some different sorts of material is normally allowed, on a restricted premise, for the motivations behind analysis and audit without making sure about conventional authorization. On the off chance that writers wish to remember any material for their paper for which they do not hold copyright, and which is not covered by this casual understanding, they should get composed consent from the copyright proprietor before accommodation (for example if an author is using any particular test, experiment or any copyrighted treatment, he must have to show the consent form along with the paper).
PUBLICATION ETHICS AND MALPRACTICE STATEMENT
Acknowledgements:
PJR supports giving credit for contributions to a research study even when authorship may not be appropriate. Individuals who don’t fit the requirements for authorship should be assigned. This category may include people who provide writing help, technical support, or general assistance in easing the research process. For more details, follow the guidelines of ICMJE.
Authorship Numbers and Sequence:
The number of authors should be commensurate with the depth of their contributions, though there is no hard cap on the number. Each author’s contribution to the work should be reflected in the authorship order. Mutual agreement among all contributors should be used to reach a consensus on the number and order of authors.
Principal and Corresponding Author:
The lead author, or principal investigator, should have made the most significant contribution. Subject to the agreement of all contributing authors, the principal author may designate themselves as the corresponding author, or they may assign another author for this role.
Informed Consent Policy for Pakistan Journal of Rehabilitation:
Pakistan Journal of Rehabilitation recognises the importance of securing informed consent from research study participants. The informed consent process must encompass the following elements:
- Clarity of Research Purpose:The objectives, anticipated outcomes, and purpose must be transparently communicated to the individuals involved.
- Risks and Benefits Disclosure:Before participation, subjects must be informed about any potential risks associated with the research activities. Additionally, the benefits derived from the participation must be clearly articulated to encourage enrollment.
- Alternatives Explanation:Any available alternatives or substitutes in the research process and their associated risks and benefits should be discussed.
- Voluntary Participation:Participants must be assured that their involvement is entirely voluntary and that they can withdraw from the research without facing any financial repercussions.
- Confidentiality Assurance:Participants must be informed about the confidentiality and privacy measures for the collected data. Personal information will be safeguarded and utilised solely for educational purposes or the improvement of the well-being of the population.
- Contact Information Provision:Subjects should be provided with the researcher’s contact details to address any queries or concerns during the research activities.
- Acknowledgment through Signature or Thumbprint:The consent must be acknowledged formally through signature or thumbprint to signify understanding and agreement to participate.
NOTE: If obtaining informed consent is impossible, state the reason in the manuscript and obtain approval from the Ethical Review Committee, referencing the Helsinki Declaration.
Conflicts of interest/ Grant support and financial disclosure:
- Any financial or personal relationships that might influence an author’s work or conflicts of interest must be disclosed.
- The following are examples of financial conflicts: work, consulting, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patents, and grants for travel within the last three years, and honoraria.
- The authors must declare whether ‘there is a conflict of interest’ or ‘no conflict of interest.’
- All published content is accompanied by financial disclosures, grant support, and conflicts of interest published by the journal.
Authors are required to specify adherence to the latest Helsinki Declaration and ethical guidelines set forth by the Independent Data and Safety Monitoring Committee (IDMC) overseeing human experimentation. Avoiding patient identifiers in text or illustrations is considered an appropriate protocol.
The relevant organisation’s Institutional Review Board (IRB) or Ethical Review Committee (ERC) must grant ethical approval for any manuscript submitted to PJR. The committee chairperson should stamp and sign the approval statement on official letterhead. Studies that do not involve direct human contact must obtain an exemption letter from the ERC/IRB and prospective approval.
Without an institutional ERC, approval should be sought from another institution committed to ethical standards. Case reports necessitate department head approval on institutional letterhead, including a statement confirming informed consent from participants before study inclusion or case report publication.
Human Participant Studies:
Authors must strictly avoid disclosing information that could identify human subjects. Experiment reports must specify adherence to institutional or national standards. Ethical clearance is obligatory, obtained from the relevant review board (institutional/provincial/national bioethics committee). Manuscripts must include details of the ethical Review Committee, including its name and approval/certificate number. It’s important to note that the editorial board and reviewers may assess articles for ethical compliance, even with approvals from Ethical Review Committees. Authors must confirm adherence to the highest ethical standards per the Declaration of Helsinki and the Independent Data and Safety Monitoring Committee (IDMC).
Animal Participant Studies:
Research involving animals, whether lab-reared or non-lab-reared, vertebrates or invertebrates, must comply with established global animal care and welfare standards. Approval from the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) or equivalent is mandatory, with details in the methodology section specifying the approving body’s name, certificate number, and issuance date. The journal may request additional information on animal experiments. Manuscripts will be rejected if there’s reason to believe animals endured unnecessary pain or distress. Animal use must be essential, with no viable alternatives. For more details, refer to the International Association of Veterinary Editors’ Consensus Author Guidelines on Animal Ethics and Welfare.
Publication Misconduct:
This section addresses publication ethics, excluding plagiarism, which is discussed separately. Cases of publication misconduct will be handled following the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines. The corresponding author will be contacted for an explanation, and corrective actions, including correction or retraction, will be determined based on the severity of the misconduct. If authors provide no or unsatisfactory response, unpublished manuscripts may be dropped from consideration and published ones retracted. Retraction notices will be issued in print and online. Authors may face a potential lifetime ban from submitting to the journal, and their institutional head could be informed. Strict measures apply to plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, duplicate submissions, redundant publication, selective and misleading reporting, and referencing.
Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) GUIDELINES ON GOOD PUBLICATION PRACTICE
Plagiarism Policy:
The Pakistan Journal of Rehabilitation (PJR) holds steadfast to the principle that plagiarism is not only unlawful but also an unethical practice with significant repercussions.
In scholarly work, plagiarism manifests when an author utilises another’s work without appropriate permission or acknowledgement. It comes in various forms, such as direct replication, paraphrasing, or reproduction without crediting the original source. Verbatim replication without acknowledgement is a clear indicator of plagiarism and can be easily identified by comparing submitted material with previously published papers. Paraphrasing, which involves reproducing content from the original work without using the exact words, presents a more challenging form of plagiarism detection.
To uphold ethics in research and publishing, PJR is committed to safeguarding the integrity of scholarly manuscripts in every aspect. Evaluating copied content, assessing its quantity and quality concerning the original source, is an integral part of this commitment.
PJR’s Quality Control Department rigorously identifies and assesses instances of plagiarism. Leveraging Turnitin software, submitted manuscripts undergo thorough scrutiny. Upon detection at any stage of the publication process—whether before acceptance, during editing, or at proofreading—authors receive prompt notification to rectify the content and cite original sources appropriately.
Instances of plagiarism often manifest in these ways:
- Directly appropriating someone else’s work and presenting it as one’s own.
- Self-plagiarism, where authors recycle their previously published material.
- Exclusions during plagiarism checks should be limited to:
- Quotations
- Bibliographic references
- Phrases
- Mathematical / Statistical formulas
- Institutional names or departments
Guidelines for Authors Regarding Plagiarism:
- Plagiarism Identification and Correction: If plagiarism is identified during manuscript submission or any processing phase, authors receive alerts and are requested to rework the content or cite references properly. Manuscripts found with 16% or above plagiarism risk rejection and necessitate revision and resubmission.
- Reporting Plagiarism Instances: Scholars can contribute to the scientific community by reporting instances of plagiarism in any journal, providing comprehensive details for appropriate action by the involved editorial offices.
- Post-Publication Plagiarism Investigation: In cases of post-publication plagiarism detection, PJR conducts a comprehensive investigation. Authors are contacted, and the plagiarised content is marked in the PDF. Depending on the severity, a formal retraction of the paper may occur.
- Handling Publications in Other Languages: Authors must disclose original publication details and secure copyright permissions for publications in another language. Translations may be accepted with proper citation or if the content is entirely rephrased.
- Self-Plagiarism Guidelines: Self-plagiarism, reproducing significant sections of copyrighted work without citation, is not permissible. However, referencing prior copyrighted work is an exception.
- Impact on Research Ethics: Plagiarism significantly undermines research ethics and devalues scholarly work.
- PJR’s Appeal to Authors: PJR earnestly calls upon scholars to prioritise integrity and accountability in producing plagiarism-free manuscripts.
PEER REVIEW POLICY AND PROCESS
Like other prestigious research journals, the Pakistan Journal of Rehabilitation has established its review policy to promote authenticity and quality in the published articles. PJR offers a double-blind peer review policy for all types of publications submitted to PJR to preserve the anonymity of both the author and reviewer throughout the consideration process. The editorial officers are responsible for keeping their manuscript identity confidential for double-blind peer review; details that may reveal the author’s identity must be removed and kept unknown between the author and the reviewer.
All sorts of comments or feedback regarding manuscripts by the reviewer and the feedback response by the author to the comments are saved and concealed within the cover letter to keep confidentiality intact. It is recommended that authors acknowledge all contributors, but to maintain confidentiality, the details must only be revealed within the cover letter, and the blind peer review policy must be maintained. The manuscripts submitted in PJR are read by the staff editors exceptionally. Only papers that meet the editorial criteria are sent for formal review, including those by international and national reviewers. In between the reviews, authors are advised to improve based on the first reviewer’s comments and later submit to the second reviewer. Still, the identity is always intact and is not revealed at both ends.
Those manuscripts or research papers that don’t meet the criteria of the guideline on evaluation by the editors will be returned to the author based on insufficient material or irrelevant to the journal’s interest; otherwise, inappropriate content will be forbidden promptly without external review.
The editor is responsible for ensuring privacy and removing the authors’ information before proceeding with the articles to the reviewer to adhere to the double-blind peer review policy. It is also confirmed that each article is reviewed using nondiscriminatory and highly professional methods. Moreover, editors promptly provide the reviewers’ comments to the authors and give them ample time to make changes.
All the above mentioned procedures are maintained and practiced through a database, i.e., the Open Journal System (OJS). National and international reviewers are entitled to review each article thoroughly. All the reviewers work under the Open Journal System database, receiving and submitting articles from the Editorial Team.
This journal uses a double-blind review, which means that both the reviewers’ and authors’ identities are concealed from the reviewers, and vice versa, throughout the review process. We will refer to the (COPE, PDF) guidelines for additional clarification.
Submission Review Process:
- A preliminary completeness review is performed on every submission to PJR.
- Editors evaluate the suitability of recommendations for peer review.
- When editors have conflicting interests, the evaluation is managed by a different editorial board member.
Peer Review Process:
- Reviewers from outside the conference, committee members, and programme chairs evaluate the proceedings papers.
- The selection of peer reviewers takes prior performance, reputation, expertise, and conflicts of interest into account.
- Editors strive to include two or more peer reviewers for primary research manuscripts; however, this number may vary in specialized fields.
- An editor may serve as a second reviewer in extraordinary circumstances to guarantee openness and careful evaluation.
- Though the editorial team makes the final decision, the authors’ suggestions for reviewers may be considered.
Editor Responsibilities:
- Editors independently confirm suggested reviewers’ contact information, preferably using institutional email addresses.
- Without peer review, editors may accept manuscripts that do not present original research or are evaluated by a specialist reviewer.
- Editorial choices are made in response to detailed peer review comments that satisfy predetermined standards.
- The peer review process is transparent when editors sign reviews.
Conflicts of Interest and Confidentiality:
- Editors’ and peer reviewers’ communications are private and shouldn’t be disclosed to outside parties; potential peer reviewers must declare any conflicts of interest.
- Although editors have the last say, PJR lets authors recommend possible reviewers.
- Authors are discouraged from recommending current or former colleagues from the same institution.
- Verifiable information, such as institutional email addresses and ORCIDs or Scopus IDs, should be provided by the author-recommended reviewers in the cover letter.
Peer reviewer diversity:
PJR is committed to promoting inclusion, equity, and diversity in its peer review procedure. Prioritising diverse representation regarding geographic locations, gender identities, racial/ethnic groups, and other demographics is highly encouraged for editors when inviting peer reviewers.
Peer reviewer misconduct:
Manuscript rejection will result from submitting false or misleading information, including identity theft and the suggestion of bogus peer reviewers. PJR follows the guidelines provided by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) regarding misconduct.
REPOSITORY POLICY
Pakistan Journal of Rehabilitation is an Open Access Journal. Authors are entitled to make their article publicly available according to the terms of the CC BY license.
The article and any associated published material are distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0). Under the Creative Commons Attribution License, any scholar is free to share or allowed to copy the work along with proper referencing to the original author whereas, the scholar who is adapting the work is restricted to use the statements like ‘all rights reserved’ OR any other statement which takes the work under their proprietorship. The published source must be acknowledged. For articles, a link to the journal home page or articles’ DOI and URL has been set.
Entire volumes (publisher PDF) may be uploaded to institutional universities when required after an embargo period of 0 months after publication. Authors MAY NOT self-archive their articles in public and/or commercial subject-based repositories.
The Ziauddin University is on the list of I4OA (link https://i4oa.org/) and I4OC (https://i4oc.org/) is visible as the publisher.
As per the repository policy and as an open-access journal PJR already make abstracts openly which is available by depositing them in Crossref.
SHERPA ROMEO
https://v2.sherpa.ac.uk/id/publication/40506
ARCHIVING POLICY
Pakistan Journal of Rehabilitation pledges the metadata to LOCKSS and CLOCKSS via PKP PN, Google Scholar, and self-repository. PJR makes sure that all published scholarly articles published by PJR must be available after any accidental loss of Journal data in its self-archived account. PJR is continuously in process of adding data to well-known repository services.
PUBLICATION POLICY AND DECISIONS
All variety of articles submitted to Pakistan Journal of Rehabilitation go through double blind peer-reviewed process. The article submitted in the category of ‘Original Research’ presents scientific research that complies with the editorial policies PJR encourages the use of simple language and small phrases. PJR expects that regardless of category, the content submitted has not been published elsewhere. If the results have been presented as an abstract in a conference, it should be declared at the time of submission. The Editors ensures the publication of only those articles which are directly related to the PJR category i.e. it must be related to Rehabilitation. This procedure is truly and clearly unbiased and purely based on merit. The Editorial Team make sure to publish variety of article in each issue therefore, they accept or regret, the article purely on the basis of academic and professional demands of upcoming issues of Journal. Manuscripts with insufficient originality, genuine logical or specialized flaws, or lack of a relevant message are dismissed prior to continuing for formal companion audit. In case of regret to an article, the author will be acknowledged briefly along with justified reasons. The reasons of unacceptance may include:
- Irrelevant topic (does not falls under Rehabilitation field).
Topics which are not related to Rehabilitation or Psychology would not be accepted in Pakistan Journal of Rehabilitation. Scholars are advised not to send any irrelevant topic to PJR.
- The topic contains insufficient knowledge OR inaccurate knowledge.
Any article which contains inaccurate information or irrelevant references, which misleads the people and creates a wrong perception about a topic are strongly restricted to submit publication. Scholars have to use references which are available on google scholar or any other relevant indexing.
- The format is not accurately followed, if the data contains inaccurate analysis.
Scholars are advised to use proper formats and accurate statistical analysis tools such as Excel, SPSS, Medcalc etc… If any other irrelevant statistical tools are found which my lead the wrong analysis, the article will be rejected.
- The Plagiarism Report.
The Plagiarism Report of articles should not exceed 15%. The authors are advised to share the plagiarism report along with the article, if any of the article founds exceeding 15% plagiarism will results to rejection.
- Or any other copyright or legal issues such as fake authorship.
Authors are advised to share their genuine work along with true authorship. Fake authorships or any other legal issues such as factious research will leads to permanent disqualification of author from PJR.
- Publication Fees
PJR welcomes article submissions from all over the world, authors are highly appreciated to submit their manuscripts in PJR as the journal currently charges no submission or publication fee.
ADVERTISING POLICY
- No advertisements for the Pakistan Journal of Rehabilitation may violate moral principles or contain any type of misinformation. Any claims made by the authorities should be accompanied by supporting
- There must be no outside editorial influence on the PJR’s editorial content. Editorial content and advertising content ought to be clearly distinguished from one another.
- No advertisements for the Pakistan Journal of Rehabilitation shall undermine the PJR’s
- No Pakistan Journal of Rehabilitation-related advertisements should be positioned in a way that implies the publication is endorsing the commodity or service being promoted. The positioning of adverts shouldn’t harm the standing of PJR.
- All advertisements for Pakistan Journal of Rehabilitation must be pertinent to PJR readers. It should be relevant to the area of study covered by the PJR and targeted at the journal readership.
- Pakistan Journal of Rehabilitation advertisements must abide by all applicable rules and regulations, including those pertaining to advertising, health claims, and data
- All advertisements for the Pakistan Journal of Rehabilitation should be placed so as not to obstruct user experience. For instance, adverts shouldn’t be positioned in a way that interferes with or interrupts the reading
- Prior to publication, editorial clearance is required for any advertisements relating to Pakistan Journal of Rehabilitation. On whether or not to accept an advertisement, the editorial staff should have the final word.
REVENUE SOURCES/ FUNDING SOURCES
Pakistan Journal of Rehabilitation (PJR) is owned by Ziauddin University. PJR runs under one of the dominant colleges of Ziauddin University named as Ziauddin College of Rehabilitation Sciences (ZCRS). The team of Pakistan Journal of Rehabilitation (PJR) is collaboratively runs by ORIC department of Ziauddin University and ZCRS team under the supervision of Dr. Zulfiqar Umrani, Director ORIC and Prof. Dr. Sumaira Imran Farooqui, Editor in Chief of PJR and Principal ZCRS. PJR welcomes article submissions from all over the world, authors are highly appreciated to submit their manuscripts in PJR as the journal currently charges no submission or publication fees. In order to run the journal in proficient manner, Ziauddin University makes sure all the expenses of Journal and PJR team solely transacted under their revenue. As the journal is self- financed open access journal and all the expenses are bared by Ziauddin University itself, there is no revenue earning practices of Pakistan Journal of Rehabilitation. All the expenses of PJR including the cost of printing, websites expenses, team member salaries etc… are supported by Ziauddin University.
WITHDRAWAL POLICY
According to PJR’s copyright policy, the journal submitting the manuscript is the rightful owner of the copyright. PJR is dedicated to maintaining the highest ethical practices and scholarly publishing standards. We acknowledge that authors may withdraw submitted manuscripts in certain circumstances. We have developed exemption policies that define specific requirements for exemptions at various stages of the publication process to ensure openness and equity.
Conditions for Withdrawal
After Submission: Once a manuscript has been submitted, authors may request it be withdrawn unless the peer review process has been officially initiated. The following prerequisites must be met:
- Initial Withdrawal Request: Authors may request early withdrawal in writing within one week of the original submission.
- Reason for Withdrawal: A withdrawal request must have a legitimate reason shown in detail. There are referrals, accidental submissions, and severe errors in the manuscript or specific commentary.
During and After Review: It is more difficult to withdraw after a manuscript has been submitted for peer review because of the interference of reviewers and editorial resources. The following conditions apply to authors’ requests for opt-outs:
- Withdrawal during Peer Review: The Editor-in-Chief reserves the right to approve requests by authors to withdraw during the peer review process. Participation may not be permitted if priority work has already been established in the research process.
- Withdrawal after Review: Withdrawal is generally discouraged once a manuscript has been reviewed. However, authors may also submit a valid request with a legitimate reason for withdrawal. Considering researchers' contributions to the programme, the editorial board will decide within 15 days of receiving the request.
After Publication: Withdrawal of a manuscript after formal publication is exceptional and only considered in extreme circumstances. Authors who choose to withdraw must give a strong reason, and the editorial board will make the final decision.
Exceptional circumstances: Withdrawal of a manuscript after formal publication is outstanding and only considered in extreme circumstances. The editorial board will decide, and authors must provide solid reasons for withdrawals.
Unethical Withdrawal: If the author withdraws the manuscript without reason, the editorial board will reserve the right to ban the author for two years and transfer the manuscript to the HEC repository.
Manuscript Retraction: Violations of the code of professional conduct, such as repeated submissions, false claims of authorship, theft, fraudulent use of data, and similar cases, will sometimes cause a case to be delayed. Some deviations are considered to correct transmission or printing errors. The editorial adheres to the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines, including the COPE Retraction Guidelines (https://publicationethics.org/retraction-guidelines).
COMPLAINT POLICY
Readers are encouraged to share their comments, questions, or constructive criticisms regarding any manuscript featured in the Pakistan Journal of Rehabilitation. The editorial board is committed to addressing various concerns, including authorship, undisclosed conflicts of interest, plagiarism, ethical matters, data manipulation or falsification, reviewer bias, and copyright or intellectual property rights. Complaints can be submitted to the Managing Editor/Assistant Editor via email at [email protected]. Each concern will be thoroughly investigated, and the complainant will receive a prompt explanation or decision. If corrections are necessary, the editorial board will take appropriate action and publish any required corrections, clarifications, retractions, or apologies in response to the complaint.