INTRODUCTION
Health Sciences Journal, ISSN (P-2959-2240) (E-2959-2259), is an open-access journal of Management Development & Research Innovation (MDRI) under terms of Creative common attribution Non-Commercial 4.0 International License. It is published bi-annually as, a blind peer review. Original and review articles are published in this journal which are in line with the aims and scope of HSJ. HSJ covers all areas of health and medical sciences from basic and applied to clinical and experimental work. Areas included are medicine, dentistry and applied medical sciences, public health, pharmaceutical, health economics, health informatics, and bioinformatics, contributed to medical knowledge. Manuscripts may add new methods of experiments, the importance and significance of medical, and clinical issues, and epidemiological work of significant scientific implication. For an expedited process of research work publication, the journal operates on an Online Journal Management System for online submission and processing of the manuscripts. In processing and publication of research work, the Journal currently follows the HEC criteria for the "Y" category. The policy document covers the different parameters from different dimensions as follows:
Frequency and regularity are the main requirements that directly influence the credibility of journals. In this connection, the Health Sciences Journal's publication schedule comprises One (01) volume with two (02) issues each year regularly.
The Health Sciences Journal publication timeline represents the complete duration from article submissions to publications with the following descriptions:
Period for publishing 1st issue: June Period for publishing 2nd issue:
December
Authorship of papers represents authors’ (Faculties, Researchers, and Ph.D. Scholars) scholarly contributions in different scopes and domains as per their field and relevancy. Health Sciences Journal accepts the authorship contributions as per the journal’s scope. The author's contributions statement (equal contributions) towards the research work is included as a separate statement at the end of the article. The authors’ substantial contributions to the research work have been mentioned. The authors’ names, affiliations, and e-mail addresses along with the contact numbers of all authors (corresponding, principal, & co-authors) of the manuscript have been mentioned on the first page. Furthermore, ORCID identifier identification is encouraged.
For the articles submitted to the Health Sciences Journal, as part of the submission process, the authors are required to check the submission's compliance with all of the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors who do not adhere to these guidelines.
Submission of Paper
The corresponding author can submit research work for potential and prospective publication in the Health Sciences Journal via the Online Journal System (OJS).
Editorial Office Assessment
Health Sciences Journal editorial office checks the submitted manuscripts’ format and composition in line with the author's guidelines and the scope of the journal. This stage of scrutiny assesses the quality of the research.
Chief Editor’s Appraisal
The chief editor apprises whether the research work is original, has the potential of novelty, and is appropriately aligned with the journal’s scope. If the manuscript does fulfill the aforementioned criteria, it is liable to rejection at this stage without being considered for any further review.
Chief Editor’s Assignment to an Associate Editor
After appraising the manuscript, the chief editor assigns the task of further appraisal to the associate editor through desk review/editing.
Desk Review
The associate editor scrutinizes the manuscript in light of the journal scope and contents requirements of the Health Sciences Journal and recommends potential improvements and incorporation in the manuscript.
Communicating Suggestions to Authors
The associate editor’s desk review suggestions for potential revisions and improvements of the manuscript are shared with authors for incorporation. After these necessary incorporations, the manuscript is forwarded to the experts’ review phase.
Invitation to Reviewers
The associate editor invites potential reviewers within specialized fields for the manuscript review. The manuscript is sent out to the reviewers in light of the responses received from them. As per the journal policy, the manuscript is sent to two reviewers (two national).
Review Conducted
The potential and expert reviewers spare ample time to read the manuscript and this is reflected in the way they highlight both the strengths and weaknesses of the research work. If they find major issues in the manuscript, reviewers have the freedom to either completely reject it or suggest major revisions. The reviewers submit their reviews to the journal’s editorial team with the recommendations of either accepting (with/out minor or major revisions) or rejecting.
Journal Evaluates the Reviews
The journal’s editorial team considers and scrutinizes all the reviewers’ comments and decisions before reaching a final decision. In case of wider differences in reviewers’ comments, an editor might invite an additional reviewer (if deemed appropriate) to get further opinions before making the final decision.
Decision Communication
The editor communicates the decision to authors via email containing relevant reviewer comments and advises the authors to incorporate all the changes as per the reviewers’ suggestions.
Final Decision
After receiving the revised draft from the authors, the editorial team ensures the incorporation of all reviewers’ suggestions and if found suitable in all respects, the manuscript is sent to copyediting. After this process, the manuscript is moved to the production phase as per the specified schedule for publication.
The Health Sciences Journal is managed under Management Development & Research Innovation (SMC PVT) Limited. Globally, the publication costs and associated expenses of many journals are covered by different resources like sponsoring parties that include organizations, societies, and research groups and thus do not demand any publication charges. In the case of HSJ, there is no financial assistance and income sources to meet expenses associated with the publication process. HSJ is determined to index with well-reputed indexing agencies and ensures standard parameters to bring up the journal at par with the international level. Journals use a variety of means to generate the income required to meet publication costs including editorial costs, peer review, website maintenance, indexing costs, content registration, promotion, circulation, and production.
To meet the desired standards and secure the academic and financial scope of authors, HSJ recommends nominal publication charges to meet the journal’s expenses. HSJ charges a fee of one hundred Dollars or equal in PKR after acceptance of the article for publication based upon positive reviews from reviewers and their recommendations for publications that will cover the journal's overall expenses. The publication charges of the HSJ will help to further improve standards and pave the way towards the inclusion of well-reputed indexing agencies like Scopus and Web of Science in dire need in contemporary competitive situations wherein researchers are desirous for publications.
Conflict of interest exists when the authors’ editor and reviewer have a personal and financial relationship which has an inappropriate impact on his/her actions. There are other reasons for conflicts such as academic competition, and personal relationships. Studies receive financial support from some firms and foundations as well as governments which may have the potential to bias and discredit the research. It is required when authors submit an article they must disclose all funding and financial support and any relationship that might create biases. Authors must clearly state whether a potential conflict exists or not. The editorial committee of HSJ may choose not to consider the manuscript for publication if any conflict is found.
For Authors
All manuscripts, articles, editorials, original research reports, book reviews, comments, reviews, and letters that are submitted to the journal must be accompanied by a conflict-of-interest disclosure statement or a declaration by the authors that they do not have any conflicts of interest to declare. All the research work such as articles, etc., published in this journal should mandatorily accompany a conflict-of-interest disclosure statement or a statement that the authors have replied that they have no conflicts of interest to declare. To facilitate this policy, all authors must privately disclose ‘ALL their potential conflicts of interest’ to editors at the time of submission. These include all financial and non-financial interests and relationships with other organizations. Authors should disclose any conflict of interest that may have influenced either the conduct or presentation of the research to editors, including but not limited to close relationships with those who might be helped or hurt by publication, academic interests and rivalries, and any personal, religious or political convictions relevant to the topic at hand. In the article, authors must include a draft statement that discloses all relevant conflicts of interest and affiliations.
For Editors and Reviewers
Editors and reviewers must reject/decline to be involved with the submission when they have a recent/current publication or submission with the author. Share or recently shared affiliations with the author, collaborate, have close relationships with the author or financial interest/gain, or feel unable to be objective. Editorial staff must not use information gained through working with manuscripts for private gain. Reviewers must declare any remaining interests in the ‘Confidential’ section of the review form, which will be considered by the editor. Reviewer(s) must declare any conflict of interest which may affect their review work. In cases of conflict of interest, reviewer(s) are requested to notify the editorial team of their inability to review a particular research paper. Editors and peer reviewers should disclose interests that might appear to affect their ability to present or review work objectively. These might include the relevant financial interests or the personal, political, or religious interests, and detailed descriptions of tasks, and responsibilities of all parties on how to avoid and manage COIs.
Well-defined and precise knowledge sharing is the chief objective of the Health Sciences Journal and facilitates the academic community via information distribution. Furthermore, to serve the academic community, the Health Sciences Journal has a strong faith in intelligibility through delivering correct information and maintaining all essential records. The journal explains this procedure from initial submission till the final stage and the publications are available in diverse volumes and issues. Once a manuscript is published, the editorial team displays the volume and issues of the journal on the journal website, which can be easily explored, read, downloaded, and shared through an open-access policy.
The Health Sciences Journal offers prospects to authors for getting their manuscripts proofread beforehand by the availability of the online version, which ensures the accuracy of contents. Since issuing corrigenda and errata increases the likelihood that the journal content readers and the users would have difficulties, contents are, therefore, made error-free to the possible extent. Further, in this connection, even after a manuscript is published, partial corrections might be made at the decision of the editorial team of the Health Sciences Journal. Therefore, to improve the quality of published research work, the editorial team might opt for minor alterations and corrections at any stage as they are vital to ascertain the integrity of the published materials to ensure the quality and transparency of research.
The Health Sciences Journal takes serious note of the issues related to copyright infringement, plagiarism, and violation of other ethical codes in the publication process. In this respect, sometimes, whenever any violation of publication ethics and copyright infringement are exposed, the journal reserves the right to proceed with appropriate and necessary actions to correct the record on a priority basis no matter that the authors present either intentionally or unintentionally and communicate to journal’s editorial team. Consequently, materials that this journal has already published, become the journal’s intellectual property and hold the right to replace the accurate materials in the best interest of the journal and the academic community.
The principle and policy towards the research data signify the author's responsibility to submit reliable and accurate research data for publication with the following description:
responsibility of the journal to maintain metadata of articles processed for publications submitted to the journal which can be communicated on-demand where required.
predetermined conditions specified by guidelines, code of conduct and CC by. Thus, authors hold copyright for their work and can use it for their legal purposes without any permission from the journal.
Health Sciences Journal considers innovative and original research that has neither previously been published nor under consideration for publication with any other publisher or journal. It is the author(s’) obligation to ensure the originality of their research work sent to the journal for publication and have a clear understanding that the contents of the manuscript are not under consideration either by or for any other publisher or journal. Health Sciences Journal reserves the right to transform, revise, and translate the author(s’) contributions nonetheless, the authors will receive a statement from the journal’s editorial representative before the publication of the same in the Health Sciences Journal.
The author contributions statement refers to work or equal contributions of the work that are included as a separate statement. The headings should include all those who have made substantial contributions to research work. The full names, affiliations, and e-mail addresses along with contact numbers of all authors (principal, co-authors & corresponding) must be provided on the first page upon submission of the manuscript. Moreover, the use of ORCID identifiers is encouraged.
Health Sciences Journal is an open-access, peer-reviewed, multi-disciplinary scope that considers the authors’ scholarly contributions within the scope of HSJ and covers all areas of health and medical sciences from basic and applied to clinical and experimental work. Areas included are medicine, dentistry and applied medical sciences, public health, pharmaceutical, health economics, health informatics, and bioinformatics, which contributed to medical knowledge. The journal offers the authors opportunities authors to publish valued and original research work on diverse subjects and issues falling within the scope of the Journal.
Disclaimer
This disclaimer aims to apprise the readers and users of the contents of this journal that all the viewpoints and ideas contributed by the authors are their sole property and are exclusively related to them, and not inevitably related to the author(s’) employer, committee, an organization or any other group. All such opinions expressed by the author(s) through diverse sources by exploring participants’ views from any institution or organization(s) do not essentially replicate the opinions and views Health Sciences Journal. Additionally, it clarified that all standpoints, opinions, findings, and conclusions that are expressed and articulated either in both submitted and published research work or any other contents are exclusive of the authors and do not reflect the standpoint of the Health Sciences Journal team and publisher.
Copyright
The copyright of manuscripts published in Health Sciences Journal is reserved by the author(s) through granting its first publication rights to this journal. The Health Sciences Journal and its editorial team will not bear any responsibility for any consecutive or dual use of the author(s) research work and even if anticipated and desired so, it is the author(s) responsibility to bring an encroachment act by postulating a clear declaration about the conflict of interest duly mentioned in copyright agreement between the authors and the Health Sciences Journal to ensure transparency of the publication ethics. Before submission of research work to the Health Sciences Journal, authors are advised and required to make sure to comply with all of the following guidelines, otherwise, submissions might be returned to authors:
About
Editor-In-Chief: Professor Dr. Iftikhar Gandapur
ISSN (Online): 2959-2259
ISSN (Print): 2959-2240
Publication Frequency: Bi-annual
Review Type: Double Blind peer Review
Category (Y):
Abbreviated Key Title: H. Sci. J
Parallel Title: HSJ
Area of Publication: Health, Medical, and Behavioural Sciences
