Journal Policies

Proposed Policies for South Asian Journal of Public Health

Publication Policy

South Asian Journal of Public Health is committed to publishing original, ethically compliant and high-quality articles that contribute reliable and evidence-based knowledge within the scope. Manuscripts are thoroughly assessed for compliance to journal’s scope, ethics, and author guidelines. Authors must revise their work accordingly and only after acceptance by the Editorial Board, the corresponding author shall be provided with bank details to proceed with APC charges. Accepted articles will be published in the journal’s official online issue once all the editorial and approval procedures have been completed.

Research Ethics Policy

Researchers and authors must follow national and international ethical guidelines while conducting research. An approval letter by the Institutional Review Board or Ethical Review Committee must be submitted along with the manuscript. Written or verbal consent must be obtained from human participants and documented clearly in the Materials and Methods Section. Authors must keep participants’ identifiable information confidential. Manuscripts involving animal subjects or product development studies would only be acceptable if they prove direct relevance to human health.

Authorship

Authorship should reflect intellectual contribution to the work. SAJPH follows the ICMJE authorship criteria. To qualify as an author, a person must meet all the following conditions:

1. Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work
2. Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content
3. Final approval of the version to be published
4. Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Contributors who meet fewer than all four of the above authorship criteria should not be listed as authors but should be acknowledged. Acquisition of funding, mere supervision, data collection, writing assistance, language editing and proofreading alone do not grant authorship rights.

SAJPH considers all forms of ghost, guest, and gift authorship unethical and will be investigated in accordance with the COPE guidelines.

Peer Review Policy and Process

The initial screening of article is carried out by Managerial Editorial Board, and then it is forwarded to Editorial and Advisory Board for shortlisting, if it is in accordance with the provided Author’s Guidelines. After selection by the Editorial and Advisory Board, the article is further sent for External Peer Review, where it is reviewed by one local reviewer and one international reviewer from academically advanced countries. The authors are notified of the reviewers' comments or suggestions and required to revise their research within a certain time frame. The average review period is approximately 42-56 days (six to eight weeks).

SAJPH ensures transparency and objectivity in its publication therefore, acceptance of a manuscript is based on merit, originality and ethical conduct. The Editorial decisions remain independent of institutional or financial influence.

Plagiarism Policy

SAJPH follows the HEC, ICMJE and COPE guidelines/criteria for all types of plagiarism. The author should make sure that the manuscript submitted for publication should include original content and should not be published or under consideration for publication anywhere else.

Scientific Misconduct

All forms of publication misconduct including plagiarism and other unethical practices like fabrication (picture as well), falsification, duplicate submission, redundant publication, multiple submission, selective and misleading reporting, selective and misleading referencing are liable to strict action under the guidelines of  Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) and Higher Education Commission, Pakistan, (HEC).

Policy on the Use of Artificial Intelligence and AI Assisted Tools

Given the rapid evolution of AI, SAJPH acknowledges its assistance in limited tasks, however the complete responsibility of the manuscript still lies with the author. AI tools may be used for minute tasks including language editing, data organization, statistical support and image enhancement but should not exceed 20% of the manuscript material. All AI tools used in the creation, and editing of the manuscript must be disclosed in the Material and Methods section appropriately.

Data Availability and Reproducibility Policy

In accordance with COPE guidelines, SAJPH encourages authors to share their data openly. Authors should deposit their data in publicly accessible repositories. If data cannot be shared due to ethical, legal or privacy restrictions, authors must explain the reasons in the Data Availability Statement and ensure that the data can be made available upon request.

Conflict of Interest Policy

All authors, reviewers and editors must disclose any financial, academic, personal or professional relationships that could influence their work or judgement.

Editorial decisions will be managed to address actual or perceived conflicts of interest.

 Open Access Policy

South Asian Journal of Public Health is an open access journal. All content is made available to the users immediately upon publication, without any charges. Users may download, copy, print, read, distribute or link the article, without asking prior permission from author or publisher as long as they cite it appropriately. This provides the global research community free access to our articles, in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution International CC BY 4.0.

Copyright Policy

Upon submission of the manuscript, author subsequently transfers all copyrights to reuse, distribute, archive and publish the article to South Asian Journal of Public Health. Authors may use, distribute and archive their work, only if SAJPH is acknowledged as the original publisher and properly cited, in compliance with the Creative Commons License.

Advertising Policy

SAJPH does not publish advertisements or marketing content for manufacturers of food products, dietary supplements, medical devices, or any other commercial organization.

Corrections and Retraction Policy

SAJPH is committed to upholding integrity and accuracy of its scholarly content. All corrections are made by authors during revision process as per Editorial Board’s suggestions and comments. In case an article gets published with minor errors; they can be corrected through official erratum while citing the original publication. If serious ethical concerns such as plagiarism, ethical violations, data falsification, or research misconduct are identified after publication, the article may be retracted following thorough investigation.

Complaints Policy

SAJPH is committed to transparency and fair editorial process. Therefore, it welcomes complaints related to but are not limited to; editorial decision, peer review, journal ethics and procedures. All complaints and appeals must be emailed on sajph@pu.edu.pk with the subject line “Complaint” or “Appeal”, along with valid evidence. These will be timely resolved by the Editorial Board while maintaining confidentiality.