Publication Ethics

The Pakistan Journal of Clinical Research (PJCR) enforces an uncompromising code of publication ethics to protect the objective truth of medical science, foster professional trust, and guarantee the absolute integrity of all published biomedical literature. In strict compliance with international editorial benchmarks, the journal anchors its entire operational framework to the core guidelines and core practices established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the formal authorship recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). Every participant in the publishing lifecycle—including authors, external peer reviewers, section editors, and the Editor-in-Chief—is required to execute their responsibilities with absolute transparency, honesty, and professional accountability.

Author Responsibilities and Originality Verification

Authors are solely responsible for ensuring that submitted manuscripts are original, properly cited, and free from plagiarism, duplicate publication, fabrication, falsification, or other forms of academic misconduct. By submitting a manuscript, authors confirm that it has not been published previously and is not under consideration elsewhere. The journal may, at its discretion, use plagiarism-detection or similarity-checking tools, including Turnitin, and may conduct additional editorial assessments where deemed appropriate. Such checks are not a guarantee that plagiarism or other misconduct will be detected.

All responsibility for the originality, accuracy, integrity, permissions, citations, and sources of the submitted and published work rests with the authors. If plagiarism, unauthorized material, duplicate publication, or other misconduct is identified before or after publication, the journal reserves the right to take appropriate editorial action, including rejection, correction, withdrawal, or retraction, in accordance with applicable editorial policies. The journal shall not be responsible for misconduct attributable to the authors.

Ethical Safeguards for Human and Animal Subjects

All clinical research involving human participants, medical records, or human tissue must strictly comply with the ethical principles articulated in the World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki. Authors must explicitly declare within their methodology section that the study received formal approval from a recognized institutional Review Board (IRB) or independent Ethics Committee, clearly stating the official approval reference number. Documented informed consent must be secured from all patients or guardians prior to investigation, and all identifying participant data must be completely anonymized. Research involving animal subjects must mirror these rigorous standards, adhering strictly to the ARRIVE (Animal Research: Reporting of In Vivo Experiments) guidelines and local veterinary oversight protocols to ensure humane treatment.

Conflict of Interest and Misconduct Allegations Pipeline

To eliminate editorial bias and hidden commercial influence, all authors, peer reviewers, and handling editors must explicitly disclose any potential financial, institutional, or personal conflicts of interest that could alter the objective interpretation of the research data. Reviewers must recuse themselves instantly if a conflict exists and are legally bound to treat all assigned manuscripts as strictly confidential intellectual property. In the event that an author, reviewer, or public reader raises an allegation of research misconduct, data fabrication, or ethical non-compliance, the journal will immediately initiate a systematic investigation following the standardized flowcharts provided by COPE. The journal maintains full authority to publish formal Expressions of Concern, errata, or permanent Retraction Notices to correct the public scientific record whenever verified violations occur, operating entirely independent of external political or commercial pressures.