Publication Policies

Editorial & Publication Policies

GAJBPS is committed to the highest standards of research and publication ethics, consistent with internationally recognised guidelines from COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics), ICMJE (International Committee of Medical Journal Editors), and the WAME (World Association of Medical Editors).

1. Originality & Plagiarism Policy

All submitted manuscripts must be original works. Authors must ensure their submission has not been published previously, in whole or in part, in any form (including conference proceedings, preprint servers, or theses — the latter may be acceptable with full disclosure), and is not under simultaneous consideration at another journal.

All manuscripts are screened for plagiarism and text similarity using established software tools prior to peer review. Manuscripts with an overall similarity index exceeding 15–20% (excluding properly quoted and cited material) will ordinarily be returned to authors without review. Self-plagiarism (verbatim reuse of the authors' own previously published work) is treated as a serious matter equivalent to conventional plagiarism.

2. Authorship Policy

GAJBPS adopts the ICMJE definition of authorship. To qualify as an author, an individual must satisfy ALL four of the following criteria:

  • Made substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work, or to the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data.
  • Drafted the manuscript or critically revised it for important intellectual content.
  • Approved the final version to be submitted for publication.
  • Agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work, including questions of accuracy or integrity.

All persons who meet the first criterion but not all four should be acknowledged, not listed as authors. The submitting corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that all authors meet these criteria. Listing contributors who do not qualify (gift/guest authorship) and omitting contributors who do qualify (ghost authorship) are both considered forms of research misconduct.

3. Conflict of Interest

All authors must disclose, on the title page and at the time of submission, any relationships or activities that might influence or be perceived to influence their work. This includes — but is not limited to — employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, patents, and paid expert testimony. Reviewer and editorial conflicts of interest are similarly managed as described in the For Reviewers section.

4. Ethics in Human and Animal Research

Research involving human participants must have been conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and applicable national legislation. Authors must provide a statement confirming:

  • That the study was approved by an appropriate Institutional Review Board (IRB) or Ethics Committee, including the name of the approving body and reference number.
  • That informed consent was obtained from all participants (or their legal representatives).

Research involving animals must have been carried out in accordance with relevant national legislation and institutional guidelines. Authors must state the regulatory body and authorisation number.

Studies involving human tissue, genetic material, or other regulated biological materials must confirm compliance with relevant ethical, legal, and regulatory requirements.

5. Data Availability & Reproducibility

GAJBPS encourages authors to make the data supporting their published findings openly available in a recognised public repository (e.g., Zenodo, Dryad, NCBI databases, FigShare) wherever ethically and legally permissible. Authors should include a Data Availability Statement in their manuscript, specifying where data are deposited or explaining any restrictions.

GAJBPS endorses the principle of reproducibility. Methodological detail should be sufficient to allow independent replication of the reported findings.

6. Corrections, Retractions & Expressions of Concern

GAJBPS follows COPE guidelines in addressing errors, misconduct, and integrity concerns in published work:

  • Correction (Erratum): Published when a minor, non-material error in an otherwise reliable article requires correction.
  • Retraction: Published when a paper contains fundamental errors or ethical violations that undermine its core findings and conclusions, or when findings have been found to have been obtained through research misconduct.
  • Expression of Concern: Published when an investigation is underway and a concern about the reliability of published work has been identified but not yet resolved.

The journal will act on any credible allegations of research or publication misconduct. Authors, reviewers, editors, and readers are encouraged to report concerns to the Editor-in-Chief at editor@gajbps.edu.pk.

7. Post-Publication Peer Review & Letters

GAJBPS welcomes scholarly correspondence and post-publication commentary addressing published articles. Letters should be submitted to the editorial office and will be subject to editorial review before publication. Authors of the original article will ordinarily be invited to respond.

8. Preprint Policy

Authors are permitted to post their manuscripts on recognised preprint servers (e.g., bioRxiv, medRxiv, SSRN, Research Square) prior to or during journal submission, provided that this is clearly disclosed at the time of submission. Preprints should not be described as the published version of record.