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                                 Editorial Policy

1. Introduction

All the editors follow the guidelines provided by the World Association of Medical Editors (https://wame.org/policies) and COPE.(https://publicationethics.org/guidance) Fazaia Journal of Health Sciences (FJHS) observes editorial freedom, confidentiality, timeliness, competency interests and relationship with other editors.

2. Initial Screening

  • All submitted manuscripts are first reviewed by the Editors for suitability.
  • Only manuscripts that pass this stage proceed to the double-blind peer review process.

3. Peer Review Process

  • FJHS double-blind peer review process.
  • Each manuscript is reviewed by at least two independent reviewers.
  • Based on reviewers’ feedback, the Editor-in-Chief makes the final decision.
  • The decision is communicated to the corresponding author.
If the submission is from the Editor-in-Chief or any Editorial Board member:
  • It will undergo independent peer review.
  • The final decision will be made by another appointed Editor.

4. Corresponding Author Responsibilities

  • The manuscript must be submitted by the corresponding author, who will be the main contact for all communications.
  • Manuscripts must be in clear, grammatically correct English and be fully copyedited before submission.

The corresponding author must confirm:

  • List and contributions of all the authors.
  • The work is original.
  • The work has not been submitted elsewhere or previously published.
  • There is no conflict of interest.

The corresponding author will complete the online Authors Submission Form along with manuscript submission. The journal implies that all authors have read and agreed to the content of the submission form.

5. Decision and Reconsideration

  • The Editor-in-Chief has the final authority to accept or reject a manuscript.
  • Authors may request reconsideration with valid reasoning and evidence.

Requests will not be entertained if based solely on:

  • Difference of opinion.
  • Claims of novelty.
  • Perceived suitability for the journal.

If reconsideration is granted, the manuscript may undergo another peer review. Reconsideration does not guarantee acceptance.

6. Authorship Rules

  • The order and list of authors must be finalized at the time of submission.
  • Changes in authorship during processing require:
    • A formal request to the editorial office.
    • Justification with supporting evidence.
    • A signed statement from all authors approving the change.

7. Corrections & Retractions

  • Authors should notify the editorial office if they discover omissions in published content, author names or affiliations.

Corrections will be issued as:

  • Erratum – for publisher’s errors.
  • Corrigendum – for author’s errors.

In cases of plagiarism, falsified data, or fraudulent authorship, the article will be retracted. A PDF retraction notice with title, authors, page numbers, and reason will replace the original published content.

8. Restrictions on Prior Publication

The journal will not consider previously published materials, including:

  • Translations of published articles.
  • Conference abstracts or posters.
  • Results presented at meetings.
  • Data already in public databases.

9. Copyright and Permissions

  • Fazaia Journal of Health Sciences © 2025 by Fazaia Medical College, Air University, Islamabad is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International.
  • All articles in FJHS are published under Creative Commons Attributions-Non-Commercial (CC BY NC) 4.0 International. Any article printed in FJHS could be used for non-commercial purposes with proper citation of the original work. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).
  • Authors will transfer copyright ownership of the article to FJHS and may only share or distribute its copies for academic and research purposes. However, any reproduction or republication of the article for **commercial purposes** will require prior permission from the Fazaia Journal of Health Sciences.

10. Open Access Policy

Fazaia Journal of Health Sciences believes in accelerating the pace of discovery by allowing researchers to build upon each other's work without financial barriers. FJHS is a fully open access journal. All articles are freely available online immediately upon publication, without subscription or paywall.

The journal is published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY NC 4.0). Authors retain the full copyright to their work, while this license allows others to freely share, copy, and adapt the material only for non-commercial purposes and without making any changes or adaptations to it, as long as attribution is given to the creator and FJHS is cited as the original source. However re-submission of the full article or any part for publication requires permission to be obtained from FJHS beforehand. This policy reflects our commitment to advancing transparent, accessible, and ethically sound medical research.

© Fazaia Journal of Health Sciences — Air University, Islamabad