Authors Guidelines/Policy Documents

Pakistan Oral & Dental Journal: is a peer-review journal published quarterly a year. It is bringing out 2 editions. One is the usual print edition, and the online edition: www.podj.com.pk. The journal accepts original research articles, reviews, case reports, short scientific communications, letters to the editor and commentaries. This journal was established in 1981 and it is a recognized journal of Higher Education Commission Pakistan. It is also indexed by following International/National databased: J-gate (India), i Tunes, Publons, Pak Med Net. Index Medicus WHO (EMR). Google Scholar, NLM (USA) and UTL (Canada).

Open Access Statement This is an open-access journal which means that all content is freely available without charge to the user or his/her institution. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. This is in accordance with or the BOAI definition of open access.

ISSN (Print): 1012 8700
ISSN (Online): 1996 4439
Publisher: Pakistan Society for Promotion of Oral & Dental Research
Licensing: Attribution - Non Commercial 4.0 International (CC By _ NC 4.0)

Copyright: Authors retain the copyright of their paper without restrictions. However, the publisher will have the right of first publishing. Authors at their own may grant the publisher a non-exclusive publishing right to publish the articles.

Manuscript submission: Manuscripts, should be prepared following uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals as approved by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (www. icmje.org). It may be submitted through e-mail and must be double-spaced and in English. Both British and American spellings are acceptable. The manuscript must be accompanied by a cover letter stating that the submitted work has not been published before and is not being considered for publication elsewhere and that if approved after review it will not be withdrawn (authors will loose security deposit). The cover letter should also state the particulars of authors namely names, qualifications, designations, and affiliations. This must also include telephone, fax, and e-mail and postal address. Acknowledgment of receipt is made by e-mail. Authors may submit their manuscripts electronically to the email of the editor-in-chief. In this case, the manuscript must be sent as a Microsoft Word attachment, with tables and references included as part of the Word text. Graphics/ photographs have to be attached as jpg files.

Review Policy: An article submitted for publication in this journal undergoes technical review, peer review, editorial review, and then if accepted is sent for pre-publication proof checking and for printing and electronic publishing. 

Publication Charges: They are Thirty seven thousand five hundred (37500) PKRS or four hundred (400) US Dollars in case of overseas. If figures are to be published then additional publishing charges are to be paid. In such a case authors are advised to ask before submitting the manuscript. If article is rejected after review then after deducting Rs twelve thousand as service charges balance amount will be refunded. Article once reviewed cannot be withdrawn. It is unethical and the security deposit maybe forfeited. Articles requiring major corrections, if not re-submitted within 3 months will be cancelled and the author will lose the deposit.

Fee Waiver Policy: When an author requests that due to financial difficulties, he/she is unable to pay publication fee due to financial difficulties then 25-50% reduction is granted. Occasionally (rarely) no fee is charged. Each case is decided on merit.

Plagiarism: Manuscripts are screened for plagiarism using special software like Turnitin and iThenticate and those found guilty or involved in publication misconduct are liable to be black listed, and their security deposit maybe forfeited. To meet the current requirements of HECP every article submitted for publication must be screened for plagiarism through “Turnitin” software. Similarity Index must be less than 19%. It is in the best interest of the authors that they should get their articles checked for plagiarism before submitting for publication because if after review it is found that the article is plagiarized then authors of that article will be blacklisted and notified.

Disclosure: Regarding source of funding and conflict of interest, if any, approval of the study from respective ethics committee/institution should be taken care of. Every article must accompany a signed undertaking stating that the article “………” is an original research article/review article or a case report. It has not been sent to any other journal. Moreover, it will not be sent to any other journal, unless rejected by PODJ nor it will be withdrawn when passing through review process or if approved.

Conflict of Interest: Conflict of interest refers to a situation that has the potential to undermine the impartiality of an author because of the possibility of a clash between the author’s self-interest and professional interest or public interest. All authors are required to disclose any financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that could inappropriately influence (bias) their work. Examples of potential conflicts of interest include employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications and grants/funding. Acknowledging conflict of interest means that the reviewers and readers are made aware of the competing interests.

SOP's of Higher Education Commission Pakistan (HECP) do not allow the editorial team, employees and reviewers to publish their own articles in this journal.

Manuscript preparation: Research articles are normally divided into following sections: Title page, Abstract, Introduction, Methodology, Results, Discussion, Acknowledgement (if any) and References. The editor reserves the right to edit all accepted manuscripts for clarity, conciseness and scientific style. On a separate page write scientific contributions made by each author. This page must be signed. Article should contain the address details of all authors on the first page and contributions of authors on the last page. Follow Pak Oral Dent J format. All pages of the article must be numbered. All articles must be in Microsoft Word format.

Abstract & Key Words: A structured abstract not exceeding 250 words needs to be included for all the original articles. The abstract must have subheadings of “Objective” of the study, “Methodology”,“Results” and “Conclusion(s)”. The purpose of the abstract section is to state the main objective of your study, the design of your study and sample selection method and number in couple of sentences, main results with statistical significance, and main conclusion(s) based on your research. Do not include recommendation in this section. This page is placed after the cover page and contains the abstract and 3-5 key words. The abstract and the key words must reflect the content of the article. Try to utilize therelevant words that will assist other researchers to find your paper. Use Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) key words where possible.

Methodology: Describe precisely how the study was carried out. Provide information about the sample of subjects, patients, materials or whatever was being studied, design of study and how it was executed. Include the method(s) of analysis of data that were used and where relevant, mention the reliability of the methods of measurement.

Results: Describe data relevant to the objective(s)/hypothesis of the study in the form of text, tables and/ or figures. The text summarizes the most important data presented in the tables/figures. Do not repeat all the contents of the tables/figures. Also describe the results of analysis of information (statistical tests).

Discussion: Illustrate the main findings of the study and how the findings compare with present and past knowledge. Describe possible reasons for any disagreement and the author(s) interpretation of the results of the study. It may also include discussion of the materials and methods employed. Avoid repetition of the results. Mention implications of your findings, and any limitations of the study. Include any recommendations for future research based on your findings.

Conclusion(s): Number statement of your main findings. Conclusion(s) should relate directly to the aims and objectives of the study.

References: References should be numbered consecutively in the order in which they appear in the text. Identify references in texts, tables and legends by Arabic numerals in superscript. The journal follows the Vancouver (now known as ICMJE) style of referencing. Avoid reference to “unpublished observations”, “personal communications” and papers not yet accepted for publication. Journal is supposed to provide the latest information. Provide at least 50% references from (2015- 2021). Old references of historical nature are permissible but their number should be restricted. Some citations must be from the journals which are indexed by Thompson Reuters and Index Medicus.

Tables: Should be numbered consecutively in Arabic numerals (e.g., Table 1, Table 2, etc.), with each table typed on a separate page and with due attention to the proportions of the printed page. Do not document same data in tables and graphics.

Illustrations: All graphs, drawings, and photographs are labeled as figures and should be sequentially numbered in Arabic numerals (e.g., Fig 1, Fig 2, etc.). Each figure must be on a separate page and each must have a caption. In case of photographs, write the figure number and caption at the back of each photograph with top side indicated by an arrow sign. All captions, with necessary references should also be typed together on a separate page.

Complaint Process:If an author has a complaint, he/she can send an e-mail to the editor. On the receipt of the complaint, the editor will form a committee to investigate and must follow the recommendations of the committee.

Privacy Statement:The names and email addresses entered in this journal site will be used exclusively for the stated purposes of this journal and will not be made available for any other purpose or to any other party.