Editorial Policies

Aims & Scope

JPSIM publishes scholarly work relevant to internal medicine and its allied disciplines, to advance clinical practice, medical education, research, health policy and patient care for physicians, researchers, educators, trainees and other healthcare professionals.

The journal considers original research articles, systematic and narrative reviews, meta-analyses, brief reports, clinical audits, quality-improvement studies, case reports and case series, perspectives, editorials, correspondence, medical education articles, and other categories listed in the current Instructions for Authors. Each article type must comply with the applicable scientific, ethical and reporting requirements.

Submissions outside the stated scope, lacking adequate scholarly content, or intended principally for promotion may be declined without external review.

Open Access Policy

JPSIM is a fully Open Access journal:

• All articles are openly available to read, download and share immediately upon publication, with no embargo period.
• All content is published under the CC BY 4.0 International licence, permitting unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
• JPSIM supports the Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI) and the principles of open science.

See the full Open Access Policy for details on reader, author and institutional access.

International Indexing & Standards Compliance

JPSIM’s editorial and publishing practices are designed to meet the eligibility criteria of major international indexing and abstracting services, including DOAJ, Scopus, Google Scholar and Clarivate (Web of Science):

• Clear, machine-readable licensing — all content is published under a clearly stated CC BY 4.0 licence, displayed on every article.
• ISSN registration — registered print and online ISSNs, displayed consistently across the site.
• Persistent DOIs via Crossref — every published article is assigned a unique, permanent Digital Object Identifier through Crossref, enabling citation tracking and discoverability across scholarly databases.
• Full metadata & Google Scholar indexing — structured, complete metadata (title, authors, affiliations, abstract, references) is published on every article for correct indexing.
• Transparent editorial board & peer review — the Editorial Board is published in full with affiliations, and the double-blind peer review process is publicly documented.
• Publication ethics & archiving — JPSIM follows COPE guidelines on publication ethics and misconduct (see Ethical Compliance), and maintains a digital preservation/archiving policy for continued access to published content.

Access & Rights for Authors

Authors retain copyright in their work under the CC BY 4.0 licence. A minimal manuscript submission and processing fee applies (see Article Processing Charges), and that fee is the only charge anywhere in the process. Beyond it, authors get the exact same full, free access as every reader — viewing, downloading, printing and sharing any published article, including their own, at no further cost.

JPSIM is a fully open access journal: all scholarly articles are freely and permanently available online immediately upon publication, without embargo, subscription, payment or compulsory reader registration. Users may read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, link to and otherwise reuse content in accordance with the licence stated on the article.

Manuscripts are evaluated on scholarly merit, originality, methodological quality, ethical compliance and relevance to scope. Decisions are not influenced by nationality, institutional affiliation, gender, ethnicity, religion, political belief, seniority, disability, geographic location or the author’s ability to pay.

The journal publishes clear information about its ownership, editorial board, peer review, licensing, copyright, charges, ethics and contact arrangements. Editors and reviewers must preserve confidentiality and disclose conflicts. Submissions from editors, board members or PSIM office bearers receive independent handling — see Submissions by Editors & Board Members.

Copyright & Licensing

JPSIM states separately and unambiguously (a) who retains copyright in articles and (b) the open licence governing reuse; these terms appear consistently in the website policy, author agreement, submission system and article PDF/HTML.

Authors retain copyright and grant JPSIM the right of first publication. Articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence (CC BY 4.0), which permits sharing and adaptation for any lawful purpose, provided appropriate credit is given, a licence link is supplied, and changes are indicated.

Third-party material not covered by the article’s licence must be clearly identified; authors are responsible for obtaining permission when required. The phrase “all rights reserved” is not applied to content designated as open access under a Creative Commons licence.

Financial Policy

JPSIM is supported by PSIM, nominal submission and processing fees, and a limited number of advertisements from pharmaceutical companies in its print edition. Advertising income helps meet the journal’s printing costs; the journal may also receive legitimate institutional support, grants or sponsorship. All financial arrangements are administered so that funders and advertisers have no role in manuscript selection, peer review or editorial decisions.

The Editor-in-Chief, Editor, Associate Editors, Assistant Editors, Editorial Board members, and members and Chairmen of the National and International Advisory Boards serve in an honorary capacity and receive no payment for their positions. The Managing Editor and journal-office staff receive monthly salaries determined by the President of PSIM. Remuneration for operational work does not confer authority over scientific decisions.

Relevant financial relationships must be disclosed by authors, reviewers and editors. Anyone whose financial interest could reasonably affect judgment does not participate in handling the relevant manuscript. Sources of material support for a study, and the sponsor’s role, are disclosed in the published article.

Peer Review Process

All research articles, case reports and review articles undergo peer review: initial editorial screening, followed by anonymous external review by at least two independent reviewers with relevant expertise. Editorials are written by editorial board members expert in their field, or received on request from subject experts, and undergo preliminary review within the editorial board. Peer review of special-issue articles follows the same standards as regular articles, and review reports and identities are retained securely according to the journal’s record-retention practice.

Review Stages

1. Initial Submission — the corresponding author submits the manuscript through the online submission system. An acknowledgement with a unique submission code is sent by email within 24 hours.
2. Editorial Pre-Screening — the Editor-in-Chief or a Section Editor performs an initial assessment for scope, originality and basic formatting within 5–7 working days. Manuscripts failing to meet minimum standards are returned without peer review.
3. Plagiarism Check — all submissions are screened using iThenticate or Turnitin. A similarity index exceeding 19% (excluding references) leads to rejection or mandatory revision before review proceeds.
4. Reviewer Assignment — the handling editor identifies at least two independent experts with no conflict of interest. Reviewers are given three weeks to submit a structured report.
5. Double-Blind Review — both author and reviewer identities are concealed throughout. Reviewers evaluate methodology, originality, clarity, statistical analysis, ethical compliance and clinical relevance.
6. Editorial Decision — based on reviewer reports, the editor issues one of four decisions: Accept, Minor Revision, Major Revision, or Reject. The decision letter includes detailed reviewer comments.
7. Revision & Re-review — authors must respond to all reviewer comments with a point-by-point rebuttal and a revised manuscript within the stipulated deadline (typically four weeks for major revisions).
8. Final Decision & Production — the editor makes a final decision. Accepted manuscripts proceed to copyediting, galley proof and DOI assignment before online publication.

Reviewer Criteria

Reviewers are selected for expertise, independence and absence of material conflict, and evaluate manuscripts against:

• Scientific originality and significance of the contribution.
• Soundness of research methodology and statistical analysis.
• Accuracy, clarity and logical flow of presentation.
• Adequacy of the literature review and referencing.
• Ethical compliance (IRB/EC approval, Declaration of Helsinki, informed consent).
• Appropriateness and quality of tables, figures and supplementary data.
• Suitability of conclusions drawn from the data.

Where reviews conflict materially, the handling editor may seek an additional review, request clarification, or adjudicate using reasoned academic judgment. Authors receive an editorial decision with relevant reviewer comments; revision does not guarantee acceptance.

Decision Categories

• Accept — the manuscript is accepted as submitted or with minor typographical corrections only.
• Minor Revision — small changes are required. Authors return the revised manuscript within two weeks; re-review by the same reviewers may not be necessary.
• Major Revision — substantial changes are needed. The revised manuscript is typically sent back to the original reviewers.
• Reject — the manuscript does not meet the scientific or ethical standards of the journal. Authors may appeal within 30 days with a written justification.

Timelines

Appeals

Authors who believe their manuscript was rejected in error may appeal within 30 days of the decision by writing to the Editor-in-Chief with a detailed rebuttal. Appeals are considered only when the author can demonstrate a factual error or significant misunderstanding in the review. The Editor-in-Chief’s decision on appeals is final.

Editorial Workflow & Decisions

Submissions undergo administrative checks for completeness, scope, authorship information, disclosures, ethical documentation, reporting requirements and text similarity. A designated academic editor then conducts an initial assessment; manuscripts may be declined at this stage when clearly unsuitable, methodologically inadequate, unethical, duplicative or outside scope.

Suitable manuscripts proceed to peer review. Associate Editors assess the reviews and authors’ responses and make evidence-based recommendations; after reviewing those recommendations and the full record, the Editor decides acceptance, further revision or rejection. If the Editor has a conflict, an independent authorised academic editor makes the decision. Decisions are not determined by numerical reviewer votes alone.

The journal aims to act without unnecessary delay but does not guarantee acceptance or a fixed decision time. Accepted manuscripts undergo copyediting, author proofing and production checks; substantive changes after acceptance require editorial approval. Submission, revision, acceptance and publication dates appear on articles.

Authorship, conflicts of interest, plagiarism, research and animal ethics, use of AI, corrections/retractions, and how to raise a complaint or appeal an ethics decision are all covered on the Ethical Compliance page.

Submissions by Editors, Board Members & PSIM Office Bearers

A submission authored by an editor, Editorial Board member, Advisory Board member, journal staff member or PSIM office bearer is subject to the same requirements and independent peer review as any other submission. The author has no access to reviewer selection, reviews, deliberations or the decision beyond the access available to other authors.

The manuscript is assigned to an independent editor without a relevant conflict; if necessary, an external guest editor is appointed. The published article discloses the author’s journal role and the independent handling arrangement.

JPSIM monitors endogeny: in each of the latest two issues, no more than 25% of published research papers should have at least one author who is an editor, Editorial Board member or reviewer; for continuous publication, the equivalent annual measure applies.

Advertising, Sponsorship & Supplements

Advertising decisions are independent of editorial decisions and are not linked to the publication of particular articles. Advertisements must be clearly identifiable, must not mimic editorial content, and must not be intrusive or misleading. Acceptance does not imply endorsement by JPSIM or PSIM.

Sponsored supplements or collections must identify the sponsor and funding arrangements, the role of the sponsor, the responsible editor, and the applicable peer-review process. Editors retain full control of content and may reject material that does not meet journal standards; product claims must comply with applicable law and professional standards.

Archiving & Digital Preservation

JPSIM continuously deposits published content in a recognised long-term preservation service. DOIs and article landing pages continue to resolve to the Version of Record or an appropriate preservation copy. Routine backups of the database and uploaded files support disaster recovery but do not, by themselves, replace an independent preservation arrangement.

Publication Schedule

JPSIM is published quarterly, comprising Issue 1 (January–March), Issue 2 (April–June), Issue 3 (July–September) and Issue 4 (October–December) in each yearly volume. The website and each issue display the volume, issue, year and publication date consistently. Delays, combined issues or changes in frequency are communicated transparently. The journal publishes at least five research articles per year and maintains an active publication record.

Distribution Policy

Print copies of JPSIM are distributed without cost to recipients. Complimentary copies are provided to authors, major medical universities, medical colleges, teaching hospitals, academic institutions, libraries, prominent clinicians, physicians, researchers and other healthcare professionals across Pakistan.

Selection of recipients is based on academic and professional relevance and is not linked to subscription, commercial consideration or any obligation. The online edition remains freely and immediately accessible under the journal’s Open Access Policy.