Publication Ethics & Publication Malpractice Statement

NUMBER AND ORDER OF AUTHORS

The number of authors is not restricted, but it should not be disproportionally more than the work done. The order of authors should be based on the contribution to the work. Number and order should be mutually agreed by all authors.

PRINCIPAL AND CORRESPONDING AUTHORS

The one with most contribution should be principal/ first author. Principal author may himself be the corresponding author or he may designate another author for it with mutual consensus of all the authors.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Authors may acknowledge individuals or organisations that provided non-financial advice and/or support. Names and descriptions of the contributions of all non-author contributors should be included (as identified in the ICMJE guidelines). We are aware that authors sometimes receive assistance from technical writers, language editors, artificial intelligence (AI) tools, and/or writing agencies in drafting manuscripts for publication. Such assistance must be mentioned in the Acknowledgements section. Failure to acknowledge assistance from technical writers, language editors, AI tools, and/or writing agencies in drafting manuscripts for publication in the Acknowledgements section may lead to ineligibility of the paper. 

INFORMED CONSENT & MAINTAINING THE CONFIDENTIALITY OF RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS

1. The authors must obtain appropriate consents, permissions and releases when they wish to include case details or other personal information or images of patients and any other individuals in their work to take care of the Data Protection and Privacy Laws of the concerned country/region.

2. Each individual, or the individual's legal guardian or another person with legal authority to act on the individual's behalf who appears in any video, recording, photograph, image, illustration or case report (or in any other identifiable form) is made aware in advance of the fact that such photographs are being taken or such video, recording, photograph, image, illustration or report is being made, and of all the purposes for which they might be used, including disclosure in any work or product. That individual, legal guardian or person with legal authority must give his/her explicit written consent. If such consent is made subject to any conditions (for example, adopting measures to prevent personal identification of the person concerned); the journal must be made aware in writing of all such conditions. Written consents must be retained by the author and copies of the consents or evidence that such consents have been obtained must be provided to this journal on request.

3. The form of written consent must comply with each requirement of all applicable Data Protection and Privacy Laws. Particular care should be taken with obtaining consent where children are concerned (in particular where a child has special needs or learning disabilities), where an individual's head or face appears, or where reference is made to an individual's name or other personal details.

4. In the case of a child, if parents or guardians disagree on the use of the images of that child, then consent should be deemed not to have been given and those images should not be used. It is also important to ensure that only images of children in suitable dress are used to reduce the risk of images being used inappropriately.

5. Even if consent has been obtained, care must be taken to ensure that the portrayal and captioning of the individual concerned are respectful and could not be seen as denigrating that individual.
6. Authors have to satisfy the editors that “informed consent to participate” was sought from all adult subjects or from parents/guardians of the subjects less than 16 years age.

7. Patients’ and research subjects’ names, initials, hospital or social security numbers, date of birth or other personal or identifying information should not be used.

8. Images of patients or research subjects should not be used unless it is essential for scientific purposes and that the patient (or parent/ guardian) has given written, informed consent for publication. Even where consent has been given, identifying details should be omitted if they are not essential. Editors may ask to provide the written consent.

9. Informed consent is necessary when there is any doubt regarding anonymity.

10. When masking the subjects, the authors should ensure the editors that scientific meaning is not distorted.

11. Formal consents are not required for the use of entirely anonymized images from which the individual cannot be identified, e.g. X-rays, ultrasound images, pathology slides, or laparoscopic images, provided that these do not contain any identifying marks and are not accompanied by text that might identify the individual concerned.

12. If consent has not been obtained, it is generally not sufficient to anonymize a photograph simply by using eye bars or blurring the face of the individual concerned.

13. Authors should follow the CARE guidelines for case reports.

CONFLICT RESOLUTION POLICY

Editorial board will follow the journal guidelines of Pakistan Medical and Dental Council regarding conflict resolution policy. These guidelines are reproduced below.

Conflict of interest for a given manuscript exists when a participant in the peer review and publication process-author, reviewer, and editor has ties to activities that could inappropriately influence his or her judgment, whether or not judgment is in fact affected. Financial relationships with industry (for example, through employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, expert testimony), either directly or through immediate family, are usually considered to be the most important conflicts of interest. However, conflicts can occur for other reasons, such as personal relationships, academic competition, and intellectual passion.
Public trust in the peer review process and the credibility of published articles depend in part on how well conflict of interest is handled during writing, peer review, and editorial decision making. Bias can often be identified and eliminated by careful attention to the scientific methods and conclusions of the work. Financial relationships and their effects are less easily detected than other conflicts of interest. Participants in peer review and publication should disclose their conflicting interests, and the information should be made available so that others can judge their effects for themselves. Because readers may be less able to detect bias in review articles and editorials than in reports of original research, some journals do not accept reviews and editorials from authors with a conflict of interest.
All participants in the peer review and publication process must disclose all relationships that could be viewed as presenting a potential conflict of interest. Disclosure of these relationships is particularly important in connection with editorials and review articles, because bias can be more difficult to detect in those publications than in reports of original research. Editors may use information disclosed in conflict of interest and financial interest statements as a basis for editorial decisions. Editors should publish this information if they believe it will be important to readers in judging the manuscript.

Potential conflicts of interest related to individual authors commitments

When authors submit a manuscript, whether an article or a letter, they are responsible for disclosing all financial and personal relationships between themselves and others that might bias their work. To prevent ambiguity, authors must state explicitly whether potential conflicts do or do not exist. Authors should do so in the manuscript on a conflict of interest notification page that follows the title page, providing additional detail, if necessary, in the accompanying cover letter. Investigators should disclose potential conflicts to study participants, and should state in the manuscript whether they have done so.
Editors also need to decide when to publish information disclosed by authors about potential conflicts. If doubt exists, it is best to err on the side of publication.

Potential conflicts of interest related to project support

Increasingly, biomedical studies receive funding from commercial firms, private foundations, and government. The conditions of this funding have the potential to bias and otherwise discredit the research.
Scientists have an ethical obligation to submit creditable research results for publication. As the persons directly responsible for their work, researchers therefore should not enter into agreements that interfere with their access to the data or their ability to analyze the data independently, to prepare manuscripts, and to publish them. Authors should describe the role of the study sponsor(s), if any, in study design; in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; and in the decision to submit the report for publication. If the supporting source had no such involvement, the authors should so state. Biases potentially introduced when sponsors are directly involved in research are analogous to methodological biases of other sorts; some journals therefore choose to include information about the sponsor involvement in the methods section of the published paper. If a study is funded by an agency with a proprietary or financial interest in the outcome, editors may ask authors to sign a statement such as; I had full access to all of the data in this study and I take complete responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis. Editors should be encouraged to review copies of the protocol and/or contracts associated with project specific studies before accepting such studies for publication. Editors may choose not to consider an article if a sponsor has asserted control over the authors’ right to publish.

Conflicts of interest related to commitments of editors, journal staff or reviewer

Editors should avoid selecting external peer reviewers with obvious potential conflicts of interest, for example, those who work in the same department or institution as any of the authors. Authors often provide editors with the names of persons they feel should not be asked to review a manuscript because of potential conflicts of interest, usually professional. When possible, authors should be asked to explain or justify their concerns; that information is important to editors in deciding whether to honour such requests.
Reviewers must disclose to editors any conflicts of interest that could bias their opinions of the manuscript, and they should disqualify themselves from reviewing specific manuscripts if they believe such disqualification would be appropriate. As in the case of authors, silence on the part of reviewers concerning potential conflicts may mean either that such conflicts exist that they have failed to disclose, or that conflicts do not exist. Reviewers must therefore also be asked to state explicitly whether conflicts do or do not exist.
Reviewers must not use knowledge of the work, before its publication, to further their own interests.
Editors who make final decisions about manuscripts must have no personal, professional, or financial involvement in any of the issues they might judge. Other members of the editorial staff, if they participate in editorial decisions, must provide editors with a current description of their financial interests (as they might relate to editorial judgments) and disqualify themselves from any decisions where they have a conflict of interest. Editorial staff must not use the information gained through working with manuscripts for private gain.
Editors should avoid submitting to their own journal reports of original research to which they have contributed as authors. If they do so, they should recuse themselves from the editorial process, and delegate editorial decisions on those manuscripts to other members of the editorial staff. Editors should publish regular disclosure statements about potential conflicts of interests related to the commitments of journal staff.

PLAGIARISM POLICY

1. Preamble

In the wake of fundamental improvements being introduced in the system of Higher Education in Pakistan, the credit, respect, recognition of research and scholarly publications, career development and financial gains are now linked with such original works accomplished without replicating the efforts of other researchers. It has therefore become necessary that the menace of plagiarism is highlighted and curbed through exemplary punitive actions. On the other hand, we must also guard against bogus or false complaints in order to prevent victimization which may make researchers and scholars shy away from research simply because of the fear of prosecution. A Plagiarism Policy has therefore become necessary to create awareness, define various forms in which Plagiarism exhibits itself, present a methodology of investigation, cater for punitive action proportional to the extent of the offence and even address the issue of false or spurious complaints.

2. Definition

According to the Concise Oxford Dictionary, Plagiarism is defined as taking and using the thoughts, writings, and inventions of another person as one own. This, or various similar definitions found in recognized publications/documents, are very broad and can be used to create awareness about Plagiarism but are not practical enough to apply in order to ascertain guilt or innocence in specific cases. In order to establish the violation of ethical norms or academic or intellectual dishonesty resulting from plagiarism and to take punitive actions in this regard, it is necessary that the variety of forms in which plagiarism manifests itself are known. These include but are not limited to the following.
“Verbatim copying, near-verbatim copying, or purposely paraphrasing portions of another author paper or unpublished report without citing the exact reference.
Copying elements of another author paper, such as equations or illustrations that are not
common knowledge, or copying or purposely paraphrasing sentences without citing the
source.
Verbatim copying portions of another author paper or from reports by citing but not clearly differentiating what text has been copied (e.g. not applying quotation marks correctly) and /or not citing the source correctly”.

The unacknowledged use of computer programs, mathematical/computer models/ algorithms, computer software in all forms, macros, spreadsheets, web pages, databases, mathematical deviations and calculations, designs/models/displays of any sort, diagrams,
graphs, tables, drawings, works of art of any sort, fine art pieces or artifacts, digital images, computer-aided design drawings, GIS files, photographs, maps, music/composition of any sort, posters, presentations and tracing.

Self-plagiarism that is, the verbatim or near-verbatim re-use of significant portions of one’s own copyrighted work without citing the original source.

3. Explanation from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia on the web describes and explains Plagiarism as the unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one own original work. Unlike cases of forgery, in which the authenticity of the writing, document, or some other kind of object itself is in question, plagiarism is concerned with the issue of false attribution. Within academia, plagiarism by students, professors, or researchers is considered academic dishonesty or academic fraud and offenders are subject to academic censure. In journalism, plagiarism is considered a breach of journalistic ethics, and reporters caught plagiarizing typically face disciplinary measures ranging from suspension to termination. While plagiarism in scholarship and journalism has a centuries-old history, the development of the internet, where articles appear as electronic text, has made the physical act of copying the work of others much easier. Plagiarism is different from copyright infringement. While both terms may apply to a particular act, they emphasize different aspects of the transgression. Copyright infringement is a violation of the rights of the copyright holder, which involves the loss of income and artistic control of the material when it is used without the copyright holder consent. On the other hand, plagiarism is concerned with the unearned increment to the plagiarizing author reputation. In the academic world, plagiarism by students is a very serious academic offense which can result in punishments such as a failing grade on the particular assignment (typically at the high school level), or a failing grade for the course (typically at the college or university level). For cases of repeated plagiarism, or for cases where a student has committed a severe type of plagiarism (e.g. copying an entire article and submitting it as his/ her own work), a student may be suspended or expelled, and any academic degrees or awards may be revoked. For professors and researchers, who are required to act as role models for their students, plagiarism is a very serious offence, and is punishable by sanctions ranging from suspension to termination, along with the loss of credibility and integrity. Charges of plagiarism against students, faculty members and staff are typically heard by internal disciplinary committees, which students and faculty members have agreed to be bound by. Wikipedia also describes self-plagiarism as the re-use of significant, identical, or nearly identical portions of one’s own work without acknowledging that one is doing so or without citing the original work. Typically, high public-interest texts are not a subject of self-plagiarism; however, the authors should not violate copyright where applicable. Public interest includes such material as social, professional, and cultural opinions usually published in newspapers and magazines.

4. Aim

The aim of this policy is to apprise students, teachers, researchers and staff about Plagiarism and how it can be avoided. It is also aimed at discouraging Plagiarism by regulating and authorising punitive actions against those found guilty of the act of Plagiarism.

5. Applicability

The policy is applicable to students, teachers, researchers and staff of all institutions and organizations in Pakistan who are involved in writing or publishing their work. In this context a student is a person who, on the date of submission of his/her paper/work is a registered student of any University or Degree Awarding Institution recognized by Higher Education Commission (HEC). Teachers and Researchers include faculty members or equivalent of the University/Organization or/of a constituent or affiliated college or researchers of an organization and such other persons as may be declared to be so by regulations. “Staff” is any employee of an organization involved in writing and publishing his/her work. Any person listing his CV on the website or any current publication or applying for any benefit on the basis of published or presented work that is plagiarized will be liable to be punished as per prescribed rules.

6. Responsibility of the Institutions and Organizations:

All institutions and organizations are responsible to apprise their students, teachers, researchers and staff of the definition, implications and resulting punishments in case, after due investigation, they are found guilty of plagiarism. The institutions/organizations must acquaint their students, teachers, researchers and staff with this policy and ensure that they are fully aware that all authors are deemed to be individually and collectively responsible for the contents of papers published by Journals/ Publishers etc. Hence, it is the responsibility of each author, including the coauthors, to ensure that papers submitted for publication should attain the highest ethical standards with respect to plagiarism. To facilitate the institutions/organizations in creating awareness about Plagiarism, a modified version of Little Book of Plagiarism, a publication of Leeds Metropolitan University is appended Annexure to this policy. Any University or Degree Awarding Institution which does not adopt and implement this policy will have its degree derecognized by HEC.

7. Reporting

To inform HEC or respective Universities/Organizations of alleged plagiarism, a complaint is to be made by email, post, fax or other means to HEC Quality Assurance Division or respective Universities/ Organizations. In case of lodging a complaint in the form of a letter, copy may be sent to HEC. The following information is to be provided:
a. Citation of the original paper or document or idea which was plagiarized, (paper title, author(s), publication title, month and year of publication if available and the journal, in which published, with details). If the original paper is unpublished (e.g. an institutional technical report, an on-line paper), the complainant is to provide as much information as possible to ensure authenticity of the claim.
b. The citation of the alleged plagiarizing paper (paper title, author(s), publication title, month and year of publication if available and the journal with details in which published). If the paper is unpublished (e.g. an institutional technical report, an on-line paper), the complainant is to provide as much information as possible to ensure proper investigation.
c. Copies of both papers if possible.
d. Any other information that would help HEC or respective Universities/Organizations to efficiently resolve the claim.”
e. Name, designation, organization, address, e-mail address and telephone number of the complainant.

8. Investigation

Upon receipt of an allegation of plagiarism, the HEC Quality Assurance Division will request the respective Vice Chancellor/Rector/Head of the Organization to carry out investigation. The complaints received through HEC or directly by a University/Organization will be dealt with by the Universities/Organizations according to the procedures given below. The Vice Chancellor/Rector/ Head of the Organization will have the discretion of not taking any action on anonymous complaints. For investigation of plagiarism cases, the Vice Chancellor/Rector/Head of Organization will have an obligation to;
a.Constitute a “Plagiarism Standing Committee” consisting of 3 senior faculty members, a subject specialist in that particular field is to be co-opted, a senior student (only if a student is being investigated upon) and a nominee of the HEC. The seniority of the members of “Plagiarism Standing Committee” should be of a level keeping in view the seniority of the individual being investigated upon and the nature and gravity of the offence.
b. Provide a guideline, prepared by HEC for the functioning of the Plagiarism Standing Committee to all members of the Committee.
c. Provide clear terms of reference to the “Plagiarism Standing Committee” for their investigation.
d. The members of the “Plagiarism Standing Committee” are to sign a confidentiality statement that during the investigation they will, under no circumstances, disclose any individual author name, paper titles, referees, or any other personal or specific information concerning the plagiarism complaint under investigation, nor shall they reveal the names of the committee members.
e. Provide opportunity to the author/authors under investigation to justify the originality of their concepts and research work. Similar opportunity will also be provided to the author whose paper is deemed to have been Plagiarized and/or the complainant, to justify the complaint.
f. Provide every opportunity to the “Plagiarism Standing Committee” to use all foreseeable means to investigate the plagiarism claim.

9. The Plagiarism Standing Committee shall then conduct the investigation. Depending on the details of the claim, the investigation may include, but may not be limited to, any or all of the following steps.
a. Manual and/or automated tests for content similarity.
b. Determination of the extent and quantum of significant material plagiarized.
c. Soliciting comments to the claim, from the Editor-in-Chief (of a journal) or Program Chair (of conference proceedings) and referees of either or both papers.
d. Consultation with legal counsel.
e. Consult/contact witnesses and record statements there-of if so required.
f. Consult/contact present and/or past employers of the authors.

10. The “Plagiarism Standing Committee” will submit its report with clear cut findings and recommendations to the Vice Chancellor/Rector/Head of the Organization within a specified period not exceeding sixty days. The Vice Chancellor/Rector/Head of the Organization will have the discretion to implement the recommendations after approval through the statutory process and take punitive action against the offender as per penalties prescribed under this policy or to forward the report to HEC or his/her parent organization for further action if outside their purview/jurisdiction.

11. Penalties for Plagiarism

Plagiarism is an intellectual crime. As such the penalties for plagiarism should not only take into account the severity and recurrence of the offence, but also the intellectual standing of the offender. This entails a gradual increase in punitive action with minimum punishment for a first time offence by a student who copies a homework assignment to a maximum punishment for a teacher/ researcher/ staff who attempts to present/publish, or actually presents/publishes plagiarized material; as his own, in a conference/journal. Therefore, the punishments for plagiarism have been divided into two separate categories, i.e. those for Teachers, Researchers and Staff and those for the Students. The groups have already been defined in Para 5 above.

a. Penalties for Teachers, Researchers and Staff

When an act of plagiarism, as described earlier in Para’s 2 and 3, is found to have occurred, the Plagiarism Standing Committee in its recommendations, DEPENDING UPON THE SERIOUSNESS OF THE PROVEN OFFENCE, will advise the Competent Authority of the Organization, to take any one or a combination of the following disciplinary action(s) against the teacher, researcher and/or staff found guilty of the offence.

i. Major Penalty

In cases where most of the paper (or key results) have been exactly copied from any published work of other people without giving the reference to the original work, then (a) a major penalty of dismissal from service needs to be prescribed, along with (b) the offender may be “Black Listed” and may NOT be eligible for employment in any academic/research organization, and (c) the notification of “Black Listing” of the author(s) may be published in the print media or may be publicized on different websites at the discretion of the Vice-Chancellor/Rector/Head of the organization.

ii. Moderate Penalty

In case where some paragraphs including some key results have been copied without citation, then a moderate penalty involving any one or both of the following needs to be imposed (a) demotion to the next lower grade, (b) the notification of “Black Listing” of the author(s) which may be published in the print media or may be publicized on different websites at the discretion of the Vice-Chancellor/ Rector/Head of the organization.

iii. Minor Penalty

In case a few paragraphs have been copied from an external source without giving reference of that work, then minor penalties need to be prescribed for a specified period involving any one or more of the following: (a) warning, (b) freezing of all research grants, (c) the promotions/annual increments of the offender may be stopped, for a specified period and (d) HEC or the University/Organization may debar the offender from sponsorship of research funding, travel grant, supervision of Ph.D. students, scholarship, fellowship or any other funded program for a period as deemed appropriate by the “Plagiarism Standing Committee”.

b. Students

When an act of plagiarism, as described earlier in pares 2 and 3, is found to have occurred, the Plagiarism Standing Committee in its recommendations, DEPENDING UPON THE SERIOUSNESS OF THE PROVEN OFFENCE, will advise the Vice Chancellor/Head of the Organization, to take any one or a combination of the following disciplinary action(s) against the student(s) found guilty of the offence.
i. In the case of thesis the responsibility of plagiarism will be of the student and not of the supervisor or members of the Supervisory Committee.
ii. The offender may be expelled/ rusticated from the University and from joining any institution of Higher Education in Pakistan for a period as deemed appropriate by the Plagiarism Standing Committee”. A notice may be circulated among all academic institutions and research organization to this effect.
iii. The offender may be relegated to a lower class.
iv. The offender may be given a failure grade in the subject.
v. The offender may be fined an amount as deemed appropriate.
vi. The offender may be given a written warning if the offence is minor and is committed for the first time.
vii. The degree of a student may be withdrawn if AT ANY TIME it is proven that he or she has presented Plagiarized work in his/her MS, MPhil or PhD dissertation if the extent of plagiarism comes under the category of major penalty as conveyed in Para 11(a-1).
viii. The notification of the plagiarism by the author(s) may be published in the print media or may be publicized on different websites at the discretion of the Vice Chancellor/Rector/Head of the Organization.
ix. HEC or the University/Organization may debar the offender from sponsorship of research funding, travel grant, scholarship, fellowship or any other funded program for a period as deemed appropriate by the Plagiarism Standing Committee.
x. Any other penalty deemed fit by the “Plagiarism Standing Committee”.

c. Co-Authors/Declarations

1. Provided that a co-author has listed a paper in his/her resume and applied for a benefit forthwith, any co-author is deemed to be equally responsible for any plagiarism committed in a published paper presented to or published in a journal or presented at a conference.
2. All Journals in Pakistan must require ALL authors to sign a declaration that the material presented in the creative work is not plagiarized

12. Additional Actions Required

In addition to the above punishments, the following additional common actions must be taken if the offence of Plagiarism is established.
a. If the plagiarized paper is accessible on the web page its access will be removed. The
paper itself will be kept in the database for future research or legal purposes.
b. The author(s) will be asked to write a formal letter of apology to the authors of the Original paper that was plagiarized, including an admission of plagiarism. Should the author(s) refuse to comply then additional punishments as deemed fit may be recommended by the Plagiarism Standing Committee.

c. If the paper is submitted but not published yet, the paper will be rejected by the Editor-in- Chief or the Program Chair without further revisions and without any further plagiarism investigation conducted.
However, Warning may be issued to the author/co-author.

13. Appeal

As the penalties are severe, the affected person(s) will have the right to appeal to the Chairman HEC /Vice Chancellor/Rector/Head of the Organization for a review of the findings or may submit a mercy petition within 30 days from the date of notification. Such appeals/petitions will be disposed of within 60 days of receipt, by following the laid down procedures regarding such appeals.

14. Penalty for Wrong Reporting/False Allegation

If the case of Plagiarism is not proved and it is confirmed that a false allegation was lodged, the Vice Chancellor/Rector/Head of the Organization will inform the complainant’s Organization and will recommend disciplinary action against the complainant, to be taken by his/her parent organization.

DISCLOSURE

Nonmonetary disclosures regarding being part of a thesis or dissertation, a pilot project, or an ongoing study should be made explicitly at the time of submission.

FUNDING

Any company or institution that has financially contributed to the study must be acknowledged.

DISCLAIMER

JKCD is not responsible for statements made by contributors. Unless so stated, material in this journal does not necessarily reflect the views of the Editor-in-Chief, the JKCD, its Editorial Board, or the Khyber College of Dentistry. The publishers are not responsible for any error of omission or fact.