Submissions

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Submission Preparation Checklist

As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission's compliance with all of the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors that do not adhere to these guidelines.
  • The submission has not been previously published, nor is it before another journal for consideration.
  • The submission file is in OpenOffice, Microsoft Word, RTF, or WordPerfect document file format.
  • Where available, URLs for the references have been provided.
  • The text is single-spaced; uses a 12-point font; employs italics, rather than underlining (except with URL addresses); and all illustrations, figures, and tables are placed within the text at the appropriate points, rather than at the end.
  • The text adheres to the stylistic and bibliographic requirements outlined in the Author Guidelines.
  • If submitting to a peer-reviewed section of the journal, the instructions in Ensuring a Blind Review have been followed.

Author Guidelines

How to Write an Article for the Publication

Letter of Authorship

INSTRUCTIONS TO AUTHOR

All material submitted for publication should be sent only to Editor The professional directly via post, email or online submission. The scientific work already published or accepted for publication should not be submitted. This falls in category of duplicate or multiple publication and is liable to disciplinary consequences, including reporting to Pakistan medical and dental council and Higher education of Pakistan. Any scientific work that has been presented in some scientific meeting or press, if not published may be submitted with complete disclosure. Authors can submit the manuscript to the editor’s office via post, by email at editor@theprofesional.com and online submission by www.theprofesional.com (the preferred method). All authors and co-authors must provide their contact address, telephone/mobile numbers and email address along with manuscript. At the time of submission, following documents are mandatory to be submitted along with manuscript.

a. A duly filled and signed Authorship form
b. Declaration of conflict of interest form
c. The institutional ethical review board/committee approval letter is mandatory.

The editors reserve the right to format the manuscript to conform to in house format.

MATERIAL FOR PUBLICATION

The Professional accepts scientific material in form of original research, case report, short article, commentary, review article, KAP study, audit report, short communication or a letter to editor. A study 5 years prior to date of submission is evaluated by editorial committee for suitability for publication. Images for image of issue section will be accepted with confidentiality secured with author. The journal does not directly archive consent for image but recommends authors to do so for 10 years.

ABSTRACT

Original articles require structured abstract with following headings; Study Design, Setting, Period, Material and Methods, Results and Conclusion, Kew words (Key words in alphabetical order (at least 5). The abstract should provide context of study. The abstract should state the purpose of study, selection of study participants, settings, measurement, analytical methods, main findings and principal conclusions. Because abstracts are the only substantive portion of the article indexed in many electronic databases, and the only portion many readers read, authors need to ensure that they accurately reflect the content of the article. The total world count of abstract should be about 250-400 words. The keywords must be 3 to 10 as per MeSH (medical subject heading) should be written at the end of abstract.

INTRODUCTION

It provides a context or background for the study (that is the nature of the problem and its significance). In the end describe the specific purpose or research objective of, or hypothesis tested by, the study or observation in form of statement. It is preferable to cite 2-10 pertinent references, and do not include data or conclusions from the work being reported.

METHODS

The methods section should include study design, sampling method, inclusion and exclusion criteria. The methods section should aim to be sufficiently detailed such that others with access to the data would be able to reproduce the results.Specify the study’s primary and secondary outcomes. Give reference to established methods. Give brief descriptions for methods, give reasons for using them, and evaluate their limitations. This section should include the test used for statistical analysis. Exact p-values and confidence interval limits must be mentioned instead of only stating greater or less of significance. References the design of the study and statistical methods should be to standard works. The methods section should include a statement indicating that the research was approved or exempted from the need for review by the responsible ethical review board. If no formal ethics committee is available, a statement indicating that the research was conducted accordingly to the principles of the declaration should be included.

RESULTS

The results should be in logical sequence in the text, tables and figures. Do not repeat all the data in the tables or figures in the text; emphasize only important and relevant observations. Restrict tables and figures to those needed to explain the argument of the paper and to assess supporting data. No conclusive remarks should be given in this part of the text.

DISCUSSION

Emphasize the new and important aspects of the study and the conclusions that follow from them in the context of the totality of the best available evidence. Do not repeat the data detail given in other parts of the manuscript. This section should include author’s comment on the result supported references. Link conclusions with the goals of the study but avoid unqualified statements and conclusions not adequately supported by the data.

CONCLUSION

Conclusion should be provided under separate heading and highlight the new findings from the study. The results should be directly according to the objectives. Recommendations are not expected in this section.

REFERENCES

Authors should be provide direct references to original research sources. References should be numbered consecutively in the order in which they are first mentioned in the text. Identify references in text, tables and graphs. All references must be cited in Vancouver style of referencing.

Privacy Statement

PUBLICATION ETHICS AND PUBLICATION MALPRACTICE STATEMENT

Our publication ethics and publication malpractice statement is mainly based on the Code of Conduct and Best-Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors (Committee on Publication Ethics, 2011).

EDITORS RESPONSIBILITIES

Publication decisions

The editor is responsible for deciding which of the papers submitted to the journal will be published. The editor will evaluate manuscripts without regard to the authors' race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy. The decision will be based on the paper’s importance, originality and clarity, and the study’s validity and its relevance to the journal's scope. Decisions to edit and publish are not determined by the policies of governments or any other agencies outside of the journal itself. The Editor-in-Chief has full authority over the entire editorial content of the journal and the timing of publication of that content. Current legal requirements regarding libel, copyright infringement, and plagiarism should also be considered.

Confidentiality

The editor and any editorial staff must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisers, and the publisher, as appropriate.

Disclosure and conflicts of interest

Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted paper will not be used by the editor or the members of the editorial board for their own research purposes without the author's explicit written consent. Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for the reviewer’s personal advantage. This applies also to invited reviewers who decline the review invitation.

Ethical Obligation

Editors will take responsive measures when ethical concerns are raised with regard to a submitted manuscript or published paper. Editors will follow COPE flow chart when dealing with cases of suspected misconduct.

REVIEWERS RESPONSIBILITIES

Contribution to editorial decisions

The peer-reviewing process assists the editor and the editorial board in making editorial decisions and may also serve the author in improving the paper.

Promptness

Any selected referee who feels unqualified to review the research reported in a manuscript or knows that its prompt review will be impossible should notify the editor and withdraw from the review process.

Confidentiality

Any manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents. They must not be disclosed to or discussed with others except as authorized by the editor.

Standards of objectivity

Reviews should be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate. Referees should express their views clearly with supporting arguments.

Acknowledgement of sources

Reviewers should identify cases in which relevant published work referred to in the paper has not been cited in the reference section. They should point out whether observations or arguments derived from other publications are accompanied by the respective source. Reviewers will notify the editor of any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published paper of which they have personal knowledge.

Disclosure and conflict of interest

Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage. Reviewers should not consider manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions associated with the papers.

AUTHORS DUTIES

Reporting standards

Authors of original research reports should present an accurate account of the work performed as well as an objective discussion of its significance. Underlying data should be represented accurately in the paper. A paper should contain sufficient detail and references to permit others to replicate the work. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behavior and are unacceptable.

Data access and retention

Authors could be asked to provide the raw data of their study together with the paper for editorial review and should be prepared to make the data publicly available if practicable. In any event, authors should ensure accessibility of such data to other competent professionals for at least ten years after publication (preferably via an institutional or subject-based data repository or other data center), provided that the confidentiality of the participants can be protected and legal rights concerning proprietary data do not preclude their release.

Originality, plagiarism and acknowledgement of sources

Authors will submit only entirely original works, and will appropriately cite or quote the work and/or words of others. Publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the reported work should also be cited.

Multiple, redundant or concurrent publication

In general, papers describing essentially the same research should not be published in more than one journal. Submitting the same paper to more than one journal constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable.

 Manuscripts which have been published as copyrighted material elsewhere cannot be submitted. In addition, manuscripts under review by the journal should not be resubmitted to copyrighted publications. However, by submitting a manuscript, the author(s) retain the rights to the published material. In case of publication they permit the use of their work under a CC-BY license [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/], which allows others to copy, distribute and transmit the work as well as to adapt the work and to make commercial use of it.

Authorship of the paper

Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. All those who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors.

The corresponding author ensures that all contributing co-authors and no uninvolved persons are included in the author list. The corresponding author will also verify that all co-authors have approved the final version of the paper and have agreed to its submission for publication.

Disclosure and conflicts of interest

All authors should include a statement disclosing any financial or other substantive conflicts of interest that may be construed to influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript. All sources of financial support for the project should be disclosed.

Fundamental errors in published works

When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published work, it is the author’s obligation to promptly notify the journal editor or publisher and to cooperate with the editor to retract or correct the paper in form of an erratum.

Acknowledgement of sources

Authors should ensure that they have properly acknowledged the work of others, and should also cite publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the reported work.

Human and Animal Subjects

If the work involves use of animals or human participant in the Author must ensure that all procedures were performed according to law and approved by appropriate Ethical committee. Authors should include a statement about informed consent.

References

Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). (2011, March 7). Code of Conduct and Best-Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors. Retrieved from http://publicationethics.org/files/Code_of_conduct_for_journal_editors_Mar11.pdf

AUTHORSHIP POLICY

The policy is based on ICMJE recommendation for uniform requirements updated in December 2014.As stated the credit for authorship will be awarded to whom will meet following four criteria. 

A. Substantial contribution to conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work 
B. Drafting of the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content 
C. Final approval of the version to be published 
D. Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved 

All authors will require to fill and duly sign an Authorship Performa to attest that they fulfill the above mentioned criteria. It is the collectively responsibility of authors to determine that all people named as authors meet all four criteria. The named corresponding Author will be responsible for all communication with the editor’s office during the submission, review and publication process. There is no restriction on number of authors. However any change in the order of authors, removal or addition of author after submission will be done only after a signed statement of agreement for the requested change from all listed authors and from the author to be removed or added is received by Editor-in-chief. Any person who has contributed but does not fulfill all 4 criteria of authorship should acknowledged and not listed as authors.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

All Authors at the time of submission will be required to disclose all financial, personal or institutional relationships that might bias or seen to bias their work. This will be in form of written statement. Any declaration of conflict of interest will have no bearing on editorial or review process. The disclosure will be appear at end of published manuscript.

PLAGIARISM POLICY

The Professional; follows policy to discourage and report plagiarism. It is the responsibility of the Author(s) to ensure the integrity and originality of work prior to submission of manuscript .All manuscripts are evaluated for the similarity index. When plagiarism is alleged, or concerns are otherwise raised about conduct or originality of submitted scientific work arises the editor will seek an explanation from the author(s). In case of no satisfactory explanation the Editor-in chief will initiate appropriate procedures in accordance with rules by ICMJE, PMDC, HEC guidelines/criteria for plagiarism and COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics). These can be accessed easily at publicationethics.org/resources/flowcharts , www.pmdc.pk and www.hec.gov.pk

ADVERTISEMENT POLICY

The journal will publish advertisement after declaration of conflict of interest by the company/person submitting advertisement. All advertisement will be clearly identified. The journal has a policy not to carry out advertisement of products proven to be harmful to health. The interest of organizations or agencies will have no control over classified and other non-display advertising. Same rules will apply on electronic version of journal.

PEER REVIEW PROCESS

The professional has a policy of double blind peer review. Each manuscript after check for similarity index is sent to three reviewers, on international and two national. The selection of reviewers is done by committee of editorial board members after careful consideration of credentials. All peer reviewers have to voluntarily sign a statement for respect of confidentiality of manuscript they receive for review. The details of reviewer are update on annually. All The review report is on a structured Performa which is archived for future reference. The peer reviewers are subject experts and their scientific contribution is acknowledged by the editor. The reviewers are encouraged to declare personal, financial or institutional conflict of interest. All material regarding manuscript is available to the reviewer. All correspondence is to the editor’s office. At no point the reviewer is in direct contact with the authors. The editor is ultimately responsible for the selection of all its content and editorial decisions are directed by quality and suitability for the journal. The statistical review is done by statistical team independent of reviewer.

COPYRIGHT POLICY

This journal is an open access journal. Authors sign an exclusive license agreement, where authors have copyright but license exclusive rights in their article to the publisher. In case authors have the right to:
• Share their article in the same ways permitted to third parties under relevant user license (together with personal (scholarly) purposes to create certain derivative works), so as long as they give proper attribution and credit to the published work
• Retain patent trade mark and other intellectual property rights (including raw research data).
• Proper attribution and credit for the published work

JOURNAL OWNERSHIP

The professional is a journal of Independent Medical College, Faisalabad, Pakistan. The college is responsible for appointment and dismissal of editorial staff. This is done with advice of independent expert’s panel. Job description and contract is offered to the editor. An independent editorial board has is formulated to help the editor establish and maintain editorial policy. The Editor-in-chief has full authority over the entire editorial content of journal and timing of publication of that content. The editor has direct access to the highest level of committee of ownership appointed by the independent college.

SUBSCRIPTION

Processing Fee

PKR 5000/-

Publication Fee (Local)

PKR 30000/-

Annual Subscription (Local)

PKR 20000/- (Per Year)

Publication Fee (International)

USD 200

Annual Subscription (International)

USD 100 (Per Year)