Patron-in-Chief

Hakeem Muhammad Ahmad Saleemi

President, National Council for Tibb, Pakistan

Email: hakeemsaleemi75@gmail.com

Patron

Hakeem Sirajuddin Chandio

Vice President, National Council for Tibb, Pakistan

Email: chandiodeen@gmail.com

Editor-in-Chief

Prof. Dr. Hakeem Halima Nazar

Scientific Member, National Council for Tibb, Pakistan

Email: halimanazar76@gmail.com

Managing Editor

Hakeem Dr. Muhammad Akram

Associate Professor, GC University, Faisalabad, Pakistan

Email: muhammadakram@gcuf.edu.pk

Associate Editors

Dr. Hakeem Hafiz Muhammad Asif

Associate Professor, Islamia University Bahawalpur, Pakistan

Email: doctor.asif101@gmail.com

Prof. Dr. Hakeem Asif Iqbal

Member, National Council for Tibb, Pakistan

Email: asifiqbal662@hotmail.com

Editorial Office

Muhammad Ismail

Communications & Outreach Officer

Muhammad Talha Khalil

Production Editor

Momina Iftikhar

Production Editor

Hakeem Mian Muhammad Ali Shair

Coordinator & Editorial Assistant

Muhammad Arslan

Liaison Officer

Seyab Mushtaq

Liaison Officer

National Editorial Advisory Board

Prof. Dr. Zahid Ashraf

Chief Executive Officer, Ashraf Laboratories, Faisalabad

Email: info@ashraflabs.com

Prof. Hakeem Mansoor ul Aziz

Principal, Jamia Tibbia Islamia, Faisalabad

Email: matabalmansoor1@gmail.com

Manuscripts Submission:

Manuscripts can be submitted only with authorship responsibility via email to the Editor-in-Chief:

NOTE: Always send the paper to both email addresses.

Submission Requirements:

• Acknowledgement: The corresponding author will be acknowledged within one week of successful submission.
• Language: English is the official language of the journal.
• Originality: Only original research articles not previously published or under consideration elsewhere will be accepted.
• Similarity & AI: All manuscripts must have a similarity index below 19% (verified via Turnitin) and must contain 0% AI-generated text.
• Type Declaration: Authors must clearly state the manuscript type (Original Article, Review Article, or Case Report).
• Authorship: The corresponding author must declare that the manuscript is submitted on behalf of all authors.
• Submission Requirements: The journal is a Diamond Open Access publication; there are no charges for manuscript processing, approval, or publication.

Peer Review Nomination:

To facilitate the evaluation process, authors are requested to provide potential reviewers for their work.

• Reviewer Ratio: The manuscript will be evaluated by either one (1) international (foreign) reviewer or two (2) national reviewers.
• Expertise: Nominated reviewers should be experts in the relevant field and able to assess the quality and relevance of the research.

Publication types

Periodicity Policy

The journal is published at 10-month intervals (Decadal).

Legal

All materials and intellectual rights of the journal shall be deemed property of the PJUM. All persons involved in the publication of Pakistan Journal of Unani Medicine, nationally and internationally in organizing or acting in advisory capacity, shall be acting on behalf of PJUM and as such shall not be liable for actions taken against the journal.

Manuscript Formatting Guidelines

The article should clearly describe new and carefully confirmed results and experimental procedure which should be given in required details for others to verify the work. All manuscripts must be submitted accompanied by a covering letter from the author responsible for correspondence regarding the manuscript.

1. Manuscript must be prepared in English language.
2. Manuscript must be prepared in Microsoft Word (MS Word) format (.doc/.docx).
3. Letter size page with 1-inch margins on all sides.
4. Font size of 12 in “Times New Roman” (Body) style.
5. Single line spacing of 1.5 with no space before and after paragraph.
6. All main headings and title in uppercase.
7. No structured abstract.
8. All text should be justified.

Elements and Composition of Manuscript:

The document should include: Title Page (title, author names, affiliations, corresponding author email), Abstract (≤250 words), and Keywords (3–6). Main text sections typically include Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion, Acknowledgments, and References. Tables and figures must be placed within text with proper captions. The references should be presented in the Vancouver citation style, in accordance with the journal's guidelines. Ensure clarity, grammar accuracy, and originality before submission for peer review.

The manuscript must be organized with the sections in this sequence: Title, Author's Name, Author's Affiliation Address, Corresponding Author's Email, Abstract, Keywords, and Introduction.

Title:

It should include name of authors and a superscripted asterisk symbol ^* positioned after the name of the corresponding author, address(es) of the institution(s) to which the work should be attributed, each author’s affiliation and a footnote including the complete mailing address, telephone number, e-mail address of the corresponding author. Up to six authors may be cited. More than six authors are allowed only with the satisfactory approval of the editorial board after its complete justification and verification.

Abstract:

It should give the brief idea of research paper and should not exceed more than 250 words. Abstract without the headings of Background, Time and duration of Study, Study design, Methodology, Results and Conclusion will be more liked.

Keywords:

Author(s) must give about 5-6 key words which can identify the most important subjects covered by the paper. They must be placed at the end of the abstract.

Introduction:

It should provide sufficient background information for the reader to understand and evaluate the purpose or objective of the present study.

Materials and Methods:

All significant material used along with its source should be mentioned. The key methods used should be briefly described, citing references. New methods or significantly modified methods may be illustrated in sufficient detail.

Statistics:

Appropriate statistical analysis should be done to the original data to verify the reported results. Specify the statistical methods used to analyze the data. Restrict the Tables and Figures only to those where it is needed to explain the argument of the paper and to assess its support. Use graphs as an alternative to Tables with many entries; do not duplicate data in graphs and Tables.

Results and Discussion:

The manuscripts having separate sections of “Results” and “Discussion” will be preferred. Data are summarized in the results section. Results should be described as concisely as possible in the following ways: text, Table(s) or Figure(s). Avoid extensive use of graphs to present data that might be more concisely or more comprehensively presented in the Figures or Tables. The reproducibility and statistical significance of measurements, material, or biological data must be included where relevant. The discussion should provide an interpretation of the results and their significance in relation to previously published work. There should be no significant repetition of the experimental procedure or reiteration of the introduction.

Conclusion:

The author should conclude his/her finding accordingly.

Acknowledgements:

This section can be kept at the end of the manuscript before reference section. This section can be used to acknowledge the help of those who do not qualify for authorship or to acknowledge funding, donated resources or significant contribution to the research.

References:

Use a standardized reference system. Use Vancouver style. (Minimum 10 to Maximum 15)

• Example:
• Book
  Author's Last Name Initials. Title of Book. Edition. Place of Publication: Publisher; Year of Publication.
  Example: Smith J. The Principles of Medicine. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press; 2010.
• Journal Article
  Author's Last Name Initials. Title of article. Abbreviated Journal Title. Year of Publication; Volume (Issue): Page Numbers.
  Example: Johnson K, Thompson R. The effects of exercise on mental health. J Clin Psychol. 2015;71(1):12-20.
• Thesis
  Author's Last Name Initials. Title of thesis [Degree]. University Name; Year of Publication.
  Example: Lee S. The effects of climate change on mental health [PhD]. University of British Columbia; 2019.
• Conference Proceeding
  Author's Last Name Initials. Title of paper. In: Editor's Last Name Initials, editor. Conference Proceedings; Date of Conference; Place of Conference. Place of Publication: Publisher; Year of Publication. p. Page Numbers.
  Example: Patel R, Singh J. The impact of artificial intelligence on healthcare. In: Proceedings of the 2019 International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare; 2019 Aug 15-17; San Francisco, CA. New York: IEEE; 2019. p. 12-15.

Tables:

Tables should be self-explanatory and supplement the text and must be numbered consecutively and be cited in the text.

Figures:

Figures (photographs, drawing, diagrams and charts) are to be numbered in one consecutive series of Arabic numerals in the order in which they are cited in the text and abbreviated as Figure X. Each Table and Figure should be on a separate sheet of paper. It is preferred to centralize the Table and Figure and to make its caption bold. The data presented in the Table is preferred to be in center and it should not be bold.

Submission Types:

• Review Articles. Review articles should be about 15 pages and contain up-to-date information providing comprehensive coverage of relevant literature. Review articles should preferably be written by scientists who have in-depth knowledge of the topic. All format requirements are similar to those applicable to Research papers. Review Articles need not be divided into sections such as Materials and methods, Results and discussion, but should definitely have an abstract, introduction and conclusion.
• Original article: Maximum 3000 words excluding title page and abstract with no more than three Tables or Figures and 30 references.
• Case Report: Maximum of 1000 words. It should have an abstract, short introduction, case report followed by discussion. No more than 5-8 references.

Open Access Policy

All articles published in the Pakistan Journal of Unani Medicine are openly available without any delay. Readers can access, download, and share all articles free of charge upon publication. Current and previous issues, along with complete articles, can be viewed or downloaded from the NCT website.

Policy for Editor

Editorial Integrity and Independence

1. Editors should handle submissions with integrity and adhere strictly to the journal's ethical guidelines.
2. Editorial decisions should be based solely on the manuscript's scholarly merit, originality, clarity, and relevance to the journal's scope, without regard to the authors’ race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, nationality, or institutional affiliation.
3. Editors must avoid any conflicts of interest with the authors, institutions, or funding sources associated with submitted papers.

Confidentiality

1. Editors must ensure the confidentiality of all submissions, including the content, authors, and reviewers' identities.
2. Information about a manuscript should not be disclosed to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, and other editorial staff when necessary.
3. The corresponding author, reviewers, and other editorial staff as necessary.
4. Editors should not use unpublished information from submitted manuscripts for personal gain or research purposes without the author’s consent.

Peer Review Process

1. Manuscripts must undergo a rigorous peer review process, typically involving at least two independent reviewers with relevant expertise.
2. Editors should strive to select unbiased and qualified reviewers and ensure a fair and timely review process.
3. Editors should facilitate constructive feedback to authors and mediate any disagreements or concerns raised during peer review.

Conflict of Interest

1. Editors must disclose any potential conflicts of interest related to the manuscripts they handle and recuse themselves from handling such manuscripts when necessary.
2. If an editor has contributed to a manuscript (e.g., as an author), they should delegate the editorial decision-making to another editor to avoid bias.

Transparency in Decision-Making

1. Editorial decisions and policies should be transparent, clearly communicated, and consistently applied.
2. Editors should provide authors with clear, constructive, and timely feedback on their manuscript submissions, regardless of the decision.

Handling Ethical Concerns

1. Editors should take all ethical concerns related to research and publication misconduct seriously, such as plagiarism, data falsification, and undisclosed conflicts of interest.
2. If an ethical breach is identified, editors should follow the COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) guidelines to address the issue, which may include correcting, retracting, or issuing an expression of concern for the affected publication.
3. Editors are responsible for ensuring that any retracted or corrected articles are clearly marked in the journal’s archives.

Correction and Retraction Policy

1. Editors should have a clear policy on handling corrections, retractions, and expressions of concern and be responsible for implementing these in cases of error or misconduct.
2. Minor errors that do not affect the research’s integrity may be corrected through errata, while substantial errors may require retraction with a clear explanation of the reason.

Timeliness and Efficiency

1. Editors should work to ensure timely processing of manuscripts at each stage of review, revision, and publication.
2. They should set realistic deadlines for authors, reviewers, and editorial tasks and provide clear timelines for each stage of the editorial process.

Respect for Authors' Rights

1. Editors must respect the authors' intellectual property rights and not delay publication unnecessarily.
2. They should communicate all editorial and peer-review comments clearly and provide guidance on any required changes without imposing unnecessary burdens on the authors.

Plagiarism Policy

The journal strictly follows the Plagiarism Policy described by the Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan.

• Similarity Index: All submitted manuscripts must have a similarity index of less than 19%.
• Software: Similarity must be verified using Turnitin software.
• AI Content: The journal maintains a strict 0% allowance for AI-generated content. Manuscripts must be the original work of the authors.

Introduction & Model

Pakistan Journal of Unani Medicine is committed to maintaining the highest standards of quality and integrity in the publication of scientific research.

Our journal employs a double-blind peer review process. In this model, both the reviewers and the authors remain anonymous to each other, ensuring impartiality and minimizing potential biases.

Initial Editorial Evaluation

• Alignment with the journal's scope.
• Adherence to submission guidelines.
• Basic quality and formatting standards.
• All submitted manuscripts will undergo plagiarism screening to ensure that the similarity index is below 19% when checked using Turnitin software.
• The editorial team conducts AI screening to verify that the manuscript contains 0% AI-generated content before it proceeds to peer review.
• Manuscripts that do not meet these criteria may be rejected or returned for correction to authors for revision before peer review.
• Manuscripts that pass this stage proceed to the peer review stage.

Steps of the Peer Review Process

• Editor Assignment: The Editor-in-Chief assigns the manuscript to a Managing Editor (~3 days).
• Preliminary Review: The Managing Editor confirms it meets all criteria (~7 days).
• Reviewer Invitation: The Managing Editor identifies subject area and the editorial team selects National and International reviewers who are experts in the relevant field. Reviewers are chosen for their expertise, familiarity with the latest research trends, and ability to provide fair, constructive, and critical feedback and are given 3 days to accept or decline the invitation.
• Evaluation Period: Agreeing reviewers are allotted 2-4 weeks to evaluate the manuscript, submit their assessment.
• Reviewer Recommendations: Reviewers evaluate the manuscript and recommend:
  • Accept
  • Minor Revisions
  • Major Revisions (Revise & Resubmit)
  • Reject
• Editorial Decision: The Editor-in-Chief makes the final decision based on the reviewers' reports and issues a decision (acceptance/rejection) letter to the author.

Expectations for Reviewers

• Originality and significance of the research.
• Methodological rigor and validity of results.
• Clarity of writing and presentation.
• Relevance to the journal’s field.
• Ethical standards and proper citation.

Reviewers provide detailed, constructive feedback to support their recommendation. The standard review period is 4 weeks, with extensions available upon request.

Revision Policy

• Authors are provided with the reviewers' anonymous comments.
• A revision period of 2-3 weeks is typically given to revise and resubmit.
• The revised manuscript must include a point-by-point response to all comments.
• The revised version is usually sent back to the original reviewers for re-evaluation.

Final Decision

The Editor-in-Chief holds final responsibility for the decision to accept, reject or request further minor revisions for a manuscript, considering the reviewers' recommendations and the adequacy of the authors' revisions.

Publication Fee Policy

There are no submission, processing, or publication fees for authors.

Introduction & Compliance Statement

The Pakistan Journal of Unani Medicine is committed to upholding the highest standards of publication ethics and integrity. We strictly oppose any form of malpractice. Our policies are in accordance with the guidelines set by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). All parties involved—editors, authors, and reviewers—are expected to adhere to the following standards.

Responsibilities of Authors

• Originality and Plagiarism: Authors must present original work and appropriately cite or quote the work of others. Plagiarism in any form—including a Turnitin similarity index of higher than 19%—constitutes unacceptable malpractice.
• AI-Generated Content: The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to generate or write any portion of the manuscript is strictly prohibited (0% tolerance).
• Similarity Index: Authors are responsible for ensuring their work yields a similarity index below 19% via Turnitin prior to submission.
• Data Integrity: Authors must provide accurate data and not fabricate or falsify research findings.
• Duplicate Submission: Manuscripts must not be submitted to more than one journal concurrently.
• Authorship: All listed authors must have made significant contributions to the research.
• Disclosure: All sources of financial support must be disclosed.
• Authors are encouraged to avoid attempts to identify or contact reviewers during the review process.

Responsibilities of Reviewers

• Confidentiality: Reviewers must treat all received manuscripts as confidential documents.
• Objectivity: Reviews should be conducted objectively, without personal criticism of the author.
• Conflict of Interest: Reviewers must disclose any potential conflicts of interest and decline to review if necessary.
• Timeliness: Reviewers should provide their feedback within the stipulated timeframe or inform the editor of any delays.
• Acknowledgement of Sources: Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors.

Responsibilities of Editors

• Impartiality: Editors ensure fair and impartial evaluation of all manuscripts based solely on their academic merit.
• Confidentiality: Editors and the editorial staff must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, and potential reviewers.
• Conflict of Interest: Editors will recuse themselves from handling manuscripts where they have a conflict of interest.
• Decision-Making: The Editor-in-Chief holds final responsibility for the acceptance or rejection of manuscripts, taking into account the reviewers' recommendations.

Handling Misconduct

The journal follows COPE guidelines for handling allegations of ethical misconduct, including but not limited to plagiarism, data fabrication, and duplicate publication. Such allegations will be investigated thoroughly and may result in actions including retraction of published articles, publication of corrections, and bans on future submissions.

Appeals and Complaints

Authors who disagree with an editorial decision may submit a formal, written appeal to the editorial office. The appeal will be reviewed by the editorial team, which may seek additional expert opinion to ensure a fair and transparent resolution.