HITEC Medical and Dental Journal is a biannually published, multi- disciplinary, peer reviewed, open access journal that describes the significant and innovative research in all areas of Medicine and Dentistry. In addition to primary research, HMDJ also publishes review articles, meta-analysis reviews, letter to the editor, case reports, case series report, short communication and issues regarding development in fields of medical education.

HMDJ aims to support junior doctors, nurses and medical and dental students, and contribute to the continuing professional development. HMDJ aspires to disseminate high-powered research results with the objective of improving patient care and health facilities. It aims to publish high quality research articles.

Submission of a manuscript implies that the work described has not been published before and is not under consideration for publication anywhere else. The necessity of review of the articles by internal review board and the ethical committee adds value to the articles published in the journal. Any conflict of interest has to be declared thus eliminating the bias on part of the editors or the reviewers. The journal has adopted a rigorous examination of every submitted manuscript towards plagiarism. In case of any doubt, the authors are provided the evidence of copied material from the web. All contributions are rigorously refereed and selected on the basis of the quality and originality of the work as well as the breadth of interest to readers. The journal publishes the most significant research in all fields of medical education thus keeping the updated information available for its readers worldwide. HMDJ publishes articles after exceptional unsolicited reviews as per the laid guidelines.

HMDJ, in brief, is a forum for communicating the medical and dental health related issues globally.

It is an open access journal. All content of journal can be read and download free of charge.

In accordance with the Copyright Act, the Undertaking signed by all authors must accompany each manuscript submitted for publication: “The undersigned author(s) transfer(s) all copyright ownership of the manuscript to the HMDJ if the work is published. The undersigned warrant(s) that the article is original, does not infringe upon any copyright or other proprietary right of any third party, is not under consideration by another journal, and has not been published previously” (Form HMDJ-Authorship).

Statements and opinions expressed in the articles and communications herein are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the Editor(s) or publisher and the Editor(s) and publishers disclaim any responsibility or liability for such material. Neither the Editor(s) nor the publisher guarantees, warrants, or endorses any product or service advertised in this publication; neither do they guarantee any claim made by the manufacturer of such product or service.

Articles are accepted for publication on the condition that they are contributed solely to HMDJ. All articles are reviewed by at least two Reviewers/Referees. Acceptance is based on significance, originality and validity of the material. If the article is accepted for publication, editorial revisions may be made to aid clarity and understanding without altering the meaning.

Clinical conference abstracts, special issues, articles regarding innovation and those related to research methods and reporting are also published. Secondary research including narrative reviews, systematic reviews, evidence based articles, meta-analysis, practice guidelines will also be considered for publication. From time to time invited articles are published. Manuscripts must be original and not under consideration by another publication.

Manuscripts by the Editorial Board members will not be accepted. Self-institutional publications no more than 1/5 of published articles per issue will be allowed.

Policy on Editor Roles and Responsibilities

HMDJ follow the guidelines on editorial independence as mentioned by World Association of Medical Editors (WAME) and the code on good publication practice produced by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), and checklists and advice for good research reporting of the EQUATOR network.

HMDJ’s relationship with Editorial team

The role of the Editor is to publish and produce the best quality researches by providing necessary support as a team member. HMDJ encourages editorial freedom and agrees to fully support editorial decisions and potentially controversial expressions of opinion by the Editorial team provided they are evidence based.

At the time of their appointment, all Editorial team members are provided with a written agreement that clearly states their responsibilities, rights, authority, and general terms of their appointment, and mechanisms for resolving conflict. The Editors are required to uphold and maintain Code of Conduct at all times. The purpose of our Code is to ensure that we, and all those with whom we collaborate closely, work well together towards our shared vision of a healthier world. In order to achieve this vision, it is vital that our Editors remain true to ethical values, and take a shared responsibility for protecting journal’s reputation and trust.

Editorial freedom

HMDJ abides by the ‘ WAME statement on editorial freedom, duties and responsibilities’, which defines editorial freedom as Editors holding full authority over all editorial content for their journal and the timing of publication of that content. So there is no interference in the evaluation, selection, scheduling, or editing of individual articles either directly or by creating an environment that strongly influences their decisions.

HMDJ is supported by an independent editorial advisory board team which assists the Editor in chief on editorial policy and content as well as help to establish and maintain editorial policy. Our Editorial team agrees to seek and engage a broad and diverse array of authors, reviewers, editorial board members and readers.

Confidentiality

We understand that manuscripts submitted to journals are privileged communications that are the author’s private, confidential property, and authors may be harmed by premature disclosure of any or all of a manuscript’s details. As such, HMDJ’s Editorial team and publication staff, are required to keep all information about a submitted manuscript confidential, sharing it only with those involved in the evaluation, review, and publication processes.

HMDJ Editorial team maintains the confidentiality of authors and peer-reviewers in accordance with ICMJE policy. Editors agree to take all reasonable steps to check the facts in journal commentary and to adhere to best journalistic practices. Editors will not publish or publicize peer review comments without permission of the reviewer and author. In cases of breach of confidentiality by those involved in the peer-review process, Editorial team agrees to contact the involved parties and follow up on such cases until they are satisfactorily resolved.

Peer review and timeliness

HMDJ follows a double-blind peer review process. Initial editorial screening is conducted to assess the manuscript's scope, quality, originality, ethical compliance, and suitability for the journal. Manuscripts that pass the initial screening are sent to at least two independent external subject specialists for peer review.

The identities of the authors and reviewers are kept confidential during the double-blind peer review process. Reviewers are selected based on their subject expertise and are required to declare any potential conflicts of interest before accepting a manuscript for review.

The reviewer recommendation process is time-bound, with a target review period of four to six weeks. The Editorial Team carefully evaluates the reviewers' comments and recommendations, taking into consideration any declared conflicts of interest.

The final editorial decision is made by the Editor/Editorial Team based on the scientific quality, originality, validity, ethical standards, relevance, and reviewers' recommendations. A positive reviewer recommendation does not automatically guarantee acceptance or publication.

External peer reviewers play a central and critical role in the peer-review process. HMDJ ensures that all external reviewers adhere to a set of basic principles and standards during the peer-review process. These principles are based on the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and include conflicts of interest, confidentiality, timeliness, identification of potential scientific misconduct, appropriate feedback, and confidentiality and appropriate use of reviewer reports.

Double blind peer review

HMDJ follows a double-blind peer review process, in which the identities of the authors are concealed from the reviewers and the identities of the reviewers are concealed from the authors throughout the peer-review process.

Initial Editorial Screening

All submitted manuscripts undergo an initial editorial screening to assess their scope, originality, quality, ethical compliance, and suitability for publication in HMDJ. Manuscripts that do not meet the journal's basic requirements or fall outside its scope may be rejected at this stage without external peer review.

External Peer Review

Manuscripts that pass the initial editorial screening are sent to at least two independent external reviewers with appropriate subject expertise. Reviewers independently evaluate the manuscript and provide comments and recommendations to the Editorial Team.

Unless otherwise explicitly stated, all scholarly research manuscripts published by HMDJ undergo the journal's standard double-blind external peer-review process. Any article type that does not undergo external peer review will be clearly identified on the published article.

Review Timeliness

The external peer reviewer recommendation process is time-bound, with a target review period of four to six weeks. HMDJ aims to ensure the timely processing of manuscripts while maintaining the quality and integrity of the peer-review process.

Editorial Decision

The Editorial Team carefully evaluates the reviewers' comments and recommendations together with its own assessment of the manuscript. The final decision to accept, revise, or reject a manuscript is made by the Editor/Editorial Team based on the manuscript's scientific quality, originality, validity, relevance, ethical standards, and the reviewers' recommendations. A favorable reviewer recommendation does not automatically guarantee acceptance or publication.

Registration details:

HMDJ is having a detailed database for the external reviewers’ pool to be used in review process. The data base comprises of external reviewer’s name, qualifications, designation, present position, institute, and specialty, special interest in research and contact details. The data base is kept confidential and used to be updated on annual basis or as per required.

Conflicts of interests

During the submission and review process, HMDJ requires authors to declare any potentially conflicting or competing interests, including personal, intellectual, financial, professional, political, or other relevant interests, so that the Editorial Team can assess and appropriately consider their potential influence on the manuscript.

External reviewers must also disclose any actual, potential, or perceived conflict of interest before accepting a manuscript for review. A reviewer should decline the invitation if a conflict of interest could compromise, or reasonably appear to compromise, the objectivity or independence of the review.

Reviewers should accept a manuscript for review only when they have the appropriate expertise and are able to provide an objective and timely assessment.

Confidentiality

Manuscripts submitted to HMDJ are the authors' private and confidential property. External reviewers must keep manuscripts and all information contained in them strictly confidential and must not share, copy, distribute, or use the manuscript or its contents for personal or professional purposes.

Reviewers must not disclose the identity of the authors, the content of the manuscript, or the peer-review process to any third party. Reviewers should not retain copies of the manuscript or use information obtained during peer review for their own research or personal benefit. After completing the review, reviewers should delete or securely destroy any downloaded or printed copies of the manuscript, where applicable.

Timeliness

If a external reviewer feel qualified to review a particular manuscript, he or she should only agree to review only if found able to return a review within the proposed or mutually agreed time-frame.

Scientific misconduct

If a external reviewer have concerns that misconduct occurred during either the research, its writing, submission, or its substantial similarity between the manuscript and a concurrent.

submission to another journal or a published article, he has a responsibility to let the journal Editorial team know.

Appropriate feedback

A external reviewer must provide a fair, honest, and unbiased assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the manuscript. For example, he has to be specific in his critique, and provide supporting evidence with appropriate references to substantiate general statements. He has to be professional and refrain from being hostile or inflammatory and from making libelous or derogatory personal comments. If the work is not clear because of missing analyses, the external reviewer should comment and explain what additional analyses would clarify the work submitted. It is not the job of the external reviewer to extend the work beyond its current scope.

Reviewer Reports

Reviewers are responsible for the scholarly content and professional integrity of their submitted review reports. Reviewers should clearly identify any co-reviewer or third party who contributed substantially to the review and should not involve another person in the peer-review process without prior permission from the Editorial Team.

Reviewer reports are treated as confidential editorial documents and are used by HMDJ for the purpose of evaluating the submitted manuscript.

Use and Disclosure of Reviewer Reports

Reviewer reports are confidential editorial documents and are used by HMDJ to inform editorial decisions. HMDJ does not publicly disclose reviewer reports or reviewer identities unless this is explicitly stated as part of a particular article's peer-review process or is required for ethical, legal, or scholarly reasons.

Authors' manuscripts remain confidential throughout the peer-review process and may not be disclosed or used by reviewers or other individuals involved in the review process for purposes unrelated to the evaluation of the manuscript.

Competing interests

HMDJ Editorial team agrees to ensure all editorial decisions based on the relevance of a manuscript to the journal and on the manuscript’s originality, quality, and contribution to evidence. They agree to ensure that those decisions will not be influenced by commercial interests or conflicts of Interest.

HMDJ ensures the independence and integrity of published content. As such, prior to appointment, all of our editorial team members are required to disclose any conflicts of interest in accordance with the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors uniform declaration of competing interests.

Preamble

A journal’s reputation is predicated on its ability to publish high-quality scientific works and depends upon the trust of authors, researchers, readers, reviewers, editors, and administrators of public health policy. This trust is enhanced by describing the journal’s policies as explicitly as possible to ensure the ethical treatment of all participants in the publication process. This can be achieved only, if the entire peer review and publication process is thorough, objective, and fair. Almost every aspect of this process should involve important ethical principles and decisions which are seldom openly stated and even less often shared with the readership.

Moreover, the medical journals seek to advance the state of medical art by publishing the highest quality scientific research and such quality cannot be achieved if plagiarism is abided or if the concept of plagiarism is not fully understood by clinicians, researchers, policy makers, public health workers, and physician- scientists.

Definition

According to the Concise Oxford Dictionary, Plagiarism is defined as “taking and using the thoughts, writing, and invention of another person as one’s own”.

Plagiarism can be subdivided into two categories: one where the author intends to mislead the reader’s to author’s contribution by passing off another’s work product as their own; and one where the author does not intend to mislead the reader but misunderstands proper citation or attribution. This second category is more accurately described as sloppy research work product or “innocent error of omission due to ignorance”. The most common forms of scientific misconduct include: -

• Falsification of data: Ranges from fabrication to deceptive selective reporting of findings and omission of conflicting data, or willful suppression and/or distortion of data
• Plagiarism: The appropriation of the language, ideas, or thoughts of another without crediting their true source, and representation of them as one's own original work.
• Self-Plagiarism: The verbatim or near-verbatim re-use of significant portions of one’s own copyrighted work without citing the original source.
• Improprieties of authorship: Improper assignment of credit, such as excluding others, misrepresentation of the same material as original in more than one publication, inclusion of individuals as authors who have not made a definite contribution to the work published; or submission of multi-authored publications without the concurrence of all authors.
• Misappropriation of the ideas of others: An important aspect of scholarly activity is the exchange of ideas among colleagues. Scholars can acquire novel ideas from others during the process of reviewing grant applications and However, improper use of such information can constitute fraud. Wholesale appropriation of such material constitutes misconduct.
• Violation of generally accepted research practices: Serious deviation from accepted practices in proposing or carrying out research, improper manipulation of experiments to obtain biased results, deceptive statistical or analytical manipulations, or improper reporting of results.
• Material failure to comply with legislative and regulatory requirements affecting research: Including but not limited to serious or substantial, repeated, willful violations of applicable local regulations and law involving the use of funds, care of animals, human subjects, investigational drugs, recombinant products, new devices, or radioactive, biologic, or chemical materials.
• Inappropriate behavior in relation to misconduct: This includes unfounded or knowingly false accusations of misconduct, failure to report known or suspected misconduct, withholding or destruction of information relevant to a claim of misconduct and retaliation against persons involved in the allegation or investigation.
• The editorial board of HMDJ acknowledges that there are grey areas of plagiarism such as the ones listed above where the author’s intent is not to mislead. If the author appears to have engaged in merely sloppy research/writing and this is the author’s first offense, the executive board will provide the author with the opportunity to revise his manuscript so that it is in accordance with the highest level of integrity and To this end, the editorial board will provide the author guidance on the proper citation/attribution of reference material.

Aim

• The aim of this policy is to apprise students, teachers, researchers about plagiarism and how it can be avoided.
• It is also aimed at discouraging Plagiarism by regulating and authorizing punitive actions against those found guilty of the act of plagiarism.
• To publish highest quality scientific research free from plagiarism.

Applicability

The policy is applicable to all manuscripts submitted for publication in HMDJ. All submitted manuscripts are screened for plagiarism using Turnitin software before proceeding with the editorial review process.

Guidelines

Beginning December 2021 HMDJ will implement this policy for dealing with acts of plagiarism and academics dishonesty. Plagiarism, if detected and proved, would be considered a punishable offence. Immediate and unbiased action will be taken by the Plagiarism Committee.

• All manuscripts will be scrutinized through Turnitin (software for detecting plagiarism) for generating and analyzing the originality report of that article. A minimum of a week will be given to the focal person for analyzing the article.
• As per HEC Guidelines (Annex-I), If the report has similarity index <=19%, then benefit of doubt may be given to the author but, in case, any single source has similarity index >=5% without citation then it needs to be revised and will be sent back to the author for revision to bring similarity index down to permissible limit
• After revision, it will again be processed through the same software for checking its originality. After satisfactory report (Sl below 19%), it will be sent to reviewers for peer review.
• If author fails to comply, the article will be sent back to the author again for review.
• If after second revision the author fails to comply, then the manuscript is rejected and further processing stopped.

HMDJ started in Dec 2021. Submission/Processing Fee: PKR. 2000/-. Publication Charges upon acceptance PKR. 10000/-

As per policy, the Editorial Board ensures that all manuscripts published in HMDJ are based upon morally and ethically acceptable research. HMDJ ensures that authors have followed the World Medical Association's Declaration of Helsinki during the conduct of research and in the preparation of their manuscript. In this regard, HMDJ aims to assess the ethical aspects of any type of submitted work that involves human participants, regardless of the descriptive label given to that work, including research, audit, and debate.

Ethical Approval letter:

HMDJ policy requires mandatory Institutional Review Board (IRB), Ethics Review Board (ERB), or equivalent committee approval at the time of manuscript submission for research involving human participants. The ethical approval letter should include a reference/approval number, date of approval, and signature/countersignature of the designated person of the IRB/ERB or equivalent committee.

What happens when the journal considers a study to be unethical? HMDJ believes that editors have a responsibility to address concerns regarding unethical research or audit, not to seek punishment for the authors, but to prevent unethical practices and protect research participants. If the Editorial Board determines that a study does not meet appropriate ethical standards, the manuscript will be rejected by HMDJ.

Exceptional circumstances:

In rare circumstances, HMDJ may receive a manuscript reporting research conducted in a setting where ethical requirements, regulations, or available resources differ from those applicable in the authors' or journal's setting. In such cases, the Editorial Board will carefully assess the ethical context of the study, including the standards applicable at the time and place where the research was conducted, the presence or absence of appropriate ethical oversight, and the potential benefits and harms to research participants.

HMDJ will not knowingly publish research that involves serious or unacceptable ethical violations. Where appropriate, the Editorial Board may seek additional information or clarification from the authors, their institution, or the relevant ethics committee before making a decision.

Informed Consent:

HMDJ requires appropriate informed consent to be obtained from research participants when required by the study design, applicable ethical standards, or regulations. Authors must confirm that informed consent was obtained where applicable. For research involving children or participants who cannot provide informed consent, consent must be obtained from a parent, legal guardian, or legally authorized representative, as appropriate.

This policy ensures that contributors who have made substantive intellectual contributions to an article are given credit. The contributors understand their role in taking responsibility and being accountable for what is published.

Authorship

HMDJ publish a list of authors’ names along with their contribution at the end of the The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals (ICMJE Recommendations 2019) recommends that authorship be based on the following four criteria:

• Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; AND
• Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content; AND
• Final approval of the version to be published; AND
• 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.

Corresponding author:

The corresponding author, should take primary responsibility for completing all necessary actions after acceptance of the manuscript and communicating with the journal and with readers after publication. All email communication from HMDJ will be sent to the corresponding author only.

Alteration to authorship:

If an author’s affiliation has changed during the course of the work, the author may either list the affiliation at the time that the research (or most significant portion of the research) was conducted, or their current affiliation, or both. The change of affiliation can be explained in the acknowledgements section.

Deceased authors;

Deceased persons deemed appropriate as authors should be highlighted to the Editorial team at the time of manuscript submission and this information should also be included in authors contributor ship-statement.

As per HMDJ policy, all authors must download the authorship (author agreement )form and completely fill it mentioning the conflict of interest and financial disclosure if any.

Acknowledgements;

An acknowledgements statement may be included at the end of the paper, detailing those who helped in carrying out the research but who have not been recognized as contributors, as well as for personal expressions of gratitude.

Competing Interests Policy

HMDJ follows the ICMJE guidelines in competing interest policy. According to ICMJE uniform declaration of competing interests, authors should disclose four types of information to clarify competing interests:

• Their associations with commercial entities that provided support for the work reported in the submitted manuscript (the time frame for disclosure in this section of the form is the lifespan of the work being reported).
• Their associations with commercial entities that could be viewed as having an interest in the general area of the submitted manuscript (the time frame for disclosure in this section is the 36 months before submission of the manuscript).
• Any similar financial associations involving their spouse or their children under 18 years of age.
• Non-financial associations that may be relevant to the submitted manuscript.

Where necessary, HMDJ encourages the authors to share their data to support the publication of their research studies and to interlink data with their published articles. The “Research data” refers to the observations or experiments’ results which confirm the research findings, including but not limited to raw data, processed data, software, algorithms, protocols, models, methods, and other related materials.

• HMDJ requires that the research data which supports research paper should be made available publicly and openly upon publication of article if required. If due to data confidentiality or sensitivity, open availability is not possible then it should be shared through a controlled access repository.
• HMDJ strongly encourages that the availability of data relevant to research article should be made available as soon as possible, wherever ethically and legally possible.
• HMDJ requires that clinical trials data should be made available upon reasonable request.

As a member of ICMJE, HMDJ requires that the clinical trials should include a data-sharing plan in the trial’s registration that begin enrolling participants on or after 1st January 2019. The ICMJE’s policy regarding trial registration is explained at www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/publishing-and-editorial- issues clinical-trial-registration.html. Changes to the plan must be noted in the Data Availability Statement and updated in the registry record (to comply with ICMJE recommendations).

In following this policy, if authors have made their study data accessible in a data repository, they can link their articles directly to the dataset. The authors may submit a data-sharing statement form along with their manuscripts which include information regarding anonymity of data, available additional related documents (e.g., study protocol or a statistical analysis plan), when and for how long the data will be available along with access criteria.

What data should be shared

HMDJ encourages the researchers to make available as much of the relevant data from their research paper as possible (without compromising confidentiality) in the form of processed or raw data. Data should not be shared in any way that could compromise participants’ privacy or anonymity, and if that would require the authors to break any laws or licensing agreements. If in a particular field, a research community has already established standards for how, what and where the data should be shared, our journal expects authors to meet those criteria.

We consider any files generated by authors’ research as constituting relevant data. Examples of data submitted include, individual-level deidentified patient data, statistical codes, spread sheets, text files, survey results, interview transcripts, images or videos, audio files, imaging and scanned files etc.

To enhance reproducibility and reuse, the data should be shared by using the sources file in which they were originally generated, for example:

• Images should be provided as .png, .jpg, .eps,
• Text files should be provided as .docx, .doc, .rft,
• Spreadsheets should be provided as .csv, .xls, .tsv,
• Videos should be provided as .mp4, .avi, .wav,
• Imaging and scan files should be provided in .img, .dcm, hdr,

How to access data that is available upon request:

Data requesters should do the following:

• Email the corresponding author for the research paper to request the relevant data.
• Give a detailed protocol for the proposed study, including funding and resources of your research your request.
• If appropriate, invite the original author[s] to participate in the re-analysis.
• If a month elapses without a response from the authors, the editorial team of HMDJ should be contacted through email.
• The editorial team will assess the request, and if appropriate, will encourage the authors or their institution to share the data, although HMDJ are not in a position to compel data release or broker agreements.

How to cite data

• All publicly available data which is used in the manuscript writing should be cited in the text and the reference list – whether they are data generated by the author(s) or by other researchers.
• Data citations follow HMDJ reference style.

• Example:

  John G, Rai S, Chu T, Tange M. Steroid induced effects like in coordination between GABAergic and Glutamatergic neurons in the HMDJ. 2019; 02(02):60-63.

Copyright and First-Publication Rights

Copyright of articles published in HMDJ remains with the authors. By submitting a manuscript, authors grant HITEC Medical & Dental Journal (HMDJ) the right of first publication and a non-exclusive license to publish, reproduce, distribute, display and archive the article.

Following publication, the same work must not be republished as an original article in another journal. Authors remain responsible for complying with HMDJ's policies regarding duplicate and redundant publication.

All published articles are made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0).

Open Access and Licensing

HMDJ is an open-access journal. All scholarly articles published by HMDJ are freely and immediately available online without subscription or registration.

Articles published in HMDJ are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0).

Under this license, readers may share, copy, redistribute, adapt, remix, transform, and build upon the published material for non-commercial purposes, provided they give appropriate credit to the original authors and source, provide a link to the license, and indicate any changes. The full terms of the license are available at the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International LicenseCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

HITEC Medical & Dental Journal (HMDJ) requires authors, reviewers, editors, and editorial board members to disclose any actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest that could influence, or reasonably appear to influence, the conduct, evaluation, or publication of a manuscript.

Authors

Authors must disclose all financial and non-financial relationships or interests that may be relevant to the submitted work. These may include, but are not limited to, employment, consultancy, honoraria, research funding, grants, personal or professional relationships, intellectual interests, patents, or other relationships that could potentially influence the research or its interpretation.

All authors are responsible for ensuring that conflicts of interest are appropriately disclosed at the time of manuscript submission. Where no relevant conflict exists, the manuscript should include a statement such as:

Conflict of Interest: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Reviewers

External reviewers must disclose any actual, potential, or perceived conflict of interest before accepting an invitation to review a manuscript. Reviewers should decline the review if a conflict could compromise, or reasonably appear to compromise, their objectivity or independence.

Examples include a close personal or professional relationship with an author, collaboration with an author, direct competition with the authors, financial interests related to the work, or any other circumstance that could affect the impartiality of the review.

Editors and Editorial Board Members

Editors and editorial board members must disclose any actual, potential, or perceived conflict of interest related to a manuscript. An editor or editorial board member with a conflict of interest must recuse themselves from the editorial handling and decision-making process for that manuscript.

They must not participate in the selection of reviewers, evaluation of reviewer reports, or final editorial decision concerning the manuscript.

Management of Conflicts of Interest

HMDJ evaluates disclosed conflicts of interest and may take appropriate measures to ensure the integrity and impartiality of the editorial and peer-review process. Depending on the nature of the conflict, the journal may request additional disclosure, assign the manuscript to another editor, appoint alternative reviewers, or take other appropriate action.

Disclosure of a conflict of interest does not necessarily mean that the manuscript will be rejected. The Editorial Team will assess the nature and potential impact of the disclosed conflict and determine the appropriate course of action.

Disclosure in Published Articles

Relevant conflicts of interest will be disclosed in the published article. Authors are responsible for providing complete and accurate conflict-of-interest information.

Where no relevant conflict exists, the article will state.

Conflict of Interest: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Submission policy

• All manuscripts should be typed in double spacing on A4 paper (8.27" × 11.69" / 21.0 cm × 29.7 cm) with one-inch (2.5 cm) margins on all sides
• All pages must be numbered consecutively, starting with the title page as page one.
• Each figure and table should be submitted as part of the manuscript according to the journal's Instructions for Authors
• All manuscripts must be submitted through the HMDJ online submission system (OJS) or by email to editor.hmdj@hitec-ims.edu.pk

Steps and timelines for publication of manuscript.

Following steps are taken for the publication of manuscript:

• Submission of manuscript: Manuscripts are submitted to HMDJ by email.
• Acknowledgement of submission: An acknowledgement email is sent to the corresponding author within 1–2 weeks of submission
• Plagiarism and reference checking: Submitted manuscripts undergo plagiarism/similarity screening and reference checking, normally within 2–4 weeks.
• Plagiarism/similarity assessment: If substantial inappropriate text overlap is identified, the manuscript may be returned to the authors for clarification or correction. Authors may be given 1–2 weeks to submit a revised manuscript, where applicable
• Initial editorial review: Manuscripts that meet the journal's basic requirements undergo an initial editorial assessment by the Associate Editor/Editorial Team, normally within 1–2 weeks.
• External peer review: Manuscripts that pass the initial editorial assessment are sent to at least two independent external reviewers. The target peer-review period is 4–6 weeks.
• Editorial decision: Following receipt of the reviewers' reports, the Editor/Editorial Team evaluates the manuscript and makes an editorial decision, normally within 1–2 weeks.
• Revision by authors: Where major or minor revisions are required, the manuscript is returned to the authors together with the reviewers' and/or editors' comments. Authors are normally requested to submit the revised manuscript within 2–4 weeks, depending on the extent of revision
• Final decision and acceptance: Following satisfactory completion of the revision process, the Editor/Editorial Team makes the final decision. An acceptance letter is issued to the corresponding author after final acceptance, normally within 1–2 weeks.
• Publication: Accepted manuscripts proceed to copyediting, formatting, proofing, DOI assignment, and publication according to the journal's publication schedule

Overall publication timeline: HMDJ aims to complete the editorial and peer-review process and publish accepted manuscripts within approximately 4–6 months from the date of initial submission, depending on the complexity of peer review, author revisions, and production requirements.

Corrections to published errors in medical research or publication are a part of publishing and when detected, needs publication of a correction at the earliest. HMDJ expects authors to intimate the editor about any errors of fact which is noticed in their manuscript once it’s published. After review by editorial team, the corrections are made at the journal’s discretion.

As Publishers, the HMDJ have a duty to maintain the integrity of the scientific record. For this reason, minor corrections that do not affect the scientific understanding of the paper (for example formatting or typographical errors or preference of wording) may be rejected. In addition, the correction procedure depends on the stage of manuscript process or publication stage, but in all circumstances a correction notice is published as soon as possible:

Ahead of print version:

Published ahead of print (or The Online First) version is considered the version of record, and not an opportunity to make changes prior to print publication. HMDJ will consider replacing this version with the corrected (updated) version and notes the changes that have been made and the date(s) on which the changes were made (in a correction notice at the end of the article). Previous electronic versions prominently note that there are more recent versions of the article. The correction notice will be retained in the print version for record.

Publication in an issue:

In a printed article (Hard copy version), a correction notice will be printed in the next available print issue. The online version of the article will link to the correction notice, and vice versa.

Retractions of research paper:

Retractions are considered by the editors or editorial team in cases of evidence of plagiarism, unreliable findings or data, duplicate publication, and unethical research. The editorial board may consider an expression of concern notice if submitted manuscript is under investigation. All retraction notices explain why the article was retracted. The retraction procedure depends on the publication stage of the article:

Ahead of print version:

A new version of the manuscript will be posted containing just the metadata, with a retraction note replacing the original text. A retraction notice will also be published in the next available print issue. The original text of article will remain accessible.

Publication in an issue or a continuous publication journal

A replacement version of the article will be posted containing just the metadata, with a retraction note replacing the original text. The PDF will be replaced with a version watermarked with “Retracted” but the original text will remain accessible. A retraction notice will also be published in the next available print issue. In rare cases, the journal may have to remove the original content for legal reasons. In such cases, the metadata (title and authors) will be available but text will be replaced with a note mentioning that the article has been removed for legal reasons. A retraction notice will also be published online and/or in print.

Retraction notices are indexed and linked to the original records in Medline and Web of Science if applicable.

Author name change requests

As per policy, the HMDJ wishes to ensure a smooth process to facilitate any change in author name after publication in an issue. As per policy, the authors may change their name for different genuine reasons, for example marriage, divorce, change in religion, change in gender identity, and any other personal reasons. As part of our author’s name change policy, the HMDJ will seek to uphold the following guidelines.

• As name change is a deeply personal decision and its possible that an individual may not wish to disclose this change to a large audience. We give option to the author to update their name with or without notice of correction. Unless explicitly requested, the journal will not include correction notice in any journal’s format.
• In respecting right to privacy, the journal will not inquire the reasons for the name change or ask for any legal name change However, the authors must confirm through signed letter that they are requesting the change on behalf of themselves.
• The journal will not request the approval of any co-authors on the paper to update the name.
• As part of any author name change request, HMDJ will endeavor to make any necessary changes to all references to the author’s identity, for example, email address, pronouns, images, authorship byline or any other occurrence within the body of their paper.
• The journal will update the PDF and/or HTML paper versions on HMDJ cannot control whether or when author name changes are made to other non-HMDJ sites. In this regards, if an author wishes that his work to be fully discoverable in all indexing and archiving sites under both prior and current names, than its authors responsibility to contact these indexes and databases directly.
• HMDJ does not have the ability to update citations in other publications for our journal papers in which a name change has been made.
• HMDJ will retain an original copy of the manuscript to ensure that the requested changes have been made accurately and to be able to demonstrate what versions of the article have been published at any given point, should that be required (e.g., for legal purposes). The original version will not be made publicly available.

Complaints may provide an opportunity and a spur for improvement, and so HMDJ aims to respond quickly, courteously, and constructively to the complaints made by our readers or authors. This policy procedure applies to the complaints that are related to the content, procedures or policies that are the responsibility of HMDJ or our editorial staff. The complaints must relate to content or a procedure that was the responsibility of HMDJ or our editorial staff. HMDJ define it as: “anything defined as a complaint by the complainant’ and ‘anything we believe goes beyond an expression of disagreement with a decision and identifies a perceived failure of process or severe misjudgment”.

The procedure outlined below aims to be fair to those registering complaints and those complained about.

• The complaint should be directly emailed to editor.hmdj@hitec-ims.edu.pk
• All complaints will be reviewed initially by our editorial team within 03 working days and an acknowledgement will be sent to the complainant.
• This team will direct the complaint to the relevant member of the editorial or publishing staff and escalate if required.
• In the case that this initial response is felt to be insufficient, the complainant can request that their complaint is escalated to a more senior member of the team.
• The outcome decision on the complaint made will be intimated to the complainant within one month.
• If the complainant remains unhappy, complaints may be escalated to HMDJ Chief Editor, whose decision is final in view to satisfy and justify the complaint.

Advertising and sponsorship are important to HMDJ in helping us to provide value for our users. Our users and customers expect HMDJ to be trustworthy, independent and to have integrity. Our advertising and sponsorship should support that expectation and these guidelines are to ensure the ethical boundaries as expected by regulatory bodies.

• HMDJ accepts advertising for medical or health related products and services that are of interest to users in their personal and as well as professional These advertisements or sponsorship should be decent, legal, truthful and comply with the relevant laws, regulations and industry codes for the geographic area in which they appear.
• HMDJ does not allow advertising or sponsorship to influence editorial decisions.
• The advertisement features need to conform to HMDJ specifications and published in such a way that readers should immediately be able to distinguish between advertising and editorial content.
• The advertisements and sponsorship should be delivered in Any surreptitious or subliminal advertising is not allowed.
• The sponsored content should be clearly identifiable and nature of any commercial relationship must be transparent to our users.
• Online advertising or sponsorship should not impede users’ access to editorial content.
• Journal accept advertising and sponsorship from competitors only.
• Advertising and sponsorship are subject to editorial oversight.

HMDJ requires authors to disclose all sources of financial or material support for the research and preparation of their manuscript. Authors should provide the name of the funding organization and grant or award number, where applicable.

HMDJ itself does not receive external funding for its editorial, peer-review, or publication activities, and editorial decisions are independent of financial considerations.

Authors must also disclose the role of any funding organization in the study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation of results, manuscript preparation, or decision to submit the manuscript for publication.

If the research received no external financial support, authors should state:

Funding: No external funding was received for this study.

All relevant financial relationships or interests that could influence the research or its interpretation must also be disclosed in accordance with HMDJ's Conflict of Interest Policy.

HMDJ is an Open Access journal; authors are encouraged to make their article publicly available according to the Attribution-Non Commercial4.0 International License. Authors published under a CC BY-NC 4.0 licence may share and distribute their articles on non-commercial websites and repositories.

Authors are advised to refrain from posting manuscripts during pre-publishing in institutional repositories, or websites, before and during the submission process. They may, however, post the PDF version of the publisher's final format without embargo after publication. Authors should always clearly attribute HMDJ as the original source of publication and provide accurate citation details when posting, reusing, or distributing published Open Access articles elsewhere.

HMDJ considers manuscripts for publication on the understanding that they have not been previously published and are not currently under consideration for publication elsewhere.

Authors must not submit the same manuscript simultaneously to more than one journal or republish substantially the same work in another journal without appropriate justification, disclosure, and permission where required.

Authors are required to disclose any previous publication, submission, or related manuscript that substantially overlaps with the submitted work at the time of submission.

If duplicate or redundant publication is identified before publication, HMDJ may reject the manuscript. If it is identified after publication, HMDJ may take appropriate action in accordance with its publication-ethics procedures, which may include publication of a correction, expression of concern, or retraction, depending on the circumstances.

Authors remain responsible for ensuring that their submission complies with applicable ethical standards and HMDJ's publication policies.