Withdrawal Policy

The Pakistan Journal of Healthcare Research (PJHR) maintains a clear and ethical withdrawal policy to ensure transparency, integrity, and fairness in the publication process. This policy applies to articles that have been submitted, accepted, or published in the journal, and outlines the conditions under which authors may request to withdraw their submissions or published articles.

1. Withdrawal of Manuscripts Before Acceptance

• Author-Initiated Withdrawal: Authors may request the withdrawal of their manuscript from consideration at any stage before final acceptance. This includes during peer review, revisions, or after receiving the decision from the editorial board.
• Procedure: To initiate a withdrawal request, the corresponding author must notify the editorial team in writing, explaining the reasons for the withdrawal. This request should be submitted via email or the journal’s submission portal.
• Confirmation: Once the withdrawal request is received, the editorial team will review the request and confirm the withdrawal of the manuscript. The author will receive a confirmation email indicating that the manuscript has been officially withdrawn.
• Reason for Withdrawal: Authors may be asked to provide a brief reason for withdrawal, but this is not mandatory. However, providing reasons can help the journal improve its processes.

2. Withdrawal of Accepted Manuscripts Before Publication

• Author-Initiated Withdrawal: After a manuscript has been accepted but before it has been published, authors may still request to withdraw the article from the journal. Reasons for withdrawal may include, but are not limited to, changes in the authors' affiliations, errors in the manuscript, or simultaneous submission to another journal.
• Procedure: A formal written request for withdrawal must be made to the editorial team. The request should include a clear explanation of the reason for withdrawal.
• Acceptance of Withdrawal: The editorial board will review the withdrawal request. If the manuscript has already been processed for publication (e.g., copyediting, layout), the withdrawal may still be permitted but may incur processing charges.

3. Withdrawal of Published Articles

• Post-Publication Withdrawal: Once an article has been officially published in the journal, it is generally considered final and cannot be withdrawn. However, there may be rare cases in which the editorial board will consider a post-publication withdrawal.
• Conditions for Post-Publication Withdrawal:
  • Scientific Misconduct: If the article is found to contain scientific misconduct (e.g., plagiarism, falsification of data) after publication, the article may be withdrawn or retracted. In this case, the author(s) and the journal will follow the retraction procedures in accordance with ethical guidelines.
  • Authorship Dispute: If there is a dispute regarding authorship or an issue of misrepresentation, the journal will work with the authors to resolve the situation. In cases where a satisfactory resolution cannot be reached, the article may be retracted or marked as withdrawn.
  • Legal Issues: If the article becomes the subject of legal action, the journal may withdraw it from publication pending legal resolution.
  • Serious Errors or Violations: If there are significant errors or violations that affect the validity or ethics of the published article, the editorial board may consider a retraction.

4. Retraction vs. Withdrawal

• Retraction refers to the removal of an article from the journal’s archives due to issues such as scientific misconduct, plagiarism, or legal concerns. A retracted article is marked as such in the online version, and the reasons for retraction are clearly stated.
• Withdrawal refers to a voluntary decision by the authors to remove their article from the journal’s consideration before it is published. Once an article is accepted for publication, withdrawal is no longer possible unless the conditions mentioned above apply.

5. Handling of Submitted Articles with Incomplete Information

• If an article is submitted with incomplete or incorrect information (e.g., missing data, author names, references), the editorial team will notify the corresponding author to correct the submission. If the corrections are not made in a reasonable time frame, the manuscript may be withdrawn by the editorial board.

6. Communication of Withdrawal

• Upon withdrawal of any manuscript (whether before acceptance, after acceptance, or after publication), the journal will update its system to reflect the status of the manuscript.
• Authors will receive a written notification confirming the status of the withdrawal. In cases where the article is withdrawn post-publication, an official notice of withdrawal will be issued, which will be published in the journal to ensure transparency.

7. Ethical Considerations

• The Pakistan Journal of Healthcare Research maintains strict adherence to ethical guidelines during the withdrawal process. The journal ensures that all withdrawal requests are processed in a timely manner and that authors’ rights and responsibilities are upheld.
• Authors are expected to respect the journal’s ethical standards and avoid multiple withdrawals or repeated submission of the same manuscript to different journals simultaneously.

8. Review of Policy

• This withdrawal policy will be reviewed periodically by the editorial board to ensure compliance with best practices in academic publishing and to address any evolving issues related to manuscript submission and withdrawal.
• Any changes to the policy will be communicated to authors, reviewers, and readers promptly.

By adhering to this Withdrawal Policy, the Pakistan Journal of Healthcare Research ensures a transparent, ethical, and organized approach to handling manuscript submissions and published content, maintaining the integrity of the journal and the research community.