Ethics and Malpractice Policy

Ethical Policy

Pakistan Journal of Economic Studies (PJES) follows rigorous ethical standards for publishing articles. PJES ethics and malpractice statement is conceptualized on Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines. Author (s) are solely responsible for the originality and reliability of the research outcomes and must comply following rules.

  • Authors of original research should present an accurate account of the work performed and the results, followed by an objective discussion of the significance of the work.
  • The manuscript should contain sufficient detail and references to permit others to replicate the work.
  • Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behaviour and are unacceptable.
  • Authors may be asked to provide the raw data of their study together with the manuscript for editorial review and should be prepared to make the data publicly available if practicable, provided that the confidentiality of the participants can be protected and legal rights concerning proprietary data do not preclude their release.
  • Data and findings of the research shall be provided only if they are real and reliable.
  • Authors should ensure that they have written and submit only entirely original works, and if they have used the work and/or words of others, that this has been appropriately cited.
  • Publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the work reported in the manuscript should also be cited.
  • Plagiarism takes many forms, from "passing off" another's paper as the author's own, to copying or paraphrasing substantial parts of another's paper (without attribution), to claiming results from research conducted by others. Plagiarism in all its forms constitutes unethical publishing behaviour and is unacceptable.
  • The contribution of other works shall be acknowledged and referred appropriately. Data sources and supporting evidence must be cited accurately in the text and references section.
  • Findings of highlighted research issue must be original.
  • Any manuscript shall not be submitted if it is already published or sent for publication in another journal. Submission of a manuscript concurrently to more than one journal is unethical publishing behaviour and unacceptable.
  • Only persons should be listed as authors who are able to take public responsibility for the content and
  1. Made significant contributions to the conception, design, execution, data acquisition, or analysis/interpretation of the study; and
  2. Drafted the manuscript or revised it critically for important intellectual content; and
  • Have seen and approved the final version of the paper and agreed to its submission for publication
  • All persons who made substantial contributions to the work reported in the manuscript (such as technical help, writing and editing assistance, general support) but who do not meet the criteria for authorship must not be listed as an author, but should be acknowledged in the "Acknowledgements" section after their written permission to be named as been obtained.
  • The corresponding author should ensure that all appropriate coauthors (according to the above definition) and no inappropriate co-authors are included in the author list and verify that all co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the manuscript and agreed to its submission for publication.
  • Information obtained privately (from the conversation, correspondence or discussion with third parties) must not be used or reported without explicit, written permission from the source.
  • Authors should not use information obtained in the course of providing confidential services, such as refereeing manuscripts or grant applications unless they have obtained the explicit written permission of the author(s) of the work involved in these services.
  • There shall be no violation of copyrights in the text, tables, graphics and formulas of the manuscript.
  • Authors are obliged to participate in the peer-review process and cooperate fully by responding promptly to editors’ requests for raw data, clarifications, and proof of ethics approval, patient consents and copyright permissions.
  • PJES strictly condemns breach of research ethics and copyright infringement in submitted articles. Authors are responsible for any kind of manifestations of plagiarism in their manuscript and the editorial board takes rigorous steps to prevent such violations.
  • The authors are accountable for the accuracy of provided information i.e., facts, personal, geographical, companies, organizational and institutional names etc.
  • The opinions expressed in research articles are by the authors that do not necessarily suggest the viewpoints of the editorial board. Therefore, no obligation is imposed on the PJES editorial team in this context.

Handling of Misconduct and Complaints

In cases of alleged or proven scientific misconduct, fraudulent publication or plagiarism, the publisher, in close collaboration with the editors, will take all appropriate measures to clarify the situation and to amend the article in question. This includes the prompt publication of an erratum, clarification or, in the most severe case, the retraction of the affected work. The publisher, together with the editors, shall take reasonable steps to identify and prevent the publication of papers where research misconduct has occurred, and under no circumstances encourage such misconduct or knowingly allow such misconduct to take place.