Journal policies

Journal of Clinical and Community Ophthalmology (JCCO) is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal published in print and online biannually (six-monthly). The audience of JCCO includes ophthalmologists, optometrists, vision scientists, and other health care professionals and researchers interested in eye and vision. JCCO is sponsored by the Pakistan Institute of Community Ophthalmology.

2. Aim & Scope of the Journal

JCCO is a comprehensive journal on ophthalmology and vision sciences accepting contributions in English from all over the world. JCCO aims to establish itself as a leading ophthalmology and vision sciences journal and to provide a platform for ophthalmologists, optometrists, and vision scientists to publish and share their work.

3. Manuscript Types

JCCO accepts submissions in the form of original articles (basic research and clinical research), case reports, review articles, systematic reviews, letters to the editor, and opinions in all fields related to eye and vision. Submissions must be original contributions neither previously published nor currently under consideration for publication elsewhere in any format (paper or electronic formats) and language.

4. Editorial and Peer Review Policies

All manuscripts submitted for publication in JCCO are subjected to double-blind peer-review and editorial approval before accepting for publication. Authors can suggest suitable independent reviewers in the cover letter, specialized in the relevant field, but the editor's decision regarding the selection of referees is final. The peer-review process is confidential and conducted anonymously. Outcomes of the review process include acceptance, acceptance with revisions but without re-review, revision and resubmit or rejection. Results of the review process will be intimated to the corresponding author within 2 to 4 months of submission.

5. Ethical Consideration

For all manuscripts reporting data from studies involving human participants or animals, approval of the research from the institute research and ethical committee or an appropriate institutional review board is required. The principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki must be followed. The author must state in the Methods section the manner (written/verbal) in which informed consent was obtained.

6. Authorship

Once the manuscript is accepted for publication by JCCO, the corresponding author is responsible to submit immediately a copyright transfer agreement signed by all the authors. The author's declaration form should be duly filled and signed by all authors and should be submitted as a separate file with the manuscript. The corresponding author must carefully check that only those who contributed to the research work should be acknowledged as contributing authors. JCCO follows authorship guidelines provided by ICMJE, according to which, the contributing authors are those who:

Made a substantial contribution to the concept or design of the work; or acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data, AND
Drafted the work or revised it critically for important intellectual content; AND
Gave final approval of the version to be published; AND
Agreed 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.

There is no limit on the number of authors for a report of research (provided the authorship criteria are met. It is not permissible to use a gift or honorary authorship. A Gift/honorary author is identified as an author but does not meet the requirements for authorship, as well as someone whose name has been included without consent, but for acknowledgment. Any modifications to authorship (such as adding or removing authors, or changing the order of authors in the byline) must be satisfactorily justified and a written statement from the corresponding author should be sent, showing that all co-authors have agreed to the change in authorship. The authors are responsible for ensuring agreement among all contributors. JCCO and its editors are not responsible for evaluating, mediating, or settling author conflicts between the authors.

In case of significant disagreement among authors about a manuscript under consideration, JCCO will put the manuscript evaluation on hold until the disagreements are resolved satisfactorily among all authors and the journal obtains documentary evidence from all authors demonstrating that the disagreements have been resolved satisfactorily.

Once the manuscript is submitted for publication by JCCO, the corresponding author is responsible to submit immediately a Copyright Transfer Agreement signed by all the authors.

Please refer to the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) authorship guidelines for more information on authorship.

7. Conflict of Interest

All authors listed in the manuscript are required to declare a conflict of interest such as relevant financial interests, relationships, and affiliations during the submission process. It is the responsibility of the corresponding author to get a signed conflict of interest form from each author. Authors without conflicts of interest should indicate that they have no conflicts of interest. For example:

Conflicts of Interest: Jan H, None; Shah A, None, and so on.

8. Preparing Manuscript

Original Article: The acceptable manuscript file format is Microsoft Word. The text should be double-spaced. The manuscript document should be sent in three separate files; Cover Letter, Title Page, and Main manuscript (it includes Structured Abstract, Keywords, Text, Figures/Tables, Acknowledgments, and References) and should be organized as follows:

Cover Letter (optional): It should be submitted as a separate document.
Title Page: It should preferably be submitted as a separate document.
Structured Abstract: a 300-word limit
Keywords
Text
Figures, tables
Acknowledgments
Author(s)' Contributions
References

Beginning with the title page, the manuscript file should include page numbers and each of these sections should start on a new page.

1. Cover Letter (optional): A cover letter may be submitted as a separate file with each manuscript by the corresponding author. The author(s) must clearly explain the scope of the research. The cover letter should not be more than 200 words and must include the address, mobile/contact number, and email address of the corresponding author. The authors can suggest two independent reviewers here but the editorial office has the right to accept or reject the suggested reviewers.

2. Title page: The title page is the first page of the manuscript. It should be in Microsoft Word (doc/docx.) format and preferably be submitted as a separate file during article submission. On the title page, the author must indicate the following:

Title: Title must be short (≤14 notional words) and should not be more than 160 characters, including punctuation and spaces. The title should not contain any abbreviation. The title should be comprehensive containing major keywords related to the content of the manuscript.
Running Title (optional): A short running title of fewer than 70 characters
Name of Author(s): Full name, qualifications, designations, and affiliations of all authors. Full contact details including the present address, email, and mobile/contact number of the corresponding author should be given separately on the title page. Only one author amongst all authors should be a corresponding author.
Authors’ affiliations: The authors' institutional/departmental affiliations where they work and the place/institute where research work was carried out.
Declaration of Funding: Funding or sources of support in the form of grants, equipment, drugs, etc related to the research.
Declaration of conflict of interest statement: All authors.

3. Structured Abstract: A structured abstract of not more than 300 words is required for all manuscripts. An abstract should present a concise summary of the whole manuscript with important data. The abstract should not contain citations. The structured abstract should be arranged under the following headings:

Aim(s):
Study Design:
Duration and Settings of the study:
Methods:
Results:
Conclusion(s):

4. Keywords: Three to five keywords that reflect the content of the study should be provided after the abstract. Keywords should be from Medical Subject Heading (MeSH) database. For details check https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/.

5. Text of the manuscript: JCCO recommends a 3,500 or fewer word count, excluding the title page, abstract, legends, and references. The main text of the manuscript should be structured into the following sections:

Introduction: Do not use subheadings. In a brief introduction provide the rationale and objectives of the research and any major hypothesis that was tested. The introduction should not be more than five paragraphs.
Methods: Methods section should start from the study design. Subjects used, the instruments, questionnaire, materials, techniques, tools, equipment, outcome variables and procedures followed should be included. Statistical methods applied must be clearly mentioned.
Results: The results including data, effects, and outcomes should be included. The statistical significance should be presented where needed. Results mentioned in the tables should not be repeated in text and vice versa.
Discussion: Limit the discussion section to key findings of the study data and their limitations. Correlate/compare with other studies. Do not repeat the results in the discussion section.
Conclusion: Conclusion must be justified by the key findings of the results.

6. Tables, Figures, Artwork, and other graphics: All tables should be in Microsoft Word format and placed in the main text where the table is first referenced. Avoid large tables which cannot fit on one page or simplify the table to fit onto one page. Each table should be self-explanatory and the data presented in the table should not be repeated in the text. Each table should have a brief and meaningful title. Tables should be numbered as 1, 2, 3, and so on. All abbreviations within the table should be explained in a footnote to the corresponding table. Each figure should be embedded in the main text where the figure is referenced first. Figures should be numbered separately from tables as 1, 2, 3, and so on. Data presented in figures should not be repeated in the text. Images should be of good quality and each image should be less than 2 MB in size. Images can be submitted as JPEG (preferable) or TIFF files. Legends for each figure/image should be included at the end of the article. For the original article, a total of four tables or figures are permitted.

7. Acknowledgments: Contributions from individuals who provided any kind of support but do not meet the criteria for authorship of the manuscript should be listed in the acknowledge section. Permission/consent from the contributor is mandatory. Financial and material support should also be mentioned.

8. Author(s)' Contributions: The contribution of each author should be mentioned here. JCCO follows authorship guidelines provided by ICMJE, and each author should meet the following criteria:

Made a substantial contribution to the concept or design of the work; or acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data, AND
Drafted the work or revised it critically for important intellectual content; AND
Gave final approval of the version to be published; AND
Agreed 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.

9. References: It is recommended for authors to cite works that have been published within the last ten years, with at least 30% of those works coming from the last five years. There should be 15-20 references for an original article. JCCO accepts Vancouver's style of reference. The list of references should be numerically by order of citation in the text or tables shown as superscript numbers. JCCO does not accept unpublished data as bibliographic references.

References to journal articles should be in the following order: (1) author(s) name (if there are more than six, write "et al." after the sixth name), (2) title of the article, (3) abbreviated journal name (as abbreviated in Index Medicus), (4) year of publication, (5) volume number, (6) issue number, and (7) page numbers.
References to books should include (1) author(s) name, (2) chapter title (if any), (3) editor(s) name (if any), (4) title of the book, (5) city/country of publication, (6) publisher, (7) year of publication, and (8) inclusive page numbers.

Examples

Journals

Sun J, Zhou J, Zhao P, Lian J, Zhu H, Zhou Y, et al. High prevalence of myopia and high myopia in 5060 Chinese university students in Shanghai. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2012;53(12):7504-9.

Books (Printed)

An entire book: Authors’ surnames and initials. Book Title. Edition number (if it is the second edition or above). State (or Country) of publisher: Publisher’s name; copyright year. E.g.

Carlson BM. Human embryology and developmental biology. 4th ed. St. Louis: Mosby; 2009. 541p.

Chapter in a book: Authors’ surnames and initials. Chapter Title. Surname and initials of book authors or editors (or translator, if any). Book Title. Edition number (if it is the second edition or above). State (or Country) of publisher: Publisher’s name; copyright year. Page number.

e.g., Bye L, Modi N, Stanford M. Anatomy. Basic Sciences for Ophthalmology. UK: Oxford University Press; 2013:1-10.

Books (Online/electronic)

Authors’ surnames and initials. Book Title. Edition number (if it is the second edition or above). State (or Country) of publisher: Publisher’s name; copyright year; available from: URL;Date of access.

Web page/website

Author/Editor (use the corporate author if no individual author or editor is named); Title; Available from: URL; Date of access

Case Reports: Must be academically and educationally valuable, as well as provide context for the unusual sickness being reported. A case report should have a maximum word count of 1500 words and at least three keywords. It should have a title page, non-structured abstract (maximum 300 words), and main text. The main text should be under the following headings; introduction, case report, and discussion. There should be no more than 5 references and a maximum of two figures and one table.

Review Article: The topic of the review article must be within the scope of this journal. This category belongs to narrative reviews on topics of interest. A review article should have a maximum word count of 4000 words and at least five keywords. It should have a title page, non-structured abstract (maximum 300 words), and main text. These should be submitted as three separate files and no more than 50 references.

Systematic Review: Systematic reviews with and without meta-analyses are published in this journal. While submitting the manuscript, the authors must follow the PRISMA guidelines and should include the PRISMA flowchart in the manuscript while reporting their work. A systematic review should have a maximum word count of 4000 words and at least five keywords. It should have a title page, a non-structured abstract (maximum 300 words), and a main text. These should be submitted as three separate files and no more than 50 references.

Letter to Editor: The authors can write to the editor about previously published articles in this journal. It should not exceed the 400-word limit and should be concise and in a polite manner. A maximum of 5 references will be allowed in this category.

Opinion: Opinion articles are often used to discuss current issues, debates, trends, or emerging concepts in the medical field and they must be academically and educationally valuable. These articles are generally subjective and may involve the author's interpretation of existing evidence, personal experiences, or reflections on a specific subject. They provide a platform for experts and professionals in the medical community to share their insights, critique existing practices, propose new ideas, or highlight areas that may require further research or attention. An opinion article should have a maximum word count of 2000 words and at least three keywords. It should have a title page, a non-structured abstract (maximum 300 words), and a main text that includes an introduction, discussion, and conclusion(s). There should be at least 5 references and a maximum of two figures and one table.

Editorials: Are upon invitation.

Advertisement Policy

All advertisements and funded/commercially sponsored publications are independent of editorial decisions. JCCO does not allow advertising or sponsorship to influence editorial decisions. Internet advertising or sponsorship won’t block users’ access to editorial content. We don’t promote or sponsor tobacco-related products or items that are hazardous to wellbeing. Advertisement and sponsorship are dependent upon editorial oversight. JCCO’s editor-in-chief reserves all the authority to acknowledge and dismiss advertising and sponsorship recommendations.

Advertising is separate from content. Advertisers and sponsors have no advanced information about our editorial content, nor do the editors have advanced information about advertisers. Content is never changed, added, or erased to accommodate advertising. Advertisers and sponsors have no input regarding any of our editorial decisions or advertising policies. The advertising sales representatives have neither control over, nor prior knowledge of, specific editorial content before it is published.
JCCO reserves all the authority to decline or drop any promotion at any time.
Readers who click on a promotion banner or other advertising link may connect to a site unique about JCCO to see extra data. Such destinations may likewise ask guests for extra information. JCCO doesn’t take part in, nor control such destinations.
Advertisements for pharmaceutical products (including new medication applications) should conform to Drug Regulatory Authority in regards to promotion and advertisements.
JCCO doesn’t endorse any organization, item, or service showing up in its advertisements.

Authors retain the rights of free downloading/unlimited e-print of full text and sharing/disseminating the article without any restriction.

Self-Archive Policy

1. Pre-Print

[A pre-print is the author’s version of the article before peer-review has taken place]

Before acceptance for publication, the author(s) retain the right to make a Pre-Print of their Article available on any of the following

their own personal, self-maintained website

Once the article has been published, the Author(s) should update the acknowledgment and provide a link to the definitive version on the website of JCCO.

2. Author’s Accepted Manuscript (AAM)

[AAM is the version accepted for publication in a journal following peer review but before copyediting and typesetting]

Author(s) retain the right to make an AAM of their Article available immediately on acceptance, without any embargo period, on any of the following:

on their own personal, self-maintained website
their employer’s internal website
their institutional and/or funder repositories

After publication, an acknowledgment in the following form should be included, together with a link to the published version on the JCCO website.

3. Published Article (Version of Record)

[Published article is the version published (online/print) in a journal following peer review, copyediting and typesetting]

Author(s) retain the right to share/disseminate the published article without any embargo period, by any means including Twitter, scholarly collaboration networks like Google Scholar, LinkedIn, Academia.edu, Research Gate, Twitter, and any other personal, professional or academic website. A link to the published version on the publisher’s website:

Authors should preferably give a link to the published version on the JCCO website:

Authorship Policy

An author declaration form signed by all contributing authors must be submitted along with the manuscript. The corresponding author must carefully check that only those who contributed to the research work should be acknowledged as contributing authors. JCCO follows authorship guidelines provided by ICMJE, according to which, the contributing authors are those who:

Made a substantial contribution to the concept or design of the work; or acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data, AND
Drafted the work or revised it critically for important intellectual content; AND
Gave final approval of the version to be published; AND
Agreed 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.

Once the manuscript is submitted for publication by JCCO, the corresponding author is responsible to submit immediately a Copyright Transfer Agreement signed by all the authors.

Please refer to the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) authorship guidelines for more information on authorship.

Conflict of Interest, Financial disclosure, Confidentiality, and Gender policy

Conflict of Interest (COI)

JCCO will ensure the adoption of COI through:

a) COI Disclosure of:

Financial ties
Academic commitment
Personal relationship
Political or religious beliefs
Institutional affiliation
Any other information that will cause COI

b) Making sure through instructions that no person involved in the publication process of the journal will exploit its office for publishing of the article.

Financial Disclosure and Role of Funding Source

The authors will be required to disclose their COI related to financial and/or funding sources in the acknowledgment section of their article.

Confidentiality Policy

JCCO Editors and staff will ensure the confidentiality of all information related to the submitted manuscript.

Gender Policy

JCCO will follow Gender Neutral policy for the publication of its articles.

Clinical Trials Registration

The Journal of Clinical and Community Ophthalmology (JCCO) follows International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) guidelines on trial registration. The trial should be prospectively registered with any of the registries that is a primary register of the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) and can be accessed here (https://www.who.int/clinical-trials-registry-platform/network/primary-registries).

The ICMJE defines a clinical trial as “any research project that prospectively assigns people or a group of people to an intervention, with or without concurrent comparison or control groups, to study the relationship between a health-related intervention and a health outcome. Health-related interventions are those used to modify a biomedical or health-related outcome; examples include drugs, surgical procedures, devices, behavioral treatments, educational programs, dietary interventions, quality improvement interventions, and process-of-care changes. Health outcomes are any biomedical or health-related measures obtained in patients or participants, including pharmacokinetic measures and adverse events.”

For more details, kindly visit (http://www.icmje.org/icmje-recommendations.pdf).

Complaint Policy

This process pertains to complaints against the JCCO editorial staff's policies, procedures, or actions. Despite maximum efforts to improve the standard of JCCO, we acknowledge that some mistakes still might happen. JCCO welcomes highlighting any such errors in the form of complaints, because it provides a chance to improve, and we strive to reply immediately and effectively.

The JCCO will review the complaint, and based on the investigation findings, a decision will be made, which will be conveyed to all relevant parties.

1. Criteria For Complaint:

The complainant describes his or her expression of dissatisfaction as a complaint.
We assume that the complainant isn't just disagreeing with a conclusion we've made or something we've published (which occurs all the time), but believes that there's been a procedural flaw – such as a long delay or a harsh response – or a serious error in judgment.
The complaint must be regarding something that is under the JCCO's authority in terms of content or methodology.

JCCO acknowledges the complaints stated below:

Authorship complaints
Plagiarism complaints
Multiple, duplicate, concurrent publication/Simultaneous submission.
Undisclosed conflicts of interest
Reviewer bias or competitive harmful acts by reviewers.

2. Policy For Handling Complaints:

Suppose the journal receives any complaints alleging violation of intellectual property rights or the presence of inaccuracies or unlawful material. In that case, the journal will immediately pay careful attention to the complaint, investigate the various components of the complaint, and attempt to resolve and satisfy the complaints.
The Journal will make a good-faith decision on whether to eliminate the allegedly wrongful content after conducting an investigation, which may include requesting that the parties involved verify their accusations.
The Journal is responsible for documenting all investigations and conclusions.

3. Editorial Complaint Policy:

The Managing Editor and staff of JCCO publication will make a concerted effort to correct the situation as soon as reasonably practicable and in the most suitable manner possible, including providing a right of reply when applicable. We will review complaints in a blame-free manner as much as possible and will also seek ways to improve procedures to prevent future mistakes.

4. How to Make a Complaint:

Complaints concerning the journal, its staff, editorial board, or publisher should be directed to managingeditor@jcco.pico.org.pk with the subject line "COMPLAINT." Please include the following information in your complaint: journal title, volume number, issue number, article ID, paper title, and page number.

Open Access, Copyright, and Data Sharing Policy

Open-Access, Copyright, and Permissions Policy

JCCO is an open-access peer-review journal. It allows sharing/distribution of the authors’ works of JCCO without modifications and only for non-commercial use under CC BY-NC Creative Common open-access license 4.0. Permission of the author is required for further use of the author’s work.

Data Sharing Policy

JCCO is an open-access journal and it encourages the authors to share the data supporting the results of the study provided that it does not violate human and others’ privacy rights/concerns.

JCCO requires the authors to select at least one of the following standardized Data Availability Statements on submission of their works:-

Data are available in a public, open access repository.
Data are available on reasonable request.
Data may be obtained from 3^rd party and are not publicly available.
All data relevant to the study are included in the article or uploaded as supplementary information.
Data sharing is not applicable as no database was generated and/or analyzed for the study
No data are available.

Peer Review Policy

After a paper is submitted to JCCO, the journal editor will go through the manuscript and decide whether or not to send it for full peer review. Only after passing the initial screening, the manuscript will be sent to two or more peer reviewers. Finally, journal editors or the journal’s editorial board after considering the peer reviewers’ reports will make the final decision to accept or reject the manuscript for publication.

JCCO will follow a double-blind review system.

1. Final Decision

The JCCO journal editor or editorial board will consider the feedback provided by the peer reviewers and shall make one of the following decisions:

Accept without any changes (acceptance): JCCO will publish the paper in its original form.
Accept with minor revisions (acceptance): JCCO will publish the paper and asks the author to make minor corrections.
Accept after major revisions (conditional acceptance): JCCO will publish the paper provided the authors make the changes suggested by the reviewers and/or editors.
Rejections: The paper will be rejected for publication in the journal.

COPE Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers (https://bit.ly/2xkGTcq).

2. Article Processing Charges

No Charges will be charged for the submission and publishing of the articles from the authors.

Post-Publication Discussions and Corrections Policy

If authors detect mistakes in their published work, they should report to us as quickly as possible, especially if the inaccuracies potentially alter the interpretation of data or the validity of the information given. Before submitting any requests for revisions or retractions to an article, the corresponding author must confirm that consensus has been established among all indicated co-authors.

If a correction or retraction is necessary for your article, contact the journal’s managing Editor via our official email managingeditor@jcco.pico.org.pk.

1. Correction Notice:

JCCO has separate procedures for the correction of major and minor errors.

For correction notices, major errors or omissions are considered to be any changes that impact the interpretation of the article, but where the scholarly integrity of the article remains intact, for example, mislabeling of a figure, the omission of essential funding information, or the authors' competing interests, etc.

A separate correction notice will be issued for each major error, which will provide clear details of the error and the changes that have been made to the Version of Record. Under these circumstances, JCCO will:

Correct the online article.
Issue a separate correction notice electronically, linked back to the corrected version.
Add a footnote to the article displaying the electronic link to the correction notice.
Make the correction notice available and free of cost, in the journal's online edition.

In case of minor errors, there will be no extra correction notice. Instead, a footnote will be inserted into the article to inform the reader that it has been amended. Minor mistakes have little impact on the scholarly content's credibility or the reader's comprehension.

2. Retraction:

A retraction notice will be given if the article's conclusions are compromised by a major error (e.g., in the analysis or methodology), or if research misconduct or publishing misconduct has occurred (e.g. research without required ethical approvals, fabricated data, manipulated images, plagiarism, duplicate publication, etc). The decision to retract an article will be undertaken in conformity with COPE rules and will include a joint inquiry by the JCCO editorial staff and the editor. Authors and institutions may request a retraction of their articles if their reasons meet the criteria for retraction.

Retraction will be considered:

If there is obvious evidence that the findings are unreliable, either due to misconduct (e.g. data falsification or image manipulation) or honest error (e.g. miscalculation or experimental error).
If the findings have been published earlier without adequate cross-referencing, authorization, or justification (e.g. cases of duplicate publication).
If the findings have been published earlier, without adequate cross-referencing, authorization, or justification (e.g. cases of duplicate publication).
If there is any indication of plagiarism, authorship fraud, unethical research, or a compromised peer review process.

When a decision to retract an article is reached, JCCO will:

Add a "RETRACTED" watermark to the article's published version of the Record.
Issue a separate retraction statement labeled "Retraction: [article title]" with a link to the JCCO Online retracted article.

Please refer to the COPE website for more information regarding article retraction.

3. Article Removal:

An article removal notice will be given in exceptional cases if the issues are extremely serious and cannot be resolved by a Retraction or Correction notice. In extremely limited cases, JCCO will consider removing a published article from JCCO journals, such as:

If the article includes material that might represent a major risk if followed or acted upon.
If the article contains content that infringes on a research participant's right to privacy.
If the article is offensive or violates other legal rights.
If a court order prohibits the publication of an article.
A removal notification will be given if an article is deleted from JCCO Online.

Research/Publication Ethics

Journal of clinical and community ophthalmology (JCCO) follows the core practices and guidelines of COPE, WAME, ICME, and Council of Science Editors in research and publication ethics.

1. Research Ethical Approval

The authors will provide the institutional ethical review board/committee approval/exemption for all research articles, at the time of article submission and approval of the relevant authority or institution where research was conducted, if required.
Ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional or regional) and the latest version of the Helsinki Declaration should be followed when reporting experiments or studies on human subjects.
Written informed consent for publication must be obtained from participating patients who can be identified (including by the patients themselves).
Institutions or national research council guidelines should be followed when reporting experiments on animals.
Authors should submit the undertaking that informed consent was taken from the client if they involved the client-owned animals.

2. Plagiarism

JCCO endorses the COPE, ICMJE, & Higher Education Commission (HEC) Pakistan policies regarding plagiarism.
All articles submitted to JCCO will be screened through Turnitin software.
If plagiarism is found at an initial stage, the manuscript may be rejected.
The name of the author(s) committing plagiarism will also be disseminated to editors of other medical journals, the Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC), and HEC.