The PJO agrees to accept manuscripts prepared in accordance with the 'Uniform Requirements submitted to the Biomedical Journals' as approved by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) guidelines, (http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/) published in the British Medical Journal 1991; 302:334-41.

Scope: The journal will cover clinical and scientific studies related to health, ethical and social issues in the field of ophthalmology and vision science. Preference will be given to topics of clinical interest.

Ethical / Legal Considerations: A submitted manuscript must be an original contribution not previously published (except as an abstract or preliminary report), must not be under consideration for publication elsewhere, and if accepted, it must not be published elsewhere in similar form. Each person listed as an author is expected to have participated in the study to a significant extent. Although the editors and referees make every effort to ensure the validity of published manuscripts, the final responsibility rests with the authors, not with the Journal, its editors, or the publisher. All manuscripts must be submitted by logging into www.pjo.org.pk.

Article submission and publication charges:PJO does not charge article submission and processing fee.

Conflict of interest: A sample definition by WAME states that conflict of interest “exists when a participant in the publication process (author, peer reviewer, or editor) has a competing interest that could unduly influence (or be reasonably seen to do so) his or her responsibilities in the publication process."Any conflict of interest should be declared by all authors. This may include grants or honorarium, credits and promotions, memberships or any personal or professional relationships, which may appear to influence the manuscript. Such competing interests are not unethical but should be declared.

Permission: Authors must submit written permission from the copyright owner (usually the publisher) to use direct quotations, tables, or illustrations that have appeared in copyrighted form elsewhere, along with complete details about the source.

Original Articles: should normally report original research of relevance to Ophthalmology. It should contain a structured abstract of about 250 words. Three to 10 keywords should be given for an original article as per MeSH (Medical Subject Headings). There should be maximum of upto five tables or illustrations. The data should be supported with 20 to 25 references. Most of the references should be from last five years from the data of submission.

The article must be submitted in the following format:

Type single – spaced in MS Word using "Verdana" font size 12 leaving ONE INCH margin on ALL SIDES. Arrange contents as follows:

1. Title page should be numbered as page 1, and should not have on it the name(s) of the author(s) and the institution(s) of author(s) to warrant double blind peer review process.
2. List of author(s) and affiliation should be sent as a separate file.
3. Structured Abstract. The abstract should be divided into four sections with the following headings: Purpose, Material and Methods, Results, and Conclusion.
4. Text. The introduction should be pertinent to the study but not an in-depth review of the literature. The materials, subjects, and methods should be clearly defined. Make the results as concise as possible. The discussion is an explanation of the results of the study and should limit itself to the subject matter of the paper. Write the whole paper in "active voice", and avoid "passive voice".
5. Acknowledgements: Keep these to an absolute minimum, and be specific, e.g. "Thanks are due to Mr...for Fig. 2".
6. References: must be numbered consecutively, according to their appearance in text according to Vancouver style of referencing. Once a reference is cited, all subsequent citations should be to the original number. Reference to studies that have been accepted but not yet published should indicate where they will be published. The author is responsible for complete and accurate references, including the proper capitalization and accent marks used in foreign – language publications. References to journal articles should include (1) author, (2) title, (3) journal name (as abbreviated in Index Medicus), (4) year, (5) volume number, and (6) inclusive page numbers, in that order. References to books should include (1) author(s), (2) chapter title (if any), (3) editor (if any), (4) title of book, (5) city of publication, (6) publisher, (7) year, and (8) page numbers. Volume and edition numbers, and names of translator should be included when appropriate. A. For articles: 1. Humayun M: Awan's syndrome (primary orbital hypertelorism, narrow – angle glucoma and lean physique) in two women. Jpn J Ophthalmol 1991 (1); 35: 428-434. (Give names of all the authors, and do not use "et al" etc. in the reference section) B. For books 1. Newell FW: Ophthalmology: Principles and Concepts. 6th ed., St. Louis. C.V. Mosby Company, 1986, p. 73. 2. Duke – Elder S, and Leigh AG: Diseases of the Outer Eye. Cornea and Sclera. In Duke-Elder S (ed): System of Ophthalmology, vol. 8, part 2. St. Louis, C.V. Mosby Company, 1965, pp. 110-114. (Recheck publisher, city, etc.)
7. Figures should be numbered in order of appearance in the text. Each figure should have a figure's number, the last names of authors. Legends for the figures should be typed SINGLE – SPACED and should include description of features shown, names of authors, names of structures, kind of stain, magnification, etc. Example: Figure 1 (Khan, Chaudhry, and Sheikh). Right eye. Histologic section of tumor. Spindle – B type malignant melanoma cells form the main part of tumor with a few mitotic figures. Arrow points to a nodule of epithelioid cells at the right upper corner, (Hematoxyline and eosin X400).
8. Tables: Should be typed single – spaced, with nothing underlined. Please triple – check all numbers and percentages. Previously published material and figures should include permission to reproduce from the original publication and original author. Photographs with faces should be accompanied by permission to publish from the subject of the photograph or by a parent in case of minor. Coloured photographs should be submitted in JPEG format. Magazine reserves the right to charge authors for reproduction of coloured pictures. The journal only accepts manuscripts in English.

Clinical case reports: must be of academic and educational values and provide relevance of the disease being reported as unusual. Brief or negative research findings may appear in the section. It should have a non-structured abstract of about 100-150 words (case specific) with around 5-6 references and 3 keywords.

Review article: should consist of critical overview/analysis of some relatively narrow topic providing background and the recent development with the reference of original literature. It should incorporate author's original work on the same subject. The length of the review article should be of 2500 to 3000 words with minimum of 40 and maximum of 60 references. It should have non-structured abstract of 150 words with minimum 3 key words. An author can write a review article only if he/she has written a minimum of three original research articles and some case reports on the same topic.

Double Blind Peer Review: Every paper will be read by at least two editors of the Editorial Board. The papers selected will then be sent to two external reviewers. If statistical analysis is included, further examination by a staff statistician will be carried out. The staff Bibliographer also examines and authenticates the references and checks for plagiarism.

Authorship Criteria: As stated in the uniform requirements, credit for authorship requires substantial contributions to (a) the conception and design or analysis and interpretation of the data, (b) the drafting of the article or critical revision for important intellectual content, critical appraisal of findings with literature search and actual write up of manuscript, (c) final approval of the version to be published. Each author must sign a statement attesting that he or she fulfils the authorship criteria of the Uniform Requirements.

Up to six authors are allowed in a single institution study. In a multi institution and international collaboration research Editorial Board shall guide on individual case basis.

PJO strongly discourages gift authorship. More supervision, collection of data, statistical analysis and language correction do not grant authorship rights. Ideally all authors should belong to same department of an institute, except for multi-centre and multi-specialty studies. The Journal discourages submission of more than one article dealing with related aspects of the same study. The Journal also discourages the submission of case reports unless unreported from Pakistan. Unusual but already reported cases should, therefore, be submitted as letters to the editor.

Plagiarism Policy: PJO observes/follows the ICMJE, PMDC and HEC guidelines/criteria for all types of plagiarism. The same can be accessed at www.icmje.org , www.pmdc and www.hec.gov.pk it is the authors' responsibility to aaprise themselves of plagiarism in any form including paraphrasing and self – plagiarism. Manuscripts submitted to PJO can be sent to HEC, other medical journals' editors and international agencies for authentication of originality. The disciplinary committee of PJO would deal with cases of plagiarism and comprise of the staff, editors and the Chief Editor or his representative.

For a plagiarized article in processing, the identification of act will lead to dropping of article from further processing/consideration of publication. The author will be required to give an explanation on demand. In case of an unsatisfactory reply, the matter will be referred to the disciplinary committee that may decide the course of action. For a published article, the allegedly plagiarized article will be temporarily retracted from publication and a notice to the effect will be published in the PJO. The author will be served an explanation demand. In case of non response in the stipulated time or unsatisfactory explanation, the article will be permanently retracted and the author will be on watch. HEC, PMDC and author's institute will also be informed. The author(s) will have to provide documentary proof of retraction from publication, if such a defense is pleaded. Those claiming intellectual / idea or data theft of an article must provide documentary proof in their claim.

Acceptance of Articles: Please check all grammatical mistakes using MS word spell checker before submission. Incomplete manuscripts and papers with excessive number of grammatical mistakes will not be acknowledged and will be returned to the authors. All papers will be subject to peer review and if necessary revisions will be requested. The journal will also consider for publication letters, short notes on useful diagnostic and therapeutic tips, announcements, and interesting photographic documentations.

Prof. Muhammad Moin
Editor-in-Chief
Pakistan Journal of Ophthalmology
4-A LDA Flats, Lawrence Road, Lahore – Pakistan
Ph: 042 36363325-6
E-mail: pjoosp@gmail.com
Web: www.pjo.com.pk