Appeals & Complaints Policy

APPEAL POLICY:

Authors whose articles have been rejected by JSHMDC have the right to send a letter of appeal to the editor-in-chief giving detailed explanations. The Editor-in-Chief will refer the appeal to the Section Editor to give recommendations for decision in the light of the Core Practices of COPE, COPE Guidelines and Policies of WAME. Section Editor will consider authors’ argument, the reviewer reports to investigate the case and formulate the report. Report is forwarded to Editor in chief, who then decides whether, the decision to reject should stand. The complainant is informed of the decision with an explanation if appropriate.

COMPLAINT POLICY:

The authors, reviewers, or any other person may submit a formal complaint through the journal's official email (jsmdc@sihs.org.pk) regarding any publication misconduct on the part of the author, reviewer or Editorial board. The case will be referred for investigation to the Editorial Board of the journal to give recommendations to the Chief Editor for decision in the light of COPE Guidelines. If the complainant remains dissatisfied with the handling of their complaint, he or she can submit the complaint to the COPE.

Complaints about failure of processes such as long delays in handling papers in first instance will be handled by the Editor-in-Chief(s) responsible for the journal and/or the Section Editor who handled the paper.