Prof. Wajid Ali Khan asks for collaboration between different
institutions to promote publications, research culture
Symposium on Ethical Scientific Publications at Al- Shifa Trust Eye Hospital
RAWALPINDI: Improving quality of publications, different aspects of scientific writing, scientific misconduct, gift authorship and how to choose accredited medical journals for publications, informed consent and conflict of interest in research were some of the topics which were discussed in detail by various speakers at a seminar organized by Al-Shifa Journal of Ophthalmology on June 21st 2025. The theme of the symposium held at the Al-Shifa Trust Eye Hospitals auditorium was “Ethical Scientific Publications and Medical Journalism: Improving credibility in scientific research.” It was well attended by faculty members and students from different sections of Al-Shifa Trust Eye Hospitals besides a few faculty members from other city medical institutions.
Al-Shifa Trust Eye Hospital Rawalpindi organized a symposium on Ethical Scientific Publications on June 21st 2025. Photograph shows all the speakers which included Prof. Mahmood Ali, Prof. Ume Sughra, Prof. Umer Farooq, Dr. Tayyab Afghani, Mr. Shaukat Ali Jawaid, Dr. Farooq Azam Rathore and Prof. Yasir Waheed replying to questions during the discussion.
Dr. Tayyab Afghani on behalf of the organizers welcomed the guest speakers and the participants. He urged the participants to make full use of the presence of the distinguished speakers, actively participate in the deliberations and ask any questions if they need some clarification on any aspect of scientific writing.
Prof. Mahmood Ali Editor of Al-Shifa Journal of Ophthalmology in his presentation shared the functioning of the journal. He pointed out that different ophthalmic societies in the world have their own scientific journals hence Ophthalmological Society of Pakistan also started its journal in 1984. Al-Shifa Journal of Ophthalmology was started in 2005 which is a quarterly publication and we practice double blind peer review system. He also introduced the Editorial Team of the journal, its aims and objectives, vision, scope, review process. We have different section editors and we use Editorial Manager for processing the manuscripts. During the last year the journal received thirty-four manuscripts of which twenty-seven were published after peer review.
Dr. Ume Sughra has organized numerous workshops. Al-Shifa Trust Eye Hospitals is keenly interested to promote research culture, he added. Mr. Shaukat Ali Jawaid Chief Editor of Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences was the next speaker whose presentation was on “Quality in Publications: What attracts the Editors and Reviewers”. It also included some useful tips on scientific writing. Tracing the history, he pointed out that it was in March 1992 that we the few editors of medical journals met in Karachi Gymkhana to discuss to what steps can be taken to help and train healthcare professionals in scientific writing. On the suggestion of late Dr. Sarwar Zuberi the Chief Editor of Journal of Pakistan Medical Association (JPMA) it was decided to start organizing workshops on scientific writing. Since the situation was very bleak in the province of Punjab, hence the first seminar on Scientific Writing was held at Mayo Hospital/King Edward Medical College on September 12th 1992 which was chaired by Prof. Bashir Ahmad the renowned Neurosurgeon the then Principal of KEMC along with Prof. Kh. Sadiq Husain and Prof. Mahmood Ali Malik. Prof. Ijaz Ahsan was also one of the speakers besides Dr. Sarwar Zuberi, Shaukat Ali Jawaid, Prof. Tahir Saeed Haroon. Prof. Javed Akram was the organizing secretary from KEMC.
Participants of the seminar on Ethical Scientific Publications photographed with the speakers and Executive of Al-Shifa Trust Eye Hospital at the conclusion of seminar.
One of the suggestions that we made at the seminar was that without waiting for PM&DC, all medical institutions must include at least two three lectures on scientific writing in the final year class. Later we realized that let us train the trainers and for that the first Workshop was organized at College of Physicians & Surgeons Pakistan on January 29-31, 1995. Since the selection process for the participants was not on merit due to various reasons, we failed in our objective. However, since then Pakistan Medical Journalists Association (PMJA) later renamed as Pakistan Association of Medical Editors (PAME) has been organizing workshops on Scientific Writing, Peer Review, Publication Ethics, Training sessions for Editors at various medical institutions with the objective of professional capacity building of healthcare professionals related to publications and research.
Quality, he remarked has to be built into the product.
Hence to ensure that the journal has some standard, ensuring quality at different stages is extremely important. It starts with the selection of the topic for research, quality in literature search, quality in scientific writing, quality in formatting, Quality in plagiarism check, quality of peer review, Quality of Editorial Board, page make-up, proof reading and publication. He suggested that do not go for big names and medical heavyweights while selecting members of the Editorial Board, instead go for young faculty members who are keen, interested, have time and are also keen to learn and contribute. We in Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences Practice Open Peer Review System which is the best acknowledged the world over which improves the quality of peer review. However, all systems of peer review, i.e. Single blind, double blind and Open Peer Review System have their merits and demerits. For some practicing open peer review system may not be possible for different reasons. As an Editor, one must not compromise on quality, business interests should never influence editorial decisions, one should have learnt to say NO if one wishes to succeed but say it politely respecting the dignity of others. Peer Review comments must help the authors to improve their manuscripts.
Writing a scientific paper is not difficult provided one has done the study, he added. Just answer the five questions. Why did you do this research which will give you Objective. How did you do it will provide Methodology contents. What did you find will provide Results and what is the take home message will provide conclusions? The structured abstract is ready and then one can add further information in different sections. What is its relevance and importance should be discussed in detail in Discussion which is the most important part of a paper which will also have the maximum references since one has to compare the results with local, national, regional and International studies? Dr. Farooq Rathore, he stated, will be discussing this subject in detail.
When and where the study was conducted must be mentioned in the abstract as well as in the main manuscript. Ethics Committee/IRB approval with Reference Number and Date is important. Use sub-hidings for Ethics Committee approval, Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria, Statistical analysis in Methodology. The manuscript should also mention strength and limitations of the study, conflict of interest and source of funding. Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences has published many Adverse Drug Reactions which lead to withdrawal of some of these products. Patients safety should be our main objective. We receive over four hundred manuscripts from over forty-five countries every month but our acceptance rate has never been more than 18-20%. Many of the papers that we do not accept for further processing are of good quality but we have our own limitations of human resource and cannot process more manuscripts, hence do not wish to keep the authors waiting for too long. He shared the submission details from different countries like China, Turkiya, Saudi Arabia with varying acceptance rates.
We do our publication audit every year to know our strength and weaknesses. Finding good quality reviewers who respond in time is the biggest challenge faced by the editors. He concluded his presentation by stating that editing and publishing a good quality peer reviewed journal is very frustrating and stressful job. Medical Editors are the keepers of the conscious of a profession and if they live up to this ideal they will always be in trouble. He then quoted an excerpt from the speech of late Maj.Gen. Mohsin Pal as chief guest at the launching ceremony of his first book on Scientific Writing held at CPSP Campus Karachi many years ago. He had stated that “Knowledge flows to those who are capable of receiving it, respecting it, protecting it, preserving it and promoting it.”
Dr. Farooq Azam Rathore currently affiliated with Combined Military Hospital Quetta discussed at length “Writing high quality medical research paper, clarity, structure and Methodological Rigor.” He referred to the important components of structured abstract, an original article, what information should be included in Introduction, Methodology, Results and Discussion. The importance of literature search, how to avoid plagiarism, the menace of gift authorship in detail. Methodology should give complete information helping others to replicate the study. References should be relevant and latest and one should prefer references from last five years. The paper must convey the message concisely and effectively.
Prof. Yasir Waheed Professor and Head of the Dept. of Research at NUST School of Health Sciences from National University of Science and Technology Islamabad in his presentation discussed how to choose an Accredited Medical Journal with Impact Factor. He also referred to journal Indexing, Accreditation and avoiding predatory journals. Our university, he further stated, encourages research and helps the authors public their research work in Q1 ranking journals and pays the publication fee. That is why I have always selected journals in Q1 ranking for my publications and it has ensured numerous citations. These citations, he said, are also important for journal ranking. There are different Scientometrics like Impact Factor by Clarivate Web of Sciences known for offering Impact Factor, Cite Score by Scopus which is maintained by Elsevier. Google scholar is yet another important database. He urged the authors to be aware of predatory journals who also claim fake Impact Factor. Credibility and indexing of different journals can be checked by visiting these databases like Web of Science, Scopus, DOAJ etc., However, at times even predatory journals manage to get covered by some of these databases, hence be careful and look at the website, its archives and Editorial Board of the journal critically.
Prof. Umer Farooq from Journal of Ayub Medical College shared the importance of ethical aspects related to Informed Consent of research subjects. The consent must be properly understood by the research subjects. Data fabrication, falsification, gift authorship, manipulation of data was discussed in detail. Since the faculty and researchers are under pressure to publish, it has created lot of problems with the result that some of them indulge in such unethical Publcaitons practices which needs to be checked. He suggested that the authors must stick to the different Guidelines, in case of multiple authors, the issue of authorship should be decided in the beginning. Be mindful of conflict of interest. How to resolve authorship disputes, risks and benefits of sharing data were also discussed in detail.
Prof. Ume Sugra shared the information related to Al-Shifa Research Centre. She also briefly talked about fabrication and falsification of data, plagiarism, research misconduct which has serious consequences. She is also heading the Clinical Trials Unit at Al-Shifa Trust Eye Hospitals which is one of the State of the Art purpose built Clinical Trials Unit.
During the discussion how to identify Predatory Journals, Gift authorship, funding for research, duties and responsibilities of Editorial Board Members were highlighted.
Prof. Wajid Ali Khan Dean Al-Shifa Trust Eye Hospitals in his vote of thanks commended the guest speakers for their highly informative presentations. He wished that different institutions in the city should collaborate and cooperate with each other in promoting research. Al-Shifa Trust Eye Hospitals will be too glad to collaboration with National University of Science and Technology, NUST School of Health Sciences and we look forward for a fruitful collaboration in the days to come. He also thanked the organizing committee members for making excellent arrangements for this academic activity. He then presented Mementos to guest speakers and certificates of appreciation among the organizing committee members.
