Policies of Bahria Journal of Professional Psychology
Bahria Journal of Professional Psychology (BJPP) is a biannual HEC recognized journal. The policies followed by the journal are as under:
1. Frequency
Bahria Journal of Professional Psychology (BJPP) is a biannual journal with the following publication schedule:
|
Call for Paper |
1st May - 30th June & 1st November - 31st December |
|
Publication of the Issue |
1st Jan - 30th April & 1st July- 31st October |
2. Guidelines for Submission of Research Article
Manuscripts will be evaluated by at least two experts in addition to the editor.The research manuscripts will be processed through double blind peer review. Submission should comply with the ethical considerations laid down by the APA in its latest publication manual. As per HEC policy, the manuscript will be published subject to plagiarism clearance.
Preparation of the Manuscript: Articles written only in English language are accepted for publication. Spellings should follow Webster’s Dictionary or Oxford English Dictionary. All submissions including book reviews must have a title, be aligned to the left with font size point 12, font type Times New Roman, and be double spaced with a margin of 3 cm all around.
Abstract: The abstract should range between 120 – 150 words for all articles except book reviews. An abstract is a concise summary of the whole paper, not just the conclusions. It should state the purpose of the study, hypothesis, method, analysis, main findings and conclusions.
Introduction: It should contain the theoretical framework, rationale of the study and the litreature review of updated and relevant researches. Research objectives and / or hypotheses should be clearly listed.
Method: This section should include the design of the study, description of the study sample, assessment protocols, ethical considerations and the procedure of data collection.
Result: The results should be presented in a logical sequence in the text utilizing tables and illustrations (figures). Do not state the information that has been already presented in the tables or figures. Tables, figures and illustrations must be prepared according to APA’s prescribed format. Each table must have a title, and must be numbered in sequence. Clearnotes should be made by the author(s) at the approximate point of insertion in the text.
Discussion: This section includes major findings; and emphasize new and important aspects of the study inluding conclusion and implications. Repetition of the material already provided in the Introduction section and Results must be avoided.
References: Follow the format provided in APA’s latest manual for citing references in-text and in the list of references at the end of the manuscript.
Authors Note: Include the names of all authors, according to their position in authorship, their organizational / departmental affiliations, contact details and complete postal as well as email address(es) of the corresponding author.
Sending the Manuscript to BJPP: Electronic submission is preferred.Correspondence regarding publication should be addressed to the Editor at BJPP@bahria.edu.pk and for sending manuscript through surface mail address the Editor, Bahria Journal of Professional Psychology, Institute of Professional Psychology, Bahria University, Karachi Campus.
3. Peer Review Policy
BJPP has a double blind peer review policy. Initial screening for the suitability of the article for publication in BJPP is carried out by the editorial committee and subsequently the manuscript is processed for a blind paper review. Each article is reviewed by one national professional and one professional from academically advanced country. Authors are informed about the comments or suggestions of the reviewers and are required to revise their paper within a stipulated time period.
4. Plagiarism Policy
BJPP has zero tolerance for plagiarism and follows the guidelines given by the Higher Education Commission (HEC) Pakistan. Each submitted manuscript will be evaluated for plagiarism using Turnitin ( follow the link: https://www.turnitin.com/ ). The journal only accepts papers that have a similarity index score of less than 19%. Moreover no single source should have a matching similarity index score of greater than 5%. It is expected that the submitted manuscript is not under review of any other journal or has not been published before. The detailed policy currently being followed can be found on the given link: https://hec.gov.pk/english/services/faculty/Plagiarism/Pages/default.aspx
5. Paper Submission Policy
The call for papers for BJPP starts from 1st May - 30th June and 1st November - 31st December. Authors may submit their manuscripts electronically using the mentioned link https://bjpp.bahria.edu.pk/index.php/BJPP/about/submissions . Correspondence regarding publication should be addressed to the Editor at bjpp@bahria.edu.pk . Initial papers are evaluated by the editorial committee of the journal for the suitability and appropriateness of the manuscript for BJPP. After this process, if the manuscript is considered relevant for double blind review for the journal it is forwarded to the reviewers. Previously published or plagiarized manuscripts are not considered for publication by the journal.
6. Manuscript Reviewing Policy
BJPP follows the double-blind review policy where both the reviewer and the author are anonymous and the identities of both reviewers and authors are concealed from each other throughout the review. Every manuscript is assigned with a number for further processing. To facilitate this, authors must ensure that their manuscripts are prepared in such a way that they do not reveal their identities to reviewers, either explicitly or implicitly.
7. Article Acceptance Policy
The submitted manuscripts are accepted for publication only after the acceptance from two professionals in the respective capacity (one national & one international). If the manuscript is rejected by any of the reviewers it is sent for the review process again (to a reviewer of the same capacity) and if that reviewer also rejects the manuscript then the authors are informed about the decision of the reviewers. Only those manuscripts are eligible for publication which are either accepted “without any revision” or “with minor or major revisions” by the reviewers.
8. Article Publication Policy
BJPP follows the general publication guidelines that are provided by HEC where the journal holds the rights of publication and distribution of the accepted manuscripts. However, the authors have the rights for the commercial and non-commercial utilization of the published material. Moreover BJPP holds the rights to retract the publication at any point based on the publication policy and HEC guidelines for research article publications.
9. Policy for the Timeline of Publication of the Journal
There is biannual call for the papers initiated during 1st May - 30th June and 1st November - 31st December of every fiscal year. The issues are published during 1st Jan - 30th April & 1st July- 31st October. Any manuscript received by the journal after the expiry of the call for papers for a specific issue is not considered for publication.
10. Steps Involved in the Publication of the Article
The publication steps that are followed by BJPP are as under:
a. After submission of the manuscript the authors receive the acknowledgement from the journal.
b. The submitted manuscript is sent for a desk review to the editorial committee. It examines the manuscript for appropriateness and relevancy for the journal.
c. If the editorial committee finds that the manuscript does not meet the journal’s standards the paper is rejected and the author(s) are informed of the decision. If the manuscript is found to meet the standards of the journal, it is then sent to the reviewers for the blind review process.
d. As per the article reviewing policy the accepted manuscripts remain in the publication process are sent to authors for further processing while the rejected manuscripts are retracted from the publication process.
e. After the revision of the manuscript by the author, it is again reevaluated by the editorial committee to ensure that the manuscript conforms to the journal’s guidelines for publication.
f. After copy editing, the manuscripts are sent in online and print publications.
11. Policy regarding the Conflict of Interest
At the time of submission the author(s) should make it clear that they do not have any conflict of interest. If author(s) have received any funding or grant for the research they have to report all the relevant details.
12. Policy for the Correction and Retraction of the Research Article
BJPP retains all the rights to correct or retract the articles that have been published or are under the publication process. However the author(s) are encouraged to notify the editorial committee of any error they find in their publication. In case of any dispute between the journal and the author(s), the decision will be taken by the Editor as per HEC guidelines. Moreover, the author(s) are duly responsible for any error and intentional or unintentional damage caused by their publication in the journal.
13. Policy for the Contribution and Consents of the Author(s)
At the time of submission the corresponding author should ensure that all authors agree to the order of authorship shown in the manuscript. All the content of the manuscript is pre-approved by all the authors and there should be no conflict of interest. Furthermore, all the relevant information regarding all the author(s) and their respective affiliation must be updated and complete. BJPP does not accept more than two affiliations for a single author.