Publication Process

Editor and Reviewer obligations

The editors shall serve as the stewards of the journal’s commitment to scientific integrity and ethical publication.  The editors of PJAAI shall conduct the necessary investigation and deliberation, to include official coordination with the authors’ institution, in order to address complaints or allegations of publication misconduct.

All editors and reviewers are required to declare any competing interests within the last 5 years if any exists.  A competing or potential conflict of interest pertains to anything that may impede with, or could be perceived as impeding with editorial decisions, peer review, or publication of the manuscript under consideration. This may be personal or professional, financial or non-financial in nature.  This may also be seen in the editors’ or reviewers’ relationship with any of the authors or the authors’ institution.   

If there are conflicts of interest identified, the editors and/or reviewers shall declare this and inhibit themselves from their assigned role. Should there be publication ethics issues, the Editorial Board shall be guided by the COPE guidelines. Declaration of competing interests ensures transparency, integrity, and objectiveness of the editorial process. 

All editors and reviewers are likewise bound by confidentiality and non-disclosure for all manuscripts, data sets, and other materials undergoing review and deliberation.

Author obligations
All authors shall be required to accomplish and submit the PJAAI Author Form.  This form includes: 

  • (1) an attestation on the fulfillment of authorship criteria for all authors; 
  • (2) a declaration of conformity to ethical standards for studies on human/animal subjects and requisite approval by appropriate ethics committees; 
  • (3) a certification that the work is original, unpublished, not submitted concurrently to other journals, and all references and sources cited appropriately in accordance with the journal’s instructions (NOTE: It is the responsibility of the authors to secure appropriate permissions/consent for reproduction if there are materials such as figures, images, diagrams, tables included or described in the manuscript);
  • (4) a data availability statement to ensure that the authors shall provide access to data sets in order to facilitate replication of study findings.   

Authors are likewise expected to comply with standard reporting guidelines based on study design as recommended by the EQuaTOR NETWORK.  

  • Clinical trial reports (randomized controlled trials) must comply with the CONSORT reporting guidelines.
  • Reports of systematic reviews and meta-analyses must adhere to the PRISMA statement.
  • Case Reports should conform with the CARE guidelines. 
  • Reports of studies of diagnostic accuracy should conform to the STARD guidelines.
  • Reports of epidemiological studies should comply with the STROBE guidelines.