Publication Policies and Ethical Publishing Practices
The Journal of Pathology of Nepal publishes peer-reviewed scholarly work in anatomical pathology, cytopathology, clinical pathology, laboratory medicine, and related disciplines. It presents information from morphologic, clinical, laboratory, translational, experimental, and molecular studies that contribute to the understanding, diagnosis, classification, prognosis, prevention, or management of human disease.
The journal welcomes research in histopathology, hematopathology, cytology, immunohistochemistry, molecular pathology, diagnostic pathology, laboratory medicine, and related areas.
The journal accepts original research articles, review articles, systematic reviews and meta-analyses, case reports, case series, brief reports, letters to the editor, and other scholarly contributions relevant to its scope.
Authors are encouraged to follow appropriate established reporting guidelines for the study design being reported.
Editorial decisions are based on the scientific quality, originality, relevance, ethical conduct, reporting quality, and suitability of the submission. Decisions are not based on an author's nationality, geographic location, institutional affiliation, gender, or other personal characteristics.
The Journal of Pathology of Nepal is owned and published by the Association of Clinical Pathologists of Nepal (ACPN).
Editorial decisions are made independently by the Editor-in-Chief and editorial team based on scientific and scholarly considerations, including originality, methodological rigor, relevance, ethical compliance, reporting quality, and suitability for the journal.
The publisher, owner, sponsors, advertisers, or other external parties shall not interfere with decisions concerning the selection, peer review, revision, acceptance, rejection, or publication of manuscripts.
The Editor-in-Chief has ultimate responsibility and authority for the editorial content of the journal, subject to applicable journal policies and law.
Financial considerations, including publication charges, shall not influence editorial decisions.
Editors shall recuse themselves from editorial decisions involving manuscripts in which they have a personal, professional, financial, academic, or other significant conflict of interest.
Manuscripts submitted by editors, editorial board members, or individuals closely associated with the journal will be handled through an appropriate independent editorial process to minimize conflicts of interest.
Submission to the Journal of Pathology of Nepal constitutes an assurance by the authors that the manuscript is not under consideration by another journal and has not been previously published in substantially the same form, except where relevant prior publication or posting has been fully disclosed to the editorial office.
All submitted manuscripts undergo an initial editorial assessment to determine whether they fall within the journal's scope and meet basic requirements concerning scientific quality, originality, ethical conduct, reporting, and presentation.
Manuscripts may be rejected without external peer review when they are outside the journal's scope, lack sufficient originality or scientific merit, contain serious methodological or ethical concerns, fail to meet essential submission requirements, or are otherwise unsuitable for the journal.
Where appropriate, authors may be invited to revise a manuscript before or during external peer review. A request for revision does not guarantee acceptance or publication.
All manuscripts received are duly acknowledged.
The journal normally uses a double-anonymized peer-review process. The identities of authors are not disclosed to reviewers, and reviewer identities are not disclosed to authors, except when a reviewer voluntarily identifies themselves.
Normally, at least two independent expert reviewers are invited to evaluate a manuscript. The number of reviewers may vary depending on the article type, subject matter, availability of reviewers, and other circumstances.
Reviewers are selected based on relevant expertise, availability, and the absence of inappropriate conflicts of interest.
The journal normally requests reviewers to submit their assessments within three weeks. This is a target rather than a guarantee, and review times may vary according to reviewer availability and manuscript complexity.
Reviewers are expected to provide objective, constructive, evidence-based, timely, and confidential assessments.
The Editor-in-Chief or designated editor considers reviewer comments together with the manuscript's scientific quality, originality, relevance, ethical compliance, reporting quality, and suitability for the journal. Reviewer recommendations are advisory, and the final editorial decision rests with the Editor-in-Chief or designated editor.
Editorial decisions may include:
Reviewer comments will normally be communicated to authors in an appropriately anonymized form. The journal may remove comments that are defamatory, discriminatory, offensive, confidential, or otherwise inappropriate for transmission to authors.
The journal aims to provide an initial editorial decision as promptly as practicable. The overall time from submission to decision may vary according to the article type, reviewer availability, revision requirements, and editorial workload. The target of approximately 45–60 days is not a guarantee.
Reviewer Confidentiality and Conflicts of Interest
Reviewers must keep manuscripts and all information obtained during peer review confidential. Reviewers must not share manuscript content with others or use unpublished information, data, methods, ideas, or results obtained through peer review for personal or professional advantage.
Reviewers must disclose any financial, professional, personal, academic, or other relationship that could reasonably be perceived as influencing their assessment and should decline the review when an actual or significant potential conflict exists.
Reviewers must not contact authors directly regarding a manuscript under review unless authorized by the journal.
Involvement of Additional Reviewers
If a reviewer wishes to involve a trainee, colleague, or other person in preparing a review, the reviewer should obtain permission from the journal where required and ensure that the additional reviewer understands and follows the journal's confidentiality and conflict-of-interest requirements. The contribution of any additional reviewer should be disclosed to the editor.
Appeals
Authors who believe that an editorial decision resulted from a significant factual error, procedural irregularity, undisclosed conflict of interest, or inappropriate interpretation of the manuscript may submit an appeal in writing to the Editor-in-Chief.
An appeal should clearly state the grounds for reconsideration and provide relevant supporting information. Appeals are considered according to the journal's procedures and do not guarantee reversal of the original decision.
Where an appeal concerns the Editor-in-Chief, it should be referred to an independent authority designated by the publisher.
Accepted articles may undergo copyediting for grammar, punctuation, style, consistency, formatting, and clarity. Substantive changes to scientific content will not normally be made without consultation with the authors.
Page proofs will be sent to the corresponding author. Authors should return corrections within seven days unless another period is agreed with the editorial office.
Proof correction should focus primarily on typographical, formatting, and factual errors. Major changes to the manuscript, figures, tables, or authorship at the proof stage require editorial approval and may result in publication delays.
Authors are encouraged to follow the journal's submission and formatting requirements to facilitate efficient editorial processing.
The Journal of Pathology of Nepal is published biannually, with two issues per year, by the Association of Clinical Pathologists of Nepal (ACPN).
The Journal of Pathology of Nepal provides immediate open access to all published content. Published articles are freely available to readers without subscription or access charges.
The journal supports open access because unrestricted availability of scholarly research facilitates dissemination, use, and exchange of scientific knowledge.
Copyright and Licensing
The journal's copyright and licensing arrangements shall be clearly stated on the journal website, in the publishing agreement, and/or on individual articles, as applicable.
Where a Creative Commons license is used, the specific license shall be clearly identified.
Authors and readers may reuse published material according to the applicable copyright and licensing terms and with appropriate attribution.
The journal does not charge a submission fee or peer-review/initial manuscript-processing fee.
For manuscripts accepted for publication, a publication charge of NPR 5,000 or its equivalent in another currency applies.
Payment of a publication charge does not influence peer review, editorial decisions, or the scientific assessment of a manuscript.
Payment instructions will be provided to the corresponding author by the editorial office or publisher. Authors should verify payment details through official JPN/ACPN communication before making payment.
Fee Waivers
The journal recognizes that publication charges may create financial barriers for some authors. Authors who cannot reasonably meet the publication charge may request a waiver or reduction from the editorial office.
Waiver requests should, where possible, be submitted before publication and will be considered independently of the scientific evaluation and editorial decision.
Information contained in a waiver request will be treated confidentially and will not be disclosed to peer reviewers or used as a basis for the scientific assessment of a manuscript.
The availability and extent of waivers are subject to the journal's established policy and available resources. Submission of a waiver request does not guarantee approval.
Authors must provide accurate and complete information when requesting a waiver. Misrepresentation may result in withdrawal of an approved waiver and may be considered under the journal's publication-ethics procedures where appropriate.
The Journal of Pathology of Nepal follows the authorship principles of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).
To qualify as an author, an individual should meet all of the following criteria:
Individuals who do not meet all authorship criteria should not be listed as authors solely because of their position, supervision, administrative role, funding, data collection, or general assistance. Their contributions may be acknowledged where appropriate.
The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that all listed authors have approved the submitted manuscript and that the authorship information and required declarations are accurate.
Changes in Authorship
Requests to add, remove, or reorder authors after submission must include a clear explanation and agreement from all affected authors. The editorial office may request written confirmation from all authors before approving a change.
Authorship disputes between authors are normally matters for the relevant institution(s) to investigate. The journal will not ordinarily adjudicate institutional authorship disputes.
Authors, reviewers, editors, and editorial board members must disclose relationships or activities that could influence, or could reasonably be perceived to influence, their judgment.
Conflicts of interest may be financial or non-financial and may include employment, consultancy, research funding, grants, honoraria, patents or other intellectual property, personal relationships, academic competition, institutional affiliations, or other relevant interests.
Authors must disclose relevant competing interests at the time of submission.
Reviewers must disclose relevant conflicts and decline to review a manuscript when their impartiality could reasonably be compromised.
Editors must recuse themselves from editorial decisions involving a relevant conflict of interest.
Conflict-of-interest and funding statements may be published with the article where appropriate.
Authors should disclose all sources of financial or material support for the research, including grants, institutional support, commercial sponsorship, or other relevant assistance.
The role of the funder or sponsor in study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, manuscript preparation, and the decision to submit the manuscript should be disclosed where applicable.
Authors should state whether the funder or sponsor had any role in the decision to publish the findings.
Overview
The Journal of Pathology of Nepal follows the principles and relevant guidance of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME), and the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), as applicable.
Authors, editors, reviewers, and the publisher are expected to maintain integrity, transparency, fairness, confidentiality, and accountability throughout the publication process.
Authors are responsible for maintaining the integrity, accuracy, originality, transparency, and ethical conduct of their work. They must comply with requirements concerning authorship, duplicate publication, plagiarism, research misconduct, conflicts of interest, informed consent, ethical approval, clinical trial registration, data integrity, reporting guidelines, copyright, artificial intelligence, and responsible research practices.
Editors and reviewers must conduct their responsibilities fairly, objectively, confidentially, and without inappropriate discrimination or bias.
Where concerns about research or publication misconduct arise, the journal may request explanations, supporting documents, original data, ethics approval documentation, consent documentation, authorship information, or other relevant material.
Where appropriate, the journal may contact the authors' institution, ethics committee, funder, or other responsible authority for investigation.
Depending on the circumstances, actions may include rejection of a manuscript, correction, Expression of Concern, retraction, notification of relevant institutions, or other measures necessary to protect the integrity of the scholarly record.
Complaints or concerns involving the Editor-in-Chief should be referred to an independent authority designated by the publisher.
Research involving human participants must comply with applicable ethical standards, institutional requirements, and relevant international principles.
Where required, manuscripts must state that the study received approval from an appropriate research ethics committee, institutional review board (IRB), or equivalent body.
The name of the approving institution and approval/reference number should be provided where applicable.
If formal ethical approval was not required, authors should explain the manuscript.
Research involving human participants should comply with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki and applicable national and institutional requirements.
Written informed consent should be obtained where required for research involving human participants and for publication of identifiable clinical information.
For case reports, case series, clinical images, pathology images, radiological images, genetic information, or other material that could potentially identify an individual, authors should obtain appropriate written consent for publication where required.
Authors should remove unnecessary identifying information. Anonymization does not necessarily eliminate the requirement for consent.
The journal may request evidence of consent when appropriate.
Research involving animals must comply with applicable institutional, national, and international standards for animal welfare and ethical research.
Authors should provide information concerning ethical approval or the relevant institutional animal-care committee where applicable.
Clinical trials should be registered in an appropriate publicly accessible clinical trial registry when required by applicable standards or the journal's policy.
The name of the registry and trial registration number should be provided in the manuscript.
Where applicable, registration should occur before enrollment of the first participant in accordance with accepted clinical-trial-registration standards.
Authors are encouraged to use established reporting guidelines appropriate to the design of their study.
Examples include:
The journal may request a completed reporting checklist or flow diagram where appropriate.
Authors should provide appropriate information concerning the availability of data and materials supporting the findings of their research.
Where ethically and legally permissible, authors are encouraged to make relevant datasets, protocols, analysis code, or other research materials available through an appropriate repository.
Where data cannot be publicly shared because of privacy, confidentiality, legal, ethical, or other restrictions, authors should explain the reason for the restriction and, where appropriate, describe how qualified researchers may request access.
Authors should retain appropriate underlying research data and records for a reasonable period in accordance with institutional, funder, and applicable regulatory requirements.
Authors must have appropriate access to the data underlying their research and must be able to take responsibility for the integrity and accuracy of the reported results.
The Journal of Pathology of Nepal recognizes that artificial intelligence (AI), including generative AI and large language models, may be used in research and manuscript preparation. Such use must be transparent, responsible, and subject to human oversight.
Authors
Authors may use AI-assisted tools for appropriate purposes, including language or grammar improvement, provided that they remain fully responsible for the submitted work.
Use of AI-assisted technologies that goes beyond routine spelling or grammar correction should be disclosed in the manuscript or submission process, as appropriate. Authors should identify the tool used and describe how it was used when the use is substantive.
AI-generated content must be carefully reviewed and verified by the authors because AI systems can produce inaccurate, incomplete, biased, fabricated, or improperly attributed information.
Authors remain responsible for the accuracy, originality, integrity, references, citations, data, figures, and conclusions presented in the manuscript.
AI systems, chatbots, and other non-human technologies cannot be listed as authors or co-authors because they cannot accept responsibility or accountability for the work.
When AI is used as part of the research methodology, data analysis, data generation, image generation, or other substantive research activity, its use should be described in the appropriate section of the manuscript, such as the Methods section, as applicable.
Reviewers
Reviewers must not upload submitted manuscripts, figures, tables, supplementary files, reviewer comments, or other confidential material into generative AI systems or other external services unless such use has been expressly permitted by the journal and confidentiality can be assured.
Where AI use by reviewers is permitted, reviewers remain responsible for the accuracy, confidentiality, and content of their review and should disclose such use to the journal where required.
Editors
Editors and editorial staff must protect the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts and must not upload confidential manuscript material to external AI systems where confidentiality cannot be assured.
Any AI-assisted editorial or production process must have appropriate human oversight and must not replace editorial responsibility or judgment.
The Journal of Pathology of Nepal does not accept plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, inappropriate image manipulation, or redundant/duplicate publication.
Plagiarism includes presenting another person's words, ideas, data, images, figures, tables, methods, or other intellectual work as one's own without appropriate attribution.
Examples include:
The journal may use similarity-detection software as part of its editorial quality-assurance procedures.
A similarity score alone does not establish plagiarism. Editors will assess the nature, extent, source, and context of overlapping material.
Where plagiarism or serious inappropriate text reuse is confirmed, the journal may request an explanation from the authors and may take further action in accordance with publication-ethics guidance.
If serious misconduct is confirmed after publication, the journal may issue a correction, Expression of Concern, retraction, or other appropriate notice.
Authors are responsible for ensuring that submitted text, figures, tables, images, data, and other material are appropriately attributed and comply with applicable copyright and permission requirements.
Authors must disclose any previous publication, preprint, conference abstract, report, or manuscript that contains substantially overlapping material with the submitted manuscript.
Duplicate or redundant publication includes publishing substantially the same work in more than one publication without appropriate disclosure, justification, or permission.
Submission of substantially overlapping manuscripts to more than one journal simultaneously is not acceptable.
Where suspected duplicate or redundant publication is identified, the journal may request an explanation and may take appropriate action according to publication-ethics guidance.
Fabrication of data, falsification of research results, inappropriate manipulation of images, and deliberate misrepresentation of scientific findings are unacceptable.
Authors must not manipulate pathology images, microscopic images, gels, blots, radiological images, or other scientific images in a manner that misrepresents the underlying data.
Any image processing must be applied consistently and transparently and must not remove, add, obscure, or selectively modify information in a way that could alter interpretation of the findings.
The journal may request original or unprocessed images, underlying data, or other supporting information when concerns arise.
Manuscripts submitted to the Journal of Pathology of Nepal are treated as confidential scholarly communications.
Information concerning a manuscript, including its submission, content, authorship, editorial status, peer-review reports, and editorial decisions, will not be disclosed to individuals outside the editorial and publishing process except where disclosure is necessary for legitimate editorial, ethical, legal, regulatory, or research-integrity purposes.
Editors and reviewers must maintain the confidentiality of manuscripts and associated materials.
Reviewers must not:
If a reviewer wishes to involve another person in preparing a review, the reviewer should obtain permission from the journal where required and ensure that the additional reviewer follows the journal's confidentiality and conflict-of-interest requirements.
Editors and reviewers must not publicly discuss manuscripts under review or disclose their contents to unauthorized persons.
Submitted manuscripts and confidential manuscript material must not be uploaded to generative AI systems or other external services where confidentiality cannot be assured.
Information may be disclosed when necessary to investigate suspected misconduct, comply with legal requirements, protect the integrity of the scientific record, or communicate with an appropriate institution or regulatory authority.
The journal normally maintains reviewer anonymity as part of its double-anonymized peer-review process.
Reviewers may voluntarily identify themselves by signing their review if they wish. Voluntary identification does not change the journal's responsibility to protect confidential peer-review information.
Authors, reviewers, readers, and other individuals may submit complaints concerning editorial decisions, publication ethics, peer review, editorial conduct, or journal procedures to the Editor-in-Chief.
Complaints should provide sufficient information and supporting evidence, where available, to allow the journal to assess the concern.
The journal will consider complaints fairly, confidentially, and as promptly as reasonably practicable.
Complaints involving the Editor-in-Chief should be referred to an independent authority designated by ACPN.
Appeals against editorial decisions should be based on specific factual, procedural, or ethical grounds rather than disagreement with the scientific conclusions or preference for a different editorial outcome.
The journal is committed to maintaining an accurate and trustworthy scholarly record.
When an error is identified in a published article, the journal will assess its nature and significance and may publish a correction or other appropriate notice.
A published article may be retracted when there is clear evidence that its findings are unreliable, when serious research or publication misconduct has occurred, when ethical requirements have been violated, or when other circumstances substantially compromise the integrity of the published record.
Where serious concerns exist but an investigation has not yet reached a final conclusion, the journal may publish an Expression of Concern.
Corrections and retractions will be clearly linked to the original article and will identify the reason for the action where appropriate.
The journal will not remove a published article from the scholarly record except in exceptional circumstances, such as where retention would create an immediate and serious risk of harm or where required by law.
The journal welcomes responsible scholarly discussion of published work through letters to the editor and other appropriate mechanisms.
Post-publication concerns about an article will be assessed according to their nature and significance and may result in clarification, correction, editorial commentary, Expression of Concern, or retraction where appropriate.
The Journal of Pathology of Nepal permits submission of manuscripts that have previously been posted as preprints, does not remove the authors' responsibility to disclose prior dissemination of the work or to comply with copyright and provided that the preprint is disclosed at submission.
Authors must disclose the existence of a preprint and provide its citation or identifier when submitting the manuscript.
Posting a manuscript as a preprint does not remove the authors' responsibility to disclose prior dissemination of the work or to comply with copyright and journal requirements.
Once the final article is published, authors should update the preprint record with a link to the published article where permitted.
Authors are responsible for ensuring that they have the necessary rights and permissions for all material submitted for publication.
Material reproduced from another source must be appropriately cited and permission obtained where required.
The journal's copyright transfer, author-retention, licensing, and permissions arrangements shall be stated clearly in the journal's publishing agreement and on the journal website.
Authors should not submit material that infringes the copyright, privacy, confidentiality, or other rights of another person or organization.
If the journal accepts advertising or sponsorship, advertising and sponsorship decisions shall be separated from editorial decision-making.
Advertisers and sponsors shall not influence editorial content, peer review, acceptance, rejection, or publication decisions.
Advertising should be clearly distinguishable from editorial content.
Sponsored supplements or special issues, where applicable, shall be subject to the journal's normal editorial and ethical standards.
The journal shall maintain a publicly accessible list of its Editor-in-Chief, editors, and editorial board members, together with their relevant affiliations and areas of expertise where appropriate.
Editors are expected to maintain confidentiality, manage conflicts of interest, ensure fair peer review, protect editorial independence, and act in accordance with publication ethics principles.
Editorial board members should contribute to the development and quality of the journal and should disclose relevant conflicts of interest.
The journal shall periodically review its editorial board and governance arrangements to ensure appropriate expertise, diversity of disciplinary representation, and effective editorial oversight.
The Journal of Pathology of Nepal is currently indexed/listed in the databases and services identified on the journal's official Abstracting and Indexing page.
The journal will periodically review and update its indexing information to ensure that published information accurately reflects its current status.
The Journal of Pathology of Nepal is owned and published by the Association of Clinical Pathologists of Nepal (ACPN).
The publisher provides the infrastructure and resources required for publication while respecting the editorial independence of the Editor-in-Chief and editorial team.
The journal's ownership, publishing arrangements, and editorial governance are publicly disclosed to promote transparency.
President
Prof. (Dr.) Abhimanyu Jha
Vice President
Dr. Rakesh Pathak
General Secretary
Dr. Rojan Ghimire
Joint Secretary
Dr. Alina Karna
Treasurer
Dr. Neeta Kafle
Members
Dr. Moni Subedi
Dr. Binod Dhakal
Dr. Diksha Karki
Dr. Pravesh Dahal
Dr. Madhu Sigdel
Dr. Gaurab Sah
The ACPN Executive Committee represents the governing body of the publisher. The publisher's governance role is distinct from the editorial decision-making authority of the journal.
Authors are responsible for the accuracy and integrity of their submitted work.
Editors are responsible for fair and independent editorial decision-making.
Reviewers are responsible for confidential, objective, and constructive peer review.
The publisher is responsible for providing the infrastructure and governance necessary to support ethical and independent scholarly publishing.
Where policies or circumstances are not specifically addressed above, the journal may refer to applicable guidance from COPE, WAME, ICMJE, relevant reporting-guideline organizations, and other recognized standards of responsible scholarly publishing.
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