The SAARC Journal of Tuberculosis, Lung Diseases and HIV/AIDS is the official journal of the SAARC TB and HIV/ AIDS Centre (STAC). The Journal’s main aim is to continuing education of personnel and the dissemination of the most up-to-date information in the field of tuberculosis, lung diseases and HIV/AIDS. It is devoted to dissemination of knowledge concerning various aspects of tuberculosis, lung diseases and HIV/AIDS. All articles and health research relevant to the practice of this Journal are published. This Journal is a forum for the publication of articles concerning the social, economic, public health, epidemiology, diagnostics, genetics etc. in the area of tuberculosis, lung diseases and HIV/AIDS. The scientific manuscripts presenting the results of public health importance are encouraged. The novel case reports which adds to the existing knowledge and consistent with the scope of Journal will be considered for publication. The Journal accepts review/mini-review, case report, short communications, and letters to editors within the scope.
Disclaimer: Any opinions expressed or policies advocated do not necessarily reflect those of the STAC.
Full Text Version Online:
The full text of the Journal is published online on NepJOL and its own website. Free access to all published issues. Address: https://www.saarctb.org/new/saarc-journal-of-tb-lung-diseases-and-hivaids/
All manuscripts submitted to the Journal online or through email are unbiased, confidential and undergoes a critical review. The author will be sent an email acknowledging the receipt of the article. The manuscript will be assigned a number (e.g. 01/11; first paper received in the year 2011). Each manuscript is reviewed by the editors, editorial board, and ad hoc reviewers.
All submissions first go through an internal review process. The internal review involves the selection of articles based on some criteria like, articles within the aims and scope of the Journal, subject content, originality/flaws in the scientific validity, ethical issues, conflict of interest, little new information, an unprofessional presentation, sufficient quality of English and the compliance of Instruction to Authors. Once the submitted articles meet the eligibility criteria then the article is sent to a Statistician for statistical review.
The statistical review is provided by Statisticians in a form of a written report containing clear and straightforward suggestions and comments for both Journal editors and authors. A statistical reviewer reads a paper throughout, from the title and abstract, to the body text, to tables, figures, and references and makes notes on anything that requires clarification or explanation, or wherever a question may be raised in the text or data. If study is considered statistically acceptable, the statistical reviewer may suggest acceptance of the manuscript on the statistical grounds. If there are statistical errors in data and wrong use of statistical tools, statistical reviewer provides specific suggestions for the author on how to improve the manuscript. However, if errors are made in the study design, the manuscript is not accepted.
The manuscript is then reviewed by the co-editors (researcher/epidemiologist) in SAARC TB and HIV/AIDS Centre and then by the editor. When all the criteria are met by the manuscript then the editorial board identifies the external reviewer having expertise in the same field. In case some minor changes are needed to be made by the author the manuscript will be returned back to the corresponding author to do so. Corresponding author should be responsible to communicate to other authors.
The manuscript will be uploaded in the website for the review process. The database contains information on reviewing history, including number of current assignments, reviews completed in the past year and length of time taken, date of most recent review, and editor’s evaluation of submitted reviews. In case, if articles received in which the regular reviewers are not experienced, we identify reviewers based on their scientific papers published in PUBMED and request to review them.
Inquiries to reviewers are sent via E-mail messages, which include the manuscript and the assignment deadline. When prospective reviewers agree to serve, they are permitted access to the manuscript and reviewing instructions. The time allocated for initial review is 2 weeks and if reviewer fails to do so, three reminders each of one week are allocated. Failure to review manuscript within this time frame will be retracted and sent to another reviewer. Reviewers send their critique back to the office. After receiving the comments from the reviewer it is again analyzed internally. Minimal changes are handled by the editorial team. If there are major changes to be made in the article, the manuscript is sent back to the author to make those changes.
Generally, it takes 4-6 weeks from submission to review process and corresponding author will receive the information whether the manuscript has been accepted, rejected or needs minor modification. For the manuscripts rejected by the reviewer the author is informed with the comments of the reviewer. If modification is requested, the corresponding author should resubmit within a week or withdraw the article. Withdrawn articles can be resubmitted with all the issues addressed and the cover letter should clearly mention that it is the resubmission.
Acceptance: When the article has been accepted for publication on the scientific merit, the author will be notified of the acceptance of the manuscript. The volume and the year of publication in which the article will be published will also be mentioned. The duration from the submission to the manuscript acceptance will take 4-6 weeks.
Copyright © SAARC Tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS Centre (STAC), all rights reserved, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior permission of the STAC.
The journal is published twice a year.
This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.
Established by INASP in 2007. Managed by Tribhuvan University Central Library.
Nepal Journals Online (NepJOL) is a service to provide online publication of Nepalese journals. For more information about NepJOL and how to join the service, see the About page.
