Submission Process and Publication Fee

The author prepares the manuscript ensuring originality, data integrity, and proper citation of all sources. All listed authors must meet internationally accepted authorship criteria. Required supporting documents — including ethical/IRB approval, informed consent records, conflict of interest declarations, and funding disclosures — are assembled before submission.

The author confirms the manuscript has not been submitted to any other journal simultaneously, then proceeds to submit the manuscript to LMJHCR.

Upon receipt, the editorial office conducts an initial assessment for scope and completeness, followed by plagiarism screening via Turnitin. Manuscripts that do not pass screening are returned to the author for revision and resubmission.

Manuscripts that clear screening enter double-blind peer review, where they are evaluated by subject-matter experts on scientific merit, methodology, and ethical standards. Based on reviewer feedback, the author may be asked to submit a major or minor revision. Revised manuscripts are re-evaluated before a final editorial decision is made.

If the manuscript is rejected, the author is notified with feedback. If the manuscript is accepted, the author receives a formal acceptance notification followed by an APC invoice. Upon confirmed payment, the manuscript proceeds to copyediting, typesetting, and galley proof preparation. The author reviews and approves the final proof before the article is published online.

Published articles remain under post-publication monitoring. Corrections may be issued for minor errors; retractions are issued in cases of confirmed serious misconduct or integrity failures.

Submission Process — Flowchart

START

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Prepare Manuscript Originality · data integrity · citations · authorship · supporting documents

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Confirm No Duplicate Submission

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SUBMIT TO LMJHCR

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Initial Editorial Assessment

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Out of Scope / Incomplete ▼ Returned to Author Passes Assessment ▼ Proceeds to Screening

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Plagiarism Screening — Turnitin

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Fail ▼ Returned for Revision & Resubmission Pass ▼ Enters Peer Review

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Double-Blind Peer Review Evaluated by subject-matter experts on merit, methodology & ethics

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Major Revision ▼ Author Revises → Re-evaluation Minor Revision ▼ Author Revises → Re-evaluation

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Final Editorial Decision

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Rejected ▼ Author Notified with Feedback Accepted ▼ Acceptance Notification Issued

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APC Invoice Issued

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Payment Confirmed

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Copyediting · Typesetting · Galley Proof

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Author Final Proof Approval

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PUBLISHED ONLINE

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Post-Publication Monitoring Corrections for minor errors · Retractions for confirmed misconduct

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END

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Article Processing Charges (APC) / Publication Fee Policy

The Link Medical Journal of Health and Community Research (LMJHCR) is committed to full transparency regarding all publication-related fees, in accordance with the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing as defined by DOAJ, COPE, OASPA, and WAME.

 

Submission Fee No Submission Fee Authors pay nothing at the point of manuscript submission.

Peer Review / Processing Fee No Review or Processing Fee Initial editorial assessment, plagiarism screening, double-blind peer review, and all editorial decision-making are conducted entirely free of charge.

Article Processing Charge (APC) PKR 25,000 USD equivalent accepted for international authors, calculated at the prevailing State Bank of Pakistan interbank rate on the invoice date. Charged only after formal acceptance following peer review. Covers professional copyediting, typesetting and formatting, DOI assignment, online hosting, digital preservation and archiving, and editorial and administrative support. No additional charges are applied at any stage of the process.

Editorial Independence Fee Processing is Separate from Editorial Decisions In accordance with DOAJ and COPE requirements, all editorial decisions — including acceptance, revision, and rejection — are made solely on the basis of scientific merit and are entirely independent of APC payment. Fee processing is handled administratively and has no bearing on editorial outcomes.

No Hidden or Additional Charges Full Fee Transparency LMJHCR does not charge for colour figures, page length, supplementary files, manuscript corrections, or any other editorial or administrative handling. The journal's fee structure is fully transparent and complete as stated above.

Fast-Track or Priority Review No Priority Fees The journal does not charge for fast-track review, accelerated publication, or priority handling.

Waiver Policy Partial or Full Waivers Available LMJHCR may offer waivers on a case-by-case basis for authors from low- and middle-income countries, PhD students, early-career researchers, contributors to special thematic issues, or authors facing documented financial hardship. Waiver requests must be submitted with written justification at or immediately after acceptance. Waiver decisions are made independently of editorial decisions and do not influence the peer review process or publication outcome in any way.

Sources of Funding Journal Funding & Author Disclosure LMJHCR has no external source of funding. The journal receives no institutional, governmental, or commercial funding. Its sole source of revenue is the Article Processing Charge collected from authors of accepted manuscripts. This is disclosed in full accordance with DOAJ transparency requirements. Authors who receive any grant or institutional support covering publication costs must declare this in the Funding / Acknowledgements section of their manuscript. This declaration will appear in the published article.

APC Payment Process

When and how the Article Processing Charge applies.

Manuscript Submitted

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Free of Charge Screening · peer review · editorial decision-making

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Manuscript Accepted

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APC Invoice Issued — PKR 25,000 USD equivalent for international authors

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Waiver Request? ▼ Assessed Independently No influence on editorial outcome Standard Payment ▼ Payment Confirmed

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Production Begins Copyediting · typesetting · DOI assignment · online hosting

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PUBLISHED ONLINE

This policy is maintained in accordance with the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing (DOAJ, COPE, OASPA, WAME). Last reviewed by the editorial office of LMJHCR.