Review Process

The peer review process is one of the most vital aspects and crucial elements on the way to publication. The integrity of the peer review process and trust of authors are crucially vital for the journal's credibility and reputation.

Hamdard Englicus dutifully observes the peer review regulation established by HEC to conform to the terms of its annual funding. Each manuscript submitted to Hamdard Englicus is subject to preliminary and external assessment for focus strategies by competent specialists of relevant interests.

Internal Review

It is upon submission of each paper to the journal that one of the editorial boards performs an internal analysis of the document to check for adherence to the required format and publication ethics. This board member would also be able to assess whether certain fundamental protocols of research have indeed been implemented in research design, analysis and contribution to the literature. Papers that do not meet the basic requirements are not sent even for an external review.

External Review

Hamdard Englicus uses a double-blind review process after an initial internal screening of papers. Authors should not add personal details in their papers. They are also advised against posting their work online to maintain anonymity from potential reviewers. Reviewers are required to reject the review if they identify the authors of the papers assigned to them.

External reviewers usually focus on aspects like originality, presentation quality, research design, data/results/conclusions, the study's usefulness, and its relevance to the research community. If major issues are found during the external review that are beyond correction through significant revision, reviewers can suggest that the paper be rejected.

Suggesting Reviewers

According to HEC rules, authors who submit research papers to Hamdard Englicus cannot suggest potential reviewers for their papers. However, authors can list scholars they believe should not review their paper due to any actual or perceived conflict of interest.

Criteria for Selection of Reviewers

Reviewers are selected carefully based on the following criteria:

  1. Must hold a Ph.D. degree or advance professional qualification with extensive professional/academic experience, i.e. CPA, CFA, CMA, etc.
    2. Recognized expert in the field (having publications in reputable academic or professional research journals)
    3. Never coauthored a paper with the author(s)
    4. Not affiliated with the institution of author(s)
    5. Should have a good understanding of data analysis

Resources Available to Reviewers

Reviewers for Hamdard Englicus are respected scholars and researchers who can access many research databases and recent publications. If they require additional resources to finish their review, those are supplied as well.

Publication Ethics (for reviewers)

All reviewers are encouraged to follow the HEC guidelines for reviewers to meet their responsibilities in relation to objectivity, promptness, conflict of interest, confidentiality and reporting.

Steps in Peer Review Process

Peer review process can be broadly described as:

S.No

Steps of Review Process

Estimated Time

1

Submission of paper

-

2

First internal review *

3-4 weeks

3

External review

4-5 weeks

4

Communication of review reports to authors for minor/major revision **

1 week

5

Submission of the revised paper

4-8 weeks

6

Second internal review (to assess whether reviewers suggestions have been incorporated satisfactorily) ***

2-4 weeks

7

Acceptance of paper (on successful submission of revised paper)

1 week

* Paper is returned to authors if it does not meet the basic criteria
** Paper is returned to authors if external reviewers find that the research paper has so serious faults that cannot be resolved through a major revision
*** Authors are requested for further revision if editors find that reviewers’ suggestions have not been incorporated satisfactorily
Note: Authors are requested to revise the paper carefully in accordance with the reviewers’ suggestions to avoid unnecessary delay in the review process.

Resubmission of paper (after peer review)

Almost all papers that are published undergo at least one revision. Revision requests are good news because they give authors a chance to learn and make their research paper better. To prevent unnecessary disruptions to the review process, they are instructed to carefully revise the paper in accordance with the reviewers' suggestions. The review report is typically given in columnar format. The authors' action or response appears in the final column of the review report. This is a required step in the review process, and the author or authors must fill it out in detail, explaining how each review point is included in the updated version of the paper.

Within two months, the revised paper and the response to the review report must be turned in. To prevent additional review and delay, authors should be extremely careful about accuracy and completeness in accordance with the reviewers' suggested points (if editors find that reviewers’ suggestions have not been incorporated satisfactorily, further revision can be recommended).

If authors believe that revision requires more time and effort to improve the quality of the paper, they can request additional time while taking into account their other academic and professional obligations.

Appeal/Complaint Process

The Hamdard Englicus Editorial Board is dedicated to offering its contributors high-quality editorial services and is a firm believer in establishing and upholding mutual respect and trust among all contributors, readers, and practitioners. In order to enhance its services, Hamdard Englicus aims to address complaints and correct errors made against:

  1. a) Objection to publications causing harm to any party
    b) Infringing ethical boundaries in any manner and
    c) Rejection of research paper

By sending an email to editor@englicus.hamdard.edu,pk, authors and readers can directly appeal to the editor. A thorough justification (harm, moral dilemmas, or a reaction to editor/reviewer remarks) must be included in the appeal. The editor would handle the issue on their own and forward it to the relevant editorial board member of Hamdard Englicus. After reviewing the entire complaint and supporting documentation, the board member may ultimately suggest accepting the appeal, conducting additional review, or upholding the initial ruling (if any).

English Language Editing

Authors have a fundamental obligation to make sure that their research papers are free of typographical, grammatical, and syntactic errors. An English language specialist must edit research papers written by authors whose first language is not English.

Editorial Team

Patron-in-Chief

Prof.  Dr. Shabib-ul Hassan                     

Vice Chancellor

Hamdard University

Karachi

Patron

Prof. Dr. Asadullah Larik

Dean

Faculty of Social Sciences & Humanities (FSSH)

Associate Editors:

Ms. Nazra Zahid Shaikh (In-Charge Dept. of English)

Mr. Haseen ur Rahman (Senior Lecturer)

Mr. Suhail Ahmed Solangi (Senior Lecturer)

Mr. Hafiz Imran Nawaz (Senior Lecturer)

Ms. Tanzeela Faiz (Senior Lecturer)

Mr. Rais Khan (Lecturer)

Managing Editor:

Ms. Aysha Khan (Lecturer)

Ms. Rizwana Soomro (Research Assistant)

Ms. Sumayya Arshad (PA to Dean)

Co-Editors:

Ms. Sumra Peeran PhD Scholar (English Linguistics)

Ms. Ufaq Usama PhD Scholar (English Linguistics)

Mr. Ali Chandio PhD Scholar (English Linguistics)

Mr. Muhamad Zaman PhD Scholar (English Linguistics

Ms. Nisha Kumari PhD Scholar (English Linguistics

Mr. Javed Ahmed MPhil Scholar (English Literature)

Mr. Mhuhammad Shehroz Khan MPhil Scholar (English Literature)

Ms. Warda Murad MPhil Scholar (English Literature)

Mr.  Qazi Afnan MPhil Scholar (English Linguistics)

Mr. Muhammad Sadiq MPhil Scholar (English Linguistics)

Ms. Mahira Kanwal MPhil Scholar (English Linguistics)

Mr.  Muhammad Okasha Tanveer  MPhil Scholar (English Linguistics)

Ms.  Najma Batool MPhil Scholar (English Linguistics)

Ms. Fatima Zulfiqar BS English Student

Ms. Ayesha Khan BS English Student
Ms. Tazmeen Qamar BS English Student

Web Editor:

Mr. Sami ur Rahman
Head of IT Dept.