Regulatory Body For Pakistani Medical Journals: Ignoring Stakeholders Input

Jamshed Akhtar

Abstract

Editors of medical journals in Pakistan recently came to know through electronic and print media that in future Pakistan Medical Commission, previously Pakistan Medical & Dental Council, will not be involved with the regulation and monitoring of periodicals.1 In past Pakistan Medical & Dental Council (PM & DC) used to recognize medical journals after assessing their quality and regularity of publication. It was done through a committee of experts the members of which used to be the clinicians working in different medical colleges. They were mostly chosen without any set criteria and most were not well versed with the functioning of medical journals. They used to set criteria for acceptance or otherwise of medical journals and grant approval for certain period of time. This activity was quite irregular due to frequent changes in the working of PM & DC, legal issues and court cases. For many years the recognition process remained suspended and many journals lost their legal status. The criteria of accepting journals was not too strict and the purpose was to encourage a culture of research by encouraging clinicians, who in addition to rendering services to the patients, were also involved in teaching of medical students and residents. It was expected that level of research articles will not be high and at par with advanced countries as in most of the medical colleges and hospitals research facilities are not present…………………………………