Pakistan Journal of Professional Psychology: Research and Practice is dedicated to protect the integrity of the published work and its mostly dependent on everyone involved in the process acting ethically. We kindly request that all of our authors, reviewers, and editors make use of the established codes of conduct and Guidelines on the Ethics of Research developed by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Research Using Human Participants

When reporting research involving human subjects, human material, human tissues, or human data, the authors must state that the investigations were conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki of 1975, as revised in 2013, which attests (at point 23 of declaration) that the study was approved by the ethical committee of the relevant institution.

The project identification code, approval date, and names of the ethical committee members, together with their affiliations, should at the very least be included in the Ethical permission letter in the Materials and Methods part of the publication. Individual participant data must be detailed in full, although private information identifying individuals is not required unless it is pertinent to the study (for instance, images of participant faces displaying a specific illness). If ethical approval is not required for the study, it should be noted in the publication along with an explanation of the exemption. Any submission that does not adhere to these specifications may be rejected by the editors without explanation.

Prior to participating in the study, each subject provided their informed consent. The Ethics Committee accepted the protocol of XXX (Project identification code), and the study was carried out in accordance with APA ethical guidelines and the Declaration of Helsinki.

• Participants must provide written informed consent prior to publication.
• No photograph may contain the initials or other personal identification of participants.
• Before submitting an article to the Pakistan Journal of Professional Psychology: Research and Practice writers must get signed informed consent from participants (or their family or guardians) if it contains any case specifics, personal information, or participant photographs.
• Participants' personal information must be kept as anonymous as feasible; for example, don't reveal participant’s precise age, ethnicity, or occupation if those factors are unrelated to the conclusions.
• You must give a thorough explanation of if informed consent is not required.

Ethical Requirements for Using Animals in Research

The editors will demand that the potential gains from any animal-related study outweigh any costs incurred by the animals and that the methods used are unlikely to offend the majority of readers. Particular attention should be paid by authors to whether the widely recognized "3Rs" are adhered to in their research:

• replacing animals whenever possible with substitutes,
• decrease in the use of animals, and
• the improvement of experimental setups and protocols to reduce animal suffering.

Additionally, all experimental work must have been carried out in accordance with applicable national laws governing the use of animals in research. Authors may consult the Code of Practice for the Housing and Care of Animals used in Scientific Procedures for more assistance.

Original descriptions of research with animals must be included in manuscripts together with information about the ethical committee's.