LAHORE: The University of Health Sciences (UHS) has launched a coordinated effort, to improve the quality, credibility and global impact of medical journals published by health institutions across Punjab.
The initiative was discussed at the IInd meeting of the Discipline Specific Faculty Council (DSFC) in Medical Journalism and the UHS Inter-Institutional Journalism Consortium (IJC), held at the UHS city campus.
The high-level gathering brought together more than 50 editors, editorial board members and publishing professionals representing UHS-affiliated institutional journals from across the province.
The meeting was chaired by UHS Vice Chancellor Prof. Ahsan Waheed Rathore and attended by some of Pakistan’s leading voices in medical publishing, including Maj. Gen. (R) Prof. Muhammad Aslam, Shaukat Ali Jawaid, Prof. Akhtar Sherin, Prof. Jamshed Akhtar, Dr. Fatema Jawaid, Dr. Masood Jawaid, Prof. Anwar Ali Siddiqui, Prof. Tayyiba Waseem and editors of leading institutional journals.
In the meeting, there was a consensus on developing a Journal Performance and Quality Metrics Framework for biomedical journals affiliated with UHS. The proposed framework will help institutions benchmark performance, identify gaps, improve editorial standards and enhance their prospects for national and international recognition.
Addressing the participants, Prof. Ahsan Waheed Rathore warned against the unchecked growth of journals without adequate quality safeguards and stressed that academic publishing must remain firmly anchored in scientific rigor, editorial independence and publication ethics. “Quality must take precedence over quantity. Strong editorial governance and ethical publishing practices are essential if Pakistani journals are to earn greater international credibility and visibility,” he said.
The meeting also discussed reforms in journal evaluation mechanisms.
Prof. Rathore, who chairs the Higher Education Commission’s Committee for Medical and Health Journals, proposed closer collaboration between the HEC and PMDC journal evaluation committees to ensure transparent, objective and quality-focused assessment standards.
The participants emphasized the need for stronger networking among editorial teams and proposed the creation of a comprehensive database documenting journal infrastructure, publishing resources, editorial offices, managing editors and support systems available in affiliated institutions.
The medical editors also called for greater institutional self-sufficiency in publishing operations, encouraging journals to build in-house expertise in editorial management, production processes, XML generation, digital publishing technologies and the responsible use of artificial intelligence.
Speaking on the occasion, UHS Pro-Vice Chancellor Prof. Nadia Naseem said the consortium would serve as a permanent platform for collaboration, mentorship, capacity building and quality enhancement in biomedical publishing. She announced that future meetings would focus on priority areas identified through a province-wide needs assessment survey and would include technical mentorship by national and international experts.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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