Pediatric Infectious Disease Society Of The Philippines Journal Standard Operating Guidelines Version 4 

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I. INTRODUCTION
The PIDSP Journal Committee is responsible for the publication of the PIDSP Journal (ISSN 2094-3385), online ISSN 2782-9510, the official paper of the Pediatric Infectious Disease Society of the Philippines.

II. COMPOSITION OF THE PIDSP JOURNAL COMMITTEE

A. Editor-in-Chief
B. Editorial Board
C. Peer Reviewers
D. Journal Manager
E. Advisors

III. DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

A. Editor-in-Chief (EIC) – is responsible for what appears in the journal.

 Maintains high-quality journal content
 Has full responsibility for editorial decisions on individual manuscripts
 Decides whether to ACCEPT or REJECT manuscripts
 Designates peer reviewers upon whom he/she relies on for advice
 Promotes the journal as the best journal to publish in
 Sets up a reliable panel of expert reviewers
 Offers feedback to reviewers when required
 Ensures that any feedback to authors is constructive
 Provides guidelines to authors for preparing and submitting manuscripts
 Provides a clear statement of the journal’s policies on authorship
 Innovates on ways to improve the journal and its status

B. Editorial Board – a team of individuals who work directly with the EIC to develop the journal and promote new initiatives.
 Chosen for their expertise in key subject areas related to the journal
 Offer expertise in their area of specialty
 Review submitted manuscripts
 Give advice on revisions to the journal policy and scope as necessary
 Work with the EIC to ensure timely publication
 Identify topics for special issues of the journal
 Promote the journal to increase submissions and readership

C. Peer Reviewers
 Database of researchers with special expertise
 Offer constructive feedback to an author and gives confidential comments on a manuscript to the EIC
 Assist the EIC in deciding on whether to accept or reject a manuscript

D. Journal Manager – not directly involved with accept-reject decisions
 Relieves the EIC of all clerical details of the manuscript review process
 Acts as a liaison officer among the members of the journal committee, authors, PIDSP secretariat, website managers, external committees, societies, associations, institutions, and the like, such as the Philippine Association of Medical Journal Editors (PAMJE)
 Runs similarity check on submitted manuscripts
 Performs copy editing of the manuscript
 Converts accepted manuscripts to a publishable format
 A part-time paid professional

E. Advisor/s
 Acts as a mentor to newly appointed members of the editorial board
 Offers guidance and suggestions for the best course of action for queries/issues from the EIC and editorial board
 Acts as a resource person with regards to the history and past procedures of the journal

IV. TENURE

A. Duration of Office – The PIDSP Journal EIC is appointed by the President of the Society and is co-terminus with the President’s tenure. The EIC and the Editorial Board may be reappointed as necessary.

B. Editorial Board – Members of the Editorial Board undergo renewal of membership after a period of 2 years.

C. Uncompleted Terms of Office – The PIDSP President and Board decide on the tenure of the EIC and the editorial board members. Decisions on this shall be communicated clearly and put into writing. Likewise, the EIC and editorial board should notify the society of any decisions should they be unable to complete their term.

V. GUIDELINES ON JOURNAL EDITING AND REVIEW
The following processes are to be completed using the E-REVIEWS platform:

A. An author submits a manuscript to the PIDSP Journal and signs the Article Publishing Agreement (APA), and disclosure on conflicts of interest form.
B. EIC screens the manuscript whether to reject or accept for peer review.
C. Journal Manager runs similarity check and formats the manuscript for editing
D. Editor in chief chooses the peer reviewers for the manuscript.
E. Journal manager sends the manuscript for peer review with an attached manuscript review form.
F. Author is informed of the outcome of the review.
G. Journal manager prepares the author feedback form by consolidating the review comments of peer reviewers for the author’s guidance and information.
H. Author is requested to modify the manuscript as necessary
I. Manuscript undergoes editing until EIC and author agree on the final manuscript.
J. The layout of the final proofs is prepared by the journal manager.
K. Proofs are sent back to authors for approval and authors are notified prior to the paper’s publication.
L. The article is published online.

VI. RULES AND REGULATIONS OF THE PIDSP JOURNAL COMMITTEE

A. Frequency and Date of Publication
 The PIDSP Journal is released bi-annually, by June and November of each calendar year.

B. Article Publishing Agreement
 An Article Publishing Agreement is required from the author/s of the manuscript. This process ensures that:

(1) The article has not been published and is not under simultaneous consideration elsewhere for publication.
(2) All co-authors have reviewed and approved the manuscript.
(3) Any potential conflict of interest, especially from any financial associations, will be fully disclosed.
(4) All sources of funding and institutional affiliations of the authors will be indicated.
(5) Informed consent from subjects were taken if the study involves human subjects and in the case of minors, informed consent from their guardians were taken.
(6) The research has been evaluated by an ethics board before the research was performed; and
(7) Full copyright of the manuscript is assigned to the PIDSP Journal.

C. Instructions to Authors
 Authors must create an E-REVIEWS account to upload their manuscript after signing the:
(1) PIDSP Article Publishing Agreement, which attests that:
(a) the submission has not been published and is not under simultaneous consideration elsewhere for publication
(b) all co-authors have reviewed and approved of the manuscript
(c) any potential conflict of interest, especially from any financial associations, will be fully disclosed
(d) all sources of funding and institutional affiliations of authors will be indicated
(e) if the study involves human subjects, informed consent were taken, or if minors, consent were obtained from their guardians
(f) the research has been evaluated by an ethics board before the research was performed and
(g) full copyright of the manuscript is assigned to the PIDSP Journal.
(2) International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) Disclosure Form, which documents potential conflicts of interest for each author.

 All manuscripts submitted to the PIDSP Journal should adhere to international guidelines in manuscript writing. Authors are requested to refer to the “Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly work in Medical Journals.” (http://www.icmje.org/recommendations).

 GENERAL GUIDELINES on the contents of the manuscript are provided as part of the Instructions to Authors.

 Guidelines of the EQUATOR (Enhancing the QUality and Transparency Of health Research) Network, a library for health research reporting, will be followed. Guidelines for main study types such as RCTs (CONSORT), Observational studies (STROBE), Systematic Reviews (PRISMA), Case reports (CARE), and Diagnostic/prognostic studies (STARD) will be adhered to as well. These guidelines will be used by the Editorial Board to monitor the reporting processes in the journal.

D. Rules on Authorship
 Authors are considered such only if they have contributed significantly in the: conception, design, or analysis and interpretation of data, AND drafting of the manuscript or its revision especially if it has a highly significant intellectual content. Participation only in the collection of data DOES NOT qualify one for authorship but the contribution may be acknowledged. A CORRESPONDING AUTHOR should be identified among the authors of a manuscript.

 All individuals designated as authors must meet ALL four criteria for authorship as outlined by the latest guidelines from the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE):
(1) Substantial contributions to the concept or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; AND
(2) Drafting the work or reviewing it critically for important intellectual content; AND
(3) Final approval for the version to be published; AND
(4) Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved

 In addition to being accountable for the parts of the work done, an author should be able to identify which co-authors are responsible for other specific parts of the work. In addition, authors should have confidence in the integrity of the contributions of their co-authors.

 Individuals who made a significant contribution to the work but who do not meet all four criteria may be credited in the Acknowledgements.

E. Editorial Office Manuscript Checklist
 The journal committee uses a checklist in the review of a manuscript to ensure that:
o The paper fulfills the uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals
o Contents of the paper are appropriate for the journal
o The manuscript is approved by all authors
o Conflict of interest disclosures was made
o Institutional Review Board/Ethics Review Board approval was granted
o The study complies with the Helsinki Declaration
o Rights and permissions in the conduct of the paper were put into writing
o Complete correspondence details were given

F. Peer Review Process
 The double-blind peer review system is adopted by the PIDSP Journal. Two peer reviewers are invited and assigned for each submission: 1 internal reviewer and 1 external reviewer. The statistician as a 3rd reviewer can be called upon if needed.

 The Peer Review process begins when reviewers accept the invitation to review a submission either by clicking on the internal notification in E-REVIEWS or using the E-REVIEWS link included in the email alert. Once the invitation has been accepted, they will once again receive an internal notification on E-REVIEWS and an external email alert (in the address they provided) to complete the Manuscript Review Form (MRF). Reviewers may view the blinded version of the manuscript and open the MRF page in separate windows simultaneously. Reviewers are asked to fill out all fields in the MRF before submitting the MRF as final. An e-mail will be sent to acknowledge successful MRF submissions. Reviewers will be updated about the final outcome of the manuscript they reviewed through email.

 Reports and comments of reviewers are screened by the editor and sent back to the author through an author feedback form.

 The Current List of External Peer Reviewers of the PIDSP Journal may be found in the Peer Reviewers Section of the Journal Tab of the PIDSP Website.

G. Decisions on Manuscripts Sent for Review
 The EIC considers feedback provided by peer reviewers in its decision. This is summarized in an Author Feedback Form. Manuscripts can either be:
o accepted without any changes (acceptance): will publish the paper in its original form
o accepted with minor revisions (acceptance): will publish the paper and ask the author to make minor corrections
o accepted after major revisions (conditional acceptance): will publish the paper provided the authors make the changes suggested by the reviewers and/or editors
o revised and resubmitted (conditional rejection): willing to reconsider the paper in another round of decision making after the authors make major changes; AND
o rejected (outright rejection): the journal will not publish the paper or reconsider it even if the authors make major revisions

H. Article Processing Charge or Publication Fees
 Publication in the PIDSP Journal is FREE of charge.

VII. MEETINGS

A. The Journal Committee shall meet at least once a year to discuss the contents of the 2 journals to be published for a specific calendar year.

B. Additional meetings may be set as necessary to discuss the progress of a specific journal issue or other concerns about the journal and its publication.

C. The Calendar of the Publication Process is as follows:
February – researches are submitted/presented at the PIDSP Annual Convention
March (but this varies) – Annual PIDSP Journal Planning and Workshop
April – Editorial board and peer review process
May – Editor in Chief review and editing process.
June and December- release of 2 issues for the year

D. A summary of the status of all papers submitted for publication will be given each year. The summary data will include how many declined publication, were rejected, didn’t respond to PIDSP’s invitation, or published in our journal.