Policy Document

  1. Frequency of the Journal: Triannual = 3 issues per year
  2. Guidelines for Submission of Research Articles

a. Author Guidelines

Please read these guidelines in full before submitting.

  • Since the PDR operates a double-blind (double-anonymized) peer review process, every submission must consist of two separate files: a Title Page and an Anonymized Manuscript. A clear checklist is given on the Submission Checklist page and in the submission system.

b. Language and format

  • Manuscripts must be written in clear English (British English, applied consistently).
  • Submit the manuscript as an editable Microsoft Word (.docx)
  • Non-native English speakers are encouraged to have the manuscript professionally proofread, or at minimum run through spelling- and grammar-check software, before submission.
  • Use 1.5 line spacing, a single column, and continuous line and page numbering.

c. The two files you must upload

Title Page (separate file — not sent to reviewers)

Upload as a separate file labelled “Title Page.” It must contain:

  • The full article title (and a short running title of ≤ 50 characters, if used).
  • The full name of every author, in the intended order of publication.
  • Each author’s affiliation: department, institution, city, (state/province), and country.
  • The corresponding author’s full contact details: active email address, postal address, and telephone number.
  • The ORCID iD of each author is preferable for the corresponding author; encouraged for all).
  • Funding statement — each funder named with grant/award numbers, or an explicit “no funding” statement.
  • Competing-interests (conflict-of-interest) declaration, or “The authors declare no competing interests.”
  • Author-contribution statement using the CRediT taxonomy.
  • Data Availability Statement.
  • Ethics-approval and informed-consent statement, where human subjects are involved.
  • A declaration of any generative-AI use (pending approval of the institutional AI policy, as discussed at the PDR meeting held on 23 June 2026
  • Word count and the number of tables and figures.

d. Anonymized Manuscript (main file — sent to reviewers)

Upload as a separate file labelled “Anonymized Manuscript.” It must contain no information that could identify the authors:

  • Remove all authors’ names, affiliations, and contact details from the text and the running head.
  • Remove acknowledgements, funding details, grant numbers, and ORCID iDs (these belong on the Title Page).
  • Refer to your own previous work in the third person — e.g., “Khan (2020) shows…,” not “we show in our earlier paper.” Do not delete self-citations; reviewers need the full reference list.
  • Mask identifying details in competing-interest, data-availability, and ethics statements e.g., “details removed for double-anonymized review”.
  • Ensure figures, tables, captions, and supplementary files contain no author names, institution logos, or identifying file names.
  • Remove personal information from the file’s document properties (File ▸ Info ▸ Inspect Document).
  • If you share data or code at submission, use a repository link that preserves anonymity.

The Anonymized Manuscript should contain, in order: title; abstract; JEL codes and keywords; main text; tables and figures; and the reference list.

e. ORCID

An ORCID iD is preferable for the corresponding author and strongly encouraged for all co-authors. Authenticate it through your account in the submission system so it is linked to the published article and registered with Crossref.

f. Manuscript structure

Abstract, JEL codes, and Keywords

  • An abstract of up to 150–200 words, stating the contribution, methods (if relevant), and key findings, in the third person and without citations.
  • Four to six keywords and the relevant JEL classification codes.

g. Main text

  • A logical structure with descriptive headings, typically: Introduction; Data and Methodology; Results and Discussion; and Conclusion and Policy Implications. Use the decimal numbering system (1, 1.1, 1.1.1) for section headings, with no more than three levels.

h. Tables and figures

  • Number, figures, and tables in two separate sequences (Figure 1, Figure 2, …; Table 1, Table 2, …); give each a self-explanatory title and state the source beneath it; and submit them as editable content, not as pasted images.
  • Supply figures in editable form. Colour is welcome for the online version of record; ensure figures remain legible in greyscale.

i. References

  • Use APA style; reference-management software (Mendeley, EndNote, Zotero) may be used, with field codes removed from the final file.
  • Include a DOI for every reference that has one, and cite datasets like any other source, including their DOI.

j. Declarations (on the Title Page)

Provide funding, competing-interests, author-contribution (CRediT), and generative-AI declarations on the Title Page; templates are on the Author Disclosures page. These declarations are published with the article in a standardized “Declarations” section placed immediately after the References, comprising Funding, Conflict of Interest, Author Contributions, and (where applicable) Generative-AI Use statements as per journal’s policy (under process)

3. Peer Review Policy:

The Pakistan Development Review strictly follows the Double-Blind Peer Review Process (including one national reviewer and two foreign reviewers)

4. Originality and Plagiarism Policy

All submissions are screened with Turnitin. Two checks apply:

  • The overall similarity index must be below 15% (excluding the reference list and correctly quoted, attributed material). Manuscripts above 15%, or with a high overlap concentrated in a single source, are returned for revision or rejected.
  • AI-generated text. Turnitin’s AI writing indicator is also reviewed. As a guide, undisclosed AI-generated text should be negligible; a manuscript flagged with roughly 20% or more AI-generated content that the authors have not disclosed and substantively revised may be returned or rejected.
  • Data availability and replication

Every empirical paper must include a Data Availability Statement at submission. On acceptance, authors of empirical or computational papers must deposit a complete replication package — data, code, and a README file. Econometric and mathematical results should be reproducible from the data and code supplied; authors should be prepared to make these available to reviewers or the editorial office on request during the review process.

  1. All data used, or precise instructions and code to obtain or construct them from named sources.
  2. All code for data cleaning, analysis, tables, and figures, with software and version stated.
  3. A README describing every file, the computing environment, and the steps to reproduce each table and figure.
  • How to submit

Online submission through the journal’s system (OJS) is the only route for research articles. Email is reserved for queries only.

5. What happens after you submit

  1. Editorial desk review for scope, completeness, and similarity (Turnitin; under 15%).
  2. Double-blind peer review by one national and two international reviewers.
  3. Decision — accept, minor or major revision, or reject — with reviewer reports.
  4. Revision, with data-availability and replication checks.
  5. Copy-editing, DOI assignment, Online First publication, then inclusion in a dated issue.

6. Revisions and resubmission

Authors invited to revise their manuscript should submit the revised version, together with a point-by-point response to the reviewers’ comments, within 15 days of the decision letter. Authors who need more time due to other commitments may request an extension from the editorial office.

7. After acceptance

On acceptance, the manuscript is assigned a DOI. Page proofs (PDF) are sent to the corresponding author, who is asked to return all corrections within 48 hours in a single communication; proofreading and provision of all refernces is the corresponding author’s responsibility.

  • Submission Checklist

Use this checklist before you submit. You will upload two separate files.

File 1 — Title Page (with author details; not sent to reviewers)

☐  Full article title (and short running title, if used).

☐  Every author’s full name, in publication order.

☐  Each author’s affiliation: department, institution, city, country.

☐  Corresponding author’s email, postal address, and telephone.

☐  ORCID iD for the corresponding author (and, ideally, all authors).

☐  Acknowledgements.

☐  Funding statement with grant numbers (or “no funding”).

☐  Competing-interests declaration (or “none”).

☐  Author contributions (CRediT).

☐  Data Availability Statement.

☐  Ethics approval and consent (if human subjects are involved).

☐  Generative-AI declaration (or “none used”).

File 2 — Anonymized Manuscript (no author details; sent to reviewers)

☐  All author names, affiliations, and contact details removed from the text and running head.

☐  Acknowledgements, funding, grant numbers, and ORCID iDs removed.

☐  Own prior work cited in the third person (self-citations kept, not deleted).

☐  Identifying details in competing-interest, data, and ethics statements masked.

☐  Figures, tables, captions, and supplementary files contain no identifying information.

☐  Personal data removed from the file’s document properties.

☐  Contains: title, abstract (≤ 150–200 words), JEL codes, 4–6 keywords, main text, tables/figures, references (APA, with DOIs).

In the submission system, you will also

☐  Authenticate the corresponding author’s ORCID iD.

☐  Enter the funding, competing-interest, CRediT, and AI declarations.

☐  Upload or paste a cover letter.

☐  Names, institutional affiliations, and institutional email addresses of two potential peer reviewers who are independent of the authors (ideally from different countries and institutions).

☐  Confirm the manuscript is original, not under consideration elsewhere, and approved by all authors.

☐  Confirm similarity (Turnitin ) is below 15%, excluding references

8. Subscription Details

Annual Subscription
(includes all Regular Issues of the Journal)

Annual Subscription (Within Pakistan) 

Description

Surface Mail

Air Mail

Individual

1,800.00

2,000.00

 

Institutions

2,200.00

2,500.00

Per Copy of regular issue

700.00

1,000.00

International

Description

Surface Mail

Air Mail

Individual

US$ 100.00

US$ 125.00

Institutions

US$ 150.00

US$ 200.00

Per Copy of regular issue

US$ 40.00

US$ 55.00

To subscribe or request an invoice, contact publications@pide.org.pk

Journal Information — Contact

Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE), Quaid-i-Azam University Campus, P.O. Box 1091, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan. Tel: +92 51 9248137. Email: pdr@pide.org.pk.

Who to contact

Editorial office/general:  junaid.ahmed@pide.org.pk

Submissions/technical (OJS):  kamran@pide.org.pk

Subscriptions:  pdr@pide.org.pk

We aim to respond within 3 working days.

Note: PDR editorial staff will never request payment or financial transfers by email. If you receive a suspicious message claiming to be from a PDR editor, please verify it by contacting the editorial office directly at the email IDs above.

9. Privacy Statement

The journal collects personal information, such as authors' names, affiliations, email addresses, and ORCID IDs, to facilitate manuscript submission, editorial processing, peer review, and publication activities. Information relating to reviewers and editors is used exclusively to administer the peer-review process and is maintained in strict confidence.

All submitted manuscripts and their accompanying data are securely stored within the journal’s editorial management system. This information may be shared with approved third-party services, including plagiarism-screening platforms and indexing agencies, solely to support academic functions and operational requirements.

Information made public in published articles reflects the details provided by authors and remains permanently available. Records of unpublished submissions and related data are preserved for administrative and archival purposes.

The journal does not use personal data for marketing or any non-scholarly purposes, nor is such information disclosed to unauthorized parties. Individuals may request access to their personal data, seek its correction, or request its deletion, in accordance with applicable data protection regulations.

10. Author Disclosures & Declarations

Required for the corresponding author; encouraged for all. Authenticated via the submission system and displayed on the article and in the Crossref deposit.

  • Author contributions (CRediT)

Example: “A.B.: Conceptualisation, Methodology, Formal analysis, Writing – original draft. C.D.: Data curation, Software, Writing – review & editing. E.F.: Supervision, Funding acquisition.”

Funding

“This work was supported by [Funder] under grant [number].” Or: “This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.”

Conflict of interest

“The authors declare that they have no competing interests.” Disclose financial and non-financial interests that could be seen to influence the work.

Ethics and consent (where applicable)

For research involving human subjects, state ethics approval (committee and reference) and informed consent.

11. Publication Ethics

  • The PDR follows internationally accepted principles of publication ethics and expects authors, reviewers, and editors to uphold the highest standards of research integrity throughout the publication process.
  • All authors must have made a genuine intellectual contribution to the research, participated in drafting or critically revising the manuscript, approved the final version, and accepted accountability for all aspects of the work. The corresponding author must secure all co-authors’ agreement before submission; changes to authorship after submission require written justification and editorial approval.
  • Submissions must be original, unpublished, and not under simultaneous consideration by any other journal; duplicate or redundant publication is not permitted. The PDR operates double-blind peer review; reviewers must treat manuscripts as strictly confidential, must not exploit unpublished material, and must declare any conflict of interest before accepting a review invitation.
  • Authors are responsible for the accuracy of all data, analyses, and conclusions. Fabrication, falsification, or selective reporting of results constitutes misconduct. Empirical papers must include a Data Availability Statement; replication materials must be deposited upon acceptance.
  • Authors must disclose all funding sources, grant numbers, and any financial or non-financial interests that could be perceived as influencing the work. Authors must also disclose any use of generative AI tools in manuscript preparation. Reviewers and editors must similarly declare conflicts of interest to maintain impartiality.
  • Editorial decisions are based solely on scholarly quality, originality, validity, and relevance to scope. The publisher (PIDE) and external funders have no influence over editorial content or the timing of publication.
  • Confirmed plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, or manipulation of results will result in rejection and a ban on future submissions. Where misconduct is identified after publication, the editors will issue a correction, expression of concern, or retraction in accordance with internationally accepted publication-ethics guidelines, and will notify the relevant institution and funders. Allegations of misconduct and appeals against editorial decisions are handled under the journal’s established procedures based on internationally accepted publication-ethics guidance; written complaints may be addressed to the Editor.

12. Deadlines of all Processes:

a). Paper Submission

Articles are submitted through Online Journal Submission (OJS). After initial scrutiny to:

  1. i) determine that the submitted articles fall within the scope of the journal and ii) check the Similarity Index from Turnitin.

Receipt to Authors and Consent of Co-authors: Receipts against all submissions are sent to authors via OJS within three working days from the date of submission.

b). Review of Articles

Desk Review Decision: The internal editorial team conducts the desk review, and the decision to send the paper for external review (including one national reviewer and two foreign reviewers) is made within one week of the paper's submission date. Comments of reviewers are shared with the authors as soon as they are received, with the instruction to submit the revised draft after incorporating all comments within two weeks. Revised drafts are examined by the internal editorial team, and if needed, may also be sent to the relevant national or foreign reviewers to verify that all comments have been incorporated.  

c). Acceptance of Articles and Publication of Articles

Once all comments are incorporated and the revised draft is verified by the editorial team, a formal Acceptance email is sent to the authors informing them in which Volume and Issue their paper will be published.

The draft is sent to the Publications Section so that formatting of text, tables, and references may be done along with the language editing of the manuscript. Once completed in all respects, the DOI number is obtained and the article is immediately published online.

d). Timelines of Publication of Article:

  The average time from submission to first decision is 2 weeks.”

  “The peer-review process typically takes 18–24 weeks.”

  “Accepted articles are published online within 2–3 weeks after acceptance.”

  “Average submission-to-publication time: 150 days.”

  • In most cases, articles are published when ready.
  • Complimentary hard copies of the journal are sent to all authors.

For a more comprehensive processing detail of submitted articles, please see Table 1 below:

Steps Involved from Date of Receipt till Publication of Submitted Articles

 

Process Step

Responsible Role(s)

Key Actions

1

Manuscript Submission

Authors (initiator)

Authors submit manuscript to OJS.

2

Initial Technical Screening

Literary Editor

Literary Editor checks for completeness of the submission package.

Conducts technical checks: formatting, references, plagiarism, and compliance with journal policies. Non-compliant manuscripts are returned to authors for correction.

3

Scope & Quality Check

Co-Editor

Conducts the initial evaluation & Reviews compliant manuscripts for fit with the journal scope and minimum quality standards.

Desk rejects if unsuitable.

4

Assignment to Associate Editor

Co-Editor

Assigns manuscript to an appropriate Associate Editor (based on subject expertise).

5

Reviewer Identification

Co-Editor, Associate Editors (AE),

Editorial Assistant (National & Foreign reviewers

AE undertakes a detailed assessment of its scholarly quality, originality, and overall presentation.

Should the manuscript fail to meet the journal’s standards, the AE communicates a recommendation of rejection to the Co-Editor.

If the manuscript is of publishable quality, the AE proceeds to identify appropriate potential reviewers.

 

Editorial Assistant provides support by managing reviewer databases and facilitating the identification and engagement of qualified national & international reviewers.

6

Reviewer Invitation & Confirmation

Associate Editor

AE sends reviewer invitations, confirms acceptance, and ensures a timely response.

7

Peer Review Process

External Reviewers (managed by Associate Editors)

Reviewers evaluate the manuscript and submit reports.

8

Evaluation of Reviews

Associate Editor

Collects and assesses reviewer reports. Provides recommendation (accept/revise/reject) to Co-Editor.

9

Consolidation of Feedback

Co-Editor

Consolidates reviewer feedback, makes final recommendation to the Editor-in-Chief.

10

Decision Communication

Associate Editors (with oversight of Co-Editor)

Communicate decision (accept/revise/reject) to authors. Provide reviewers’ comments for revisions.

11

Revision Process

Authors (revision) + Associate Editor & Literary Editor (verification)

Authors submit revised manuscript.

Literary Editor checks compliance.

 

Associate Editor assesses whether reviewer/editor concerns are addressed.

12

Final Acceptance

Co-Editor (recommendation) + Editor (final approval)

Co-Editor submits final recommendation to Editor. If approved, manuscript is accepted.

13

Copyediting & Proofing

Literary Editor

Ensures language, style, and formatting meet journal standards.

Prepares final version for publication.

14

Administrative & Records Management

Literary Editor & Editorial Assistant

Maintain reviewer payments, records, and communications with HEC (if applicable).

15

Publication

Editorial Office (Co-Editor & Literary Editor)

Publish manuscript in the journal issue through OJS system and notify authors.

13. Article Processing / Publication Fee

The journal has no processing / publication fee from submission till publication.

14. Correction and Retraction of Research Articles

The Journal is committed to ensuring the accuracy and integrity of the scholarly record. All corrections and retractions follow internationally accepted publication-ethics guidelines.

  • Corrections

Corrections are issued when an article contains errors that do not change the overall findings.

  • Erratum: Issued for mistakes introduced by the journal (e.g., production or typesetting errors).
  • Corrigendum: Issued for author-identified errors (e.g., minor data or typographical issues).

Corrections are published as separate notices linked to the original article, which remains accessible with a note indicating the correction.

  • Retractions

Retractions are issued when serious problems invalidate the results or breach ethical standards.

Reasons may include:

  • Fabricated or falsified data
  • Plagiarism or duplicate publication
  • Unethical research practices
  • Major errors affecting conclusions
  • Authorship or peer-review misconduct

Retraction notices clearly state the reason and remain permanently linked to the original article, which is marked “Retracted.”

  • Expressions of Concern

If an article is under investigation and a decision is pending, the Journal may issue an Expression of Concern to alert readers.

15. Contribution and Consents of each Author and any other information

Receipts against all submissions are sent to authors via OJS within three working days from the date of submission. The purpose is to send a receipt of submitted articles and obtain consents from the mentioned co-authors, along with verifying the contributory role of each author as mentioned by the corresponding author while submitting the paper.