The Editorial Board of the Pacific Journal of Medical and Health Sciences consists of individuals with clearly defined academic, editorial, strategic and operational responsibilities.

The following framework establishes the distinct roles, responsibilities and decision-making authority of each editorial body in order to maintain academic quality, transparency, editorial independence and responsible publishing practices.

Role

Patrons should represent the highest level of institutional and strategic stewardship of the journal.

Responsibilities

• Provide institutional support, legitimacy and strategic direction.
• Promote the journal's long-term sustainability and reputation.
• Support infrastructure, resources and institutional collaborations.
• Encourage ethical, transparent and responsible publishing practices.
• Facilitate institutional and professional networks for the growth of the journal.
• Provide guidance on major strategic matters such as expansion, partnerships, internationalization and sustainability.
• Support the journal in maintaining its academic independence and credibility.

Decision-making Authority

Patrons may have authority over institutional and strategic matters, but they should ordinarily not influence individual manuscript decisions, peer-review outcomes, reviewer selection or editorial recommendations.

Role

The Advisory Board serves as the journal's strategic and scholarly sounding board.

Responsibilities

• Advise the journal on its vision, scope and future direction.
• Recommend emerging research areas and contemporary themes.
• Advise on internationalization and academic collaborations.
• Provide guidance regarding publishing standards and scholarly quality.
• Suggest strategies for improving the journal's visibility, reputation and indexing prospects.
• Advise on ethical publishing practices and evolving standards.
• Provide recommendations concerning special issues, thematic editions and emerging disciplines.
• Offer independent perspectives on major editorial-policy matters.

Decision-making Authority

The Advisory Board generally has recommendatory rather than executive authority. Its recommendations may guide the Chief Editor and journal management, but it normally does not make final decisions on individual manuscripts.

Role

The Chief Editor should be the principal academic and editorial authority of the journal.

Responsibilities

• Establish and maintain the journal's academic and editorial standards.
• Define and periodically review the journal's aims, scope and editorial policies.
• Oversee the complete peer-review and publication process.
• Assign editorial responsibilities among Editors and Editorial Board Members.
• Make or approve final decisions on manuscript acceptance, revision or rejection.
• Ensure that editorial decisions are based on scholarly merit, originality, relevance, methodological rigor and ethical standards.
• Resolve complex or disputed editorial matters.
• Handle conflicts of interest, complaints and appeals in accordance with journal policy.
• Ensure appropriate separation between editorial decisions and commercial/institutional interests.
• Monitor the quality and timeliness of peer review.
• Coordinate with the Advisory Board and Editorial Board on strategic academic matters.
• Recommend appointment or restructuring of members of the editorial team.
• Represent the journal before academic institutions, indexing agencies and scholarly organizations.

Decision-making Authority

The Chief Editor normally has the highest editorial decision-making authority. However, decisions should be based on established editorial policies and peer-review evidence rather than personal preference.

Role

Editors are responsible for the day-to-day academic handling of manuscripts and may be assigned specific subject areas, sections or issues.

Responsibilities

• Conduct preliminary editorial assessment of submissions.
• Determine whether manuscripts fit the journal's scope and basic quality requirements.
• Identify suitable peer reviewers.
• Manage the peer-review process.
• Evaluate reviewer reports.
• Communicate revision requirements to authors.
• Monitor manuscript processing timelines.
• Recommend acceptance, revision or rejection.
• Identify potential conflicts of interest.
• Maintain confidentiality throughout the editorial process.
• Coordinate special issues or specific thematic sections when assigned.
• Escalate complex ethical, methodological or disputed cases to the Chief Editor.

Decision-making Authority

Editors have delegated editorial authority. Depending on the journal's policy, an Editor may make decisions on assigned manuscripts, while particularly sensitive, disputed or exceptional cases may require approval from the Chief Editor.

Difference from Chief Editor

• Chief Editor: Overall editorial leadership and final/ultimate editorial responsibility.
• Editor: Delegated management of manuscripts, sections or subject areas.

Role

Editorial Board Members form the journal's core scholarly community supporting academic quality and editorial governance.

Responsibilities

• Review manuscripts within their areas of expertise.
• Provide constructive and independent scholarly assessments.
• Advise Editors on methodological, theoretical and disciplinary issues.
• Recommend qualified peer reviewers.
• Contribute to discussions on editorial policies and journal development.
• Suggest themes for special issues and emerging research areas.
• Encourage high-quality scholarly submissions.
• Support the journal's academic reputation and outreach.
• Participate in editorial meetings and policy discussions when required.
• Identify emerging trends and areas requiring greater journal coverage.

Decision-making Authority

Editorial Board Members generally have expert/recommendatory authority, rather than unilateral authority to accept or reject manuscripts. Their recommendations contribute to editorial decisions, while the Editor or Chief Editor retains formal decision-making responsibility.

Role

The International Editorial Board provides global academic representation and international scholarly expertise.

Responsibilities

• Provide perspectives from different countries, academic systems and research environments.
• Review manuscripts in their fields of expertise.
• Promote internationally relevant research.
• Advise on global research trends and emerging disciplines.
• Help improve the journal's international academic standards.
• Encourage submissions from international researchers.
• Support international collaborations, special issues and academic initiatives.
• Help enhance the journal's international visibility and scholarly network.
• Recommend international reviewers and contributors.
• Advise the Chief Editor on internationalization strategies.

Decision-making Authority

Members generally exercise scholarly and advisory authority. They may participate in peer review and editorial consultations but do not normally possess independent authority to determine publication outcomes.

Editorial Board: Core academic governance and subject expertise.
International Editorial Board: Global representation, international expertise and internationalization of the journal.

Role

External Editorial Board Members provide independent expertise from outside the journal's immediate institutional or organizational structure.

Responsibilities

• Provide impartial scholarly advice.
• Review manuscripts requiring specialized expertise.
• Offer independent assessments of editorial policies and practices.
• Help reduce institutional or organizational bias.
• Advise on methodological and disciplinary standards.
• Recommend external reviewers and potential contributors.
• Contribute to special issues, thematic initiatives and scholarly activities.
• Provide an external perspective on the journal's academic quality and reputation.
• Assist in identifying potential conflicts, quality concerns or emerging scholarly expectations.

Decision-making Authority

External Board Members generally have independent advisory and review authority, but not administrative authority over the journal. Their recommendations contribute to editorial decisions but do not ordinarily constitute the final publication decision.

Role

The Circulation Manager is responsible for the journal's distribution, dissemination and readership operations, rather than academic content.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate distribution of print issues.
• Manage digital dissemination and circulation where applicable.
• Maintain subscriber and institutional distribution records.
• Coordinate mailing and delivery of journal issues.
• Monitor circulation statistics.
• Manage subscriptions and renewals where applicable.
• Coordinate distribution to libraries, institutions and academic organizations.
• Maintain records of issue dispatch and delivery.
• Support the journal's readership-development initiatives.
• Coordinate with the publishing/production team regarding publication schedules.
• Provide circulation and readership reports to journal management.

Decision-making Authority

The Circulation Manager has operational and administrative authority concerning distribution, but no authority over peer review, manuscript acceptance/rejection, editorial content or academic decisions.

All editorial decisions, including peer-review, revision, acceptance and rejection of manuscripts, are made independently by the editorial team on the basis of scholarly quality, originality, relevance, methodological rigor, ethical compliance and the journal's stated aims and scope.

Patrons, Advisory Board members, institutional authorities, sponsors and other non-editorial stakeholders do not interfere with individual manuscript decisions.

Where conflicts of interest arise, the concerned editor shall recuse themselves and an independent editorial decision-maker shall be appointed.