Instruction to Authors

INSTRUCTIONS TO AUTHORS: Articles should be typed in single space, Times New Roman font (letter size 12 for body of text and headings and sub-headings in bold with size 12). Manuscript should conform to the general instructions of “Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals” (1994), Lancet 1996, V2, 1-4 and Annals of Internal Medicine 1988, 108:258- 265.

DESCRIPTION OF SECTIONS:

TITLE PAGE: Title page should include the details of the type of manuscript (original article, case reports, images, letters to editor, brief communications, review articles etc.), running title of the manuscript, names, highest degrees obtained by all the authors, details of the corresponding author with the email address and address for communication, department and the institutions to which authors are affiliated to and contributions of all the authors. This also should include details about any funding agency and conflicts of interest if any. All the documents are to be sent only as doc/docx file. Files sent in any other format will not be considered for publication.

Manuscript details and instructions:

Original articles: This includes any randomised control trials, animal experimental studies, studies on comparison of screening tests, studies on diagnostic tests, discovery of new drugs, undocumented new adverse effects of existing drugs etc.  The total text of original articles should be approximately 3000 words maximum excluding the abstract, references and tables.  This section has to be subdivided into sections containing abstract, introduction, materials and methods, results/observations, discussion and conclusion.

ABSTRACT: Abstract should be having a maximum of 250 words and structured with subheadings like background, materials and methods, results and conclusion. This also includes at least three or more keywords.

INTRODUCTION: Should include the purpose of the study and rationale behind the study.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: This should include the source for the study, ethical committee approval, study design and statistical methods used.

RESULTS: In this section, results/ observations of the study should be quoted in a sequential manner with the text, tables and figures/illustrations wherever necessary.

DISCUSSION: This section should concentrate on the interpretations made from the observations/ results obtained, comparison with the existing studies, limitations in the present study and future methods to be structured for these studies.

CONCLUSION: This section should provide the conclusions drawn from the study. 

REFERENCES: References should be quoted only in Vancouver format and for original articles a maximum of 25 references can be stated.  For case reports, brief communications and letters to the editor, a maximum of 5-8 references can be quoted. References should be endorsed as laid out in the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors 1997; 126:36-47. References should be arranged in Vancouver style, conforming to the pattern of NLM in Index Medicus. Responsibility of accuracy of references will rest entirely with the authors. References should be listed in the order as they appear in the text. They should be indicated by Arabic numerals. For example: 1,2 and so on as superscripts. For correct abbreviations of the journal please refer to last Index Medicus. Names of one word journals and unindexed journals should be written in full form.

CASE REPORTS: Unique cases with new findings and relevant clinical significance will be given priority for publication.  These have to be designed with the subheadings of Abstract (not more than 200 words), introduction, case report, discussion, tables, illustrations and conclusion.

The text for case reports (excluding abstract, references, tables and legends) should be less than 1000 words.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR:These should be definitive observations defining an established finding or views already published in Journals.

TABLES:

Tables should be self-explanatory and should not repeat details described in the text.  Tables with more than 10 columns and 25 rows are not acceptable. Each table should have an Arabic numerical number, a brief title and should be enumerated in the sequence of their citation in the text. Footnotes should explain the abbreviations and other explanatory notes to be provided in the table.

ILLUSTRATIONS (FIGURES):Upload the images in JPEG format. The file size should be within 4 MB in size while uploading. Figures should be numbered consecutively according to the order in which they have been first cited in the text. Symbols, arrows, or letters used in photomicrographs should contrast with the background. Titles and detailed explanations should be written in the legends for illustrations, and not on the illustrations themselves.

PROCESSING AND PUBLICATION CHARGES: NIL