INSTRUCTION TO AUTHORS

 

Letter of Undertaking in PDF format

Instruction to Authors in PDF format

Updated  January 1st, 2012

Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences

Instruction to authors

Updated January 1st, 2012

Quarterly Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences follow the uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to Biomedical Journals as approved by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) modified and is recognized by Higher Education Commission, College of Physicians & Surgeons Pakistan and PM&DC. This Journal is Indexed by WHO Index Medicus IMEMR Current Contents is covered by EXCERPTA MEDICA, Netherlands, CAB Abstract and Global Health of UK, is registered with International Serials Data System of France bearing ISSN No. 1017-4699. It is included in the Directory of Open Access Journals (www.doaj.org) on Internet. Hence, all those whose manuscripts are accepted and published will get the necessary credit. (Abbreviated form: PaK J Med Sci.)

While submitting manuscripts, please carefully follow the instructions given below:-

1. Submit the manuscript with our online editorial system at www.pjms.com.pk E-mail of each author is required durning the subsmission process. All submitted manuscripts must be exclusively contributed to Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences.

2. Plagiarism: Manuscripts are screened for plagiarism using special software and those found guilty or involved in publication misconduct are liable to be black listed.

3. Do not submit tables as photographs. Give each column an abbreviated heading. Identify statistical measures such as standard deviation and standard error of the mean. Make sure that each table is cited in the text.

4. The figures should be sent in JPEG format with atleast 300 dpi of resoulation as separate file (upload as supplementary file).

5. We accept only those manuscripts or data that have not been previously published or submitted elsewhere for publication. However, re-analysis of previously published data can be accepted.

6. In case the manuscript was earlier submitted to some other Journal and was rejected, the authors must provide full information for proper analysis.

7. All manuscripts by multiple authors must be signed by all the authors and contain details of individual authors contribution.

8. Informed consent of the patients participating in the study should be undertaken.

9. All studies must be approved by the relevant Ethics Committee/Institution Review Boards of the respective institutions.

10. The authors as well as reviewers are expected to declare the conflict of interest if any.

11. Source of funding for the study should be clearly mentioned.

12. The journal will accept:- (a) Guest Editorials on important subjects of current interest, (b) Original Articles, (c) Review Articles, (d) Case Reports, (e) Clinical Updates (f) Short Communications and (g) Book Reviews (h) Case Studies (i) Clinical Notes (j) CME (k) Obituaries (l) Letters to the Editor. We do not accept Knowledge, Attitude, Practice (KAP) studies, routine surveys and cross sectional studies. Only selected animal studies are entertained.

13. The desired position of any figure or table should be marked in the margin.

14. The manuscripts except special/short communications & Guest Editorials should contain the following sections:-

a. Title Page: The complete title of the manuscript, the name of all the authors with their highest qualifications, the department or institution to which they are attached, address for correspondence with telephone numbers, cell phones, e-mail, Fax number and short running title of the article, source of funding, number of figures, tables, total word count and total number of pages.

b. Conflicts of interest: When authors submit a manuscript they must disclose all financial and personnel relationship that might bias their work. Authors must state explicitly whether potential conflicts do or do not exist. They should do so in the manuscript on the title page. Additional details can be provided if necessary in a covering letter which accompanies the manuscript.

Authors of study funded by an agency with proprietary or financial interest in the outcome must sign a statement that they had full excess to all the data in the study and take complete responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis. This statement should be submitted along with the manuscript.

c. Abstract: All original articles must accompany a structured abstract upto 200 words. It should state Objective of the study, Methodology, Results & Conclusions. (Selection of study subjects or experimental animals; observational and analytical methods, give specific data and their statistical significance, if possible). Emphasise new and important aspects of the study or observations. This page should contain structured abstract and key words only. Authors need to be careful that the abstract reflects the content of the article accurately.

d. Key Words: Below the abstract give few key words not more than ten that will assist indexers in cross indexing the article as they are published with abstract. Use terms from the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) list of index medicus, if suitable MeSH terms are not yet available for recently introduced terms, present terms may be used.

e. Case Report/Review Article: All review articles and case reports should be preceded by a summary. Authors submitting review manuscript should include a section describing the methods used for locating, selecting, extracting and synthesizing data, data bases searched and the time period. These methods should also be summarized in the abstract.

f. Introduction: This should summarize the purpose and the rationale for the study. It should neither review the subject extensively nor it should have data or conclusions of the study.

g. Methodology: This should include exact method or observation or experiment. If an apparatus is used, it’s manufacturer’s name and address should be given in parenthesis. If the method is established, give reference but if the method is new, give enough information so that another author is able to perform it. If a drug is used, its generic name, dose and route of administration must be given. For patients, age, sex with mean age ± standard deviation must be given. Statistical method must be mentioned and specify any general computer programme used. The Info system used should be clearly mentioned.

h. Results: It must be presented in the form of text, tables and illustrations. The contents of the tables should not be all repeated in the text. Instead, a reference to the table number may be given. Long articles may need sub-headings within some sections (especially the Results and Discussion parts) to clarify their contents. Extra or supplementary materials and technical details can be placed in an appendix where it will be accessible. It may be omitted from the printed version but may be published in the electronic version of the journal.

i. Discussion: This should emphasize the present findings and the variations or similarities with other work done in the field by other workers. The detailed data should not be repeated in the discussion again. Emphasize the new and important aspects of the study and the conclusions that follow from them. It must be mentioned whether the hypothesis mentioned in the article is true, false or no conclusions can be derived.

j. References: All manuscripts should be accompanied by relevant references. These references should also be marked in the text. The author should ensure reference to locally published studies by doing proper literature search. It may not be possible for the editor and reviewers to check the accuracy of all reference citations. To minimize such errors author should verify references against the original documents. The References should be written in Vancouver style as per " Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals" for details see ICMJE website: www.icmje.org. List all authors when there are six or fewer. If there are seven or more list the first six followed by "et al" Reference should provide the following information: Author’s name with initials, full title of cited article, name of the journal in which the article appeared (in abbreviated form), Year of Publication, Journal’s Volume, Number and finally first and the last page numbers, such as:-

Niaz U, Hassan S, Hussain H & Saeed S. Attitudes towards psychiatry in pre-clinical and post-clinical clerkships in different medical colleges of Karachi. Pak J Med Sci. 2003;19(4):253-263.

( In case of multiple authors, list the first six authors followed by et al. )

k. Reference from the books should have Authors name and initials, full title of cited article, complete title of book, Name of Editors, address (city) the publisher, first and last page numbers and finally the year of publication, such as:-

Haroon TS. How to plan a scientific study, ‘Medical Writing’ (second edition), Jawaid SA, Jafary MH & Zuberi SJ (Eds), Pakistan Medical Journalists Association, Karachi, Pakistan. 1993;pp 1-13.

l. In case of multicentre study or trial, the reference should be given as Name of the Group or of study, exact title of the study, full results or partial results, Name of the Journal, Volume and Number, pages and the year. For example:-

TIMI Study Group: Comparison of invasive and conservative strategies after treatment with intravenous tissue plasminogen activator in acute myocardial infarction. Results of the TIMI Phase-II trail. N Eng J Med. 1989;320:618-627.

 

m. Newspaper articles: Malik Mahmood A, autonomous hospitals, "Pulse" International, Karachi, Pakistan, 2000. January 15-31, Page 1 & 2.

n. Citation of personal communications and unpublished observations should be strictly limited and given in brackets in the text. These should not appear in the list of references. A paper may not be cited as "Under Publication or in Press" unless it has been accepted for publication & the name of the Journal is given.

LETTER OF UNDERTAKING

Date: ______________

The Editor,

Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences,

Room No. 522, 5th Floor, Panorama Centre Bldg. No.2, Saddar,

Karachi – Pakistan.

Dear Sir,

This is to confirm that the Manuscript entitled _______________________________________
_______________________________________________________________ submitted for publication in Quarterly "Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences" has been read and approved by all authors, has not been published in any other journal, is being exclusively contributed to Pak J Med Sci and if accepted for Publication, it will not be published in any other medical periodical in Pakistan or Overseas. We also transfer all copyrights of this manuscript to Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences.

Please also note that minimum publication charges for articles, manuscripts is Rs.5,000/- up to 4 printed pages in the journal and Rs. 1,000/- for each additional page. (Case Report / Brief Communications Rs. 3,500/) For all type of manuscript in case of overseas authors US$ 150/- (for upto 4 journal pages) and US$ 50/- for each additional page. Charges for photograph, films and illustrations are additional. Publication charges are payable in advance once the manuscript has been accepted for publication by the Editorial Board after peer review. Please ensure to submit Ethics Committee Approval of the study.

(This letter must be signed by all authors).

Note: All manuscript from Pakistan must be accompanied with processing charges (Non Refundable) of Rs. 1000/- Fast track review Rs. 8,000/-

Full Name of Authors: (Use Capital Letters)

 

Note: The manuscript must contain a paragraph describing the contribution of each author otherwise the first three authors will be retained and all others listed as authors will be shifted to the Acknowledgement section.

NOTE: Please sign and return this Letter of Undertaking immediately.

Letter of Undertaking in PDF format

15. Letter of Undertaking: All manuscripts must be accompanied by a letter of undertaking and signed by all the authors. Scaned cpoy of Letter of Undertaking should also be uploaded at our online editorial system.

16. Authorship

• Authorship credit should be based on 1) substantial contributions to conception and design, or acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data; 2) drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content; and 3) final approval of the version to be published. Authors should meet conditions 1, 2 and 3.

• Acquisition of funding, collection of data, or general supervision of the research group, alone does not justify authorship.

• All persons designated as authors should qualify for authorship and all those who qualify should be listed.

• Each author should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for appropriate portions of the content.

• In case of more than one authors in a manuscript, the contributions of each person listed as author in the study should be mentioned.

• When a large, multi-center group has conducted the work, the group should identify the individuals who accept direct responsibility for the manuscript. These individuals should fully meet the criteria for authorship defined above and editors will ask these individuals to complete journal-specific author and conflict of interest disclosure forms. When submitting a group author manuscript, the corresponding author should clearly indicate the preferred citation and should clearly identify all individual authors as well as the group name. Other members of the group should be listed in the acknowledgements.

17. Acknowledgement: All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be covered in the acknowledgement section. It should include persons who provided technical help, writing assistance and departmental head who only provided general support. Financial and material support should also be acknowledged. Persons who have contributed materially but do not justify authorship can be listed as "clinical investigators" or "participating investigators" or "Scientific advisors" or "critically reviewed the study proposal or collected data."

18. Length of the Text: Maximum length of the original manuscript should not exceed 2500 words including title page and references. In exceptional cases upto 3000 words may be accommodated. For review article 3500 words. Any term which is mentioned in the text quite frequently must be abbreviated but only if this does not detract from readers comprehension. Such as Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI) and Coronary Artery Disease (CAD). Maximum number of tables should not exceed four. Case Report: Short report of cases, clinical experience, drug trials and adverse effects can be submitted. Maximum length should not exceed 1500 words, maximum number of ten references, one table or two illustrations. It must contain genuinely new information. Its format should be Title, Abstract, Introduction, Case Report, Discussion and References. Do mention contribution of each author as per authorship criteria. Case reports should not include review of literature.

19. Never start any new sentence or paragraph with figures. For example, "9 patients were admitted" should be written as "Nine patients were admitted".

20. The manuscript should be accompanied by a covering letter signed by all authors stating that the manuscript has been read and approved by all the authors, the requirements as stated earlier have been fully met and each author believes that manuscript contains honest work. Mention the name, address, phone, cell phone, e-mail and Fax Number of the corresponding author who will be responsible for communicating and final approval of the proofs. Only correspondence author should communicate with the editor.

21. Clinical Trials: All Clinical Trials submitted for publication must be registered in a registry, provide registration proof and all RCTs must be based on CONSORT statement.

22. Procedure: Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences is a peer reviewed journal. All articles on receipt for publication are immediately acknowledged but this does not mean that it has been accepted for publication. After initial screening the manuscripts with major deficiencies, or of not instrest to our readers will not be accepted for further processing and external peer-reviewed. The manuscript is sent to two or more than two Reviewers. We practice open peer review system. The whole review process may take from three to four months time, although the ultimate authority to accept or reject the manuscript rests with the Editor. Authors have the right to communicate to the editor if they do not wish their manuscript to be reviewed by a particular reviewer because of potential conflicts of interests usually professional, but they may be asked to explain or justify their concerns which is important for the editor in deciding whether to honour such request. The author can also suggest the name of possible reviewers but it is up to the editor to accept it. Some manuscripts may be processed earlier at a fast pace keeping in view their importance. On receipt of the comments from reviewers, and if approved, letter of acceptance is issued to the author stating the likely date of its publication. If required, clarifications are sought from the authors. No article is rejected unless similar comments are received from at least two reviewers.

23. Proof Reading: Final version of the manuscript is sent to the corresponding author for proof reading before publication in order to avoid any mistakes. Corrections should be conveyed clearly.

24. Processing Charges: All manuscripts from Pakistan should be accompanied with a payment of Rs. 1,000/- (Non-refundable). No processing charges from Overseas. Processing charges for fast track review [First decision after peer review in eight weeks] Rs.8,000/- (Non-refundable). Fast track review for Overseas: US$ 100/-.

25. Publication charges: Once the manuscript is accepted for publication, the authors are required to pay publication charges of Rs.5,000/- per manuscript upto 4 printed pages in the journal. Rs.1,000/- extra will be payable for each additional page. (Case Report / Brief Communications Rs. 3,500/). For all type of manuscript in case of overseas authors US$ 150/- (for upto 4 journal pages) and US$ 50/- for each additional page. No reprints will be made available to the authors. Those interested can download the manuscript from PDF file in the online edition of the journal.

26. Payment mode and Process: Authors can pay the processing and publication charges by cash, cheque, bank draft, pay order, online bank transfer (TT) or Western Union

* The Cheque / Pay-Order / Bank Draft should be drawn in the name of Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences and sent at the Editorial Office address:

Room NO. 522, 5th Floor, Panorama Centre, Building No.2,

Raja Ghanzarfar Ali Road, Saddar, Karachi. Phone: 92-021-35688791

* Cash can be deposited at our Editorial Office

* Payment through Western Union, should be payable to Mr. Mubarak Ali, National Identity Card No. 42401-1877261-9. After sending the payment, communicate us the Money Transfer Code No. as well as the name of the sender via E-mail. pjms@pjms.com.pk

* The publication charges can be sent directly to our bank account through telegraphic transfer (TT) under intimation to us. The relevant bank account details are as under:

Title of Account: Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences

Account Number: 801240-5

Name of Bank: MCB Bank, Saddar Branch (0004),

Main Zaib-un-Nisa Street, Karachi - Pakistan.

Code: Swift/Bic MUCBPKKAAXX

Please note that processing of the manuscript (processing / publication) will be undertaken only after receipt of the charges.

27. Waiver request: Those who cannot afford the processing, publication charges can apply for waiver only at the time of submission of the manuscript (decision according to case to case basis)

28. Drug Trials: Drug trials of preparations by pharmaceutical firms who are regular advertisers of Quarterly Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences will be published without any additional charges after their approval by the Review Committee. Others will be required to pay a fee of Rs.30,000/= only payable in advance after the manuscript has been approved by the Review Committee and is accepted for publication.

29. Ethics Committee Approval: All manuscripts submitted to Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences involving human subject must be accompanied with certificate of Institutional Review Board / Ethics Committee Approval.

30. Ethical consent: All manuscripts reporting the results of experimental investigations involving human subjects should include a statement confirming the informed consent was obtained from each subject or subject’s guardian, after approval of the experimental protocol by a local human ethics committee.

31. Printed Copy: One printed copy will be supplied to the corresspondence author. To ensure safe delivery give complete postal address. Authors can order additionals copies at the rate of Rs. 400/- per copy and US$ 25/- per copy for overseas. Payment for additional copies should be added in the publication charghes.

32. Ombudsman: Dr. Behrooz Astaneh, Head of Medical Journalism Dept. at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences and Council Member of Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) UK can be contacted by authors, others for redress of their grievances if any on e-mail: <astanehb@yahoo.com>

 

For further queries and further correspondence

MANAGING EDITOR

Quarterly "Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences"
c/o. Professional Medical Publications
Room No. 522, Panorama Centre, Building No. 2,
Raja Ghazanfar Ali Road, Saddar, Karachi-Pakistan.
Phones: 92-021-35688791 & 92-021-35689285. Fax: 92-021-35689860
E-mail: pjms@pjms.com.pk, pulse@pulsepakistan.com

Important Check List for contributors

1. Manuscripts should be prepared following Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to Biomedical Journals as approved by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (www.icmje.org)

2. All original manuscripts should have Abstract in structured format up to 250 words. It should mention Objective, Methodology, Results, Conclusions and appropriate Key Words.

3. Maximum length of the manuscripts should be:
   Original articles: 2500 words, maximum of four tables, illustrations, maximum references upto 25.
   Case Reports/Brief Communications: 1500 words, 10 References, maximum of two illustrations.
   Review Articles: 3500 words including brief summary describing the methods used for locating, selecting, extracting and synthesizing data. Maximum 35 latest, relevant References.

4. Processing Charges: All manuscript from Pakistan must be accompanied with a Cash or Bank Draft for Rs. 1000/- as processing charges (Non Refundable) in the name of ‘Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences’.) Add Rs. 250/- in case of cheque.) (In case of cash Rs. 1,000/- only). Fast Track processing Rs.8,000/- (Peer-Review Report within 8 weeks)

5. The manuscript should be accompanied by Letter of Undertaking signed by all the authors confirming exclusive submissions to Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences, transfer of all copyrights to Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences and willingness to pay Publication Charges of Rs.5,000/- up to four printed pages in the journal and Rs. 1,000/- for ech additional page. (Case Report / Brief Communications Rs. 3,500/) in case of overseas authors US$ 150/-. US$ 50/- for each additional page once the write-up is accepted after peer review.

6. The manuscripts can also be submitted through e mail at any of the following addresses E-Mail: pjms@pjms.com.pk pulse@pulsepakistan.com
    

7. The pictures, illustrations should be submitted in JPEG or GIF format and the manuscript in Microsoft word format.

8. Title page should contain title of the write-up, Name of the author/co-authors, their qualifications, designation & institutions they are affiliated with and mailing address for future correspondence, E-mail address, Phone, Cell Phone & Fax number besides a short running title of the manuscript. Don’t type the name of the author/s on other pages in the manuscript except the title page.

9. References mentioned as 1,2,3 and so on as they appear in the text and not by full names of authors. At the end of the manuscript the references should also be numbered accordingly.

10. Tables should be typed on separate pages. Specify the place where you wish the tables and illustration to be placed.

11. Check the total / percentage in the tables carefully.

12. Make sure for Headings of Tables, their numbers and Captions of illustrations. Don’t repeat the information in tables if it is covered in the text. Table gives quicker idea but it must be able to convey the message correctly.

13. Photographs / illustrations along with their captions (in duplicate).

14. All Clinical Trials submitted for publication must be registered in a registry. Provide registration proof.

15. Disclosure regarding source of funding and conflict of interest if any besides approval of the study from respective Ethics Committee/Institution Review Board.

16. Covering Letter & CD with final version of manuscript in Microsoft Word format and figures in JPEG.

17. Manuscript must be accompanied with certificate of IRB/Ethics Committee Approval.

18. All randomized control trials should be prepared according to CONSORT Guidelines.

For detailed instructions to authors visit our website at www.pjms.com.pk

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