Author Guidelines
INTRODUCTION
Journal of Chitwan Medical College (JCMC) is peer reviewed, quarterly, multidisciplinary biomedical journal devoted to Health Sciences. JCMC is official publication of the Chitwan Medical College (CMC), Bharatpur, Nepal. JCMC started since 2010 as yearly publication and from January 2014 onward, it is being published quarterly.
The journal can be accessed through www.jcmc.cmc.edu.np
The JCMC [ISSN 2091-2412(Print), 2091-2889(Online)], welcomes scientific research articles, unique cases and reviews of general interest to medical researchers or medical educationists from the field of biomedical sciences.
It publishes articles on the following category:
SCOPE OF THE JOURNAL
An important decision made by the Editorial Board prior to launch was that the journal must be for the many and not just for a few who are engaged in clinical research. All of us, whether we are doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, dentists or in any other field of health care, must take a greater responsibility for managing and solving the many unique health issues and problems. We must engage in research and voice our opinions by publishing them in this, our journal. To ensure wide readership, the journal encourages articles of general interest, as well as scientific articles, based on topics relevant to our region. With so many categories, JCMC is sure that that researcher will be able to make regular contributions to this journal. JCMC encourages the new generation of medical doctors and allied health professionals to generate and publish new research data in this journal and adopt critical thinking habits to address current health problems. This journal also encourages international research collaborations that result in joint publications of high international standards.
Publication Frequency
JCMC is published quarterly in March, June, September, December.
INSTRUCTIONS TO AUTHORS
The uniform requirements and specific requirement of JCMC are summarized below. Before sending a manuscript, authors are requested to check for the latest instructions available. Instructions are also available at the website of the journal. (www.jcmc.cmc.edu.np)
Checklist for a publication:
Submission of manuscripts
Manuscripts must be submitted in clear, concise English language. Authors are requested to submit their manuscript through our online manuscript submission system (if any query, email us at jcmc@cmc.edu.np). By submitting a manuscript, the author agrees to the following:
THE EDITORIAL PROCESS
The manuscripts will be reviewed for possible publication with the understanding that they are being submitted to one journal at a time and have not been published, simultaneously submitted, or already accepted for publication elsewhere. The JCMC follows blind peer review process. It usually takes 6 weeks and is done by national and/or international reviewers.
The received manuscript is forwarded to assigned editors and one to two reviewers. Manuscripts, not able to satisfy JCMC or not in the range are immediately rejected and destroyed. After review, manuscripts are returned to authors for necessary corrections and should be returned back to editorial office. The returned manuscripts are once again are reviewed by editorial board. Page proofs are again sent to the corresponding author, which has to be returned within three days. Non response to proof copy may delay the publication of the same article, may publish proof copy article as same or may even get rejected from the JCMC. The editorial board reserves the right to do necessary modifications in the text, photographs and illustrations to improve understanding without affecting the original gist of the manuscript.
Types of manuscript and word limits
Original Article: Randomized controlled trials, interventional studied, studies of screening and diagnostic test, outcome studies, cost effectiveness analyses, case-control series and surveys with high response rate. Up to 2500 words excluding references (up to 30) and abstract (up to 250 words).
Review Article: Systemic critical assessments of literature and data sources. Up to 3000 words excluding references (up to >50 but < 100) and abstract (up to 250 words).
Medical Education: Any article related to medical education with abstract and references, word limit may vary. Discussions about education system in medical field, developments in this field, current trends and changes in teaching-learning process, future aspects of medical education and other pertinent topics are included under this section.
Audit: An audit is written in the same format as an original research article i.e. title, abstract, introduction, methodology, results, discussion, conclusion, recommendations, acknowledgement, conflict of interest and references. An audit includes data regarding the composition of cases, profile of patients of certain cases in one or more hospital settings. If large scale study has been done, including many centers/geographic regions that contributes significantly to scientific literature, then it may be placed in original research article section rather than in audit section. The decision regarding this, however, rests on the editorial board.
Case Report: new/interesting/very rare cases with clinical significance or implications can be reported. Up to 1000 words excluding references (up to 10) and abstract (up to 250), up to three photographs.
Viewpoint: These articles are personal views and allow you to express your own point of view on any issues relevant to health. We like these to include controversial subjects. Up to 800 words excluding reference (up to 5-8) Letter to the Editor: Should be short, decisive observation. They should not be preliminary observations that need a later paper for validation. Up to 400 words and 5 references. Limits for number of images and tables: for all the above-mentioned categories the number of images and tables should not be more than one per 500 words.
Letters to the editor: Letters to the editor section accepts observations and comments. The letter and the reply should not exceed 300 words and should not contain more than 5 references.
Processing of manuscript
The manuscripts will be reviewed for possible publication with the understanding that they are being submitted to one journal at a time and have not been published, simultaneously submitted, or already accepted for publication elsewhere. The JCMC follows blind peer review process. It usually takes 6 weeks and is done by national and/or international reviewers.
The received manuscript is forwarded to assigned editors and one to two reviewers. Manuscripts, not able to satisfy JCMC or not in the range are immediately rejected and destroyed. After review, manuscripts are returned to authors for necessary corrections and should be returned back to editorial office. The returned manuscripts are once again are reviewed by editorial board. Page proofs are again sent to the corresponding author, which has to be returned within three days. Non response to proof copy may delay the publication of the same article, may publish proof copy article as same or may even get rejected from the JCMC. The editorial board reserves the right to do necessary modifications in the text, photographs and illustrations to improve understanding without affecting the original jist of the manuscript.
MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION
The manuscript must be typed double-spaced on one side only on A4 size white paper with Times New Roman Font, size of 12 points. Margins should be a minimum of 25 mm. Number each page at top right. The pages should be numbered consecutively, beginning with the title page. Each section of the manuscript should commence on a new page in the following sequence: title page and running head, structured abstract, key words, introduction, methods, results, discussion, conclusion, recommendations, acknowledgement, conflict of interest, references, tables and figures with caption list. Particular attention should be taken to ensure the manuscript adheres to the style of the journal in all respects. Please do not use any signs for e.g. “and” for “&” or “@” signs for “at the rate” and related signs; however, you can use abbreviations used in standard text books, provided the full form has been given when it first appears in the text. The text of original articles should be divided into sections with the headings: Abstract, Key words, Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, References, Tables and Figure legends. For case report: Abstract, Key words, Introduction, Case Report, Discussion, Reference, Tables and Figure Legends.
TITLE PAGE
The title page should carry
ABSTRACT
The second page should carry the full title of the manuscript and an abstract. The abstract should be structured for original articles as: Background, Methods, Results and Conclusions. State the context, aims, settings and design, Materials and Methods, statistical analysis used, results and conclusions. Below the abstract should provide 3 to 5 key words arranged alphabetically. Each key word should start with capital letter. They are all separated by semicolon while the last key word ends with full stop. The abstract should not be structured for a review article and case report. Do not include references in abstract.
INTRODUCTION
Provide a context or background for the study (that is, the nature of the problem and its significance). State the specific purpose or research objective of, or hypothesis tested by, the study or observation; the research objective is often more sharply focused when stated as a question. Both the main and secondary objectives should be clear, and any prespecified subgroup analyses should be described. Provide only directly pertinent references, and do not include data or conclusions from the work being reported.
METHODS
The Methods section should only include information that was available at the time the study was planned or protocol written; all information obtained during the conduct of the study belongs to the results section. Selection and Description of Participants: Describe your selection of the observational or experimental participants (patients or laboratory animals, including controls) clearly, including eligibility, inclusion and exclusion criteria and a description of the source population. Because the relevance of such variables as age and sex to the object of research is not always clear, authors should explain their use when they are included in a study report; for example, authors should explain why only subjects of certain ages were included or why women were excluded.
The guiding principle should be clarity about how and why a study was done in a particular way. When authors use variables such as race or ethnicity, they should define how they measured the variables and justify their relevance.
Technical information: Identify the methods, apparatus (give the manufacturer’s name and address in parentheses), chemicals (give catalogue number, company name and place of manufacture) and procedures in sufficient detail to allow other workers to reproduce the results. Give references to established methods, including statistical methods (see below); provide references and brief descriptions for methods that have been published but are not well known; describe new or substantially modified methods, give reasons for using them, and evaluate their limitations. Identify precisely all drugs and chemicals used, including generic name(s), dose(s), and route(s) of administration. Reports of randomized clinical trials should present information on all major study elements, including the protocol, assignment of interventions (methods of randomization, concealment of allocation to treatment groups), and the method of masking (blinding), based on the CONSORT Statement (http://www.consort-statement.org).
Note: Authors submitting review article should include a section describing the methods used for locating, selecting, extracting, and synthesizing data. These methods should also be summarized in the abstract.
Ethics
When reporting studies on human, indicate whether the procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional or regional) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000 (available at http://www.wma.net/e/policy/17-c_e.html). Do not use patients’ names, initials, or hospital numbers, especially in illustrative material. When reporting experiments on animals, indicate whether the institutions or a national research council’s guide for, or any national law on the care and use of laboratory animals was followed. Evidence for approval by a local Ethics Committee (for both human as well as animal studies) must be supplied by the authors on demand. Animal experimental procedures should be as humane as possible and the details of anesthetics and analgesics used should be clearly stated. The ethical standards of experiments must be in accordance with the guidelines provided by the CPCSEA (animal) and ICMR (human). The journal will not consider any paper which is ethically unacceptable. A statement on ethics committee permission and ethical practices must be included in all research articles under the ‘Materials and Methods’ section.
Statistics
Describe statistical methods with enough detail to enable a knowledgeable reader with access to the original data to verify the reported results. When possible, quantify findings and present them with appropriate indicators of measurement error or uncertainty (such as confidence intervals). Avoid relying solely on statistical hypothesis testing, such as p values, which fail to convey important information about effect size. References for the design of the study and statistical methods should be to standard works when possible (with pages stated). Define statistical terms, abbreviations, and most symbols. Specify the computer software used.
RESULTS
Present your results in logical sequence in the text, tables, and illustrations, giving the main or most important findings first. Do not repeat all the data in the tables or illustrations in the text; emphasize or summarize only the most important observations. Extra or supplementary materials and technical detail can be placed in an appendix where they will be accessible but will not interrupt the flow of the text, or they can be published solely in the electronic version of the journal. When data are summarized in the Results section, give numeric results not only as derivatives (for example, percentages) but also as the absolute numbers from which the derivatives were calculated, and specify the statistical methods used to analyze them. Restrict tables and figures to those needed to explain the argument of the paper and to assess supporting data. Use graphs as an alternative to tables with many entries; do not duplicate data in graphs and tables. Avoid nontechnical uses of technical terms in statistics, such as “random” (which implies a randomizing device), “normal,” “significant,” “correlations,” and “sample.”
Where scientifically appropriate, analyses of the data by such variables as age and sex should be included.
DISCUSSION
Emphasize the new and important aspects of the study and the conclusions that follow from them. Do not repeat in detail data or other information given in the Introduction or the Results section. For experimental studies, it is useful to begin the discussion by summarizing briefly the main findings, then explore possible mechanisms or explanations for these findings, compare and contrast the results with other relevant studies, state the limitations of the study, and explore the implications of the findings for future research and for clinical practice.
Link the conclusions with the goals of the study but avoid unqualified statements and conclusions not adequately supported by the data. In particular, avoid making statements on economic benefits and costs unless the manuscript includes the appropriate economic data and analyses. Avoid claiming priority or alluding to work that has not been completed. State new hypotheses when warranted, but label them clearly as such.
REFERENCES
References should be numbered in the order of citation in the text. Authors are instructed to follow modified Vancouver system for citing scientific literature.
In text referencing
Reference list
Language and grammar
Tables
Tables should be self-explanatory and should not duplicate textual material. Tables with more than 10 columns and 25 rows are not acceptable. Each table should have a title and numbered, consecutively in the order of their first citation in the text. Type each table with double spacing on a separate sheet of paper. Table number consecutively in the order of their first citation in the text and supply a brief title for each. Do not use internal horizontal or vertical lines. Give each column a short or an abbreviated heading. Authors should place explanatory matter in footnotes, not in the heading. Explain all nonstandard abbreviations in footnotes, and use the following symbols, in sequence: *, †, ‡, §, ||, ¶, ** , †† ,‡‡
Identify statistical measures of variations, such as standard deviation and standard error of the mean.
Be sure that each table is cited in the text. If you use data from another published or unpublished source, obtain permission and acknowledge that source fully. Submit such tables for consideration with the paper so that they will be available to the peer reviewers.
Figures (Illustrations)
Graphs, charts, diagrams or pen drawings must be drawn by professional hands in Indian ink (black) on white drawing paper. In case of x-ray, miniature photo prints should be supplied. Photographs should be supplied in high quality glossy paper not larger than 203 mm x 254 mm (8” x 10”). In case of microphotographs, stains used and magnification should be mentioned. Each illustration should bear on its back the figure number and an arrow indicating the top. All illustrations should be black and white and should be submitted in triplicate with suitable legends. We accept electronic versions of illustrations, which should have a resolution of 300 dpi, and the dimension of 640 x 480 to 800 x 600 pixels dimension and picture format should be JPEG (*.jpg, *.jpeg) or TIFF (*.tif, *.tiff). Pictures will be published in B/W free of charge. But, if you want to publish your picture in color, please contact the editorial board for the cost and payment procedure. For x-ray films, scans, and other diagnostic images, as well as pictures of pathology specimens or photomicrographs, send sharp, glossy, black-and-white or color photographic prints, usually 127 x 173 mm (5 x 7 inches). Letters, numbers, and symbols on figures should therefore be clear and consistent throughout and large enough to remain legible when the figure is reduced for publication. Photomicrographs should have internal scale markers. Symbols, arrows, or letters used in photomicrographs should contrast with the background.
Photographs of potentially identifiable people must be accompanied by written permission to use the photograph.
Figures should be numbered consecutively according to the order in which they have been cited in the text. If a figure has been published previously, acknowledge the original source and submit written permission from the copyright holder to reproduce the figure. Permission is required irrespective of authorship or publisher except for documents in the public domain.
Tables and Figures
• Number within specified limits.
• No repetition of data in tables/graphs and in text
• Actual numbers from which graphs drawn, provided
• Figures necessary and of good quality (colour)
• Table and figure numbers in Arabic letters (not Roman)
• Labels pasted on back of the photographs (no names written)
• Figure legends provided (not more than 40 words)
• Patients’ privacy maintained (if not, written permission enclosed)
• Credit note for borrowed figures/tables provided
Legends for Figures (Illustrations)
Type or print out legends for illustrations using double spacing, starting on a separate page, with Arabic numerals corresponding to the illustrations. When symbols, arrows, numbers, or letters are used to identify parts of the illustrations, identify and explain each one clearly in the legend. Explain the internal scale and identify the method of staining in photomicrographs.
Units of Measurement
Measurements of length, height, weight, and volume should be reported in metric units (meter, kilogram, or liter) or their decimal multiples.
Temperatures should be in degrees Celsius.
Blood pressures should be in millimeters of mercury, unless other units are specifically required by the journal.
Abbreviations and Symbols
Use only standard abbreviations; use of nonstandard abbreviations can be confusing to readers. Avoid abbreviations in the title of the manuscript. The spelled-out abbreviation followed by the abbreviation in parenthesis should be used on first mention unless the abbreviation is a standard unit of measurement.
Declaration of Authorship Responsibility
Authorship: All persons designated as authors should qualify for authorship. Authorship credit should be based only on significant contribution. The first author named must accept the responsibility for ensuring that both versions of the paper submitted and the corrected proofs have the approval of all co-authors. Submission of a manuscript will also be taken to imply that all authors have obtained permission from their employers or institution to publish, if they are obliged to do so and that relevant ethical approval has been obtained for clinical studies. However, authorship credit should be based only on significant contribution to (a) conception and design, or analysis and interpretation of data, to (b) drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content and on (c) final approval of the version to be published. Authors may include explanation of each author’s contribution separately.
Authorship must include
Complete information of all authors with department, institution, email id, contribution and signature
Forwarding letter: The covering letter accompanying the article should contain the name and complete postal address of one author as correspondent and must be signed by all authors. The correspondent author should notify change of address, if any, on time
Declaration: A declaration should be submitted stating that the manuscript represents valid work and that neither this manuscript nor one with substantially similar content under the present authorship has been published or is being considered for publication elsewhere and the authorship of this article will not be contested by anyone whose name(s) is/are not listed here, and that the order of authorship as placed in the manuscript is final and accepted by the co-authors. Declarations should be signed by all the authors in the order in which they are mentioned in the original manuscript.
Financial Disclosure, Conflicts of interest
All funding, other financial support, and material support for this work are clearly identified in the manuscript.
All competing interests, including specific financial interests and relationships and affiliations relevant to the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript (e.g. employment/affiliation, grants or funding, consultations, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, royalties, or patents filed, received, or pending), are disclosed in the acknowledgment section of the manuscript.
Dual publication: If material in a submitted article has been published previously or is to appear in part or whole in another publication, the Editor in Chief must be informed. If the same paper appears simultaneously elsewhere or has previously been published or appears in a future publication, then the author will be black-listed for the JCMC and future articles of the author will be rejected automatically.
Copyright Transfer/Publication Agreement
Authors grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC-BY 4.0). This license permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
© Authors retain the copyright.
Authors grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC-BY 4.0). This license permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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