Submissions

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Submission Preparation Checklist

As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission's compliance with all of the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors that do not adhere to these guidelines.
  • The submission has not been previously published, nor is it before another journal for consideration (or an explanation has been provided in Comments to the Editor).
  • The submission file is in Microsoft Word document file format.
  • Where available, DOIs for the references have been provided.
  • The text is single-spaced; uses a 12-point font; employs italics, rather than underlining (except with URL addresses); and all illustrations, figures, and tables are placed within the text at the appropriate points, rather than at the end.
  • The text adheres to the stylistic and bibliographic requirements outlined in the Author Guidelines, which is found in About the Journal.
  • If submitting to a peer-reviewed section of the journal, the instructions in Ensuring a Blind Review have been followed.

Author Guidelines

Introduction

The Nepal Journal of Dermatology, Venereology & Leprology (NJDVL) is a scientific biomedical peer-reviewed journal, published twice a year (March-April and September-October) by Society of Dermatologist Venereologists and Leprologists of Nepal (SODVELON).

It aims to publish and disseminate information on all aspects of diagnosis and management of skin diseases, and the information on the scientific research related to dermatology.

According to ICJME (International Committee of Medical Journal Editors) recommendation for acquiring an authorship, one must:

  • Conceptualize, plan and design manuscript and/ or analyze and interpret the data.
  • Draft the manuscript and critically revise the manuscript for any changes.
  • Approve the final version of submission to the editorial board.
  • Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved

AND also

  • Each author must have at least bachelor degree in the related field and should have participated sufficiently in the work as per ICJME

Editorial policy

  1. All contributions are judged by the criteria of originality and scientific content, and preference will be given to original research articles.
  2. The manuscripts submitted will be scrutinized by the editorial board and reviewed by independent experts. Double-blinded peer review process is followed. The reviewer is sent email notification with abstract of the blinded manuscript and are asked to respond for review within time frame of 1 week and after acceptance due date of review work is 3 weeks. The reviewer is sent a reviewer form according to manuscript submitted and along with the general comments also asked to disclose any conflict of interest. If accepted, the papers are subjected for editorial revision, including shortening of the text and omission of tables and figures if appropriate. Rapid review and publication is the policy of the journal.
  3. The opinions expressed in the articles are the authors’ own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher or the editorial board.
  4. The articles for publication must be submitted exclusively to NJDVL and if accepted will not be published elsewhere in whole or in part without the editor’s permission. All articles should be accompanied by a covering letter bearing a statement to this effect signed by all authors.
  5. Dispute, if any, among the authors should be settled prior to the submission of the manuscript to the editorial board.
  6. The Editor-in-chief reserves the right to reject or accept the manuscript submitted for publication.

Preparation and submission of manuscript 

Preparation of manuscript: Manuscript should be prepared in accordance with the “Uniform Requirement for Manuscript Submitted to Biomedical Journals” established by the Vancouver Group. The updated version of the document may be accessed at http://www.icmje.org/index.html

General format for preparation of the manuscript 

  • Use single line spacing.
  • Texts should be typed in Times New Roman font with font size of 12 point.
  • Abbreviation should be written in full for the first time.
  • Avoid use of short forms like &, @
  • Use of numbers – should be Arabic numbers
  • Tables
    • Numbering should be in Arabic letters
    • Heading should not be more than 40 words
  • Figures
    • Bar diagrams, line diagrams and scatter plots are preferred to pie charts and 3D diagrams
    • Clinical image – clear images with good resolution should be used; use TIFF or a high-resolution JPEG
    • Histopathological image – mention the magnification scale and method of staining used
    • Dermoscopy image – mention the mode (polar/ non-polarized), magnification and label the relevant dermoscopic structures

On online submission of manuscript supplementary files templates (Title page, cover letter, author declaration form and copyright form) will be sent from editorial office to the author and the author need to send back these files signed and after receiving the signed files by the editorial office the peer review process will start.

Sample of  few Supplementary files can be submitted during the submission or will be sent from the editorial office after submission of manuscript

Title  page should include

Title:
Authors: [first name, family name]1 put names according to authorship
Affiliations: [order according to superscript in authors list]
Details of all authors:
[Name, highest academic degree of each author]
[Present affiliation with working status salutation of each author]
[Email ID of each author]
[ORCID id mandatory for 1st author and corresponding author]
Corresponding Author: Contact Details, Mailing Address, Tel, Fax, Email
Running Title: [max 8 words or 50 characters]
Word Count: [including abstract, manuscript, references]
Number of Tables, Figures:
Declaration: [if any]
Conflict of interest:
Funding:
Consent from patient [ For case report only attached or not]
IRC/ Ethical clearance letter [For research article/original articles attached or not]

Cover  letter to editor should include: 

  • Category in which the manuscript is being submitted (original article, review article, etc.)
  • Title of the article
  • Running title of the article
  • Full names of each author, highest academic degree, their designations, affiliated institutional addresses, ORCID id (mandatory), telephone numbers and email addresses
  • Surname and initials of the first and middle names of each author should also be submitted.
  • Complete address of the department and institution to which the work should be attributed
  • Corresponding author contact details
  • Word count (text only, exclusive of title, abstract, references, tables, and figure legends)
  • Number of figures, number of tables, number of references
  • Statement of conflict of interest and sources of financial support

Submission of manuscript: All manuscript should be submitted to the editor, NJDVL. Papers should preferably be submitted online https://www.nepjol.info/index.php/NJDVL/about/submissions#onlineSubmissions . The time frame for the acceptance and publication of the article will be 3months ± 30 days.

Principal sections 

  • Editorials
  • Letter to the editor
  • Review articles
  • Original articles
  • Brief reports
  • Case reports
  • Resident’s page
  • News
  • Abstracts from current literature
  • Events/Conferences
  • Book review

Guidelines on individual article type 

Editorials 

  • Authoritative reviews, analyses, or views on the important topic of dermatology, preferably of the significant important to the context of developing nation.

Letter to the editor 

  • The readers are invited to send comments, criticisms and questions related to specific article published in NJDVL or any interesting  observation related to clinical practice, therapy or any laboratory diagnostic tests
  • Abstract- 150 words
  • Word limit (excluding abstract) – 500
  • Maximum Number of references – 5

Review articles 

  • Reviews articles on the topics of interest in dermatology, sexually transmitted infection or leprosy.
  • Priority will be given to those topics addressing a major current problem.
  • It should be scientific and new data should not presented from author’s experiment.
  • It should be critical and constructive analysis of the literatures related to the field of study.
  • Systematic review should be written following The PRISMA statement. http://www.prismastatement.org/
  • Word limit of manuscript – 5000
  • Maximum number of references – 50

Original articles 

  • Methodologically sound original research in dermatology, sexually transmitted infections or leprosy.
  • Preference will be given to articles of relevance to practice in developing nations.
  • Word limit of manuscript – 3000
  • Maximum Number of references – 30
  • It should include the following:
    • Title
    • Abstract [Structured abstract with headings: Introduction, Objectives, Materials and Methods, Results, Conclusion]
    • Key Words
    • Introduction
    • Materials and Methods
    • Results
    • Discussion
    • Conclusion
    • Acknowledgement
    • References

Title

  • Provide the complete title.
  • Should be short and accurate.
  • Capitalize each word.

Abstract

  • Should not exceed 250 words.
  • It should be structured as: Introduction, Objectives, Materials and Methods, Results and Conclusion.
  • No abbreviation should be used in abstract.

Keywords

  • Write 3-8 words separated by semi colon in an alphabetical order at the end of the abstract.
  • Keywords must be from MeSH index - website http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/mesh

Introduction

  • It should not be lengthy reviews of past literature.
  • Word count – 250
  • A brief introduction about the study should be provided, including:
    • The rationale and objectives of the study.
    • Concise background information to rationalize the study.
    • The purpose of doing this study.

Materials and Methods

  • It should include sufficient information to permit other investigators to repeat the work.
  • It should include the following:
    • Study type and design
    • Duration and place of study
    • Sample size
    • Sampling technique
    • Statistical methods and software used
    • Inclusion and exclusion criteria
  • Published procedure can be referred to by citation
  • Include precise details of the questionnaires used, if any.
  • If the study was conducted on human subject, ethical consideration should be mentioned.
  • Documented evidence granting such clearance should be attached to the manuscript.

Results

  • It should be presented in a logical sequence and supported by figures and tables, which should be essential to an understanding of the text.
  • The same data should not be presented in the both tables and graphs.
  • A total of 8 figures permitted( if tables/microphotograph are included then the total number of figures and tables/microphotograph  should be 8 only)

Discussion

  • This emphasizes the newly and the important aspects of the study and conclusion that follow them.
  • Do the repeat in detail data or material given in the introduction or result sections.
  • The finding should be related to observation of other relevant studies.
  • It should include limitations of the study.

Conclusion

  • It should include a concise message, suggestion or recommendation as deducted from the content of the main manuscript.

Acknowledgement

  • It should be made at the end of the text before the references if any.

References

  • Should be in the Vancouver style of list.
  • Authors are responsible for the accuracy of all references.
  • In text, references are cited as superscript Arabic numerals, inserted before colons and semicolons and after comas and full stops without any spacing.
  • While citing multiple references, use hyphen for a series of continuous numbers and comma for non-continuous numbers (Examples – 1,2,3,4,5,8 can be written as 1-5,8).
  • Reference list should be in numerical order and numbered consecutively as they appear in the text.
  • It should not include unpublished items.
  • Journal title should be abbreviated in style used in NLM catalog https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nlmcatalog
  • Provide DOI for the references if available.

Using Vancouver style

  • The first six authors of a work should be named, followed by “et al.” if there are more than six; list the surname followed by initials.
  • Enter author’s name in order in which they appear in the original source.
  • Journal references
    • The sequences for journal references should be: author(s). Title of the paper (are spelled out in full; all the main words have an initial capital letter). Abbreviated journal title. Year of publication; volume number (issue number): page number
    • Abbreviate page numbers (153-9).
    • Abbreviate months to first three letters, without full stop.
  • Book references
    • The sequence for the book references should be: author(s). Chapter title; editors; book title; volume number; edition; place of publication; page number.
  • Electronic journals
    • The word [Internet] in square brackets should be inserted after the abbreviated journal title.
    • The URL (web address) must be included at the end of the reference.
    • For electronic journal articles with a DOI, include the DOI (digital object identifier) at the end of the reference, after the URL.
    • The URL for electronic references is followed by “accessed on (date)”

Commonly used abbreviations in references –

  • edition = ed.
  • figure(s) = fig(s)
  • page(s) = p.
  • part(s) = pt(s)
  • supplement = suppl
  • chapter = ch.
  • others = et al.
  • illustrator(s) = ill(s)
  • paragraph(s) = para(s)
  • revised = rev
  • circa (about, approximately) = c.

Brief report

Brief reports are similar to original research as per the formats and guidelines, but are for small sample size or research in early phase of development.

Manuscript limits

  • Total length: up to 1500 words (excluding abstract, illustration and references)
  • Abstract: 150 words
  • Table/Figure: up to 3 tables and figures
  • References: 30

Case reports 

  • Reports of patients with rare dermatological condition, complication of therapy, newer modalities of treatment or unusual associations of diseases.
  • Reports of previously unreported cases are encouraged.
  • Word limit of manuscript (including introduction, case report, discussion and conclusion) should not exceed 2000 words.
  • Number of references should not be more than 25.
  • It should be written in the following pattern:
    • Title
    • Abstract
      • It is unstructured however should be clear and concise.
      • Should not exceed 200 words.
    • Keywords
    • Introduction
      • Maximum word count – 200 words
      • Introduction of the case in short and its importance.
    • Case Report
      • A detailed case history, clinical examination, investigations and treatment.
      • A total of 6 figures including microphotograph or tables, in exceptional case report a total of 8 can be permitted .
    • Discussion
      • Discuss the case in relation to the latest literatures related to your case.
      • Mention the limitations.

Resident’s page
Brief articles (1000 words) which are of educational purpose for postgraduates and which help them to increase their theoretical and clinical skills would be considered. No abstract is required.

News 
Reports of various activities of SODVELON, other related societies and important news of relevance to the dermatologists of Nepal.

Abstracts from current literature 
Abstracts on topics of interest published in recent international journals.

Events/Conferences 

  • Announcements of relevant, forth coming national and international meetings, conferences, training or workshops.
  • These are accepted and published free of cost.

Book review
Please send a high quality digital photograph of front cover of the book you wish us to review in the editorial official email of the journal (available in website contact address)

Copyright 

  • Papers should be accompanied by a statement signed by all authors, stating that the submitted manuscript has not already been published and are not being considered for publication elsewhere and that, if accepted by the NJDVL, it will not be submitted for publication elsewhere without the permission of editor, NJDVL.
  • Authors are responsible for obtaining permission to reproduce in their articles any material enjoying copyright protection.
  • A letter granting such permission should be attached to the manuscript.
  • Copyright on any research article is transferred in full to Nepal Journal of Dermatology, Venereology & Leprology upon publication.
  • The copyright transfer includes the right to reproduce and distribute the article in any form of reproduction (printing, electronic media or any other form).
  • Articles in the Nepal Journal of Dermatology, Venereology & Leprology are Open Access articles published under the Creative Commons CC BY License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). This license permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Ethical clearance 
Authors are required to submit the approval letter from their respective ethics board/Institutional Review Board (IRB)/Nepal Health Research Council (NHRC). Patient consent is necessary when the identity of patient is revealed.

Privacy Statement

Nepal Journals Online (NepJOL) is a member of the Ubiquity Partner Network coordinated by Ubiquity Press. According to the EU definitions, NepJOL is the data controller, and Ubiquity Press are the service providers and data processors. Ubiquity Press provide the technical platform and some publishing services to NepJOL and operate under the principle of data minimisation where only the minimal amount of personal data that is required to carry out a task is obtained.

More information on the type of data that is required can be found in Ubiquity Press’ privacy policy below.

Ubiquity Press Privacy Policy

We take seriously our duty to process your personal data in a fair and transparent way. We collect and manage user data according to the following Privacy Policy. This document is part of our Terms of Service, and by using the press portal, affiliated journals, book, conference and repository websites (the “Websites”), you agree to the terms of this Privacy Policy and the Terms of Service. Please read the Terms of Service in their entirety, and refer to those for definitions and contacts.

What type of personal data do we handle?

There are four main categories of personal data stored by our journal platform, our press platform, and our book management system; Website User data, Author data, Reviewer data and Editor data.

The minimum personal data that are stored are:

  • full name
  • email address
  • affiliation (department, and institution)
  • country of residence

Optionally, the user can provide:

  • salutation
  • gender
  • associated URL
  • phone number
  • fax number
  • reviewing interests
  • mailing address
  • ORCiD
  • a short biography
  • interests
  • Twitter profile
  • LinkedIn profile
  • ImpactStory profile
  • profile picture

The data subjects have complete control of this data through their profile, and can request for it to be removed by contacting info@ubiquitypress.com

What do we do to keep that data secure?

We regularly backup our databases, and we use reliable cloud service providers (Amazon, Google Cloud, Linode) to ensure they are kept securely. Backups are regularly rotated and the old data is permanently deleted. We have a clear internal data handling policy, restricting access to the data and backups to key employees only. In case of a data breach, we will report the breach to the affected users, and to the press/journal contacts within 72 hours.

How do we use the data?

Personal information is only used to deliver the services provided by the publisher. Personal data is not shared externally except for author names, affiliations, emails, and links to ORCiD and social media accounts (if provided) in published articles and books which are displayed as part of the article/book and shared externally to indexes and databases. If a journal operates under open peer review then the reviewer details are published alongside the reviewer details.

How we collect and use your data:

1. When using the website

1.1 what data we collect

  • When you browse our website, we collect anonymised data about your use of the website; for example, we collect information about which pages you view, which files you download, what browser you are using, and when you were using the site.
  • When you comment on an article or book using Disqus, we are not collecting, controlling or processing the data. More details on the DISQUS privacy policy can be found on their website.
  • When you annotate an article or book, this is done via a 3rd party plugin to the website called Hypothes.is. In using this plugin we are not collecting, controlling or processing the data. More details on the Hypothes.is privacy policy can be found on their website.

1.2 why we collect the data

  • We use anonymised website usage data to monitor traffic, help fix bugs, and see overall patterns that inform future redesigns of the website, and provide reports on how frequently the publications on our site have been accessed from within their IP ranges.

1.3 what we do (and don’t do) with the data

  • We do not collect personal information that can be used to identify you when you browse the website.
  • We currently use Google Analytics for publication reports, and to improve the website and services through traffic analysis, but no personal identifying data is shared with Google (for example your computer’s IP is anonymised before transmission).

1.4 what to do if you want to get a copy of your data, or want your data to be removed

  • Please contact info@ubiquitypress.com to request a copy of your data, or for your data to be removed/anonymised.

2. When registering as an author, and submitting an article or book

2.1 what data we collect

  • When registering an account we ask you to log in and provide certain personal information (such as your name and email address), and there is the option to register using an ORCiD which will pre-fill the registration form.
  • As part of submitting an article for publication, you will need to provide personally identifying information which will be used for the peer review process, and will be published. This can include ‘Affiliation’, ‘Competing interests’, ‘Acknowledgements’.

2.2 why we collect the data

  • Registering an account allows you to log in, manage your profile, and participate as an author/reviewer/editor. We use cookies and session information to streamline your use of the website (for example in order for you to remain logged-in when you return to a journal). You can block or delete cookies and still be able to use the websites, although if you do you will then need to enter your username and password to login. In order to take advantage of certain features of the websites, you may also choose to provide us with other personal information, such as your ORCiD, but your decision to utilize these features and provide such data will always be voluntary.
  • Personal data submitted with the article or book is collected to allow follow good publication ethics during the review process, and will form part of the official published record in order for the provenance of the work to be established, and for the work to be correctly attributed.

2.3 what we do (and don’t do) with the data

  • We do not share your personal information with third parties, other than as part of providing the publishing service.
  • As a registered author in the system you may be contacted by the journal editor to submit another article.
  • Any books published on the platform are freely available to download from the publisher website in PDF, EPUB and MOBI formats on the publisher’s site.
  • Any personal data accompanying an article or a book (that will have been added by the submitting author) is published alongside it. The published data includes the names, affiliations and email addresses of all authors.
  • Any articles published on the platform are freely available to download from the publisher website in various formats (e.g. PDF, XML).
  • Ubiquity Press books and articles are typeset by SiliconChips and Diacritech.This process involves them receiving the book and book associated metadata and contacting the authors to finalise the layout. Ubiquity Press work with these suppliers to ensure that personal data is only used for the purposes of typesetting and proofing.
  • For physical purchases of books on the platform Ubiquity Press use print on demand services via Lightning Source who are responsible for printing and distribution via retailers. (For example; Amazon, Book Repository, Waterstones). Lightning Source’s privacy policy and details on data handling can be found on their website.

2.4 why we store the data

  • We store the account data so that you may choose to become a reviewer and be able to perform those tasks, or to become an author and submit an article and then track progress of that article.
  • Published personal data that accompanies an article or a book forms part of the official published record in order for the provenance of the work to be established, and for the work to be correctly attributed.

2.5 what to do if you want to get a copy of your data, or want your data to be removed

  • You are able to view, change and remove your data associated with your profile. Should you choose to completely delete your account, please contact us at support@ubiquitypress.com and we will follow up with your request as soon as possible.
  • To conform to publication ethics and best practice any personal data that is published alongside an article or book cannot be removed. If you have a query about a publication to which you are attributed please contact info@ubiquitypress.com

3. When registering as a reviewer

3.1 what data we collect

  • To become a reviewer you must first register as a user on the website, and set your preference that you would like to be considered as a reviewer. No new personal data is collected when a registered user elects to become a reviewer.
  • When registering an account we ask you to log in and provide certain personal information (such as your name and email address), and there is the option to register using an ORCiD which will pre-fill the registration form.
  • Reviewers can also be registered by editors who invite them to review a specific article. This requires the editor to provide the reviewer’s First Name, Last Name, and Email address. Normally this will be done as part of the process of inviting you to review the article or book.
  • On submitting a review, the reviewer includes a competing interest statement, they may answer questions about the quality of the article, and they will submit their recommendation.

3.2 why we collect the data

  • The data entered is used to invite the reviewer to peer review the article or book, and to contact the reviewer during and the review process.
  • If you submit a review then the details of your review, including your recommendation, your responses to any review form, your free-form responses, your competing interests statement, and any cover letter are recorded.

3.3 what we do (and don’t do) with the data

  • This data is not shared publicly and is only accessible by the Editor and system administrators of that journal or press.
  • The data will only be used in connection with that journal or press.
  • Data that is retained post final decision is kept to conform to publication ethics and best practice, to provide evidence of peer review, and to resolve any disputes relating to the peer review of the article or book.
  • For journals or presses that publish the peer reviews, you will be asked to give consent to your review being published, and a subset of the data you have submitted will become part of the published record.

3.4 what to do if you want to get a copy of your data, or want your data to be removed

  • If you would no longer like to be registered as a reviewer you can edit your profile and tick the box ‘stop being a reviewer’. This will remove you from the reviewer database, however any existing reviews you may have carried out will remain.
  • If you have been contacted by an editor to peer review an article this means that you have been registered in the system. If you would not like to be contacted for peer review you can reply to the email requesting that your data be deleted.

4. When being registered as a co-author

4.1 what data we collect

  • Co-author data is entered by the submitting author. The submitting author will already have a user account. According to standard publishing practice, the submitting author is responsible for obtaining the consent of their co-authors to be included (including having their personal data included) in the article/book being submitted to the journal/press.
  • The requested personal data for co-authors are at the bare minimum; first name, last name, institution, country, email address. This can also include; ORCID ID, Title, Middle Name, Biographical Statement, Department, Twitter Handle, Linkedin Profile Name or ImpactStory ID.

4.2 why we collect the data

  • Assuming that it is accepted for publication, this data forms part of the official published record in order for the provenance of the work to be established, and for the work to be correctly attributed.
  • Author names, affiliations and emails are required for publication and will become part of the permanent cited record.

4.3 what we do (and don’t do) with the data

  • The co-author’s personal data is stored in the author database. This personal data is only used in relation to the publication of the associated article.
  • Any co-author data collected is added to the author database and is only used in association with the article the user is co-author on.

4.5 what to do if you want to get a copy of your data, or want your data to be removed

  • To receive a copy of your data, please contact info@ubiquitypress.com
  • To conform to publication ethics and best practice any personal data that is published alongside an article or book cannot be removed. If you have a query about a publication to which you are attributed please contact info@ubiquitypress.com

5. When signing-up to receive newsletters

5.1 what data we collect

  • We require you to include your name and email address

5.2 why we collect and store the data, and for how long

  • This data would be collected to keep you updated with any news about the platform or specific journal

5.3 what we do (and don’t do) with the data

  • We use mailchimp to provide our mailing list services. Their privacy policy can be found here

5.4 what to do if you want to get a copy of your data or want your data to be removed

  • All emails sent via our newsletter client will include a link that will allow you to unsubscribe from the mailing list

Notification about change of ownership or of control of data

We may choose to buy or sell assets. In the case that control of data changes to or from Ubiquity Press and a third party, or in the case of change of ownership of Ubiquity Press or of part of the business where the control of personal data is transferred, we will do our best to inform all affected users and present the options.

(Updated: 18 May 2018)