Submissions

This journal is not accepting submissions at this time.

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 OpenOffice, Microsoft Word, RTF, or WordPerfect document file format.
  • Where available, URLs for the references have been provided.
  • The text is double-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

Section A: Checklist for the publication

  1. Include a cover letter.
  2. Institutional Review Committee (IRC) approval letter.
  3. Include the original typed manuscript.
  4. BJHS authorship/declaration form with copyright transfer statement and all authors’ personal signatures.
  5. Supplementary files, if necessary.

Section B: Introduction
Birat Journal of Health Sciences (BJHS) is a four monthly, peer-reviewed, open-access, international medical journal.  BJHS is an official journal of Birat Medical College and Teaching Hospital (BMCTH) with the aim of sharing information related to health sciences.

Types of articles

  • Original articles
  • Review articles
  • Invited articles
  • Case reports
  • Audits
  • Letters to the editor
  • Medical Education
  • View Point

Submission of manuscripts
Authors are requested to submit their manuscript through our online manuscript submission system at www.bjhsnepal.org (if any query, email us at info@bjhsnepal.org). By submitting a manuscript, the author agrees to the following:

  1. The work is original and free from plagiarism.
  2. It has not been submitted for publication or is not under consideration for publication at another Journal.
  3. All authors are aware of the order of authorship. The submitting author shall be solely responsible in case disputes arise.
  4. Authors will retain the copyright of their articles and the articles will be published with a CC-BY license which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
  5. Conflict of interest if any must be explicitly stated at the end of the manuscript.

Section C: General Information

Original articles: Original articles are full-length papers that address research questions with appropriate study design and methodology. The entire manuscript including abstract and references should be in a range of 2000-5000 words and should have references not more than 40. Abstract should be structured into the following sub groups; introduction, objectives, methodology, results, conclusion and keywords.

Review articles: The author does extensive review of literature across various components of the topic and writes a review article. The review article should have contents rich in thoroughly researched, latest information about a topic. The length of the review articles should be in the range of 2500-5000 words and should have references not more than 50.

Invited articles: Articles that are invited in BJHS from the editorial board may fall among any one of the types mentioned above and should follow the guidelines as above just the same.

Case reports: The case report is description of an important case that will add information on the existing knowledge of the readers. The case report should clearly explain what happened to the patient, the course of events and specific reason for choosing that action and its outcome. It is limited to 1500 words, should not have more than 4 authors and should not contain over 15 references.

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.

Letters to the editor: Letters to the editor section accepts interesting observations and comments on the articles published in the journal. Due care should be taken in the formation of the letter to avoid any misunderstanding. The replies to such letters will also be published as and when received from the authors. The letter and the reply should not exceed 300 words and should not contain more than 5 references.

Medical Education: The articles relating to various aspects of medical education are published. Articles under this section include 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.

View Point: Important health issues can be send as view point.

Section D: Article Processing
The manuscript would be forwarded to an associate editor and two reviewers. Manuscripts that are outside the range of interest of Birat Journal of Health Sciences readership or that fail to satisfy the technical requirements would be promptly returned to authors without further review. The rejected manuscripts would be destroyed. Manuscripts returned to authors for modification should be returned back to the editorial office (duration fixed based on article). If not submitted on time, it would be not considered for publication. In case of technical problems, authors should resubmit the article after making necessary correction within one week. The editorial board reserves the right to assess suitability of the language, modify the text and improve the photographs and illustrations to enhance clarity of expression and presentation without affecting the message and meaning being conveyed by the article.

Section E: Manuscript Preparation
Type the manuscript (using 'Calibri' font, size 12) in double space throughout. Uniformity of language with preference to British English is desired. Words not numbers begin a sentence. Please arrange the manuscript as follows: Title, Abstract, Introduction, Methodology, Results, Discussion, Conclusion, Recommendations, and Limitation of the study, Acknowledgements, Conflict of interest, References, Tables, Figure and legends. Number all pages consecutively, beginning with the title page. Figures, tables and references must be cited by numbers in the manuscript. Use of appropriate SI Units is encouraged. If using other, more commonly used units, give the SI equivalent in parenthesis. Avoid use of full stops in the middle of abbreviations (ECG, not E.C.G). Serial number of each reference should be super-scripted and not written in parenthesis. Use generic names of drugs. Do not use abbreviations in the title. Define unusual abbreviations with the first use in the body of the manuscript. For references, the names of all authors should be mentioned instead of using et al. The abbreviations used for name of a particular journal should be standard.

Title page: Type the full names and affiliations of all authors. The title should not exceed 100 characters including spaces between words. Number all pages consecutively beginning with the title page.

Abstract: Includes introduction, methodology results, conclusions and four key words maximum up to 300 words.

Tables: Type double-spaced on separate sheets; each table should have a title and be numbered in the order of appearance in the text. Use superscript letters to indicate footnotes typed at the bottom of the table.

Figures: The edit only graph will be accepted.

Photos: High resolution color photograph with degree of magnification or scale bars to be used on the photograph.

References: References should be typed on a separate page and numbered in the order of appearance in the text. Authors are instructed to follow modified Vancouver system for citing scientific literature. Authors must also note that BJHS follows following variation in modified Vancouver style:

  • Superscripts must be used rather than brackets.
  • Numbers (citations) should be inserted before colons and semi-colons. (to the left)
  • Numbers (citations) should be inserted after comas and full stops. (to the right)
  • Citation of unpublished observations or personal communications (include separately, permission to quote from appropriate individual) should be placed in the text in parenthesis.

Section F. Declaration of Authorship Responsibility, Financial Disclosure, Conflicts of interest, Copyright Transfer/Publication Agreement, Peer-review process

General guidelines:

[a] Authorship Responsibility, Criteria, and Contributions

  1. I certify that the manuscript represents original and valid work and that neither this manuscript nor one with substantially similar content under my authorship has been published or is being considered for publication elsewhere, except as described in an attachment, and copies of closely related manuscripts are provided; and
  2. I certify that if requested, I will provide the data or will cooperate fully in obtaining and providing the data on which the manuscript is based for examination by the editors or their assignees; and
  3. I certify that for papers with more than 1 author, I agree to allow the corresponding author to serve as the primary correspondent with the editorial office, to review the edited typescript and proof, and to make decisions regarding release of information in the manuscript to the media, federal agencies, or both; or, if I am the only author, I will be the corresponding author and agree to serve in the roles described above.

[b] Reporting of Conflicts of Interest and Financial Disclosure

  1. I certify that all funding, other financial support, and material support for this work are clearly identified in the manuscript.
  2. I certify that all my 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.

[c] Copyright Transfer / Publishing Agreement

© Authors retain the copyright.

Creative Commons Licence
Authors grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultanously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License(CC-BY 4.0) that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.

[d] Acknowledgement Statement

  1. I certify that all persons who have made substantial contributions to the work reported in this manuscript (e.g. data collection, analysis, or writing or editing assistance) but who do not fulfill the authorship criteria (provided in the author guidelines) are name with their specific contributions in an acknowledgment in the manuscript.
  2. I certify that I have obtained all written consent for publication of identifying material(s) from the authorities concerned, including Institutional review committee (IRC).
  3. In case review, or articles pertinent to involvement of human or animal subjects, I verify that I have obtained all written consent to carry out the works from the patients/ parents/ authorities concerned.
  4. I also understand that the decision of editor will be final regarding the manuscript and publication. I however, have the right to withdraw my manuscript when given a chance (e.g. after modification).

[e] Disclaimer:

The publisher, BJHS and the editors cannot be held responsible for errors or any consequences arising from the use of information contained in this journal, the BJHS and the editors, neither does the publication of advertisement constitute any endorsement by the Publisher, the BJHS and the editors of the products advertised.

[f] Peer Review Process:

The Birat Journal of Health Sciences (BJHS) follows a double-blind peer-review process. The peer review process generally takes five to six weeks. BJHS uses both local and international reviewers for the peer-review process.

The manuscript would be forwarded to an associate editor and two reviewers. Manuscripts that are outside the range of interest of Birat Journal of Health Sciences readership or that fail to satisfy the technical requirements would be promptly returned to authors without further review. The rejected manuscripts would be destroyed. Manuscripts returned to authors for modification should be returned back to the editorial office (duration fixed based on article). If not submitted on time, it would be not considered for publication. In case of technical problems, authors should resubmit the article after making necessary correction within one week. The editorial board reserves the right to assess suitability of the language, modify the text and improve the photographs and illustrations to enhance clarity of expression and presentation without affecting the message and meaning being conveyed by the article.

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)