Submissions

Author Guidelines

INTRODUCTION
Journal of Diabetes and Endocrinology Association of Nepal is Bi-annual Open Access peer reviewed publication that discusses current research advancements in Diabetes and Endocrinology.

The journal covers several key aspects in this field by including research on topics like Diabetes Mellitus, Diabetes Insipidus, Diabetes Complications, Hypoglycemia and Hyperglycemia, Diabetes Treatment and Cure, Gestational Diabetes, Endocrine System, Endocrinal Disorders, Hyperthyroidism, Pediatric Endocrinology, and Hormone Replacement Therapy.

The journal encourages advancements in the areas not limited to the one mentioned above in the form of research articles, reviews, commentaries, case studies and short communication. The Editorial, Guest Editorial and Letter to the Editor are solicited by the editorial board. Manuscripts that are thoroughly peer reviewed would ensure the best standards in the industry.

Authors do not have to pay for submission, processing or publication of articles in JDEAN.

The Editorial Process
A manuscript that is submitted will be initially reviewed for possible publication by the Editors with the understanding that it has not been published anywhere, simultaneously submitted, or already accepted for publication elsewhere. The journal expects that authors would authorize one of them to correspond with the journal for all matters related to the manuscript. All manuscript received are duly acknowledged. Editors will review all submitted manuscripts initially for suitability for formal review. Manuscript with insufficient originality, serious scientific or technical flaws, or lack of significant message are rejected. In the case of a good article that has been written poorly, the authors are asked to resubmit after revision.

The Peer Review Process
The potentially suitable manuscript selected for publication are sent to two or more expert reviewers blinded to the contributor’s identity and vice versa for meticulous review, inputs and comments. The final decision on whether to accept or reject the article are taken by the Editor-in-Chief based on editorial board and peer reviewers. The contributors are informed about the rejection/acceptance of the manuscript with the peer reviewer’s comments. Accepted articles have to be resubmitted after making the necessary changes or clarifying questions made during the peer review process.

Manuscripts accepted for publication are copy edited for grammar, punctuation, print style, and format. Page proofs are sent to the corresponding author. The corresponding author is expected to return the corrected proofs within three days. Non-response to galley proof may result in the delay of publication or even rejection of the article. The whole process of submission of the manuscript to final decision and sending and receiving proofs is completed online.

The author has to submit their manuscript according to JDEAN section policy.

• All submitted article will undergo international peer review with blinding for two peer reviewers, simultaneously. If the decision conflicts between two, it will be sent to third peer reviewer.
• The typical review will take minimum 4-6 weeks which includes 2 weeks for peer review and remaining weeks for peer review handling process. However, this may take little longer due to unseen workloads.
• When the article is received from peer reviewer there will be one of the following outcome and the decision choices include:
• Accept Submission: The submission will be accepted without revisions.
• Revisions Required: The submission will be accepted after minor changes have been made according to the reviewer's comment.
• Resubmit for Review: The submission needs to be re-worked, but with significant changes, may be accepted. It will require a second round of review, however.
• Resubmit elsewhere: When the submission does not meet the focus and scope of JDEAN.
• Decline Submission: The submission will not be published in the journal.

All comments received from the reviewers will be passed on to the authors within 4-6 weeks after getting back from the reviewers. Regardless of whether or not the submission is accepted for publication, it is essential that appropriate feedback is provided to the contributors.

JDEAN respect the views, opinion, comments and decision of the reviewer. However, the right for acceptance and rejection of the manuscript is reserved with the Chief Editor, on the basis of maintaining the integrity of the science, following the guideline of ICJME, WAME, CSE, COPE.

The editors will be responsible for directing the manuscripts to the appropriate reviewers who have the knowledge and/or expertise in the requisite fields.  Each manuscript will be accepted (sometimes on a conditional basis pending suggested changes) or declined based on the reviewers' comments, and other factors by Chief Editor's decisions. In the case of a controversial groundbreaking article that could have a far-reaching impact on the field, further reviews may be sought. The decision ultimately rests with the chief editor.

Peer Reviewers will be provided with Review Guidelines, once they accept to review the submission. JDEAN will rate reviewers on a five-point quality scale after each review. 

Authorship Criteria
Authorship credit should be based only on substantial contributions to each of the three components mentioned below: 

1. Concept and design of study 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.

Participation solely in the acquisition of funding or the collection of data does not justify authorship. General supervision of the research group is not sufficient for authorship. Each contributor should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for appropriate portions of the content of the manuscript. The order of naming the contributors should be based on the relative contribution of the contributor towards the study and writing the manuscript. Once submitted the order cannot be changed without written consent of all the contributors. The journal prescribes a maximum number of authors for manuscripts depending upon the type of manuscript, its scope and number of institutions involved (vide infra). The authors should provide a justification, if the number of authors exceeds these limits.

Contribution Details
The description of contributions made by each of the contributors towards the manuscript should be provided. Description should be divided in following categories, as applicable: concept, design, definition of intellectual content, literature search, clinical studies, experimental studies, data acquisition, data analysis, statistical analysis, manuscript preparation, manuscript editing and manuscript review. Authors' contributions will be printed along with the article.

Conflicts of Interest/ Competing Interests
All authors of must disclose any and all conflicts of interest they may have with publication of the manuscript or an institution or product that is mentioned in the manuscript and/or is important to the outcome of the study presented. Authors should also disclose conflict of interest with products that compete with those mentioned in their manuscript.

Submission of Manuscript
All manuscripts must be submitted on-line through the website http://www.dean.com.np. or by email  journaldean2017@gmail.com. First time users will have to register at this site. Registration is free but mandatory. Registered authors can keep track of their articles after logging into the site using their user name and password. Authors do not have to pay for submission, processing or publication of articles. If you experience any problems, please contact the editorial office by e-mail at journaldean2017@gmail.com

The submitted manuscripts that are not as per the “Instructions to Authors” would be returned to the authors for technical correction, before they undergo editorial/ peer-review. Generally, the manuscript should be submitted in the form of two separate files:

1. Title Page
2. Abstract
3. Manuscript
4. Tables
5. Figures
6. Pic/images
7. Supplementary Files

The contributor’s form has to be submitted in original with the signatures of all the contributors within two weeks of submission uploaded online from the author area.

Print ready hard copies of the images (one set) or digital images should be sent to the journal office at the time of submitting revised manuscript. High resolution images (up to 5 MB each) can be sent by email on journaldean2017@gmail.com

Preparation of Manuscripts

Manuscripts must be prepared in accordance with "Uniform requirements for Manuscripts submitted to Biomedical Journals" developed by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (October 2006). The uniform requirements and specific requirement of Journal of Diabetes and Endocrinology Association of Nepal are summarized below. Before submitting a manuscript, contributors are requested to check for the latest instructions available. Instructions are also available from the website of the journal (http://www.dean.com.np)

Journal of Diabetes and Endocrinology Association of Nepal accepts manuscripts written in American English. For spellings and grammar, Oxford style of English should be followed. The entire manuscript must be typed on one side of standard A4 size paper with a minimum side of 2.5 cm margin all around and double spaced.

The manuscript should be arranged in the following sequence: Title page, Abstract, Introduction, Material and Methods, Results, Discussion, Acknowledgement if any, References, Tables, Legends to figures.

The manuscript should not exceed 3000 words and 30 references for an original article, 4000 words and 50 references for a review article, 1000 words and 10 references for a case report, and 1000 words and 10 references for a brief communication, 500 words and 5 references for a letter to the editor. 

Title page should include a brief and appropriate title, name and academic designation of the author(s), name of the department(s) and the institution(s) where the work was carried out and its location, and address for correspondence. A short title not exceeding 50 characters should also be included.

A structured abstract not exceeding 250 words for original and review articles and 50 words for case reports should be typed on a separate sheet of paper. A list of 3 to 10 key words of Medical Subjects Headings from Index Medicus should be added to bottom of the abstract page.

Original Research Articles

Title page
The title page should:

• present a title that includes, if appropriate, the study design
• list the full names, institutional addresses and email addresses for all authors
• if a collaboration group should be listed as an author, please list the Group name as an author. If you would like the names of the individual members of the Group to be searchable through their individual PubMed records, please include this information in the “Acknowledgements” section in accordance with the instructions below
• indicate the corresponding author

Abstract
The abstract should not exceed 250 words. Please minimize the use of abbreviations and do not cite references in the abstract. The abstract must include the following separate sections:

• Background: the context and purpose of the study
• Methods: aim, design and setting of the study
• Results: the main findings
• Conclusions: a brief summary and potential implications

Keywords
Three to ten keywords representing the main content of the article.

Background
The Background section should explain the background to the study, its aims, a summary of the existing literature and why this study was necessary.

Results
This should include the findings of the study including, if appropriate, results of statistical analysis which must be included either in the text or as tables and figures.

Discussion
For research articles this section should discuss the implications of the findings in context of existing research and highlight limitations of the study. For study protocols and methodology manuscripts this section should include a discussion of any practical or operational issues involved in performing the study and any issues not covered in other sections.

Conclusions
This should state clearly the main conclusions and provide an explanation of the importance and relevance of the study to the field.

Methods (can also be placed after Background)
The methods section should include:

• the aim, design and setting of the study
• the characteristics of participants or description of materials
• a clear description of all processes, interventions and comparisons. Generic names should generally be used. When proprietary brands are used in research, include the brand names in parentheses
• the type of statistical analysis used, including a power calculation if appropriate

Declarations
List of abbreviations
If abbreviations are used in the text they should be defined in the text at first use, and a list of abbreviations should be provided.

Ethics approval and consent to participate
Manuscripts reporting studies involving human participants, human data or human tissue must:

• include a statement on ethics approval and consent (even where the need for approval was waived)
• include the name of the ethics committee that approved the study and the committee’s reference number if appropriate

Studies involving animals must include a statement on ethics approval.

If your manuscript does not report on or involve the use of any animal or human data or tissue, this section is not applicable to your submission. Please state “Not applicable” in this section.

Consent for publication
If your manuscript contains any individual person’s data in any form, consent to publish must be obtained from that person, or in the case of children, their parent or legal guardian. All presentations of case reports must have consent to publish. If your manuscript does not contain any individual person’s data, please state “Not applicable” in this section.

Competing interests
All financial and non-financial competing interests must be declared in this section. If you are unsure whether you or any of your co-authors have a competing interest please contact the editorial office.

Funding
All sources of funding for the research reported should be declared. The role of the funding body in the design of the study and collection, analysis, and interpretation of data and in writing the manuscript should be declared.

Authors' contributions
The individual contributions of authors to the manuscript should be specified in this section.

Acknowledgements
Please acknowledge anyone who contributed towards the article who does not meet the criteria for authorship including anyone who provided professional writing services or materials. Authors should obtain permission to acknowledge from all those mentioned in the Acknowledgements section.

Authors' information
You may choose to use this section to include any relevant information about the author(s) that may aid the reader's interpretation of the article, and understand the standpoint of the author(s). This may include details about the authors' qualifications, current positions they hold at institutions or societies, or any other relevant background information. Please refer to authors using their initials. Note this section should not be used to describe any competing interests.

Endnotes
Endnotes should be designated within the text using a superscript lowercase letter and all notes (along with their corresponding letter) should be included in the Endnotes section. Please format this section in a paragraph rather than a list.

How to format your references
Examples of the Vancouver reference style are shown below. Please ensure that the reference style is followed precisely; if the references are not in the correct style, they may need to be retyped and carefully proofread.

Web links and URLs: All web links and URLs, including links to the authors' own websites, should be given a reference number and included in the reference list rather than within the text of the manuscript. They should be provided in full, including both the title of the site and the URL, as well as the date the site was accessed, in the following format.

Example reference style:

Article within a journal
Smith JJ. The world of science. Am J Sci. 1999; 36:234-5.

Article within a journal (no page numbers)
Rohrmann S, Overvad K, Bueno-de-Mesquita HB, Jakobsen MU, Egeberg R, Tjønneland A, et al. Meat consumption and mortality - results from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition. BMC Medicine. 2013; 11:63.

Article within a journal by DOI
Slifka MK, Whitton JL. Clinical implications of dysregulated cytokine production. Dig J Mol Med. 2000; https://doi.org/10.1007/s001090000086

Article within a journal supplement
Frumin AM, Nussbaum J, Esposito M. Functional asplenia: demonstration of splenic activity by bone marrow scan. Blood 1979;59 Suppl 1:26-32.

Book chapter, or an article within a book
Wyllie AH, Kerr JFR, Currie AR. Cell death: the significance of apoptosis. In: Bourne GH, Danielli JF, Jeon KW, editors. International review of cytology. London: Academic; 1980. p. 251-306.

OnlineFirst chapter in a series (without a volume designation but with a DOI)
Saito Y, Hyuga H. Rate equation approaches to amplification of enantiomeric excess and chiral symmetry breaking. Top Curr Chem. 2007. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/128_2006_108

Complete book, authored
Blenkinsopp A, Paxton P. Symptoms in the pharmacy: a guide to the management of common illness. 3rd ed. Oxford: Blackwell Science; 1998.

Online document
Doe J. Title of subordinate document. In: The dictionary of substances and their effects. Royal Society of Chemistry. 1999. http://www.rsc.org/dose/title of subordinate document. Accessed 15 Jan 1999.

Online database
Healthwise Knowledgebase. US Pharmacopeia, Rockville. 1998. http://www.healthwise.org. Accessed 21 Sept 1998.

Supplementary material/private homepage
Doe J. Title of supplementary material. 2000. http://www.privatehomepage.com. Accessed 22 Feb 2000.

University site
Doe, J: Title of preprint. http://www.uni-heidelberg.de/mydata.html (1999). Accessed 25 Dec 1999.

FTP site
Doe, J: Trivial HTTP, RFC2169. ftp://ftp.isi.edu/in-notes/rfc2169.txt (1999). Accessed 12 Nov 1999.

Organization site
ISSN International Centre: The ISSN register. http://www.issn.org (2006). Accessed 20 Feb 2007.

Dataset with persistent identifier
Zheng L-Y, Guo X-S, He B, Sun L-J, Peng Y, Dong S-S, et al. Genome data from sweet and grain sorghum (Sorghum bicolor). GigaScience Database. 2011. http://dx.doi.org/10.5524/100012

General formatting information
Manuscripts must be written in concise English.

Quick points:

• Use double line spacing
• Include line and page numbering
• Use SI units: Please ensure that all special characters used are embedded in the text, otherwise they will be lost during conversion to PDF
• Do not use page breaks in your manuscript

File formats
The following word processor file formats are acceptable for the main manuscript document:

• Microsoft word (DOC, DOCX)
• Rich text format (RTF)

Please note: editable files are required for processing in production. If your manuscript contains any non-editable files (such as PDFs) you will be required to re-submit an editable file if your manuscript is accepted. Note that figures must be submitted as separate image files, not as part of the submitted manuscript file.

Style and language
For editors and reviewers to accurately assess the work presented in your manuscript you need to ensure the English language is of sufficient quality to be understood. If you need help with writing in English you should consider:

• Asking a colleague who is a native English speaker to review your manuscript for clarity.
• Using a professional language editing service where editors will improve the English to ensure that your meaning is clear and identify problems that require your review.

Preparing figures
When preparing figures, please follow the formatting instructions below.

• Figures should be provided as separate files, not embedded in the main manuscript file.
• Figure titles (max 15 words) and legends (max 300 words) should be provided in the main manuscript, not in the graphic file.
• Each figure of a manuscript should be submitted as a single file that fits on a single page in portrait format.
• Tables should NOT be submitted as figures but should be included in the main manuscript file.
• Multi-panel figures (those with parts a, b, c, d etc.) should be submitted as a single composite file that contains all parts of the figure.
• Figures should be numbered in the order they are first mentioned in the text, and uploaded in this order.
• Figures should be uploaded in the correct orientation.
• Figure keys should be incorporated into the graphic, not into the legend of the figure.
• Each figure should be closely cropped to minimize the amount of white space surrounding the illustration. Cropping figures improves accuracy when placing the figure in combination with other elements when the accepted manuscript is prepared for publication on our site. For more information on individual figure file formats, see our detailed instructions.
• Individual figure files should not exceed 10 MB. If a suitable format is chosen, this file size is adequate for extremely high quality figures.
• Please note that it is the responsibility of the author(s) to obtain permission from the copyright holder to reproduce figures (or tables) that have previously been published elsewhere. In order for all figures to be open access, authors must have permission from the rights holder if they wish to include images that have been published elsewhere in non open access journals. Permission should be indicated in the figure legend, and the original source included in the reference list.

Figure size and resolution
Figures are resized during publication of the final full text and PDF versions to conform to the standard dimensions, which are detailed below.

Figures on the web:

• width of 600 pixels (standard), 1200 pixels (high resolution).

Figures in the final PDF version:

• width of 85 mm for half page width figure
• width of 170 mm for full page width figure
• maximum height of 225 mm for figure and legend
• image resolution of approximately 300 dpi (dots per inch) at the final size

Figures should be designed such that all information, including text, is legible at these dimensions. All lines should be wider than 0.25 pt when constrained to standard figure widths. All fonts must be embedded.

Figure file compression
Vector figures should if possible be submitted as PDF files, which are usually more compact than EPS files.

• TIFF files should be saved with LZW compression, which is lossless (decreases file size without decreasing quality) in order to minimize upload time.
• JPEG files should be saved at maximum quality.
• Conversion of images between file types (especially lossy formats such as JPEG) should be kept to a minimum to avoid degradation of quality.

Preparing tables
When preparing tables, please follow the formatting instructions below.

• Tables should be numbered and cited in the text in sequence using Arabic numerals (i.e. Table 1, Table 2 etc.).
• Tables less than one A4 or Letter page in length can be placed in the appropriate location within the manuscript.
• Tables larger than one A4 or Letter page in length can be placed at the end of the document text file. Please cite and indicate where the table should appear at the relevant location in the text file so that the table can be added in the correct place during production.
• Larger datasets, or tables too wide for A4 or Letter landscape page can be uploaded as additional files. Please see [below] for more information.
• Tabular data provided as additional files can be uploaded as an Excel spreadsheet (.xls ) or comma separated values (.csv). Please use the standard file extensions.
• Table titles (max 15 words) should be included above the table, and legends (max 300 words) should be included underneath the table.
• Tables should not be embedded as figures or spreadsheet files, but should be formatted using ‘Table object’ function in your word processing program.
• Color and shading may not be used. Parts of the table can be highlighted using superscript, numbering, lettering, symbols or bold text, the meaning of which should be explained in a table legend.
• Commas should not be used to indicate numerical values.

Review Articles
It is expected that these articles would be written by individuals who have done substantial work on the subject or are considered experts in the field. A short summary of the work done by the contributor(s) in the field of review should accompany the manuscript.

The prescribed word count is up to 3000 words excluding tables, references and abstract. The manuscript may have about 90 references. The manuscript should have an unstructured Abstract (250 words) representing an accurate summary of the article. The section titles would depend upon the topic reviewed. 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.

The journal expects the contributors to give post-publication updates on the subject of review. The update should be brief, covering the advances in the field after the publication of the article and should be sent as a letter to editor, as and when major development occurs in the field.

Evidence Based Summary
The section aims to summarise research evidence as available from high quality systematic review for healthcare workers, patients and policy makers.

Case reports
New, interesting and rare cases can be reported. They should be unique, describing a great diagnostic or therapeutic challenge and providing a learning point for the readers. Cases with clinical significance or implications and of educational value will be given priority. These communications could be of up to 1000 words (excluding Abstract and references) and could be supported with up to 10 references. Case Reports could be authored by up to four authors.

Letter to the Editor
They should be short and decisive and be related to articles previously published (including editorials/commentaties) in the Journal or views expressed in the journal. They should not be preliminary observations that need a later paper for validation nor can it be case reports. The letter could have up to 500 words and maximum of 5 references. It could be generally authored by not more than four authors. Editorial, Guest Editorial, and Commentary are solicited by the editorial board.                                                            

Sending the manuscript

Three complete sets of articles should be submitted for possible publication. In order to expedite the time of publication, authors are requested to provide a copy of their manuscript either as an attachment to an e-mail or on a Flash drive in Microsoft Word in addition to three sets of hard copies.Authors are urged to keep at least one hard copy with them as the articles not accepted for publication will not be returned to the author(s).

We undersigned declare that below-mentioned manuscript has been read by all authors/co-authors and warrant that this contribution is original, has not been published elsewhere and is currently not under consideration for publication by any other journal. If accepted for publication in JDEAN, it will not be published elsewhere in whole or in part without the Chief Editor’s written permission.

© Copyright: The Authors
Authors retain the copyright of their articles.

Please send the manuscript to:

The Chief Editor
JDEAN
BPKIHS, Dharan, Sunsari, Nepal
Fax: +977-25-52088
Email: journaldean2017@gmail.com

Privacy Statement
The names and email addresses entered in this journal site will be used exclusively for the stated purposes of this journal and will not be made available for any other purpose or to any other party.

Journal open access statement
Journal of Diabetes and Endocrinology Association of Nepal (JDEAN) is committed to real and immediate open access for academic work. All of the JDEAN articles are free to access immediately from the date of publication. The journal allows readers to freely read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of its articles and to use them for any other lawful purpose provided the authors and journal are properly cited.

Publishing your research articles as an open access article with publisher will mean that it:

• Is peer-reviewed.
• Has rapid publication.
• Is immediately to access online upon publication free of charge.
• Can be shared and used by readers.
• The published material can be re-used without obtaining permission as long as a correct citation to the original publication is given.
• Free access for users worldwide.
• Increased visibility and readership.

Plagiarism policy of JDEAN:
The authors should make sure that submitted work is original and their own. If authors have used work and/or words of others then they should be appropriately cited or quoted. Plagiarism constitutes many forms, from ‘passing off’ another’s paper as the author’s own paper, to copying or paraphrasing substantial parts of another’s paper (without attribution), to claiming results from research conducted by others. Plagiarism in all its forms is unethical and unacceptable. JDEAN editors will make use of specific software for plagiarism detection and we also suggest our authors to check the same if possible before submission to JDEAN.

Copies of any permission(s)
It is the responsibility of authors/ contributors to obtain permissions for reproducing any copyrighted material. A copy of the permission obtained must accompany the manuscript. Copies of any and all published articles or other manuscripts in preparation or submitted elsewhere that are related to the manuscript must also accompany the manuscript.

Clinical trial registry
Journal of Diabetes and Endocrinology Association of Nepal would only publish clinical trials that have been registered with a clinical trial registry that allows free online access to public. Clinical trial registry numbers should be mandatorily mentioned below abstract. 

Protection of Patients’ Right to Privacy
Identifying information should not be published in written descriptions, photographs, sonograms, CT scans, etc., and pedigrees unless the information is essential for scientific purposes and the patient (or parent or guardian, wherever applicable) gives written informed consent for publication. Authors should remove patients' names from figures unless they have obtained written informed consent from the patients. When informed consent has been obtained, it should be indicated in the article and copy of the consent should be attached with the covering letter.

Sending a revised manuscript
The revised version of the manuscript should be submitted online in a manner similar to that used for submission of the manuscript for the first time. However, there is no need to submit the “First Page” or “Covering Letter” file while submitting a revised version. When submitting a revised manuscript, contributors are requested to include, the ‘referees’ remarks along with point to point clarification at the beginning in the revised file itself. In addition, they are expected to mark the changes as underlined or colored text in the article. Please see the FAQ page on how to revise.