Sending the Manuscript to the Journal

Articles should be submitted online by registration in the website portal. New authors will have to register as author, which is a simple two step procedure.

1.First Page File: Prepare the title page, covering letter, acknowledgement, etc., using a word processor program. All information which can reveal your identity should be here. Do not zip the files.

2.Article file: The main text of the article, beginning from Abstract till References (including tables) should be in this file. Do not include any information such as acknowledgement, your names in page headers, etc., in this file. Do not zip the files. Limit the file size to 400 kb. Do not incorporate images in the file. If the file size is large, graphs can be submitted as images separately without incorporating them in the article file to reduce the size of the file.

3.Images: Submit good quality color images. Each image should be less than 400 kb in size. Size of the image can be reduced by decreasing the actual height and width of the images (keep MINIMUM OF 1024x760 pixels). All image formats (jpeg, tiff, gif, bmp, png, eps, etc.) are acceptable; JPG Is most suitable. Do not zip the files

4.Legends: Legends for the figures/images should be included at the end of the article file.

5.Mandatory: Please keep all the following mandatory forms in PDF/ JPG format only ready before commencing the submission process.

  •  Authorship role declaration form (in prescribed format)
  •  Copyright transfer form (in prescribed format
  •  Patient image/ photo release consent form (in prescribed format)
  •  NOTE: ONLY PDF/ JPG format accepted

The authors' form and copyright transfer form has to be submitted to the editorial office by post, in original with the signatures of all the authors within two weeks of online submission
Editorial : Dr. Hiroj Bagde, B.D.S., M.D.S., PhD

Preparation of the Manuscript

We have provided readymade templates for writing original research articles, case reports, and review articles. These can be utilised for writing the articles as per the instructions. The templates can be downloaded from the link provided on the top of this page.

The text of observational and experimental articles should be divided into sections with the headings: Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, References, Tables, Figures, Figure legends, and Acknowledgment. Do not make subheadings in these sections.

The manuscripts should be typed in A4 size (212 × 297 mm) paper, with margins of 25 mm (1 inch) from all the four sides. Use 1.5 spacing throughout. Number pages consecutively, beginning with the title page.

The language should be British English.

The font shall be preferrably Times New Roman

Title Page

The title page should carry

  •  Type of manuscript
  •  The title of the article, which should be concise, but informative;
  •  Running title or short title not more than 50 characters;
  •  Name of the authors (the way it should appear in the journal), with his or her highest academic degree(s) and institutional affiliation;
  •  The name of the department(s) and institution(s) to which the work should be attributed;
  •  The name, address, phone numbers, facsimile numbers, and e-mail address of the contributor responsible for correspondence about the manuscript;
  •  The total number of pages, total number of photographs and word counts separately for abstract and for the text (excluding the references and abstract).
  •  If the manuscript was presented as part at a meeting, the organisation, place, and exact date on which it was read.
  •  Conflict of Interest, if any in detail.
  •  Acknowledgements in detail.

Abstract Page

The second page should carry the full title of the manuscript and an abstract (of no more than 150 words for case reports, brief reports and 250 words for original articles). The abstract should be structured and state the Context (Background), Aims, Settings and Design, Methods and Material, Statistical analysis used, Results and Conclusions. Below the abstract should provide 3 to 10 key word.

Introduction

State the purpose of the article and summarize the rationale for the study or observation.

Methods

Describe the selection of the observational or experimental subjects (patients or laboratory animals, including controls) clearly. Identify the age, sex, and other important characteristics of the subjects. Identify the methods, apparatus (give the manufacturer's name and address in parentheses), and procedures in sufficient detail. Give references to established methods, including statistical methods; 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.

Authors submitting review manuscripts should include a section describing the methods used for locating, selecting, extracting, and synthesising data. These methods should also be summarised in the abstract.

Statistics

When possible, quantify findings and present them with appropriate indicators of measurement error or uncertainty (such as confidence intervals). Report losses to observation (such as dropouts from a clinical trial). Put a general description of methods in the Methods section. When data are summarized in the Results section, specify the statistical methods used to analyse them. Avoid non-technical uses of technical terms in statistics, such as 'random' (which implies a randomising device), 'normal', 'significant', 'correlations', and 'sample'. Define statistical terms, abbreviations, and most symbols. Use upper italics (P < 0.05).

Results

Present the results in logical sequence in the text, tables, and illustrations. Do not repeat in the text all the data in the tables or illustrations; emphasise or summarise only important observations.

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 material given in the Introduction or the Results section. Include in the Discussion section the implications of the findings and their limitations, including implications for future research. Relate the observations to other relevant studies.

In particular, contributors should avoid making statements on economic benefits and costs unless their manuscript includes economic data and analyses. Avoid claiming priority and alluding to work that has not been completed. State new hypotheses when warranted, but clearly label them as such. Recommendations, when appropriate, may be included.

Acknowledgments (in first page file only: Not in Manuscript file)

  •  contributions that need acknowledging but do not justify authorship, such as general support by a departmental chair;
  •  acknowledgments of technical help;
  •  acknowledgments of financial and material support, which should specify the nature of the support. This should be the last page of the manuscript.

References

References should be numbered consecutively in the order in which they are first mentioned in the text (not in alphabetic order). Identify references in text, tables, and legends by Arabic numerals in superscript. References cited only in tables or figure legends should be numbered in accordance with the sequence established by the first identification in the text of the particular table or figure. Use the style of the examples below, which are based on the formats used by the NLM in Index Medicus. The titles of journals should be abbreviated according to the style used in Index Medicus. Use complete name of the journal for non-indexed journals. Avoid using abstracts as references. Information from manuscripts submitted but not accepted should be cited in the text as "unpublished observations" with written permission from the source. Avoid citing a "personal communication" unless it provides essential information not available from a public source, in which case the name of the person and date of communication should be cited in parentheses in the text. For scientific articles, contributors should obtain written permission and confirmation of accuracy from the source of a personal communication. If the number of authors is more than six, list the first six authors followed by et al.

Journal References

Standard journal article

Kulkarni SB, Chitre RG, Satoskar RS. Serum proteins in tuberculosis. J Postgrad Med 1960; 6:113-120

Volume with supplement

Shen HM, Zhang QF. Risk assessment of nickel carcinogenicity and occupational lung cancer. Environ Health Perspect 1994; 102 Suppl 1:275-282.

Issue with supplement

Payne DK, Sullivan MD, Massie MJ. Women's psychological reactions to breast cancer. Semin Oncol 1996; 23(1, Suppl 2):89-97.

Books and Other Monographs

Personal author(s)

Ringsven MK, Bond D. Gerontology and leadership skills for nurses. 2nd ed. Albany (NY): Delmar Publishers; 1996.

Ringsven MK, Bond D. Gerontology and leadership skills for nurses. 2nd ed. Albany (NY): Delmar Publishers; 1996.

Ringsven MK, Bond D. Gerontology and leadership skills for nurses. 2nd ed. Albany (NY): Delmar Publishers; 1996.

Chapter in a book

Phillips SJ, Whisnant JP. Hypertension and stroke. In: Laragh JH, Brenner BM, editors. Hypertension: pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management. 2nd ed. New York: Raven Press; 1995. pp 465-478.

Tables

Tables should be self-explanatory and should not duplicate textual material.

• Tables with more than 10 columns and 25 rows are not acceptable.
• Type or print out each table with double spacing on a separate sheet of paper. If the table must be continued, repeat the title on a second sheet followed by "(contd.)".
• Number tables, in Arabic numerals, consecutively in the order of their first citation in the text and supply a brief title for each.
• Place explanatory matter in footnotes, not in the heading. • Explain in footnotes all non-standard abbreviations that are used in each table.
• Obtain permission for all fully borrowed, adapted, and modified tables and provide a credit line in the footnote.
• For footnotes use the following symbols, in this sequence: *, †, ‡, §, ¦, *,*, ††, ‡‡

Illustrations (Figures)

Tables should be self-explanatory and should not duplicate textual material.

• Figures should be numbered consecutively according to the order in which they have been first cited in the text.
• Symbols, arrows, or letters used in photomicrographs should contrast with the background and should marked neatly with transfer type or by tissue overlay and not by pen.
• Titles and detailed explanations belong in the legends for illustrations not on the illustrations themselves.
• When graphs, scatter-grams or histograms are submitted the numerical data on which they are based should also be supplied. • The photographs and figures should be trimmed to remove all the unwanted areas. COMPOSITE IMAGES NEED TO BE CREATED BY AUTHORS ONLY.
• ENSURE THAT THE IMAGE SUBMITTED HAS A MINIMUM SIZE OF 1024x760 PIXELS.
• If photographs of people are used, either the subjects must not be identifiable or their pictures must be accompanied by written permission to use the photograph.
• If a figure has been published, acknowledge the original source and submit written permission from the copyright holder to reproduce the material. A credit line should appear in the legend for figures for such figures.
• The Journal reserves the right to crop, rotate, reduce, or enlarge the photographs to an acceptable size.
• Patient image release form essential.

For online submission

• Submit good quality color images.
• Each image should be less than 100 kb in size. Size of the image can be reduced by decreasing the actual height and width of the images (keep up to 400 pixels or 3 inches).\
• All image formats (jpeg, tiff, gif, bmp, png, eps, etc.) are acceptable; jpeg is most suitable.
• The images should be scanned at 72 dpi, size not more than 3x4 inches (or 300x400 pixels), with only the necessary portion of the photographs. Wherever necessary, scan at greyscale (e.g. x-rays, ECGs).
For hard copies (to be submitted only after acceptance of the manuscript) • Send sharp, glossy, un-mounted, colour photographic prints, with height of 4 inches and width of 6 inches.
• Each figure should have a label pasted (avoid use of liquid gum for pasting) on its back indicating the number of the figure, the running title, top of the figure and the legends of the figure. Do not write the contributor/s' name/s. Do not write on the back of figures, scratch, or mark them by using paper clips.
• Labels, numbers, and symbols should be clear and of uniform size. The lettering for figures should be large enough to be legible after reduction to fit the width of a printed column. For soft copies (to be submitted only after acceptance of the manuscript)
• Use a Compact Disc. There should be no other document, file, or material on the disc other than the images.
• Label the disc with first authors' name, short title of the article, type of image (eg. Jpeg, tiff), and file name.

Legends for Illustrations

  •  Type or print out legends (maximum 40 words, excluding the credit line) for illustrations using double spacing, 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.

Protection of Patients' Rights 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 informed consent for publication. Authors should remove patients' names from figures unless they have obtained informed consent from the patients. The journal abides by ICMJE guidelines:

1. Authors, not the journals nor the publisher, need to obtain the patient consent form before the publication and have the form properly archived. The consent forms are not to be uploaded with the cover letter or sent through email to editorial or publisher offices.
2. If the manuscript contains patient images that preclude anonymity, or a description that has obvious indication to the identity of the patient, a statement about obtaining informed patient consent should be indicated in the manuscript.

Sending a revised manuscript

While submitting a revised manuscript, contributors are requested to include, along with single copy of the final revised manuscript, a photocopy of the revised manuscript with the changes underlined in red and copy of the comments with the point to point clarification to each comment. The manuscript number should be mentioned without fail.

The authors' form and copyright transfer form has to be submitted in original with the signatures of all the contributors at the time of submission of revised copy.