Instruction to Authors
Journal of peoples University of Medical and Health Sciences (JPUMHS) Nawabshah, Pakistan publishes original manuscripts, case reports and reviews on topics related to medical and health sciences. JPUMHS is a peer reviewed journal and is published quarterly 4 issues per year.
You can send the articles to the editor jpumhs@pumhs.edu.pk
JPUMHS is indexed and recognized by following National databases:
National
Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PM&DC)/Pakistan Medical Council (PMC).
International
JPUMHS is indexed in many international indexing services
INSTRUCTIONS TO AUTHORS
All material submitted for publication should be sent exclusively to the Journal of Journal of peoples University of Medical and Health Sciences (JPUMHS) Nawabshah, Pakistan.
Work that has already been reported in a published paper or is described in a paper sent or accepted elsewhere for publication should not be submitted.
Multiple or duplicate submission of the same work to other journal should be avoided as this fall into the category of publication fraud and is liable for disciplinary consequences, including reporting to Pakistan Medical & Dental Council / Pakistan Medical Council (PMC). and Higher Education Commission.
A complete report following publication of a preliminary report, usually in the form of an abstract, or a paper that has been presented at a scientific meeting, if not published in full in a proceedings or similar publication, may be submitted. A copy of the published material should be included with a manuscript for editors' consideration.
Authors can submit their manuscripts online via journal's online submission system at www.pumhs.edu.pk
Manuscripts must be submitted by corresponding author of the manuscript, and should not be submitted by anyone on his behalf.
A successful electronic submission of a manuscript will be followed by a system-generated acknowledgement to the principal/corresponding author. Any queries there in should be addressed to editor.
A duly filled-in author's certification proforma is mandatory for publication download ACP form. The duly signed ACP must be returned to the journal's office as soon as possible. The sequence/ order of the authors on ACP once submitted shall not be changed at any stage. Delay in submitting the ACP will result in delay in the processing and publication of the manuscript.
It is mandatory to provide the institutional ethical review board/committee approval/exemption for all research articles, at the time of submission of article. Dissertation/ thesis approval letter from relevant authority is also acceptable.
AUTHORSHIP CRITERIA
The corresponding author must be a health professional with relevant specialist qualification. The journal does not entertain articles from non- health professional graduates on clinical subjects. Moreover, JPUMHS allows only one author to contribute as corresponding author.
Authors must provide a final list of authors with their contact details such as designation, department, workplace, telephone/cell numbers and E-mail addresses on the manuscript at the time of submission, ensuring the correct sequence of the names of authors, which will not be considered for any addition, deletion or rearrangement after final submission of the manuscript. Authors must also mention contribution of each author in the manuscript according to ICMJE criteria as stated in ICMJE recommendations http://www.icmje.org/icmje-recommendations.pdf ).
The ICMJE recommends that authorship be based on the following 4 criteria:
- Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; and
- Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content; and
- Final approval of the version to be published; and
- 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. All the four conditions are to be fulfilled. Practices of ghost and gift authorship are strongly discouraged.
Only six authors are allowed in a single institution / single discipline study. In a multi institution / multi-disciplinary and international collaboration research, Editorial Board shall guide on individual case basis.
JPUMHS strongly discourages gift authorship. Mere supervision, collection of data, statistical analysis and language correction do not grant authorship rights. Ideally all authors should belong to same department of an institute, except for multi-center and multi-specialty studies.
GENERAL ARCHIVAL INSTRUCTIONS
Authors should submit the manuscript typed in MS Word. Sentences should not start with a number or figure. Components of manuscript should be in the following sequence: a title page (containing names of authors, their postal and Email addresses, fax and phone numbers, including mobile phone number of the corresponding author), abstract, key words, text, references, tables (each table, complete with title and footnotes) and legends for illustrations and photo-graphs. Each component should begin on a new page. The manuscript should be typed in double spacing as a single column.
Sub-headings should not be used in any section of the script except in the abstract. In survey and other studies, comments in verbatim should not be stated from a participating group. Acknowledgements are only printed for financing of a study or for acknowledging a previous linked work.
All randomized trials should also provide a proof of being registered at the International RCT Registry.
MATERIAL FOR PUBLICATION
The material submitted for publication may be in the form of an Original research (Randomized controlled trial - RCT, Meta-analysis of RCT, Quasi experimental study, Case Control study, Cohort study, Observational Study with statistical support, etc.), a Systematic Review Article, Commentary, a Case Report, Recent Advances, New Techniques, Debates, Adverse Drug Reports, Current Practices, Clinical Practice Article, Short Article, An Audit Report, Evidence Based Report, Short Communication or a Letter to the Editor. Ideas and Innovations can be reported as changes made by the authors to an existing technique or development of a new technique or instrument. A mere description of a technique without any practical experience or innovation will be considered as an update and not an original article. Current scenario is a contextual opinion-cum-literature review-based critical write-up which pertains to debatable post graduate education, research or practice with the same format as a commentary. Any study ending three years prior to date of submission is judged by Editorial Board for its suitability as many changes take place over the period of time, subject to area of the study. Studies more than three years old at the time of submission are not entertained. In exceptional cases, if Editorial Board is of the view that data is important, an extension of one year may be granted. JPUMHS does not accept multiple studies/multiple end publications gathered/ derived from a single research project or data (wholly or in part) known as 'salami slices'. KAP (Knowledge, Attitude, Practices) studies are no more accepted. Moreover, JPUMHS is a health science multidisciplinary journal, animal-based studies or research articles conducted on animals, will be considered for processing or publication in the journal after special consideration and review from editorial board.
The journal discourages submission of more than one article dealing with related aspects of the same study.
Non-English language articles are not entertained at JPUMHS. Citing of the same is also discouraged.
ARTICLE CATEGORIES
Original Articles should normally report original research of relevance to clinical medicine. A manuscript will be considered in the original article category if it is a Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT) or an Observational Study. RCT should be registered with International RCT Registry.
Authors should clearly state in the manuscript under separate heading the name of the approval committee, highlighting that legal and ethical approvals were obtained prior to initiation of the research work carried out on subject, and that the experiments were performed in accordance with the relevant guidelines and regulation. Also, it is mandatory to provide the institutional ethical review board/committee approval/exemption for all research articles, at the time of submission of article. Dissertation/ thesis approval letter from relevant authority is also acceptable.
THE ORIGINAL PAPER
should be of about 2000-2500 words excluding abstract and references. It should contain a structured abstract of about 250 words. 03 to 10 keywords should be given for an original article as per MeSH (Medical Subject Headings). There should be no more than three tables or illustrations. The data should be supported with 20 to 25 references, which should include local as well as international references. More than 50% of the references should be from last five years from the date of submission.
CLINICAL PRACTICE ARTICLE
is a category under which all simple observational case series are entertained. A manuscript will be considered in this category if it is a Descriptive Case Series or a Retrospective Study. The length of such article should be around 1500 - 1600 words with 15 - 20 references. The rest of the format should be that of an original article.
EVIDENCE BASED REPORTS
must have at least 10 cases and word count of 1000 - 1200 words with 10 - 12 references and not more than 2 tables or illustrations. It should contain a non-structured abstract of about 150 words
Short Communications should be of about 1000 - 1200 words, having a non-structured abstract of about 150 words with two tables or illustrations and not more than 6 references.
CLINICAL CASE REPORTS
must be of academic and educational value and provide relevance of the disease being reported as unusual. Brief or negative research findings may appear in this section. The word count of case report should be 800 words with a minimum of 3 key words. It should have a non-structured abstract of about 100 - 150 words (case specific) with maximum of 5 - 6 references. Not more than 2 figures and one table shall be accepted.
SYSTEMATIC REVIEW ARTICLE
Should consist of critical overview/ analysis of some relatively narrow topic providing background and the recent development with the reference of original literature. It should incorporate author's original work on the same subject. The length of the review article should be of 2500 to 3000 words. It should have non-structured abstract of 150 words with minimum 3 key words. An author can write a review article only if he/she has written a minimum of three original research articles and some case reports on the same topic.
LETTERS TO EDITOR
Should normally not exceed 400 words, with not more than 5 references and be signed by all the authors-maximum 3 are allowed. Preference is given to those that take up points made in contributions published recently in the journal. Letters may be published with a response from the author of the article being discussed. Discussions beyond the initial letter and response will not be entertained for publication. Letters to the editor may be sent for peer review if they report a scientific data. Editorials are written upon invitation.
Audit Reports, Current Practices, Survey Reports and Short Articles should be written in the format of Clinical Practice Article.
DISSERTATION / THESIS BASED ARTICLE
An article, based on THESIS/DISSERTATION, approved by RESARCH DEPARTMENT OF INSTITUTE, which was submitted as part of the requirement for a postgraduate examination of the institute, can be sent for publication provided the data is not more than three years old. A copy of approval letters of synopsis and THESIS/DISSERTATION obtained from RESEARCH DEPARTMENT must be submitted with the research paper.
THESIS/Dissertation based article should be re-written in accordance with the journal's instructions to the author guidelines.
Article shall undergo routine editorial processing including external peer-review based upon which final decision shall be made for publication. Such articles, if approved, shall be published under the disclosure by author that 'it is a THESIS/Dissertation based article'.
INITIAL ASSESSMENT
Every submitted paper is evaluated by at least two staff editors for archival and statistical analysis if applicable. The papers selected will be sent to two external reviewers. The staff bibliographer also examines and authenticates the references and checks for plagiarism.
Peer Review
After initial assessment, the papers selected are subjected to peer review by external peer reviewers belonging to the subject specialty as identified by the Editor. The journal follows double blind peer-review procedure. An average of two weeks' time is given to reviewers for reviewing the manuscript. A single manuscript is sent to any reviewer at a time. In case of conflict or disputed articles, the matter is discussed with the Chief Editor and finally to a third reviewer as nominated by him. Every reviewer is awarded with honorarium. The editors do not serve as peer reviewers for the journal but the editors reserve the right to edit the accepted article to confirm the house style of the journal.
TEXT ORGANIZATION
Manuscripts except Short Communication and Letter to the Editor should be divided into the following sections.
ABSTRACT
Abstract of an original article should be in structured format with the following subheadings:
- Back ground/introduction 2. Objective. 3. Design. 4. Place of Study 5. Duration of study. 6. Methodology. 7. Results. 8. Conclusion. 9. Key words
Four elements should be addressed:
- Why was the study started?
- What was done?
- What was found?
- What did it mean?
Why was the study started is the objective. What was done constitutes the methodology and should include patients or other participants, interventions, and outcome measures. What were found are the results, and what did it mean constitutes the conclusion. Label each section clearly with the appropriate subheadings. Background/introduction is needed in an abstract. The total word count of abstract should be about 250 words. A minimum of 3 key words as per MeSH (Medical Subject Headings) should be written at the end of abstract.
A non-structured abstract should be written as case specific statement for case reports with a minimum of three key words.
INTRODUCTION
This section should include the purpose of the article after giving brief literature review strictly related to objective of the study. The rationale for the study or observation should be summarized. Only strictly pertinent references should be cited and the subject should not be extensively reviewed. It is preferable not to cite more than 10 references in this segment. Pertinent use of reference to augment support from literature is warranted which means, not more than 2 to 3 references are used for an observation. Data, methodology or conclusion from the work being reported should not be presented in this section. It should end with a statement of the study objective.
METHODOLOGY
Study design and sampling methods should be mentioned. Obsolete terms such as retrospective studies should not be used. The selection of the observational or experimental subjects (patients or experimental animals, including controls) should be described clearly. The methods and the apparatus used should be identified (with the manufacturer's name and address in parentheses), and procedures be described in sufficient detail to allow other workers to reproduce the results. References to established methods should be given, including statistical methods. References and brief descriptions for methods that have been published but are not well-known should be provided; only new or substantially modified methods should be described in detail, giving reasons for using them, and evaluating their limitations. All drugs and chemicals used should be identified precisely, including generic name (s), dose(s), and route(s) of administration.
For statistical analysis, the specific test used should be named, preferably with reference for an uncommon test. Exact p-values and 95% confidence interval (CI) limits must be mentioned instead of only stating greater or less than level of significance. All percentages must be accompanied with actual numbers. SPSS output sheet must be attached with manuscript to clarify results (p-values) if needed or demanded by editorial .
RESULTS
These should be presented in a logical sequence in the text, tables, and illustrations. All the data in the tables or illustrations should not be repeated in the text; only important observations should be emphasized or summarized with due statement of demographic details. No opinion should be given in this part of the text. Statistics should be given in an ascending or descending order.
DISCUSSION
This section should include author's comment on the results, supported with contemporary references, including arguments and analysis of identical work done by other workers. Study limitations should also be mentioned. A summary is not required.
CONCLUSION
Conclusion should be provided under separate heading and highlight new aspects arising from the study. It should be in accordance with the objectives. No recommendations are needed under this heading.
RECOMMENDATION
Mention the further recommendations / suggestions if needed.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
Any conflict of interest should be declared by all authors. This may include grants or honorarium, credits and promotions, memberships or any personal or professional relationships which may appear to influence the manuscript. Such competing interests are not unethical but should be declared.
If there are no conflict of interests, authors should still include this heading and write "none to declare." or "Authors declared no conflict of interest".
DISCLOSURE
Nonmonetary disclosures regarding being part of a thesis or dissertation, a pilot project or an ongoing study should be made explicitly at the time of submission.
FUNDING
Any organization/company or institution who has financially contributed to the study must be acknowledged.
PATIENT CONSENT
If applicable authors must state that the consent of the patient/guardian was taken prior to the writing of the manuscript.
REFERENCES
References must be listed in the Vancouver Style only. All references should be numbered sequentially as superscripted in the text and listed in the same numerical order in the reference section.
See below few examples of references listed in the Vancouver Style.
Journal Reference:
AA Jamali, GM Jamali, Y Tanwani, AA Jamali, MA Suhail, NM Jamali et al. Malaria: Gender Difference in Patients Suffering From Acute Malaria. Indo American Journal Of Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2018; 5 (6), 5425-34.
Book Reference:
Katzung BG. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Basic and clinical pharmacology. ed. 10th, San Francisco: McGraw Hill; 2006.
Book Chapter Reference:
Lal G, Clark OH. Thyroid, parathyroid, and adrenal. In: Brunicardi FC, Andersen DK, Billiar TR, Dunn DL, Hunter JG, Matthews JB, Eds. Schwartz's Principles of Surgery. ed.10th, New York; Mc-Graw Hill; 2015: p.1521-96.
URL (WebPage):
Iridogoniodysgenesis, Type 1. University of Arizona College of Medicine, Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Science.
http://disorders.eyes.arizona.edu/disorders/iridogoniodysgene sis-type-1.(Accessed on 3/22/2016)
E-citations:
Citations for articles/material published exclusively online or in open access (free-to-view), must contain the accurate Web addresses (URLs) at the end of the reference(s), except those posted on an author's Web site (unless editorially essential), e.g. 'Reference: Available from URL'.
Echocardiographic features of dilated cardiomyopathy [Internet]. Available from: https://123sonography.com/node/ 983 [cited 27 November 2016].
Some important points to remember:
All references must be complete and accurate.
" List all authors if the total number of authors is six or less and for more than six authors use et al. after six (the term "et al." should be in italics).
" Date of access should be provided for online citations.
" Journal names should be abbreviated according to the Index Medicus/MEDLINE.
" Punctuation should be properly applied as mentioned in the examples given above.
" Self-citation should be avoided.
" The author must verify the references against the original documents before submitting the article.
" The Editorial Board may ask authors to submit either soft or hard copy (full length) of all the articles cited in the reference part of the manuscript and data sheet/proforma/annexure.
Tables and Illustrations
Legends to illustrations should be typed on the same sheet. Tables should be simple, and should supplement rather than duplicate information in the text; tables repeating information will be omitted. Each table should have a title and be typed in double space without horizontal and vertical lines. Tables should be numbered consecutively with Roman numerals in the order they are mentioned in the text. Page number should be in the upper right corner. If abbreviations are used, they should be explained in footnotes. When Graphs scatter grams, or histograms are submitted, the numerical data on which they are based should be supplied. All graphs should be made with MS Excel and other Windows/Macintosh compatible software such as SAS and be sent as a separate Excel file, even if merged in the manuscript.
S.I. Units
System International (S.I.) Unit measurement should be used. Imperial measurement units like inches, feet, etc. are not acceptable.
Figures and Photographs
Photographs, X-rays, CT scans, MRI and photomicro-graphs should be sent in digital format with a minimum resolution of 3.2 mega pixels in JPEG/TIFF compression. Photographs must be sharply focused. Most photographs taken with a mobile phone camera do not fulfill the necessary requirements and, therefore, not acceptable for printing. The background of photographs must be neutral and preferably white. The photographs submitted must be those originally taken as such by a camera without manipulating them digitally. Scanned photographs must have 300 or more dpi resolution. These figures and photographs must be cited in the text in consecutive order. Legends for photomicrographs should indicate the magnification, internal scale and the method of staining. If photographs of patients are used, either they should not be identifiable or the photographs should be accompanied by written permission to use them.
Language Requirements
Authors are advised to write manuscripts in British English style, in past tense and third person indirect form of narration. Manuscripts containing language inconsistencies will not be published. Authors should seek professional assistance for correction of grammatical, scientific and typographical errors before submission of the revised version of the article for publication.
Abbreviations
Except for units of measurement, the first time an abbreviation appears, it should be preceded by the words for which it stands.
Drug Name
Generic names should be used. When proprietary brands are used in research, include the brand name and the name of the manufacturer in parentheses after first mentioning of the generic name in the Methods section
Reprints
Corresponding authors of the published papers are entitled to receive one complimentary copy of the printed issue in which his/her paper is published.
Plagiarism Policy
JPUMHS follows the ICMJE, PMDC/PMC and HEC guidelines/criteria for all types of plagiarism. The same can be accessed at
www.pmdc / https://www.pmc.gov.pk/
All the submitted manuscripts are subjected to plagiarism checking through the software Turnitin (courtesy HEC). Manuscripts with similarity index more than 17% are not processed further unless rectified. It is the authors' responsibility to apprise them of plagiarism in any form including paraphrasing and self-plagiarism. Manuscripts submitted to JPUMHS can be sent to HEC, other medical journals' editors and international agencies for authentication of originality. The disciplinary committee of JPUMHS would deal with cases of plagiarism and comprise of the staff, editors and the Chief Editor or his representative.
For a plagiarized article (multiple submissions) in processing, the identification of act will lead to dropping of article from further processing / consideration of publication. The corresponding author will be required to give an explanation on demand. In case of an unsatisfactory reply, the matter will be referred to the disciplinary committee that may decide the course of action. For published articles, the allegedly plagiarized article will be temporarily retracted from publication and a notice to the effect will be published in the JPUMHS. The author will be served an explanation demand. In case of non-response in the stipulated time or unsatisfactory explanation, the article will be permanently retracted and the author will be blacklisted. HEC, PMDC /PMC and author's institute will also be notified. In case of multiple submissions, other editors will also be informed. The author(s) will have to provide documentary proof of retraction from publication, if such a defense is pleaded. Those claiming intellectual / idea or data theft of an article must provide documentary proof in their claim.
PUBLICATION MISCONDUCT
All publication misconducts are dealt by first asking the corresponding author an explanation in view of the available evidence. In case of non -response or unsatisfactory response from the authors, the manuscript is dropped from consideration if unpublished and retracted if published. Due notice of retraction will be given in print and on the website. The authors will be blacklisted for further submissions and considerations at the journal. The authors' institutional Head will also be informed of the action in such a case. The other Editorial Associations may also be informed.
Plagiarism and other Publication Misconduct, Fabrication (Picture As Well), Falsification, Salami Slice, Duplicate Submission, Redundant Publication, Multiple Submission, Selective and Misleading Reporting, Selective And Misleading Referencing are liable to strict action.
PERMISSION FOR RE-PUBLICATION
If tables, illustrations or photographs, which have already been published, are included, a letter of permission for re-publication should be obtained from author (s) as well as the editor of the journal where it was previously published. Written permission to reproduce photographs of patients, whose identity is not disguised, should be sent with the manuscript; otherwise the eyes will be blackened out. If a medicine is used, generic name should be used. The commercial name may, however, be mentioned only within brackets, only if necessary. In case of medicine or device or any material indicated in text, a declaration by author/s should be submitted that no monetary benefit has been taken from manufacturer/importer of that product by any author. In case of experimental interventions, permission from ethical committee of the hospital should be taken beforehand. Any other conflict of interest must be disclosed.
All interventional studies submitted for publication should carry Institutional Ethical & Research Committee approval letter.
Ethical consideration regarding the intervention, added cost of test, and particularly the management of control in case-control comparisons of trials should be addressed: multi-centric authors' affiliation will be asked to be authenticated by provision of permission letters from ethical boards or the heads of involved institutes.
Policy of Selection of Editors, Reviewers, other Editorial Board Members
Human Resource policies in relation to selection of Editors, Reviewers, other Editorial Board members and their job descriptions are based upon vision and mission of PUMHSW. Decisions are taken by Academic Council which is an established body of different faculties.
PROCESSING CHARGES
The article processing/publishing fees will be charged from author after the acceptance for publication.
The fees will be amended as per international/national up and downs in dollar prices.
