Instruction for authors 

Research in Medicine

  The Quarterly Journal of School of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences

"Research in Medicine" is the official scientific quarterly publication of the School of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences. "Research in Medicine" is an open access and peer-reviewed multidisciplinary journal that publishes editorials, original articles, short communications, review articles, commentaries, case reports and letter to the editor in the different fields of basic and clinical medicine including:

Basic medical sciences:

Anatomical Sciences, Biochemistry, Genetics, Immunology, Microbiology, Pathology, Pharmacology, Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Physiology

Internal medicine:

Allergy/Immunology, Cardiology, Critical care medicine, Endocrinology, Gastroenterology

Geriatric medicine, Hematology/Oncology, Infectious diseases, Nuclear medicine, Nephrology, Pulmonology, Rheumatology, Sleep medicine, Sports medicine.

Surgery:

general surgery, ophthalmic surgery, cardiovascular surgery, colorectal surgery, neurosurgery, oral and maxillofacial surgery, oncologic surgery, orthopedic surgery, plastic surgery, transplant surgery, trauma surgery, urology, vascular surgery, and pediatric surgery

Manuscript Submission

Submission of an article implies that the work described has not been published previously (except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture or academic thesis or as an electronic preprint), that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere; that contains nothing that is abusive, defamatory, libelous, obscene, fraudulent, or illegal; that its publication has been approved by all co-authors, if any, as well as by the responsible authorities – tacitly or explicitly – at the institute where the work has been carried out, and if accepted, it will not be published elsewhere in the same form, in English or in any other language, including electronically without the written consent of the copyright-holder. To verify originality, your article may be checked by the originality detection service. The publisher will not be held legally responsible should there be any claims for compensation.

 Online Submission

This Journal accepts only manuscripts through the online submission system. It is easy to use and easy to track, thus by conducting all steps electronically, your submission will be expedient. Contributors can submit via our website. Once you submit an article, it will be forwarded to one of the editors and afterwards to at least two peer-reviewers. The author will be notified of the submission process by means of E-mail. Please note that Research in Medicine screen manuscripts for unoriginal material. By submitting your manuscript to Research in Medicine you are agreeing to any necessary originality checks your manuscript may have to undergo during the peer-review and production processes.

 Submission checklist

The following list will be useful during the final checking of an article prior to sending it to the journal for review. Please consult this Guide for Authors for further details of any item.

Ensure that the following items are present:

  One author has been designated as the corresponding author with contact details:

• E-mail address

• Full postal address

 All necessary files have been uploaded, and contain: 

• Cover letter 
• Abstract 
• Keywords 
• Main manuscripts (including figures and tables) 
• Supplementary file (if there is any file)

 Further considerations

• Manuscript has been 'spell-checked' and 'grammar-checked'

• All references mentioned in the Reference list are cited in the text, and vice versa

• Permission has been obtained for use of copyrighted material from other sources (including the Internet)

 Type of Articles

This Journal publishes research articles, review articles, meta-analyses, invited review articles, case reports, and letters to the editor.

•  Original Research articles

The main part of each issue of the Research in Medicine is devoted to original research papers that should describe significant and original observations that can be critically evaluated and if necessary, repeated. They should be arranged as follows: Title page, Abstract, Introduction, Materials and methods, Results, Discussion, Acknowledgement, References, Tables, Figure legends and Figures.

•  Preliminary Studies/Case Reports

Case reports will be considered only if they represent a significant advance in diagnostic methods, therapy, and prognosis or highlight substantial scientific advances in understanding the mechanism(s) of the disease process. They should be prefaced by a brief introduction, highlighting the main message, and their discussion should be confined to unusual aspects, not a major review of the literature. They should be arranged on follows: Title page, Introduction, Case Report, Discussion, References, and comprising up to four printed pages including all references and display items; appropriate statistical analyses should be included.

•  Short communication (reports)

These are short manuscripts that have important and generally conclusionary data on a specific issue. They should contain up to 4000 words and should contain a structured abstract of 200 words maximum. Short reports should comprise sections of Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results and Discussion with not more than 2 tables or figures and up to 20 references. 

•  Letters to the Editor

Letters to the editor will be considered if they give significant comments on recent articles published in Research in Medicine or they contain relevant preliminary data providing new insights. Letters need no abstract and must cite the previous article in this Journal that is being discussed, and should have maximum length 400 words, one table or figure and a maximum of 10 references.

•  Review articles

Anyone wishing to write a review for the journal should first contact the editors. Review articles, solicited and unsolicited, are actively encouraged and should be composed of systematic, critical assessments of literature and data sources pertaining to diagnostic topics. All articles and data sources reviewed should include information about the specific type of study or analysis.

 Manuscript Preparation

Manuscripts should be in Microsoft Word (2007 up to newer versions) in English and should be prepared in the style of the journal and in accordance with the uniform Requirement for Manuscript Submitted to Biomedical Journals proclaimed by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), a copy of which can be found at www.icmje.org.

The manuscript should be typed double -spaced, using the font Times New Roman size 12 for the body, size 12 bold and Italic for subheadings, size 12 bold for headings and size 14 bold for the title. All components of the manuscript must appear within a single electronic file and all pages should be numbered in the bottom right hand corner starting with the title page. Manuscripts not conforming to journal style will be returned to the authors.

 Title Page

The title page should include (state):

• A concise and informative title: Capitalize the initial of each word except prepositions with less than three letters.

• The name(s) of the author(s): Full name of all authors should be mentioned.

• The affiliation(s) and address (es) of the author(s): Author’s affiliation containing: Department (or research center), University, City, and Country.

• The number of text pages; tables; figures

• A short running head (50 characters or less)

• Corresponding author(s): Address, telephone, fax number, and E-mail should be written.

Clearly indicate who will handle correspondence at all stages of refereeing and publication, also post-publication. Ensure that the E-mail address is given and that contact details are kept up to date by the corresponding author.

Abstract and Keywords

Each paper must begin with an abstract that summarizes the results obtained and the conclusions drawn. It should not exceed 250 words. Abstract should be structured as below:

Background, Objectives, Materials/Patients and Methods, Results and Conclusions.

A list of 3-8 keywords is to be provided directly below the abstract. Keywords should express the precise content of the manuscript, as they are used for indexing purposes.

Framework of a research article

Divide your article into clearly defined sections. Article body generally includes Introduction Materials/Patients and Methods, Results, Discussion and References.

•  Introduction

Introduction should explain the purpose of the study and provides the specific reasons for undertaking the investigation, and the logical reason to conduct and write the article and the research question or the hypothesis is described in detail. The size of the introduction should be curtailed in comparison to the discussion. . Exhaustive reviews of the literature should be avoided and no attempt should be made to indicate the results obtained. The reference numbers should appear in text consecutively.

•  Materials/Patients and Methods

Procedures used should be given in sufficient detail to permit the repetition of the work by others. However, published procedures should be briefly summarized and only described in detail if they have been substantially modified. If an apparatus is used, its manufacturer’s name and address should be given in parentheses. If a drug is used, its generic name, dose and route of administration must be given. Statistical method must be mentioned and specify any general computer program used.

•  Results

Findings that include multiple informational points must be presented in the form of text, tables and graphs. In this section the findings should be described without discussion of their significance and should be concise and clear and explain to the reader an abstract from tables and figures. The contents of the tables should not be all repeated in the text. Instead, a reference to the table number may be given. Subsections should be used to clarify the expression of the results. When there are few findings or a simple result, instead of tables and figures, the text itself should appear in the context.

•  Discussion

This should emphasize the present findings and their differences or similarities with other work done in the field by other researcher. Results should be compatible with the objectives of the study. Emphasize the new and important aspects and hypotheses of the study, the conclusions and the suggestions.  Data or other instances presented at the introduction or results should not be repeated in detail in this section.

•  Acknowledgments

All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be covered in the acknowledgment section. Acknowledgements include information on grants received and expression of appreciation to all who have helped the researcher in material and spiritual forms (technical, writing, etc…).

•  References

The authors are responsible for the accuracy of the bibliographic information. References should be numbered consecutively as they appear in the text. Unpublished results and personal communications are not recommended in the reference list, but may be mentioned in the text. If these references are included in the reference list, they should follow the standard reference style of the journal and should include a substitution of the publication date with either 'Unpublished results' or 'Personal communication'. Citation of a reference as 'in press' implies that the item has been accepted for publication. References should be formatted in “Vancouver” style. Listed below, are sample references to a journal article, and a book respectively, in the correct format (In the case of seven or more authors, the names of the first six authors should be listed followed by et al.).

Examples:

Reference to a journal publication:

1.Parkin DM, Clayton D, Black RJ, Masuyer E, Friedl HP, Ivanov E, et al. Childhood Leukemia in Europe after Chrnobyl: 5 Year Follow- up. Br J Cancer 1996; 73(8): 1006-12.

Reference to a book:

1. Fauci AS, Braunwald E, Isselbacher KJ, Wilson JD. Martin JB. Kasper DL, et al., editors. Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine. 14^th ed. New York: McGraw Hill, Health Professions Division; 19988.

Reference to a chapter in an edited book:

1. Philips SJ. Whisnant JP. Hypertension and Stroke. In: Laragh JH, Brenner BM, editors. Hypertension: Pathophysiology, Ddiagnosis, and Mmanagement. 2^nd ed. New York: Raven Press; 1995. p.465-788.

Reference to a website:

Cancer Research UK, Cancer statistics reports for the UK. http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/ aboutcancer/statistics/cancerstatsreport/, 2003 (accessed 13.03.03).

•  Tables

Tables should be self-explanatory, clearly arranged and supplemental to the text. Tables should provide easier understanding and not duplicate information already included in the text or figures. Tables should submit as editable text and not as images. The title of the table should appear above it. A detailed description of its contents and footnotes should be given below the body of the table. They have a short title, and its column should have a heading. Tables should be numbered in the order in which they are cited in the text and also must be included at the end of the manuscript. Tables in the word file should be prepared as separate file separated by page break (each table on a separate page). Each table should have borders with normal style.

•  Figures

Figures should be utilized only if they augment understandability of the text. The captions should comprise a brief title and a description and should be placed below. All figures must be numbered in the order in which they appear in the manuscript (e.g. Figure 1, Figure 2). In multi-part figures, each part should be labelled (e.g. Figure 1(A), Figure 1(B)). Figures and captions must be included at the end of the manuscript and also submitted as separate files in the form of TIFF (.tif), JPEG (.jpg), PNG (.png). Keep text in the illustrations themselves to a minimum but explain all symbols and abbreviations used. Authors should declare in the cover letter that all figures of their manuscripts are original. Resolution should be 300 dpi for a 3*2 inch figure.

•  Nomenclature, Units and abbreviations

Internationally accepted units (International System of Units), symbols, and abbreviations must be used. Standard abbreviations may be used without definition. Non-standard abbreviations must be spelled out the first time they are used, followed by the abbreviated form in parentheses.

Drug names should be the official or approved names; trade names or common names may be given in brackets where the drug is first mentioned. The manufacturer's name and address must be given. The doses of the drugs should be given as unit weight/unit body weight, e.g. mmol/kg or mg/kg. Concentrations should be given in terms of molarity (eg. nM or µM), or as unit weight/unit volume solution (eg. mg/l) stating whether the weight refers to the salt or the active component of the drug. The molecular weight, inclusive of water of crystallization, should be stated if doses are given as unit weight.

 Cover Letter

This letter should be uploaded online as a word file. The author should state that the manuscript has not been and will not be published or submitted elsewhere. The financial disclosure should be declared. The letter must include a statement declaring that the study complies with current ethical considerations. Authors reporting experimental studies on human subjects must include a statement of assurance in the Materials and Methods section of the manuscript reading that: (1) informed consent was obtained from each patient included in the study and (2) the study protocol conforms to the ethical guidelines of the 1975 Declaration of Helsinki.

 Conflicts of interest

Authors should disclose, at the time of submission, information on financial conflicts of interest or other interests that may influence the manuscript. Authors should declare sources of funding for the work undertaken. The authors are responsible for the whole scientific content as well as the accuracy of the bibliographic information.

 Policy and ethics

Upon acceptance for publication of an article in Research in Medicine, the author tacitly agrees to make available any materials used in the published experiments, or novel or natural products disclosed in the article that are not commercially available, so that qualified investigators may confirm the observations.

All manuscripts reporting the results of experimental investigations involving human subjects should include a statement confirming the informed consent was obtained from each subject or subject’s guardian. All animal or human studies should be used after approval of the experimental protocol by a local ethics committee.

 Peer Review Process

All submitted manuscripts are subject to peer review and editorial approval. Articles will be sent to at least 2 reviewers. Authors are encouraged to suggest names of three expert reviewers, but selection remains a prerogative of the Editor. Authors have the right to communicate to the editor if they do not wish their manuscript to be reviewed by a particular reviewer because of potential conflicts of interest. Authors are usually notified within 2 months about the acceptability of their manuscript. Once receiving reviewers comments, authors are requested to send the revised article, and a copy of their reply to the reviewers, including the comment and explaining the replies to questions and changes made to the revised version within two weeks. No article is rejected unless negative comments are received from at least two reviewers.

 Proofs

Proofs will be sent to the corresponding author. Galley proofs should be returned within 72 hours from receipt.

 Submission fee

There is no submission fee and page charges for publication in Research in Medicine. Accepted manuscripts become the permanent property of Research in Medicine and may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, without the written permission of the editor.

 Supplemental online material

Authors are encouraged to submit animations, movie files, sound files or any additional information for online publication.

 Reproduction of copyright material

If the authors wish to include any material in their manuscript in which they do not hold copyright, they must obtain written permission from the copyright owner, prior to submission. Such material may be in the form of text, data, table, illustration, photograph, line drawing, audio clip, video clip, film still, and screenshot, and any supplemental material you propose to include.

 Copyright

This Journal is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License