Submissions

Author Guidelines

Introduction
The Journal of Institute of Medicine Nepal (JIOM NEPAL), previously JIOM, is a multispecialty journal carrying the aspirations of all those affiliated with the Institute of Medicine (IOM), Tribhuvan University, Nepal. It is a scientific medical journal publishing papers in English on health and medical issues. It was established in 1979 and the first Chief Editor was Prof Gopal Acharya. The first electronic version was published in 1998. The online version of the journal is available at http://www.jiom.com.np/home.htm.

Scope of the Journal
As IOM has numerous campuses, institutes and colleges affiliated with  it and runs a wide array of programs, it is rich in diverse academic activities, including research. The main objective of the JIOM NEPAL is to serve as a portal documenting research activities. JIOM NEPAL encourages scientific paper writing and dissemination of this information. We strongly believe that high-quality medical research is necessary to improve health and healthcare services in Nepal, and has strong implications for individuals and communities. In this regard, JIOM NEPAL aims to be a central source for medical and scientific information and knowledge that will be dispersed to the wider community. The journal accepts relevant scientific articles from all faculty and students of the IOM and its affiliated institutions, along with any other individuals/institutions, if the subject matter is scientifically sound and applicable. Scientific articles related to all  disciplines of medicine, public health or health care management and those articles having impact on health in any form are accepted for potential publication.

Editorial Policy
Original articles, review articles, case reports, and letters to the editor relevant to our context are welcome.

• The articles will be accepted for publication only after clear indication by the author that the manuscript has not been submitted elsewhere for publication.
• Data and references in an article are the sole responsibility of the author and any attempt to falsify them will be taken as an offence.
• All contributions are judged by the criteria of originality and scientific content.
• The manuscripts are subjected to peer reviews.
• The editors reserve the right of refusing to pub­lish articles that have been submitted.
• The opinions expressed in the articles are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher or the editorial board.

Manuscript Submission
It is assumed that by submitting the article to the journal, the author has not previously published this manuscript in any other journal in the past and also has not been submitted simultaneously to other journals. All  moral responsibility of such acts lies with the primary and corresponding author(s). Such acts are regarded as an offence. If the author wishes to withdraw a manuscript at any time, a written letter signed by all authors, addressed to the ‘Editor- in-Chief’ should be submitted to the ‘Editorial Office’.

Manuscripts must be written in clear, concise English conforming to the format of  JIOM NEPAL and submitted to the ‘Editorial Office’ on the manuscript submission portal of our website. The manuscript should also include a cover letter and declaration letter duly signed by all authors along with the letter showing proof of institutional review committee (IRC) approval. Corresponding author should clearly mention his/her contact information including mailing address, email address and phone number.

Editorial Process
All manuscripts received are duly acknowledged. The manuscript will be submitted for peer review after the initial editorial review for content and basic format. Manuscripts lacking originality, having serious scientific and/or technical flaws, and with little or no novelty may be rejected without peer review. The approximate time for peer review is two to three months. Reviewers are selected by the editors and are blinded to information regarding authors and working institution. Authors are informed regarding reviewers’ comments and advised for revisions to the article accordingly. Undue delay in response may require resubmission.

Articles accepted  for publication will be copy edited and proofread. Page proofs will be sent to the corresponding author, to be approved and returned within three days. No response to proof copy may result into delayed or no publication.

The Editorial board reserves the final right to accept or refuse the manuscript for publication.

Copyright policy
Copyright of the articles in JIOM Nepal is transferred to the journal.

Articles are published under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0) which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is given appropriate credit, but not for commercial purposes.

Publication and Access
JIOM NEPAL is published three times a year in April, August and December. Print subscriptions are available from the Editorial Office. JIOM NEPAL grants permission to read, download, copy and distribute articles published for free, provided this is done  for non-commercial scholarly use only, without any modifications. Authors are not charged for submission, processing or publication of articles. Authors are entitled to a free copy of the journal in which their article is published, which will remain available for collection from the editorial office for up to two months following publication. Additional copies will be available for purchase and are subject to availability.

Correspondence regarding subscription should be addressed to the Editorial Office of IOM.

Authorship Criteria
An “author” is generally considered someone who has made substantial intellectual contributions to a published study. An author must take responsibility for at least one component of the work, should be able to identify who is responsible for each component, and should ideally be confident in their co-authors’ ability and integrity.  We endorse the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICJME) criteria for authorship.

Manuscript Preparation
Manuscripts must be prepared in accordance with, “Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals – updated 2018.” previously known as, “Uniform requirements for Manuscripts submitted to Biomedical Journals” developed by the ICJME.

Title page
Title page of the manuscript should contain:

1. Type of manuscript (Original articles, Reviews and Case reports).
2. Title of the article.
3. Running title of the article, maximum 40 characters, including spaces, indicating major features of the article.
4. The name(s) of the author(s): family name(s) followed by first name(s).
5. The name(s) of the department(s) or institution(s) affiliated to the author(s). The affiliation should comprise the department, institution, city and nation from which the work originated.
6. The name and full mailing address (including telephone, fax numbers and e-mail address) of the “Corresponding Author”.
7. Total number of pages, photographs and word counts separately for abstract and for the text (excluding references).
8. Sources of financial support in the form of grants, equipment, drugs, etc. if any.
9. Acknowledgements.

Conflict of Interest
Any conflict of interest should be included on a separate page or on pages immediately following the title page. JIOM NEPAL reserves the right to send information on conflict of interest to reviewers. Manuscripts of any type that discuss a particular instrument, equipment, device, drugs, or methodology must contain a statement indicating whether any author has a financial interest in the subject under discussion. Any sources of financial support should be listed along with the name(s) of the grantor(s).

Types of Manuscripts and Word Limits
In each issue, we publish articles under the following types/sections:

• Original Articles: Up to 2500 words excluding references (up to 30) and abstract (up to 250 words).
• Review articles: Systematic critical assessments of literature and data sources. Up to 3000 words excluding references and abstract (250 words).
• Case Reports: New/interesting/very rare cases with some clinical significance or implications. Up to 1000 words excluding references (up to 10) abstract (up to 100 words), and up to three photographs.

• Letter to the Editor: Should be brief and evidence-based. Preliminary observations requiring further validation are not considered. Up to 400 words and 5 references.

Limits for Number of Images and Tables
For all the above-mentioned categories, the number of images and tables should not be more than one per 500 words unless otherwise specified.

Abstract
This should be not more than 250 words on the second page of the manuscript and be presented in a structured format under the headings introduction, methods, results and conclusions.

The abstract should provide the context or background for the study and should state the a) study purpose b) basic procedures (selection of study subjects or laboratory animals, observational and analytical methods) c) main findings (giving specific effect sizes and their statistical significance, if possible), and d)conclusions. It should emphasize new and important aspects of the study or observations.

Three to  five keywords or short phrases that capture the main topics of the article should be provided for cross-indexing. The keywords should be arranged in the alphabetical order being separated by commas and a space with the first keyword initially capitalized.

Introduction
The introduction should provide a background for the study (i.e., the nature of the problem and its significance). State the specific purpose or research objective of, or hypothesis tested by, the study or observation. The research objective should be sharply focused when stated as a question. Both the main and secondary objectives should be made clear, and any pre-specified subgroup analyses should be described.

Methods
The method section should contain: a) Study design b) Duration of study c) Place of study d) Ethical approval e) Patient consent e) Inclusion and exclusion criteria f) Sampling technique g) Statistical analyses and h) Software used.

The Methods section should include only information that was available at the time the protocol for the study was written.

Technical information: Identify the methods, apparatus (give the manufacturer’s name and address in parentheses), and procedures in sufficient detail to allow other workers to reproduce the results. Give references to established methods, including statistical methods (see below); 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 synthesizing data. These methods should also be summarized in the abstract.

Ethical Issues
When reporting research on humans, the authors must include an assurance that the work was approved by a medical ethics committee and that the subjects had given their informed consent to participate in the research.

When reporting experiments on animals, indicate whether the institutions or a national research council’s guide for, or any national law on the care and use of laboratory animals were followed.

Evidence for approval by a local ethics committee (for both human as well as animal studies) must be submitted along with the cover letter by the authors. Animal experimental procedures should be as humane as possible and the details of the anesthetics and analgesics used should be clearly stated. The ethical standards of experiments must be in accordance with the guidelines provided by the ‘Committee for the purpose of control and supervision on experiments on animals (CPCSEA). (available at envfor.nic.in/divisions/awd/cpcsea_laboratory.pdf -)

Statistics: Statistical methods should be described with enough detail to enable a knowledgeable reader with access to the original data to verify the reported results. When possible, quantify findings and present them with appropriate indicators of measurement error or uncertainty (such as confidence interval). Define statistical terms, abbreviations, and symbols. Specify the computer software used.

Results
Present your results in logical sequence in the text, tables, and illustrations, giving the main or most important findings first. Extra or supplementary materials and technical detail can be placed in an appendix where it will be accessible but will not interrupt the flow of the text; alternatively, it can be published only in the electronic version of the journal.

When data are summarized in the Results section, give numeric results not only as derivatives (for example, percent) but also as the absolute numbers from which the derivatives were calculated, and specify the statistical methods used to analyze them. Restrict tables and figures to those needed to explain the argument of the paper and to assess its support. Use graphs as an alternative to tables with many entries; do not duplicate data in graphs and tables.

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 materials given in the Introduction or the Results section. For experimental studies, it is useful to begin the discussion by summarizing briefly the main findings, then explore possible mechanisms or explanations for these findings, comparing and contrasting the results with other relevant studies. State the limitations of the study, and explore the implications of the findings for future research and for clinical practice.

Conclusions
Link the conclusions with the goals of the study, but avoid unqualified statements and conclusions not adequately supported by the data. It should be short and to the point rather than a summary of the article. In particular, authors should avoid making statements on economic benefits and costs unless their manuscript includes the appropriate 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.

References
References should be typed in a separate section at the end of the manuscript and numbered consecutively in the order in which they are cited in the text. Published articles and those in press (state the journal which has accepted them and enclose a copy of manuscript) may be included. Cite in the text by the appropriate Arabic numbers in superscript. Include the last names and initials of all authors [multiple authors: list up to the first 6 authors followed by et al.], title of article, name of publications, year published, volume number, issue number and inclusive pages. The style and punctuation of the references should conform to the following examples (i.e., Vancouver Style).

Journal article: Coppell AL, Davenport AP. In vitro enzymatic processing of radiolabelled big ET-1 in human kidney as a food ingredient. Biochem Pharmacol. 1998 Mar 1;55(5):697-701.

Abstract: Schiffer LM, Braunschweiger FG: Glioblastoma cell kinetics and effects of in vitro hyperthermia. Proc AM Assoc Cancer Res 20:300, 1979 (Abstract)

Letter: Drake CG: Report of World Federation of Neurological Surgeons Committee on a universal subarachnoid hemorrhage grading scale. J Neurosurg 68:985-986, 1988 (Letter)

Foreign Language Journal: Loiseau H, Castel JP, Stoiber HP: Clinical, neuroradiologic and developmental aspects of idiopathic benign subarachnoid hemorrhage (subarachnoid hemorrhage of unknown cause). Retrospective study of 65 cases. Neurochirurgie 35:222-228, 1989 (French)

Authored Book: Jefferson G: The invasive Adenomas of the Anterior Pituitary. Springfield, III: Charles C Thomas, 1995, pp 56-60

Article or Chapter in an Edited Book: Sharma M, Marsh: Challenges in global neurosurgery, in Ellenbogen (ed): Principles of Neurological Surgery. New York: Elsevier, 2018, pp 08-14

Entire Edited Book: Singh YP (ed): Breast cancer: Diagnosis and treatment. Kathmandu, XYZ publishers 1999

Web Site Article: Author or Organization name: Title of article. (http://www.url) [Accessed  02 January, 2019]

Tables
Tables should be numbered (with Arabic numerals) and each table should be typed on a separate page. Tables should be self-explanatory and include a brief, descriptive title. Footnotes to tables, indicated by lower case letters are accepted, but they should not include extensive  detail.

Make sure  each table is cited in the text. If you use data from another published or unpublished source, obtain permission and acknowledge them fully.

Figures
All figures should be of the highest possible quality, free of defects, and not significantly altered. Apply letters and arrows directly to the figure. Electron micrographs must contain measurement bars to indicate their magnification. Photomicrographs must have internal scale markers and be accompanied by their original magnification and type of staining method used. Symbols, arrows, or letters used in photomicrographs should contrast with the background. Figures should be numbered consecutively according to the order in which they have been first cited in the text. If an already published figure has been used, acknowledge the original source and submit written permission from the copyright holder to reproduce the material. Permission is required irrespective of authorship or publisher except for documents in the public domain. 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. Photomicrographs should have internal scale markers.

Please provide a legend for each figure on a separate page  titled figure legends.

Abbreviations and Symbols
Use only standard abbreviations. Avoid abbreviations in the title. The full term for which an abbreviation stands should precede its first use in the text unless it is a standard unit of measurement. Do not use abbreviations like @, & in the text.

Disclaimer
Every effort is made by the Editorial Board to avoid inaccurate or misleading information appearing in JIOM NEPAL. However, the statements and opinions expressed in JIOM NEPAL are those of the authors, and do not necessarily represent the views of the editors. Unless otherwise specified, the editors and publisher disclaim any responsibility or liability for such material.