Submissions

Author Guidelines

Introduction
Orthodontic journal of Nepal (OJN)  is a yearly, peer-reviewed, open-access, international Dental journal [ISSN  (2091-1327 Print) and  (2091-1335 Online)]. OJN  is an official journal of Orthodontic and Dentofacial Orthopedic Association of Nepal (ODOAN).

Types of articles
In each issue, we publish articles under certain types/sections. The types of articles we publish are as follows:

• Original research/studies
• Case notes
• Review articles
• Techno bytes
• Clinical Innovation
• Interviews
• Letters to the editor
• Book Reviews

Beside the regular types of articles we also sometimes publish articles under Proceedings/ Declaration of Conferences/Congress, Updates,Supplements, etc.

Authorship criteria
To qualify for authorship, the author must have contributed substantially to the intellectual content of the manuscript such as: concept design, data collection,analysis and interpretation of data, manuscript drafting, statistical analysis and supervision.

Manuscript processing
Manuscripts are processed as per standard procedure mentioned in OJN policy for manuscript processing.

Manuscript submission
Authors must submit manuscripts via the Online portal .

Language and grammar
The language of the manuscript must be United Kingdom (UK) English and proof-read at least once before submission. It must be sent in Microsoft Word format (.doc or .docx).

Images (photographs, drawings)
If images (photographs/ line drawings) are to be included, clearly scanned images free from technical artefacts should be submitted. Magnifications, areas of key interest should be indicated by an arrow, symbol or abbreviation the details of which should be explained at the bottom of the figures. The scanning resolution should be 300 dpi (dots per inch). Captions for each image must be provided in the last page of the manuscript. Please make sure each figure is cited in order within the text, e.g. (Fig 2).

Image file format: jpeg, tiff
Resolution: 300 dpi (dots per inch)

Tables
Tables should be as few as possible and should present only essential data. Each must be typed on a separate page with a title or caption and clearly numbered. Please make sure each table is cited within the text, e.g. (Table 3).

Permissions
Borrowed and previously published material should be acknowledged in the captions in this style: ‘Reproduced by kind permission of . . . (publishers) . . . from . . .(reference).’ It is the responsibility of the author to obtain all such permissions from the original publishers and authors, and to submit them with the manuscript.

Writing style
In order to make the journal uniform and standard we request that all matters submitted for publication should follow “Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals” as published by International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) www.icmje.org

Units and abbreviations
Avoid abbreviations in the title and abstract. All unusual abbreviations should be fully explained at their first occurrence in the text. All measurements should be expressed in SI units.

Drug names
Generic drug names should be used.

Contractions
Author should not write in contraction. For example, can’t, don’t, &, and so on. Only proper use of language serves the purpose of effective communication.

References
Authors are strictly instructed to follow Vancouver system for citing scientific literature.

Authors can get a comprehensive explanation of the system with
practical examples in the following link: http://www.lib.monash.edu.au/tutorials/citing/vancouver.html

Guidelines on individual article types

Original research articles
We publish all types of research articles, i.e. descriptive, analytical, and experimental. The original research articles should have following headings in its manuscript:

• Title
• Abstract
• Introduction
• Material and methods
• Results
• Discussion
• Conclusion
• Limitations
• Acknowledgements
• References

Title page
Your title page, numbered as 1, should give the title in bold letters and the authors’ names (as they are to appear and as in the declaration form), affiliations and complete addresses, including postal (zip) codes. Indicate the corresponding author clearly. An e-mail address, an easily reachable phone number and a full postal address are required for the corresponding author.

Title

• The simpler the title the better.
• Consider the target readership.
• Be brief—short titles are clearer and more arresting.
• Avoid excessive adjectives and noun strings.

Abstracts and keywords
A summary of the content of your manuscript, a maximum of 250-300 words should be provided on a separate page following the title page. The abstract should be structured and should be under the following subheadings:

• Background
• Aims and Objectives
• Design
• Setting
• Materials and methods
• Results
• Conclusion
• Keywords (A list of three to six keywords in alphabetical order)

The abstract should contain the essence of the whole paper and should stand alone. It should consist of four basic parts: Why the study was done, what was found, what was concluded? Stick to the maximum limit provided above. Be clear and concise and avoid unnecessary detail.

Introduction
This should introduce the research/ study and give an idea of what is to follow in rest of the paper.

• Tell readers why you have undertaken the study.
• Clarify what your work adds.
• Keep it short.
• Make sure that you know what studies have gone before.
• Be sure your readers are convinced of the importance of your question.

Material and methods
This section should clearly state the methodology of the research, including the study design, setting, procedures, materials, data, protocols, and statistical tools used. It must be able to guide any suitably qualified reader to repeat the experiment in the same way; hence this section of the manuscript should include details of how materials and information may be obtained, including any restrictions that may apply. Authors are requested to refer to the reporting guidelines relevant to their study type e.g. CONSORT. The guidelines on reporting sex and gender information (SAGER) should also be considered. These guidelines can be found on the Equator Network

Basically, it should include three questions: How was the study designed? How was the study carried out? And How was the data analysed?

Results

• Only significant results must be shown under this heading.
• Use a mixture of text, tables, and figures.
• Give the actual numbers of results that are plotted.
• Establish how comparable your groups were.
• Mention the unexpected results also.
• Do not give results to a greater degree of accuracy than that of the measurement.
• Avoid using percentages unless the group have more than 100 subjects.
• When condensing results give the number of subjects, the range of results, the central tendency (mean ± SD), and the spread (confidence interval for the mean).
• If you have done an analysis of variance give the estimates with their degrees of freedom and p values.
• Prepare tables and illustrations according to the instructions mentioned above.
• No duplication of results is allowed in text and in figure, unless it has its own purpose.
• Tables and illustrations/ graphs/ charts should not represent the same results. It is only a waste of space and time. Instead, use the space to show some important findings in tables and some in graphical ways.
• Write all your results under one section referring to appropriate tables, graphs, or illustrations. Do not write results separately under each tables or graphs.

Discussion

• This is one of the most important headings of the manuscript and should be very carefully constructed.
• Discuss major findings. It should not merely be a repetition of results section. Only duplicating data from results section into this heading is NOT allowed.
• Discuss possible problems with the methods used.
• Compare your results with previous work.
• Discuss the clinical and scientific (if any) implications of your findings.
• Suggest further work.
• An otherwise very good manuscript but with poor discussion may be rejected for the same reason.

Conclusion
Produce a succinct conclusion. Show your readers why this paper was important. Show them that your paper was meaningful and useful. Don’t simply repeat things that were in your paper. Show them how the points you made and the support and examples you used were not random, but fit together. Give your reader something to think about, perhaps a way to use your paper in the “real” world. If your introduction went from general to specific, make your conclusion go from specific to general. Think globally.

Acknowledgements
Acknowledgements section should state person(s)/ firms to whom the author has to acknowledge. For more details, please refer to Declaration of authorship responsibility, financial disclosure, competing interest, copyright transfer, and acknowledgement form available along with this guideline (online).

References
For references, please use Vancouver system as mentioned above in Writing style.

Case notes

• It should include four sections: Abstract with keywords, introduction, case report, and discussion.
• Abstract should be an unstructured one about 150 words.
• Valid written expressed consent must be taken prior to involving any person in case note manuscript. The identity of the patient must not be revealed by text or figures. If the figure/picture tends to reveal the identity of the individual, it is the responsibility of the author to have explained so to the patient before submitting the manuscript. Confidentiality must be absolute.
• The report should detail: what happened to the patient, the time course of events, why the particular management was chosen.
• Opening section, i.e. introduction should introduce the case in short and highlight the importance of presenting it as a case report in the journal. Check to see that it has not been reported before in Nepal.
• Positive features should be accentuated and irrelevant details avoided.
• A photograph or other illustration may be useful.
• The discussion should be useful and not overlong.
• Reference other work only when necessary to make a specific point.
• Cases that really merit publication always have an educational message.

Review articles

Review article must incorporate various aspects of the topic chosen, and should also incorporate latest researches and findings. Work already done or reported in Nepal should be noted. It should not merely be a collection of quotes from textbooks or very old articles of journals that does not contribute anything new to the scientific literature base already available.

Ideal Contents of a review:

–What is the problem?

–Historical background

–Basic science

–Methodology

–Human studies

–Discussion

–Conclusions

–Recommendations

–The future

The ideal review should be topical, up to date, balanced, accurate, authoritative, quotable, provocative and a good read.

We accept articles on:

• Education
• Careers
• Life
• View Point
• What’s on the web?

The details on each topic can be found on our website www.odoan.org.np

Letters to the Editor
Letter to the Editor will be accepted or edited and published at the Editor’s discretion. The author must give a full reference of the article published in OJN while writing the letter to which he is referring. While writing be succinct (approximately 325 words) and address one or two major subjects regarding the article. Letters that, in the Editor’s view, require a response from the authors of the article will be held pending notification of the authors, who will have fifteen days to respond. On receipt of an author’s response, the letter and the author response will be published in the journal and will also be posted in the web. If we do not receive an author response within fifteen business days, the letter will be published with a note stating, “The author has been invited to respond and has not done so.”

General instructions to authors
The decision of the editor will be final for modification or rejection. However, the author may withdraw his/her manuscript prior to publication when given a chance by the editor (e.g. after modification).

If the authorship of a paper is changed in any way after it has been reviewed, the Editor will require a letter, signed by all authors named on the original or on the revised submission, explicitly agreeing to the change.

Peer Review Process

The journal will process the received manuscript as follows:

Double blind procedure:
The received manuscript will be blinded to both the author and the reviewer during the reviewing process. The author will be anonymous to the reviewer and the reviewer will be anonymous to the author as well.  

Two stage review:
The manuscript will be sent back to the same reviewers after the initial review. However in case of controversies, the decision of the editorial board will be final.

The submitted manuscripts will undergo national or international or both reviewing after blinding to 3 reviewers.  The editors are responsible for directing the manuscript to reviewers depending on their expertise and knowledge. The manuscript will be accepted or declined depending on the reviewers decisions. However, in case of controversies, the ultimate decision is reserved by the Editor in Chief and the editorial board.

The peer reviewers are provided with the guidelines for the review of the manuscript.

Generally, the reviewing process takes about 6 to 8 weeks which includes 4 weeks for review and 2 weeks for processing. Nevertheless, sometimes, it may take some more time due some unseen circumstances.

After the reviewing is completed, one of the following decisions will be made:

Accept Submission:
The manuscript is accepted without the need of any revisions

Revision Needed:
The manuscript needs minor changes and is accepted as per the comments received from the reviewer.

Re-submission for review:
The manuscript requires  major changes and another review needed. The manuscript may be accepted after the review.

Decline Submission:
The manuscript will not be accepted 

The journal will provide all the review comments to the authors regardless of any of the above decisions made by the reviewers.

OJN respects all the opinions, views, comments and decisions made by the reviewers. However, the decision to accept or reject the manuscript is reserved by the Editor in Chief and the editorial board, on the basis of maintaining the integrity of the science, following the guidelines of ICJME, WAME, COPE, CSE.