Instructions for Authors
Aims and Scope of the Journal
The “Studies in Medical Sciences” is the official scientific monthly and peer-reviewed publication of Urmia University of Medical Sciences. The journal aims to motivate and enhance the medical research and help to develop medical information management. It serves medical researchers, educators and practitioners who are interested in theoretical or applied aspects of medicine. “Studies in Medical Sciences” accepts Original Papers, Review Articles, Short Communications, Letters to the Editor, and Case Reports in a broad range of areas including basic science and medicine.
Article category
Articles will be published in Studies in Medical Sciences under four categories: Research article; Review article; Short communication; Case report
Submission of manuscripts
Manuscripts can also be submitted online at http://umj.umsu.ac.ir
Preparation of Manuscripts
1. The title page: It should only contain the title, be in bold print, brief and to the point, the name of all the authors with their highest academic degrees (written in MD, PhD, BS, MS forms), the department or institution to which they are attached, address for correspondence with telephone numbers, e-mail, and Fax number.
2. The abstract: All original articles must accompany a structured abstract up to 250 words. It should be structured as Background & Aims, Materials & Methods, Results and Conclusion followed by 3 to 5 Keywords. Keywords will assist indexers in cross indexing the article as they are published with abstract. Use terms from the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) list of index medicus (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/MBrowser.html). Abstracts of case report should consist of less than 125 words. There should be an English copy of the abstract. Farsi and English abstracts should be in semantic equivalence. Authors need to be careful that the abstract reflects the content of the article accurately.
3. Introduction should indicate research objectives and relevant literature
4. Materials & methods: should refer to the research methodology, subjects, their selection and control, age, gender and other relevant characteristics, lab materials and tools, statistical analysis, and any general computer program used. If a drug is used, its generic name, dose and route of administration must be given. The Info system used should be clearly mentioned.
5. Ethical guidelines: Ethical considerations must be addressed in the Materials & Methods section. 1) Please state that informed consent was obtained from patients participating in the study and from the parents or legal guardians of minors. Include the name of the appropriate institutional review board that approved the project. 2) Ethical policy forbids any patient names to be published. If a patient image is printed, the eyes should be hidden and the relevant informed consent taken. In case of animal subjects and pets, the relevant principles should be complied.
Declaration of Helsinki on Human subjects should be taken into account.3)The sole responsibility for the whole contents of the paper (views and statements) remains only to the author(s).
6. Conflicts of interest: Conflict of interests should be considered so that authors disclose any commercial or other associations that might pose a conflict of interest in connection with the submitted manuscripts. All funding sources supporting the research should be acknowledged as well. Declaring a competing interest will not lead to automatic rejection of the paper, but we would like to be made aware of it.
7. Results: It must be presented in the form of text, tables and illustrations. The contents of the tables should not be all repeated in the text. Instead, a reference to the table number may be given. Long articles may need sub-headings within some sections (especially the Results and Discussion parts) to clarify their contents.
8. Tables: In limited numbers should be submitted with the captions placed above. Do not submit tables as photograph. Place explanatory matters in footnotes, not in the heading.
9. Figures: Should be in limited numbers, with high quality art work and mounted on separate pages. The captions should be placed below. The same data should not be presented in tables, figures and text, simultaneously.
10. Conclusion: This should emphasize the present findings and the variations or similarities with other work done in the field by other workers. The detailed data should not be repeated in the discussion again. Emphasize the new and important aspects of the study and the conclusions that follow from them. It must be mentioned whether the hypothesis mentioned in the article is true, false or no conclusions can be derived.
11. Acknowledgement: All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be covered in the acknowledgement section. It should include persons who provided technical help, writing assistance and departmental head who only provided general support. Financial and material support should also be acknowledged.
12. References: All manuscripts should be accompanied by relevant references. Identify references in the text by Farsi numerals in parentheses on the line. References should be written according to their sequence numbered in the text. They should be typed based on Vancouver style. It may not be possible for the editor and reviewers to check the accuracy of all reference citations. To minimize such errors author should verify references against the original documents. Abbreviations of journals should conform to those used in Vancouver style. The Reference should provide the following information as stated in the presented models as follows:
I. Periodicals: List all authors if six or fewer; otherwise, list first six and add ‘et al'. Do not use periods after the authors initials:
a. Vega KJ, Pina I, Krevsky B, Parkin DM, Clayton D, Black RI et al. Childhood of Leukemia in Europe. Br J Cancer 1996; 73: 1006-12.
b. Ozben T, Nacitarhan S, Tuncer N. Plasma and urine sialic acid in non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus. Ann Clin Biochem 1995; 32 (pt 3): 303-6.
c. The Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand. Clinical exercise stress, Safety and performance guidelines. Med J Aust 1996; 164: 282-4.
d. Morse SS. Factors in the emergence of infections disease. Emerg Infect Dis [serial online] 1995 Jan-Mar [cited 1995 Jun 5]; 1(1): [24 screens]. Available from URL: Http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/eid.htm
II. Books:
a. Ringsren MK, Bond D. Gerontology and leadership skills for nurses. 2nd Ed. Albany (NY) Delmar Publishers; 1996.
b. Wall PD, Melzack RA. Text book of pain. 3rd ed. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone; 1994.
III. Chapter in book:
a. Philips SJ, Whisnant JP. Hypertension and stroke. In: Laragh JH, Brenner BM, Editors. Hypertensions: Pathophysiology, diagnosis and management. 2nd Ed. New York: Raven Press; 1995. P.465-78.
13. Abbreviations and symbols: Use only standard abbreviations. Avoid using them in the title and abstract. The full term for which an abbreviation stands should precede its first use in the text unless it is a standard unit of measurement.