Submissions

Author Guidelines

The  journal  welcomes  the submission of manuscripts that meet the general criteria of significance and academic excellence i.e. Editorials, Original research/studies, Audits, Case notes, Review articles, Medical education, Letters to the editor. Articles are considered for publication on condition that these are contributed solely to GMJ, that they have not been published previously in print and are not under consideration by another publication. In the selection of papers and in regard to priority of publication, the opinion of the Editor will be final. The Editor shall have the right to edit, condense, alter, rearrange or rewrite approved articles, before publication without reference to the authors concerned.

Authorship: All persons designated as authors should qualify for authorship. Authorship credit should be based only on significant contributions to (a) conception and design, or analysis and interpretation of data; and to (b) drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content; and on (c) final approval of the version to be published. Conditions (a), (b) and (c) must all be met. Authors may include explanation of each author’s contribution separately. 

Submission of manuscript: Manuscript shall be in accordance with "Uniform requirements for manuscript submitted to biomedical journals" developed by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). Manuscript may be submitted using online journal management system on gmjonline.in or be sent in MS word format by email to gujaratmedicaljournal@gmail.com. Duly filled & signed author's mandatory submission form must submitted with manuscript.

Preparation of the Manuscript (for Research Paper)

Manuscript must be written in clear and concise English. Either British or American spelling is acceptable. It must be sent in Microsoft Word format (.doc or .docx).General format of the research papers should be as follows in given template:

1. Title page
2. Abstract and key words
3. Introduction
4. Materials and methods
5. Results
6. Discussion
7. Conclusion
8. Acknowledgement (if any)
9. References

In general, the length of full research papers should not exceed six printed pages of the journal (each printed page will approximately contain 800 words).

Title Page: The title page should include: The title of the article, which should be concise and informative. Name of all the authors (with one forename of each author in full) followed by their affiliations: department, institution, city, pincode and country. If more than one department or institution is involved, authors name should be linked to appropriate institutions/departments by inserting consecutive numbers in superscript after relevant names  to which the work should be attributed. Name, mailing address, fax, phone number and e-mail ID of corresponding author. Running title containing not more than 40 characters.

Abstract and Key Words: The second page should carry an abstract of not more than 200 words. For full research paper, the abstract should be structured into four components such as Background & objectives, Methods, Results, and Interpretation & conclusion. Background and objectives should clearly but briefly mention why the present study has been taken up and also state the primary objective of the study. Methods should include basic procedures (study subjects or experimental animals, observational and analytic methods) and results should contain main findings of the study (give specific data and their statistical significance, if possible). Interpretation & conclusion should clearly define the outcome of the study and briefly mention the implication of the study. Use only approved abbreviations.

Key words: Below the abstract, provide key words (minimum three but not more than six) in alphabetical orders separated by coma.

Introduction: Clearly state the purpose of the study. Briefly summarize the rationale of the study and clearly indicate the lacunae or deficiencies in previous studies for which present study as been taken up. Give only pertinent references. Do not review the subject extensively.

Materials and Methods: Clearly state the department or laboratories where the work was carried out. Mention whether approvals of Institute Research Council or Ethics Committees (IRB) were obtained prior to commencement of the study. Describe your selection of the observational or experimental subjects (patients or experimental animals, including controls) clearly. Identify the methods, apparatus (manufacturer's name and address in parenthesis) and procedures in sufficient detail to allow other workers to repeat the experiments. If the procedures involve an assay, include data on its accuracy, e. g. specificity, sensitivity and recovery. Give reference to established methods including statistical methods. 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.

When reporting experiments on human subjects, include whether the procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the committee on human experimentation of the institution in which the experiments were done or in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975. While reporting experiments on animals, indicate whether the Animal Ethics Committee or the National Research Council's guidance for the care and use of laboratory animals was followed. Identify precisely all drugs and chemicals used, including generic name(s), dosage(s) and route(s) of administration and mention in parenthesis manufacturer’s name and location. Do not use patient's name, initials or hospital numbers. Details of statistical methods adopted for analysis of data should be described. Levels of significance should be clearly highlighted.        

Results: Include number of observation and the statistical significance of the findings appropriately. Detailed statistical analyses, mathematical derivations, and the like may sometimes be suitably presented in the form of one or more appendices. Present your results in logical sequence in the text, tables and illustrations. Do not repeat in the text all the data already given in tables, illustrations or both. Emphasize and summarize only important observations. Each table should be typed continuously with the text. Legends for illustrations/figures should be typed continuously with the text. (as shown in the template).

Discussion: Emphasize the new and important aspects of the study and conclusions derived from them. Do not repeat in details data given in the results section. Include in the discussion the implications of the findings and their limitations and relate the observations to other relevant studies. Link the conclusion with the goals of the study but avoid unqualified statements and conclusions not completely supported by your data. Avoid claiming priority and alluding to work that has not been completed. Discussion should be relevant and an unnecessary lengthy presentation should be avoided.

Conclusion: A very brief summary note of the work with a concluding remark should be given. This should include the novelty and implication of the work and its contribution to the up liftment of the present scientific knowledge in general. 

References: Number the references consecutively in the order in which they are first mentioned in the text. Identify references in text and legends by Arabic numerals (in parentheses). Only appropriate references should be cited. Generally, for a full research paper, the number of references should not exceed 40. Use the Vancouver style of referencing, as the example given below which is based on the formats used in the U.S. National Library of Medicine ‘Index Medicus’. The titles of journals should be abbreviated according to the style used in Index Medicus. Any manuscript not   following   Vancouver system will immediately be sent back to author for revision.

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. GMJ follows following variation in Vancouver style:

1. Superscripts must be used rather than brackets.
2. Numbers should be inserted to the left of colons and semi-colons and full stops are placed after the   reference number.
3. It is important that the punctuation and form is consistently applied to the whole document.

The references must be verified by the author(s) against the original documents. Examples of correct forms of reference are given below:

 Journals: For standard journal article, list all authors when six or less; when seven or more, list only first three and add et al. For examples:

1. Singh K. and Sood S. Effect of treatment on myocardial performance index in chronic severe anemia. Ind J Physiol Pharmacol 2007; 51: 91-95.
2. Rajan S, Balakumar S and Thirunalasundari T. Antibacterial activity of Mangifera Indica seed kernel on enteropathogenic E. coli. NJIRM 2006; 26: 25-28.
3. Pugia MJ, Sammer R, Corey P, Lott JA, Anderson L, Gleason S, et al. The uristatin dipstick is useful in distinguishing upper respiratory from urinary tract infections. Clin Chim Acta 2004; 341: 73-81.

 Books & Monographs

1. Burrow GN. The Thyroid: nodules and neoplasia. In: Fleig P, Baxter JD, Broadus AE, Frohman LA, editors. Endocrinology and metabolism. 2^nd New York: McGraw-Hill. 1989: 473-507.
2. Pal GK and Pal Pravati. Brainstem auditory evoked potential. In: Text book of practical physiology. 2^nd Chennai: Orient Longman. 2005: 305-309.

Tables: Use of tables must be restricted to a minimum. Generally, each article should not have more than four tables. If this is not possible extra reprint charges will be collected from the authors. Do not submit tables as photographs. Number tables consecutively and provide a brief title for each. Give each column a short or abbreviated heading. Place explanatory matter in footnotes, not in the heading. Explain in footnotes all nonstandard abbreviations that are used in each table. Identify statistical measures of variations such as standard deviation and standard error of the mean. Cite each table in the text in consecutive order. Please make sure each table is cited within the text, e.g. (Table 3).

Illustrations: Illustrative materials should be used with economy. Each copy of the manuscripts should be accompanied by one set of figures (if any). Figures should be professionally drawn and photographed; freehand or typewritten lettering are unacceptable. Instead of original drawings, roentgenograms, and other materials, send at least one set of sharp, glossy photographic prints, usually 3 inches or 6 inches by width and maximum length of 9 inches inclusive of legends. Letters, numbers and symbols should be closer and even throughout, and of sufficient size for publications and should appear in legends for illustrations and not on the illustrations themselves. Each figure should have a label properly If photographs of persons are used, either the subjects must not be identifiable or their picture must be accompanied by a written permission to use the photograph. Figures is to be also send as soft copies, they should be submitted as separate  JPEG, TIFF or PDF files. The scanning resolution should be 300 dpi. Please make sure each figure is cited in order within the text, e.g. (Fig 2).

Legends for illustrations: Type legends for illustrations with arabic numerals corresponding to the illustrations. When symbols, arrow, numbers, or letters are used to identify parts of illustrations, identify and explain each one clearly in the legend.

Writing style: In order to make the journal uniform & 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 of Measurement: Measurement of length, height, weight and volume should be reported in metric units (meter, kilogram, liter) or their decimal multiples or fractions. Temperatures should be given in degree Celsius.  Blood pressures should be given in mm of Hg.  Other measurements should be reported in the units in which they were made.

The following abbreviations should be used: Unit: U; kilogram: kg; milligram: mg; picogram: pg; hour(s): hr;  millimole: mmol; micromole: mmol; nanomole: nmol; picomole: pmol; centimeter: cm; millimeter: mm; liter: L; milliliter: ml; micro liter: ml; microgram: mg, millimeter of mercury: mm/Hg; milliequivalent: meq, curi: ci; angstrom: A; calorie: cal; temperature in degree centigrade or Fahrenheit: °C/°F; intraperitoneal, intramuscular, intravenous and subcutaneous routes of administrations as ip, im, iv and sc respectively.

For statistical terms:  Correlation coefficient: r; degrees of freedom: df; not significant: NS; sample number: n; probability (levels of significance): p; standard deviation: SD; standard error of the mean: SEM; Student’s ‘t’test: t test; Variance ratio: F; Analysis of variance: ANOVA.

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.

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.

Publication ethics: We uphold the high starndard  in regards to publicaiton Ethics.  We strongly follow following principles:
• honesty in all aspects of research;
• scrupulous care, thoroughness and excellence in research practice;
• transparency and open communication;
• care and respect for all participants in and subjects of research.

We do not support duplicate or redundant publication. Journal editors will consider retractions, corrections or expressions of concern in line with COPE Guidline. We follow Decision tree for various type of Complain as per PERK .

Plagiarism: Plagiarism, including duplicate publication of the author's own work, in whole or in part without proper citation is not tolerated by the journal. Manuscripts submitted to the journal Will be checked for originality using anti-plagiarism software. If Found Plagiaris, he/she will not be allowed to submit it again.

Duties of Reviewers : Peer review is the principal mechanism by which the quality of research is judged.Because the number of scientific articles published each year continues to grow, the quality of the peer-review process and the quality of the editorial board are cited as primary influences on a journal’s reputation, impact factor, and standing in the field. More

Duties of Editors: Editors of scientific journals have responsibilities toward the authors who provide the content of the journals, the peer reviewers who comment on the suitability of manuscripts for publication, the journal’s readers and the scientific community, the owners/publishers of the journals, and the public as a whole. More

Duties of the Publisher: Publisher aims to oversee and promote the sustainability of journals. They works with Journal Editor Committee to create relevant journal policy and guidelines. It also promotes a better scholarly communication system for journal. It assists the publication and indexing of all journal articles. Publisher ensures that journal editors, authors, reviewers, and other stakeholders adopt best publishing policies and practices. More

Review / Special Papers: Review papers should be in the same format as that of full research paper. However, the abstract need not be structured. The topic reviewed should be preferably be on the current medical problems. Author(s) should have contributed substantially in the field of review work. The proposal should include a synopsis or brief outline of the review and a list of publications of the author on the subject of the review. The style of  presentation of  review paper will be similar to that of full research paper. However, the length of the paper should not exceed 6 printed pages of the journal. Some articles of general public health interest may also be published as special paper.

Case Reports : The style of  presentation of case report will be very similar to that of short communication with a small unstructured abstract. The length of case report should ideally be restricted to two printed pages of the journal. Generally, for a case report, the number of references should not exceed 10.

Letters to Editor : The style of presentation of letters to editor will be similar to that of short communication, but without any abstract. Usually, such letters should be related to the articles published in previous issues of Gujarat Medical Journal. However, some current topics may also be addressed to the editor as "Research Letters". The length of letters to editor should ideally be restricted to one printed page of the journal and references should not be more than seven.