1. General Manuscript Requirements
2. Description of various Manuscript types
3. Submission format according to Manuscript type
4. House style
5. Supporting documents
6. Submission and Processing fee
7. Manuscript Submission
8. Manuscript Processing
9. Corrigendum
10. Scientific reporting guidelines
    

Guidelines to Authors

JIMDC invites both national and international authors to submit their original research, case reports, case series, descriptive and analytical research with clinical trials, short reports, letters to editor for publication. Meta-analysis, systematic reviews and review articles are also invited.

The manuscript submitted should be original and not under consideration by another publication at the time of submission.

i. General Manuscript requirements

All manuscripts should be uploaded online through OJS as word file.

1.Title page

           Title page should include the following:

• Article title

           Should be concise. Length should not exceed more than 15 words.

           Should include study design in case of randomized trial and systematic reviews and meta-analyses.

           Proper nouns should only be capitalized. Use only standared abbreviation if required.

• Word Count

           Abstract:   should not include keywords 

           Manuscript: should not include abstract, acknowledgements, tables, figure legends and references

• Numbers of figures and table:

           Give the exact numbers of figures and tables to ensure their review with the manuscript.

           Do not share the authors details anywhere on the manuscript, provide them only in submission form link given: Authors Undertaking

           This is to ensure the double-blind process of the peer review of the manuscript.

2. Abstract:

Abstract should be brief stating the background with objective, time and location of study, methods, results and conclusion.  Only give primary objectives, important findings with statistical and clinical significance, emphasize new and important aspect of study and do not use references.

The abstract should be   in line with the type of article.

• Structured abstract of 250 words for original articles, systematic reviews and meta-analyses. It should include objectives, methods, results and conclusions.

• Unstructured abstract of 150 words for case reports, short communications and narrative reviews. It must follow a logical sequence.
• Abstract should be followed by 3-5 (key) Words. For assistance https://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/MBrowser.html

3. Introduction

This section should briefly present a background and rationale of the study referring to work done at global, regional and local levels in past 10 years. State objectives and hypotheses (if applicable) without subheadings. Do not comment on data or conclusion in this section. Limit your references to strictly pertinent ones. Maximum citations should not exceed more than 10.

4. Methods

This section should include the following without subheadings in an organized manner.

1. 1. Study design and settings
   2. Study duration
   3. Sample population with inclusion and exclusion criteria 
   4. Sampling method and sample size calculations with reference
   5. Ethical review statement
   6. Details of apparatus (if applicable with manufacture’s name and address) and or drugs/chemicals used. Use generic name/s of drugs/ chemicals along with dose (s) and route(s) of administration
   7. Statistics should clearly include the tests applied along with statistical software package used with version.

Note: Data should not be more than five years old

5. Results

This section should include results explained in a logical manner through text, graphs and tables. Avoid repetitions of data shown through tables and figures in the text. Summarize important observations through frequencies and percentages. State exact p values and mean with standard deviation. No comparison should be done with other studies in this section, thus no references.

6.Discussion

It should begin with a brief description of the importance of the study.  Highlight the key features of your research and significant findings should be discussed comparing with results of other published studies.  Repetition of results should be avoided.  Strengths and limitations should be mentioned at the end of this section.

7. Conclusion(s)

Briefly summarize the net findings of your study without over emphasizing them.  It should not include any findings / benefits not mentioned in the results. 

8.Recommendations (Optional)

You may suggest areas for future study in this section.  

9. Acknowledgements

Names and contributions of people who do not qualify for the authorship but helped in the study may be listed in this section with their permission.

10. Disclaimer

Disclose if the current manuscript has been presented or published in a conference or abstract book or if it is a part of thesis/project.

11. Conflict of interest

Any conflict of interest should be declared.  It may include honorarium, funding, credits and promotion which are not unethical but should be declared.

12. Funding Disclosure

Authors must disclose all sources of funding received along with their expenditure. If there are no funding sources, the authors should include “none to declare”.

13. References

All references should be cited in Vancouver style and give citations in text as superscript. While citing articles use references of published articles and avoid personal communications and unpublished observations. Number of references should be according to the manuscript type. You can log on to following website for assistance.
https://guides.library.uq.edu.au/referencing/vancouver/introduction

14. Tables

Should be easy to interpret and should not be repetitive of results/data already discussed in the text. Tables should be numbered in Roman numerals. Title should be short and explanatory and written on the top. Foot note should explain abbreviations if used. Statistical results should include standard deviation and standard error of mean. Source should be given of any data/table from published articles. Number of tables should be according to manuscript type. Refer to table number in relevant section of your manuscript.

15. Figures and illustrations

Please submit original illustrations/figures.  
All figures should be of high-quality resolution in jpeg format, inferior quality figures will be returned to authors.
Captions/legends should be given below the figure.
Use internal scale marker for photomicrograph. Arrows, letters or symbols used in the micrographs should be clearly visible.  Mention the method of staining and the magnification in the legend. Figures should be numbered as Arabic numerals and should be cited in the text as “Figure”. Number of figures and illustrations should be according to manuscript type. Refer to Figure number in relevant section of your manuscript.

16. Clinical trial numbers and registration of review articles:

Clinical trials must be registered with Pakistan Health Research Council (PHRC), or International Standard Registration Clinical/sOcial sTudy Number (ISCRTN) Registry. Trials can also be registered with Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP).
Review articles like meta- analysis and systematic reviews should be registered with International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO).

For your convenience links are as follows:

1. USNLM https://clinicaltrials.gov/
2. ISCRTN Registry WHO https://www.who.int/ictrp/network/isrctn2/en/
3. BMC https://www.isrctn.com/
4. PROSPERO  http://www.prisma-statement.org/Protocols/Registration

ii.Description of Various Manuscript Types:

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1. Original Articles

a. Randomized Control Trials (RCT)

In this study groups are randomly allocated to carry out a clinical intervention. Number of study subjects should be at least 5. Otherwise it will be a case report. Clinical trial number is mandatory. Please refer to number 16 of previous section.

b. Descriptive studies are observational studies which are further divisible into following three types:

• Cohort; information regarding exposure to certain disease is collected and followed up till the occurrence of the disease.
• Case Control; in this study groups of cases with a certain disease are compared with controls
• Cross-Sectional; it is a snapshot or one point in time survey. Data is collected both for the exposure and outcome status of the participants.

c. Epidemiological studies are based on a certain population followed over a period of time

• Incidence studies; in which new cases are studied.
• Prevalence studies; in which existing cases are studied.

d. Short communication; brief communication in which a study done on a small scale with restricted outcome and setting is reported

2. Review Articles

• Meta-Analysis a quantitative statistical analysis of several separate but similar experiments or studies in order to summarize the result of these studies.

• Systematic reviews are used to summarize, appraise, & communicate contradictory results of multiple research studies taken from authentic data bases. It answers a defined research question that fits pre-specified eligibility criteria.

• Simple narrative; critical research summary on a topic of interest, often to put a research problem into context. Captures a “snapshot” of the clinical problem or issue.

3. Viewpoint

The Viewpoint section is for the expression of opinions, comments and arguments on any important topic in medicine, public health, dentistry and allied health sciences. These articles are opinion-based and present a new and unique viewpoint on existing issues and concepts. Viewpoints can also be in the form of a debate, whereby both perspectives regarding a controversial topic are argued by the same or different authors.

Viewpoints must have no more than three authors. Abstract should be unstructured and not more than 150 words. Total word count should be 1200-1500 with one small table or figure (excluding abstract and references). Data in the text should not be repeated extensively in tables or figures. The maximum number of references allowed are seven. Viewpoints not meeting these guidelines will not be considered.

4. Other articles

• Case reports consist of unique cases either diagnosed or reporting of treatment
• Case series summarizes and concluding a number of cases (usually more than four) of a particular disease.
• Letter to Editor on published articles; comments of an individual on any article published in JIMDC within a maximum of period of three months along with the reply of original author.
• Audits; a precise documentation of records against a standard criterion for improving the overall process.
• Educational research; research in the field of medical education
• Health care analyses; research in all field of health care system including public policy, health related education and health services.
• Editorial; 

iii. Submission format according to Manuscript type

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1.Original articles 

Structured abstract -250 words
Maximum word count- 2500 words (Excluding abstract and references)
References (15-25)
Maximum number of tables and figures - 04
Clear statement of time, duration and study settings
Clearly mention ethical approval and informed consent

Write the main text using the following headings: Introduction, methods, results, discussion, conclusions, recommendations if any, acknowledgements, disclosure and conflict of interest. Avoid use of subheadings.

Short communication

Unstructured abstract-150 words
Maximum word count- 1200 words
Maximum references- 15
Maximum tables and figures- 02 (in total)

Write text using following main headings: Introduction, material and methods, results and conclusions. Give acknowledgements if applicable.

2. Review articles

Unstructured abstract of 150 words
Maximum word count of 4000 words (Excluding abstract and references)
References – up to 35-40 with half of them from past 05 years
Number of tables and figures-05

Write the text in a logical manner and use subheadings where necessary

3. Other articles

a. Case report and case series

Download Checklist

Unstructured abstract-150 words
Maximum word count of text- 1300
Maximum number of tables and figures - 04 (in total)
Number of references: 8-15

Follow a logical sequence and use following headings: Introduction, case report/case series, discussion and conclusion and acknowledgement if applicable.

b. Letter to editor

Maximum word count- 400
It should be signed by maximum 03 authors

c. Editorials

d. Perspective 

e. Focus

iv. House style

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Manuscript should be written in American English. Use font style calibri font size 11 with 1.15 spacing after each line. Each line should be numbered. Data should be presented up to 2 decimal figures only. Page layout should be portrait with 1” margin on all sides. Page number should be given in lower right corner. Use standard abbreviation if required. Avoid capitalization unless it is a proper noun.
Use System International (SI) unit measurements wherever applicable. Imperial measurements like feet or inches are not acceptable.
Manuscript should be written in a clear organized and interesting manner. Choose your words accurately and economically. Avoid heavy words where shorter and simpler can do. Avoid jargon, affectation, unnecessary qualification and tautology.

v. Supporting documents

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Cover letter
Ethical/IRB approval
Approval from Head of the Department for Case Reports.
Submission form with details of all authors, contacting details and signatures.
Submission fee pay order/bank draft copy (for details see submission and processing fee)

vi. Manuscript Submission

Manuscript Submission Manuscript submission to JIMDC is online via OJS only. Upload scanned copy of the receipt of submission fee. Manuscripts are not accepted through email or by post. A simplified guideline for uploading manuscripts on OJS is given for the ease of the authors and can be viewed here (Author submission form). In case of any problem regarding manuscript submission, email at journal@imdcollege.com

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vii. Submission and Processing fee

All original articles (and short communications) should be accompanied with a processing fee of Rs. 1000/- (non-refundable) at the time of manuscript submission through online bank transfer (see "Account Details"). A bank draft of Rs. 4000/- has to be submitted once the manuscript is accepted for publication. 

Case reports, review articles, editorials and letter to editor are exempted from any charges.

Manuscript will be processed only after the receipt of processing fee received on OJS.

Account Details:

viii. Manuscript Processing

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Click to see the flowchart

ix.Corrigendum[Back to Top]

For correction/s in any previously published article authors have to write a letter to Editor JIMDC clearly mentioning the month/year, volume number and description of article. For more information, see editorial policy.

x. Scientific Reporting guidelines

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JIMDC highly recommend EQUATOR Network (Enhancing the Quality and Transparency of health Research) for reporting research. For author’s convenience checklists for most commonly used study designs are given in the following table:

Study Design	Checklist	Web Link
Observational studies in Epidemiology Cohort, case control and cross-sectional	STROBE	https://www.strobe-statement.org/index.php?id=available-checklists
Case Reports	CARE	https://www.care-statement.org/resources/checklist
Randomized Control Trials	CONSORT	http://www.consort-statement.org/consort-statement/checklist
Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis Meta-analysis of Observational Studies	PRISMA   MOOSE	http://www.prisma-statement.org/PRISMAStatement/Checklist https://www.elsevier.com/__data/promis_misc/ISSM_MOOSE_Checklist.pdf
Qualitative Research Studies (Focus groups and interviews)	SRQR   COREQ	https://www.elsevier.com/__data/promis_misc/04262_SRQR_Checklist.docx http://cdn.elsevier.com/promis_misc/ISSM_COREQ_Checklist.pdf