African Journals Online
Journal of Ethiopian Medical Practice

Instructions to Authors

These guidelines are in accordance with the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts submitted to Biomedical Journals, the complete document of which appears in New England Journal of Medicine Volume 324 Number 6, February 7, 1991, British Medical journal 1991; 302:338-41; as well as in the first issue of JEMP (April 1999).

1. Manuscript Types:

JEMP publishes Original Articles (Clinical or laboratory studies), Letters to the Journal/Editor including clinical and other observations, Case and Case Series reports, Brief Communications or Correspondence, Review Articles, Commentary, Editorials, and Views/ Perspective. Special Articles other than listed above are also welcomed. In addition, complementary medicine, lighter side of medicine, poems, clinical and historical photographs, News, Snippets from other publications, CME, Clinical Quizzes, Quotations, Consultation through question and answers. The time between the study/observation period and submission of an article should not be more than five years.

2. Original Articles:

Original Articles are invited and should be sent to the Editor, JEMP, P.O.Box 8528, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The language of the journal is English. The usual format must include an ABSTRACT (with four paragraphs of aim and background, methods, results and conclusions); MATERIALS AND METHODS (including sufficient information to permit repetition of experimental work) or PATIENTS AND METHODS; RESULTS; DISCUSSION; ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS, REFERENCES; TABLES, LEGENDS FOR ILLUSTRATION.

3. Terms of Submission:

Papers must be submitted exclusively to the Journal on the understanding that they have not been and will not be published elsewhere. The main author is responsible for ensuring that the article has been seen and approved by all the other authors. It is the authors’ responsibility to ensure that articles emanating from a particular institution are submitted with the approval of the necessary authority. Acknowledgement of any proprietary interest or research funding should be made. Mention also if the work has been presented during any meeting.

4. Copyright Transmittal:

A letter assigning copyright to ESGMP must be signed by all authors as evidence of consent to publication. The Editor retains the right to modify the style and length of a contribution (major changes being agreed with the author) and to decide the time of publication. Copyright transmittal forms are available from JEMP office on request, or alternatively , the following statement can accompany the transmittal letter:

 In consideration of JEMP taking action in reviewing and editing my (our) article, the author(s) undersigned hereby transfers, assigns, or otherwise conveys all copyright ownership to the Ethiopian Society of General Medical Practice in the event that such work is published in the Journal of Ethiopian Medical Practice (JEMP). Authors who work for a government or an NGO should sign similar letter explaining that the article was prepared as part of official duties as an officer or employee to that institution.

5. Unsolicited Review Article:

Most of the journal’s clinical review articles are commissioned (prepared after invitation from the journal), but some articles are submitted for publication on the author’s initiative or commissioned on the basis of outlines suggested by authors. Authors wishing to submit a review article to the journal must first write to, the editorial board; outlining their suggestion and the topics to be included in the review in about 200 words and indicating the relevance of the review to the journal. For most review articles a literature search using a reputable database or index should be completed prior to writing the article. All review articles should include a summary and an introduction of 35-40 words to be set in bold as a stand first (key sentence) and details of the current appointment of each author. Authors must also supply 5-8 key facts summarizing the major themes of the paper, and these will appear in a box at the end of the article.

6. Lengths of Articles:

Originalarticles should not exceed 3500 words. In general review articles are about 1500-2000 words with approximately 15-30 references. Case report should be no more than 1000 words with a maximum of ten references and three pictures.

7. Copyright Permissions:

Written permission from the copyright holder must be obtained to reproduce material from other sources. The copyright holder (a) for a table, illustration or text that has been published previously is the original publisher; (b) for unpublished photographs is the photographer; (c) for unpublished photographs taken during the course of employment is the photographer’s employer. Acknowledgement to the copyright holder must be included in the appropriate place.

8. Ethics: When reporting experiments on human subjects a statement must be included that consent was obtained after the nature of the procedure(s) had been fully explained to the persons concerned. Indicate whether the procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the ESTC human experimentation or with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 1983. Do not use patients’ names, initials or hospital numbers, especially on any illustrative material.

9. Presentation of the Manuscript: Type the manuscript on one side only of A4 (297 x 210 mm) or 81/2 x 11 in. Paper, with margins of at least 3 cm all round. Use double spacing throughout. Authors may supply the text and references of a paper on 3^1/2-inch floppy disk in Word Perfect, word or Publisher programs in addition to double-spaced print-out. The original and two copies of the manuscript should be submitted, accompanied by two sets of illustrations, to aid reviewing. Authors should retain a copy of the paper as the Editor cannot accept responsibility for loss or damage.

10. Title Page: The title should be written in bold or capital letters. In addition to the title and authors’ names this should carry: (a) the department(s) and institution(s) to which the work should be attributed, (b) full name, postal address, telephone and fax number, and e-mail address of the main author for correspondence, (c) a short running headline of no more than 30 characters including spaces.

11. Abstract and Key Words: An abstract of no more than 200 words should be typed on a separate sheet. Structure the abstract using the following headings: Purpose, Methods, Results, Conclusions. Provide approximately six key words (Preferably from the medical subject heading list of index Medicus) to assist cross-indexing.

12. Proprietary Statement: If the article discusses in any way a device, equipment, instrument, or drug, the author(s) must state in a footnote whether they do or do not have any commercial or proprietary interest in the product. The author(s) must also reveal whether there was any financial interest (as a consultant, reviewer, or evaluator) in a drug or device.

13. Statistical Consultation: We recommend that statistical consultation be obtained as early as possible for studies with statistical content. The name and affiliation of the statistical consultant, if different from the author(s), should be included.

14. Letters: Contributions to this section may include comments on articles published in the JEMP, informative case reports, or other matters of medical interest. Such letters are subject to editorial review and will be published as space and editorial priorities permit. Published letters will be listed by author and title in the table of contents, and authors and subjects are indexed by the major indexing services. Letters to the editor ordinarily should not exceed 500 words in length. There should be a maximum of five references. Two figures or one figure plus one table can be printed. The typescript should be double-spaced with a ragged right hand margin and submitted in triplicate. A copyright transmittal letter signed by all authors must accompany the letter.

15. Units and Abbreviations: The work should be reported in the metric system, or the units used with the equivalent SI unit in parentheses where necessary. Abbreviations should be used sparingly and must be given in full at first mention (e.g. LP: lumbar puncture)

16. References: Number the references consecutively in the order in which they are first mentioned in the text. Identify citations of references using superior numbers (e.g. “as discussed by Smith”; ‘as discussed elsewhere’). In the reference list use the Harvard style or the examples given in the article: Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts submitted to Biomedical Journals, the complete document of which appears in the first two issues of JEMP.

References to journal articles should include (1) author(s) (if more than five write “et al” after the third name), (2) title, (3) journal name (as abbreviated in Index Medicus), (4) year, (5) volume number, and (6) inclusive page numbers, in that order.

References to books should include (1) author(s), (2) chapter title (if any), (3) editors (if any), (4) title of book, (5) city of publication, (6) publisher, (7) year, and (8) page, if indicated.

Examples:

 -Standard journal article (List all authors, but if the number exceeds six give six followed by et al).

You CH, Lee KY, Chey RY, Menguy R. Electrogastrographic study of patients with unexplained nausea, bloating and vomiting. Gastroenterology 1980 Aug; 79(2):311-4.

-Chapters in a book

Weinstein L, Swartz N. Pathologic properties of invading microorganisms. In: Sodeman WA Jr, Sodeman WA, editors. Pathologic physiology: mechanisms of disease. philadelphia: Saunders, 1974: 457-72.

-Letter to the Editor

 Gupta S, Licorish K. Circulating immune complexes in AIDS [Letter]. N Eng J Med 1984; 310:1530-1.

Journal titles are abbreviated according to index medicus. Unpublished papers and written personal communications should be cited in the text in parenthesis. Ethiopian names should not be referenced different from other names.

 17. Tables: Type each table double-spaced on a separate sheet. Number tables consecutively in roman numbers in the order of their first citation in the text and supply a brief title for each so that they may be understood independently of the text. Give each column a short heading. Explanatory matter (e.g. abbreviations used) belongs in footnotes, not in the title. For footnote indicators use superior lower-case letters.

18. Illustrations: Number all illustrations in one sequence in Arabic numerals. Attach a label to the back of each giving, in red ink, its number, the author’s name and an arrow indicating the top edge.

Line drawings and graphs. These should be professionally prepared and detailed explanations belong in the legends, not on the illustrations themselves.

Photographs. Supply top-quality glossy prints. Any lettering etc. must contrast well with the background. Photomicrographs must include a scale mark. Patients should have their identity concealed (including hospitals numbers and initials) or should have given their written permission to publish. Radiographs must be submitted as prints. Indicate any figures that should be the same size as each other or on the same page.

Colour illustrations: The cost of colour reproduction may be charged to the author. Very sharp contrast is essential for colour reproduction. If colour slides are used they must be labeled as to which side is the front and accompanied by two identical sets of colour prints on which any lettering has been placed. Type legends double-spaced on a separate sheet. Include an explanation for any symbols, etc. used. Identify the method of staining in photomicrographs.

19. Photo Essay: Manuscripts for this section should emphasize the visual aspects of the subject presented. The picture(s) should be of high quality and should be self-explanatory. The photographs can be of clinical entities, laboratory studies and findings (eg. smears, histologic sections), diagnostic techniques (roentgenograms, computed tomographic scans, Magnetic Resonance Image, Ultransound, etc), therapeutic procedures, or a combination. A concise essay, limited to 250 words, describing the clinical or laboratory information, photograph(s), and a brief list of references (five or less), if pertinent, should be submitted in triplicate.

20. Proofs: One set of page proofs (made camera-ready for the printer) is sent to the main author, showing the final layout of the paper as it will appear in the journal. Proofs should be read carefully for errors and the accuracy of tables figures, legends, references, and mathematical or other scientific expressions checked. If the proof is not returned within two weeks of receipt, it will be assumed to be correct.

21. Offprint: Five reprints are supplied free to the principal author and one extra copy for each co-author. Extra offprint can be supplied at the author’s expense if ordered.

22. Nomenclature, drugs and percentages: Using the binomial nomenclature, reference to an organism bacterium must be given in full and italics, and later reference may show as capitalized or italicized. Drugs should be mentioned by their generic names, followed, if necessary, by the name of the proprietary brand and manufacturer in parentheses, e.g. diazepam (Valium: Roche,UK). The persistent use of percentages is not recommended when the number of patients of cases of disease is less than one hundred. When used on occasion for emphasis, the percentage should be preceded by the numbers involved, e.g. 38/60(63%).

Check list

MOST COMMON ERRORS TO AVOID WHEN SUBMITTING ARTICLES

1. Failure to send original typed manuscripts plus two copies or electronic copy on a diskette; three sets of illustrations/photo graphs or original color slide.

2. Failure to double-space not 1 1/2-spacing entire manuscript (abstract, references, legends, and tables). Do not justify right margins.

3. References not in proper format, not in numerical order, or not cited in the text.

5. Title too long. Make it less than 20-30 words

6. Failure to or to provide abstract in the four paragraph format and key words (not needed for letters).

7. Incomplete or improper consent forms for patient photographs; improper or incomplete legends.

8. Failure to include copyright transmittal form (needed for both original articles and letters to the editor).

9. Failure to include all authors’ personal signatures on copyright transmittal form.

10. Failure to designate the corresponding author and provide phone number and address.

11. Failure to include consent forms for illustrations previously published elsewhere.

12. Failure to indicate if authors have propriety interest in products and drugs recommended in the article.

Abstract Writing

The Preferred style of JEMP

Four Paragraphs in less than 200 words

Background and Objective:

State background information, and the main question or objective of the study and the major hypothesis tested, if any. State the importance of the research to your setting.

Methods/Patients/ Materials/ subject

Design Describe the design of the study indicating, as appropriate, use of randomization, blinding, food standards for diagnostic tests and temporal direction ( retrospective or prospective).

Setting: Indicate the study setting (hospital, clinic, community). Also include the level of clinical care; for example, primary or tertiary, private practice or institutional.

Participants: State selection procedures, entry criteria, and numbers of participants entering and finishing the study.

Interventions: Describe the essential features of interventions (if any), including their method and duration of administration.

Main Outcome Measure(s): The primary study outcome measures should be indicated as planned before data collection began. If the hypothesis being reported was formulated during or after data collection, this fact should be clearly stated.

Results:

Describe measurements that are not evident from the nature of the main results and indicate any blinding. If possible, the results should be accompanied by confidence intervals (most often the 95% interval) and the exact level of statistical significance. For comparative studies, confidence intervals should relate to the difference between groups. Absolute values should be indicated when risk changes or effect sizes are given.

Conclusions: (and recommendations)

State only those conclusions of the study that are directly supported by data, along with their clinical application (avoiding over generalization) or whether additional study is required before the information should be used in usual clinical settings. Equal emphasis must be given to positive and negative findings of equal scientific merit.

Key Words: Provide approximately 5 to 8 key words (preferably from the medical subject heading list of index Medicus) to assist cross-Indexing.