Submissions

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

 

1- Submission system

Barw Medical Journal uses an online submission and tracking system, which is straightforward and easy to use. Hence, authors are required to sign up and submit their manuscripts electronically per the submission checklist (done by the corresponding author on behalf of all authors).

Please use the sign-up button on the website’s upper right corner to create your account. Upon registration, a confirmation email will be sent to you containing your username and password. Please do keep this information safe.

 

2- Submission checklist

Before submitting a manuscript for review, authors should perform a final check to ensure that the submission is complete and contains the following files and information:

a- A title page containing the names and affiliations of all authors (with one author being selected as a corresponding author).

b- Email address and postal address of the corresponding author.

c- A cover letter (optional, but recommended).

d- The manuscript file (including keywords and declarations).

e- Tables and figures (authors can choose to either include them in the manuscript file or upload them separately).

f- Potential reviewer suggestions (optional, but recommended).

 

3- General formatting guidelines

When preparing the manuscript for submission, the file should be in Microsoft Word with A4 size format and normal margins.                 

Throughout the manuscript:

a- Use Times New Roman font with size 12 (normal) for the main text, size 14 (Bold) for the main headings, and size 12 (Bold) for sub-headings.

b- The headings should be numbered, beginning with the introduction and ending with the conclusion (e.g., 1. Introduction, 2. Materials and Methods, etc.). And sub-headings should be used whenever possible to make your manuscript more organized (2.2., 2.2.1, etc.). A maximum of 5 heading levels is allowed (e.g., 1.1.1.1.1).

c- Use 1.5 text spacing.

d- Do not use page breaks.

e- Do not use double returns between paragraphs.

f- Do not use line numbers.

g- Number pages consecutively (lower right), beginning with the abstract.

h- Use SI units to express scientific measurements.

i- Spell out numbers under 10, except in the cases of measurements (6 µg/ml) and being listed with other numbers (16 XA, 6 XB, 12 XB, and 2 XC).

 

4- Cover letter

A cover letter is not mandatory; however, we encourage its provision. Your cover letter should include the following information:

a- A brief summary of the important points of the submitted work and why your work is important to Barw Medical Journal.

b- Confirmation that the manuscript has not previously been published or is being under consideration for publication by another journal.

c- Names and contact information of potential reviewers (optional).

d- Names of reviewers that you wish to be excluded (optional, up to 3).

e- Contact information (email address and telephone number) and affiliation of the corresponding author.

 

5- Title

The manuscript title should be concise (20 words or less) and informative. The study design should be included at the end of the title (XA; a systematic review and meta-analysis). If possible, the title should not contain abbreviations unless it is a Gene symbol or the abbreviation is very commonly used (e.g., COVID-19). Authors should choose a title wisely as the chosen title may impact how easily readers can discover your article.

Authors should avoid:

a- Vague titles; such as those starting with “effect of, role of, or link between”, but do not specify the effect, role, or link.

b- Unambitious titles; such as those starting with “ a description/characterization of”.

c- Titles that are only a question, without proving an answer.

 

6- Title Page

A title page file should be uploaded into the submission system, separate from the manuscript. It includes all of the following information:

a- Manuscript title (short and concise).

b- Author names; full names of the authors (including first name, initial of middle name, and last name; e.g., Tom J. Smith). All author names are listed together and separated by commas.

c- Author affiliations; institutional addresses for all authors indicated by numbers in superscript format (not symbols) immediately after the author’s name and in front of the appropriate address, for example:

Tom J. Smith¹, Jerry T. Stone².

¹ Department of Vascular Surgery, XAXB University Hospital, London, United Kingdom.

² Department of Surgery, XCXD University, Bogotá, Colombia.

d- Identifying the corresponding author with an asterisk and also in writing (e.g., Tom J. Smith^1*). This author is responsible for responding to peer review queries and overall communication with the journal.

When a collaboration group or center (group authorship) has performed the study, the name of the collaboration group should be written on the title page and submission system, and then the author list (collaborating author names) should be added in the last paragraph of the “Acknowledgements” section, with their full names and affiliations as it should appear in the title page.

 

7- Abstract

Every manuscript must contain an abstract on the first page, with the introduction starting on a different page. The abstract should:

a- Describe the important contents of the paper comprehensively but briefly.

b- Be structured; by containing these sections Introduction (purpose of the research), Materials and methods (how the study was performed), Results (the main positive findings), and Conclusion (brief summary and potential implications). However, case reports should contain the following; Introduction, Case presentation, Discussion, and Conclusion. Subject reviews, Editorials, Commentaries, Perspectives, Brief Reports, Short Communications, and Correspondences can have unstructured or semi-structured abstracts.

c- Be no more than 250 words regardless of article type.

d- Not contain abbreviations (minimized use) unless necessary. If an abbreviation is used, it must be spelled out with the first use. Abbreviated terms must be abbreviated again in the main body of the manuscript, as the abstract is standalone and separate from the main body.

e- Not contain reference citations.

 

8- Keywords

In all submissions, a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 6 keywords should be provided immediately after the abstract but on the same page. These keywords should represent the main content of the study. Authors should try to avoid the use of abbreviations, with only firmly established abbreviations in the medical field may be allowed to be used.

 

9- Article Structure

a- Sections – Subdivision (Describing each section)

Although authors may start the manuscript submission with their preferred structure and organization that best suits their research, we do encourage following these subdivisions for the majority of article types, except for Case reports, Subject reviews, Editorials, Commentaries, Perspectives, Brief Reports, Short Communications, and Correspondences.

aa- Introduction: Provide sufficient background while avoiding a detailed literature review, and state the study objective. Do not use sub-headings.

ab- Material and methods (not present in case reports): Provide adequate information regarding how the study was performed to allow the study’s reproduction by other researchers. If a method has already been published, only provide a summary that is indicated by a reference. Using sub-headings is preferable.

ac- Results (Case presentations in case reports): Clearly present your findings in a concise manner without interpreting them. Describe your data in text or choose insightful graphical presentations and tables, which are placed close to the text they are indicated. Using sub-headings is preferable.

ad- Discussion: Present the significance of your findings without merely repeating your results, and discuss any prior literature related to your work while avoiding extensive citations. Provide points of strengths and limitations of your study. Describe how your work advances the field. When a hypothesis is given, it should be evidence-based and rational.

ae- Conclusion: Present a brief summary of the potential implications and importance of your work.

The manuscript should be clearly divided into numbered sections (excluding the abstract). Main headings should be numbered 1., 2., 3., etc., and sub-headings should be numbered 1.1, 1.2, etc. (then 1.1.1, 1.1.2, etc.).

 

b- Article specific information (requirements for each type of paper)

ba- Original articles

I- Structure: Abstract, Introduction, Material and methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion, and References.

II- Word limit: 3,000 words (without references)

III- Reference limit: 100 references.

IV- Figure/Table limit: a total of 6.

bb- Review articles

I- Structure: Abstract, Introduction, Material and methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion, and References. This does not apply to subject reviews.

II- Word limit: 4,000 words (without references); however, subject reviews can be longer (less than 10,000 words).

III-Reference limit: no limit.

IV- Figure/Table limit: a total of 6.

bc- Editorials

I- Structure: Authors are free to decide the sub-headings; however, editorials need to have a clear introduction and conclusion.

II- Word limit: 2,000 words (without references).

III- Reference limit: 10 references.

IV- Figure/Table limit: a total of 3.

bd- Commentaries/Perspectives/Brief Reports/Short Communications/Correspondences

I- Structure: a single body of text (unstructured).

II- Word limit: 1,000 words (without references).

III- Reference limit: 20 references.

IV- Figure/Table limit: a total of 3.

be- Case Reports

I- Structure: Introduction, Case presentation, Discussion, and Conclusion.

II- Word limit: 2,500 words (without references).

III- Reference limit: 20 references.

IV- Figure/Table limit: a total of 4.

 

10- Declarations

When submitting a manuscript, authors are required to add the following sections at the end of the manuscript, right before the reference list, and under the heading “Declarations”. The corresponding author is responsible for appropriately filling these sections. If a section is irrelevant to your study, write ‘Not applicable’ (still include the section heading).

Below are the headings that need to be included with details regarding the information to be mentioned in these sections:

a- Conflicts of Interest

All authors are required to disclose any relationships (personal or financial) with other organizations, institutions, or companies that may influence the integrity of their work (inappropriate presentation or interpretation of data). Potential sources of conflict of interest include but are not limited to: Personal beliefs, consultancies, funding sources, employment, stocks or shares ownership of a company, and membership of advisory/directors/ board of a company.

If there are no conflicts of interest to be stated, authors should write:
The author(s) have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

b- Ethical approval

In accordance with the ethical guidelines of the 1975 Declaration of Helsinki, any research involving experimental human subjects (or human tissues) should be accompanied by an ethical approval statement indicating that the work has obtained approval from an appropriate ethical committee. The statement should include the name of the ethical committee and the reference number. Case reports do need require ethical approval.

Studies involving animals (live vertebrates and/or higher invertebrates) should state that the animals have been provided appropriate care in accordance with institutional guidelines.

Editors may request the formal ethical approval documentation from the ethical committee responsible for the study oversight. If a research is exempt from requiring ethical approval, it should clearly be described why it is so.

c- Patient consent (to participate and to publish)

If a research involves human subjects or tissues, it must be clearly stated that written informed consent was acquired from all participants before their enrollment. In the case of diseased or unconscious patients or children under 18, consent should be obtained from a legal guardian. The informed consent should also include the possibility of using their data or clinical images for the purpose of publication. If it is not possible to obtain consent, the medical team (or authors) responsible for the patient’s care are responsible for the patient’s anonymization. If a research is exempt from requiring patient consent, it should clearly, but briefly, be described why it is so.

Names, date of birth, hospital ID number, and images of the participants should be removed from the manuscript. If such information must be included for scientific purposes, written informed consent has to be uploaded with the submission.

Patient consent statement can be written as:
“Written informed consent was obtained from all participants of this study”

 

d- Funding

All funding sources received for the submitted work should be declared in this section, alongside the role they played. The corresponding author, on behalf of all authors, is responsible for listing these sources and the accuracy of the information. This information is provided at submission and will be included in the published article. If there are no funding bodies to be identified for the submitted study, authors should state:
“The current study did not receive any funding”.

 

e- Acknowledgements

This section is for acknowledging someone’s contributions to the study who does not meet the criteria for authorship. These contributors can be anyone who has provided technical or general support. Authors should explicitly declare if they had received any medical writing assistance.

This section should not be used to thank companies, anonymous referees and editors, patients, family, or friends. When acknowledging an individual, please add their full name (first name, initial of middle name, and last name), affiliation, and the nature of their contribution. If there are no contributors to acknowledge, authors should state:
“None to be declared”

For studies involving a collaboration group (group authorship), please write the name of the collaboration group in the title page and submission system and then add collaborating author names at the last paragraph of the “Acknowledgements” section, with their full names and affiliations as it should appear title page.

 

f- Authors’ contributions

In this statement, author contributions to the manuscript should be clearly identified. An individual should be considered an author only if he/she has made substantial contributions in all these aspects:

1. fa) Preparing the first draft of the study or critically revising it.
2. fb) any kind of data acquisition, conception and design of the study, or data-analysis and interpretation.
3. fc) final approval of the manuscript before submission. Authors contributing to only one or two of the above aspects do not qualify for authorship.

If a study contains raw data, one of the contributions of at least two of the authors should confirm the authenticity of that data. In the statement, authors should be only referred to through the initials of their full names, for example:

HKM participated in data collection; BBA designed the study; JKL performed the data analysis; BBA and HKM participated in preparing the manuscript; JKL critically revised the manuscript; HKM and JKL confirmed the authenticity of the data; all authors approved the final version of the manuscript.

 

g- Data availability statement (Research data)

Barw Medical Journal requires authors to include a data availability statement as part of their declarations. This is only applicable to papers that have obtained their findings from research data, which is raw data of the results of an experimentation or observation that can be used to validate the findings of a research. The statement should inform readers about where the raw data of their work are publicly available; this can be a hyperlink to a public dataset, a supplementary raw data file generated throughout the study and submitted alongside the manuscript, or a dataset in a data repository (data linking).

Data availability statements can be as follows:

ga- If all the data are present in the manuscript, then the authors can state:
“The data produced by the current study are all included in the figures and/or tables of this article”

gb- If the data have been acquired from publicly available datasets, then authors can state:
“The data of the current study can be found at the following URL or in the (name of repository)”

gc- If an author does not wish to provide their raw data publicly, but it is available upon request, then they must provide a compelling reason of why that is and state:
“The data of the current study are not publicly available because of (compelling reason) but can be requested from the corresponding author”

gd- If a manuscript does not generate raw data (such as case reports and reviews), then authors can state:
“Not applicable”

 

11- References

a- In-text citation

References cited in the main text, tables, and figures should be numbered consecutively in the order in which they are cited in the text and written in square brackets “[ ]”, and they should also be included in the reference list and vice versa. If a reference is only cited in a table or figure, it should be numbered after all main references have been cited. Use commas to separate multiple citations (e.g., [1,3,6,7]); however, if more than 2 consecutive references are cited for the same sentence or paragraph, you should use a hyphen to join the first and last citations together (e.g., [4,7-11,15]). Authors should only cite papers that have been either published or accepted for publication (in press). Published conference abstracts can be cited.

 

b- Reference list

Overall, the Vancouver referencing style is used for all types of references. The journal titles should be spelled out. Although the journal does not require it, DOI can be provided for the references if authors wish to do so. In all references, only up to the first 6 authors are included. If there are more than 6 authors, the list of the first 6 authors should be followed by “et al.” If a journal does not use issue numbers, authors should write (1) in the place of the journal issue. References should include the year of publication but not the date. Preprint papers from well-known preprint databases can be used as references only when necessary; even then, they should be clearly marked as preprints.

Reference examples:

ba- Journal articles:

Wastnedge EA, Reynolds RM, Van Boeckel SR, Stock SJ, Denison FC, Maybin JA, et al. Pregnancy and COVID-19. Physiological reviews. 2021;101(1):303-18.

bb- Chapter in a book:

Døving KB, Kasumyan AO. Chemoreception. In Fish larval physiology. 5th ed. Place: CRC Press; 2020. p. 321-91.

bc- Books:

Døving KB, Kasumyan AO. Fish larval physiology. 5^th ed. Place: CRC Press; 2020.

bd- Abstracts:

Berger H, Klemm M. Clinical signs of gastric ulcers and its relation to incidence [abstract]. In: Chuit P, Kuffer A, Montavon S, editors. 8th Congress on Equine Medicine and Surgery; 2003 Dec 16-18; Geneva, Switzerland. Ithaca (NY): International Veterinary Information Service (IVIS); 2003. p. 45.

be- Web references:

WHO Coronavirus (COVID-19) Dashboard. World Health Organization. 2020. Accessed on September 16, 2021. https://covid19.who.int/.

bf- Patents:

Clarke J, Pines A, McDermott RF, Trabesinger AH. University of California, assignee. SQUID detected NMR and MRI at ultralow fields. European Patent 1474707. 2004.

bg- Data references:

Alyasriy H, Muayed AH. The IQ-OTHNCCD lung cancer dataset. Mendeley Data. 2021;1:2020.

 

12- Nomenclature and abbreviations

While using abbreviations in a manuscript, authors should:

a- Use abbreviations sparingly.

b- Avoid using abbreviations that are not standard unless repeated more than 4 times throughout the manuscript.

c- Keep in mind that abbreviations should be defined at first usage, in which they are put in parentheses (round brackets) next to the spelled-out form.

d- Keep in mind that in a footnote of every page, new abbreviations should be defined.

e- Be aware that standard measurement units can be used without providing their definition in the main text.

f- Use generic names of medications unless intentionally wanting to specify a specific formulation or brand.

g- Ensure consistency of abbreviations throughout the manuscript.

 

 

13- Tables

Authors can choose to either include tables in the manuscript file or upload them separately. If the authors upload the tables separately, table captions should be added at the end of the manuscript after the reference list. In any scenario, authors should follow these guidelines in preparing the tables;

a- Tables must be editable text and not images; it is recommended to use Microsoft Word and not spreadsheet programs (such as Microsoft Excel).

b- Formatting of the tables should be the same as the main text (1.5 Spacing and Times New Roman size 12 font).

c- Tables must be self-explanatory and not merely duplicate the results found elsewhere in the manuscript.

d- Authors need to ensure that the tables are mentioned in the main text and are numbered consecutively in the order in which they are discussed. Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, etc.) should be used in labeling the tables.

e- A single paragraph caption (title) should be provided before each table (after an appropriate label, such as Table 1.), and it should be aligned to the left.

f- Using abbreviations in tables is better to be avoided; however, if used, they should be defined in a footnote below the table.

g- A table should not be provided unless it has two or more columns, which should all have headings.

h- If a table includes information from other published studies, the last name of the first author, publication year, and reference number should be included in the table.

 

14- Figures

Authors can choose to either include figures in the manuscript file or upload them separately. If the authors upload the figures separately, figure captions should be added at the end of the manuscript under “Figure legends” section after the reference list. In any scenario, authors should follow these guidelines in preparing the figures;

a- Figures showing patients’ details that might lead to identifying them should not be used unless written consent has been obtained allowing the use of the image.

b- Authors should ensure that the figures are prepared in a way that is an honest and accurate representation of the original observations and devoid of possible misinterpretations.

d- Authors need to ensure that the figures are mentioned in the main text and are numbered consecutively in the order in which they are discussed. Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, etc.) should be used in labeling the figures.

e- If authors decide to upload figures separately from the manuscript, they should upload each figure as an individual file that is renamed as the figure order (e.g., Figure 1.TIFF).

f- A single paragraph caption (title) should be provided after each figure (after an appropriate label, such as Figure 1.), and it should be aligned to the center. The caption should not be attached to the figure and must be an editable text box. If needed, a brief description (legend) of the figure can be provided alongside the caption.

g- Use text in the figures very scarcely, but instead use symbols and letters and explain them in the description of the figure.

h- Using abbreviations is better to be avoided; however, if used, they should be defined in the description of the figure.

i- If a figure includes information from other published studies, the last name of the first author, publication year, and reference number should be included in the figure. If this is not possible, then at least the reference number should be included.

j- Figures produced in a Microsoft Office application (such as Excel, Word, and PowerPoint) can simply be submitted in the native document format.

k- If a figure is not produced in the applications mentioned in paragraph “j”, then the image should be converted to or saved as a TIFF, JPEG, or EPS file.

l- Image quality should have a minimum DPI of 300 and a pixel resolution of 1,000, both vertically and horizontally.

m- Bitmapped images should have a minimum DPI of 500 and a pixel resolution of 2,000, both vertically and horizontally.

n- Figures should only contain the desired areas of an image; hence, empty areas of the images should be cropped before uploading the figures to the submission system.

 

15- Videos

In special scenarios, Barw Medical Journal accepts animations and videos when they may improve the scientific paper. When included, authors should label them the same way as a table and cite them in the main text while also pointing out where the file may be found or placed, as videos and animations cannot be embedded in the PDF version (proving an external link at the end of the manuscript, or pointing out that the file is shown at the published paper’s page on the journal’s website). Video files should not be larger than 100 MB.

Accepted file formats include MP4, MPG, MPEG, AVI, MOV, MKV, and GIF for animations.

 

 

16- Appendices

Appendices are supplementary contents that are not an actual part of the manuscript but provide readers with a better understanding of the research topic and problem. Hence, the appendices section contains extra information that does not fit into the main text. Appendices should be labeled as A, B, etc., if there are more than one.

 

17- Statistical guidelines

If a manuscript contains statistical analysis, the statistical approach should be clearly defined so that readers can verify the results if they have access to the original data, and the results should be expressed in a non-confusing way.

a- In the materials and methods section:

aa- The name of the statistical software used and its version, name of the statistical test, and justification of using the test of each analysis should be provided in the statistical analysis sub-section of the materials and methods section.

ab- Indicate the p-value that is considered significant.

ac- For every p-value, it should be clearly expressed that it was generated by what test.

ad- If your analysis contains 3 or more groups, please be aware that Mann-Whitney’s U-test, Student’s t-test, or other two-sample tests should not be used. Instead, such analyses should be done by using tests that are specific to multiple groups, such as ANOVA followed by a post hoc test.

b- In the results section:

ba- Write the actual p-value that is expressed to 3 digits instead of thresholds (write p=0.035 instead of p<0.05).

bb- A p-value should always accompany the word “significant”.

bc- Descriptive statistics should be used to summarize data and include frequency (n), mean and median (measures of center), and range and standard deviation (measures of variability).

bd- If following a number, the symbol “±” is used in a table, it must be clarified whether it is meant as a standard deviation (SD) or standard error of the mean (SEM).

be- Significance indicators such as *, ** or ***, can only be used in figures.

bf- Where applicable, graphs should contain error bars.

 

18- Supplementary material

Data that cannot be included in the manuscript or which are not of primary importance can be provided as supplementary material during the submission process, and they will be published alongside the article. Supplementary materials are uploaded with the manuscript and also undergo the peer-review process. They can include videos, images, audios, large datasets, archives, or any file that cannot be included in the manuscript due to technical or formatting reasons.

a- These files should have a short, descriptive caption and a specific label that has a sequential number (e.g., Figure S1, Table S2, Appendix S2, Data S1, etc.) and is easily referenced in the text if needed.

b- Do not include the manuscript title or author information in supplementary files.

c- We do not edit supplementary files, and they are published in the same way that they are uploaded by the author. Hence, we encourage authors to proofread these files before submitting them.

d- When a supplementary material is mentioned in the main text, please make sure to include the word “supplementary”.

e- Keep the size of these files as small as possible (under 50 MB). Videos are allowed to be up to 100 MB.

f- Supplementary materials can be provided as:

fa- Datasheets (CSV, Word, Excel, CDX, PDF, FASTA, or Zip files)

fb- Presentations (Zip files, PowerPoint, or PDF)

fc- Images (JPEG, CDX, EPS, TIF/TIFF, PDF, or PNG),

fd- Tables (PDF, Word, Excel, or CSV)

fe- Audios (WMA, MP3, or WAV)

ff- Videos (DIVX, MKV, AVI, MP4, FLV, MOV, WMV, MPEG, or MPG).

 

POST-SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

 

1- Online page proof

After receiving acceptance of their manuscript, authors are required to carefully check and proofread the manuscript again before publication. The corresponding author is kindly asked via email to revise and provide proof corrections of the final version of the manuscript within a maximum of 4 days.

Authors can either; make the corrections and provide annotations via our proofing system (part of our submission system), or they can download the final version of the manuscript as a PDF file and provide their comments and suggested edits on the PDF version and upload it back into the system.

We especially encourage authors to carefully check the paper title, author information, correctness and completeness of the manuscript, correctness of tables and figures, and correct editing that has not caused any errors, especially in citations and the reference list. Only crucial and significant changes within the manuscript are allowed. Stylistic changes, adding/removing references without the presence of an error, or rewriting of sections are not permitted.

 

2- Increasing visibility

Barw Medical Journal’s communications and marketing team will promote the visibility of published articles in a variety of ways, such as posting them on the journal’s homepage and social media platforms, and through email alerts.

Additionally, published papers are automatically deposited in abstracting and indexing databases, such as Google Scholar. We work hard towards indexing our journal in all important bibliographic databases so that authors may receive the highest level of visibility.

We also encourage authors to promote their articles by sending the article to researchers working in that area via email, posting on their own social media accounts and pages, creating ResearchGate and google scholar accounts and uploading their works into these accounts.