Header

Guide for Authors

HeaderManuscript Submission

Manuscripts should be submitted via online submission system, which is available at https://apjmt.mums.ac.ir/contacts. In case of any problem with online submission, please contact with editorial office via email to apjmt@mums.ac.ir. Articles and images will be accepted only in condition that they are submitted exclusively for this journal. Authors should not submit the same manuscript, in the same or different languages, simultaneously to more than one journal. Before submission of an article, please view the Aims and Scope of the journal.

 

HeaderEthics

Ethics and malpractice statements of the APJMT are based on "COPE's Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors" as well as "ICMJE Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals" and pertain to all parties involved in the publishing: the editor, the peer reviewer and the author. Published research must comply with the guidelines for human studies and animal welfare regulations. If the work involves the use of human subjects, the author should ensure that the work described has been carried out in accordance with The Code of Ethics of the World Medical Association (Declaration of Helsinki). Authors should include a statement in the manuscript that informed consent was obtained for experimentation with human subjects. The privacy rights of human subjects must always be observed. All animal experiments should comply with the ARRIVE guidelines. The study protocol has been approved by the institutional review board or other similar ethics authoritis. For further details, please visit Publication Ethics page.

 

HeaderPeer review process

All manuscripts will be peer reviewed by experts with vast knowledge and experience in the field and on the basis of their feedback; papers may be accepted totally or subjected to revision or rejected. For further details, please visit Peer Review Process page.

 

HeaderPreparation of Manuscripts

The writing style should be concise and easy to follow, avoiding jargon so that the paper is understandable for readers outside a specialty or those whose first language is not English. Manuscripts should be typed double-spaced and saved in Microsoft Word® 2013 format and later versions. Journal titles cited in the references must be conformed to the abbreviations used in Index Medicus and follow the Vancouver style as shown below. Manuscripts should be accompanied by a cover letter indicating that the final manuscript has been reviewed and approved by all authors. The cover letter should also note the type of manuscript submitted (original article, review article, short communication, case report, medical images for education, or letter to the editor).

 

HeaderArticle Formats

subheaderOriginal article: Original articles should not exceed 250 words in abstract and 4500 in main text from introduction through references. They should be compiled in the following order: Title Page, Abstract, Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, Limitations, Conclusion, Acknowledgments, References, Tables with titles and Figures with legends (see below). The total number of tables and figures combined may not exceed 6, and the number of references may not exceed 50.

subheaderReview article: These articles can be in any length. There are no restrictions on word count, number of figures, or amount of supporting information. However, similar to other article formats, abstract should not exceed 250 words. They should be compiled in the following order: Title Page, Abstract, Introduction, Methods, Results (this part can be divided into several headings), Discussion, Limitations, Conclusion, Acknowledgments, References, Tables with titles and Figures with legends.

Authors of systematic or narrative reviews should clearly describe in methods section: (1) their search strategy (how authors obtained the relevant material from credible online databases or other sources of medical science distribution, textbooks, governmental reports and documents), (2) the search terms used for exploring online medical databases, (3) their selection criteria for inclusion of retrieved articles and texts to final analysis, (4) the criteria for exclusion of articles and texts in final analysis, (5) time-frame of publication of retrieved articles and texts (published years of retrieved articles and texts are pertinent to what time-frame), (6) data collection and analysis (how authors finally extracted the relevant data and analyzed them). 

Please note that review articles are usually solicited by the editors, but APJMT may consider unsolicited material. Also note that articles, texts and documents quoted in review articles should not be published older than 30 years ago (except for clinical cases that are rare in medicine).  

subheaderCase report: These articles should not exceed 250 words in abstract and 2500 words in main text from introduction through references. They should include following sections: Introduction, Case report(s), Discussion  and Conclusion. The abstarct should also contain same sections. The manuscript should also comprised a good comprehensive review of literature about the topic. The total number of tables and figures combined may not exceed 3, and the number of references may not exceed 30.

subheaderShort communication: These articles, which are consistent with original articles format, are brief reports on results of high significance and urgency. Their length may not exceed 2500 words from introduction through references, the total number of tables and figures combined may not exceed 4, and the number of references may not exceed 30.

subheaderLetter to editor: These articles should be limited to commentaries on previous articles published in APJMT. Letters that are commentaries on previous articles must be submitted within 12 months after publication of the article. Length of letters should be no more than 2 pages, including references. Only 1 table and/or figure may accompany a letter to editor.

subheaderImage for education: APJMT welcomes interesting images of compelling visual cases related to medical toxicology for publishing. Authors should submit high quality images (at least 300 dpi resolution in TIFF/JPEG format) along with description of a clinical presentation, a question (asking the readers about their diagnosis based on clinical presntation and the image), differential diagnoses, proper approach and treatments for such condition and a brief description of prognosis and outcomes. All given information should be evidence-based and supported with references. A sample of this type of article can be retrieved from: http://apjmt.mums.ac.ir/article_2471_434.html

 

HeaderManuscript Structure

1. Title page: A title page should be indicating the manuscript title plus the full names and affiliations of all authors involved in the preparation of the manuscript. In title page, name(s) of all author(s) should be mentioned in full. Each author name should consist of a full given name and last name (patronymics are also acceptable). Initials are not accepted as the name of the authors but should be included in the title page as they are helpful for differentiation of names and family names and are used for Medline citations. In the order of authors’ names, separate names with "commas" and use "and" before the last author's name. Each author name should be followed by at least one superscript number keyed to that author’s affiliation(s). One author should be designated as the corresponding author and full contact information including phone number and email address should be provided for this person. At the end of the title page, a  short running head not more than 40 characters (including letters and spaces), a word count for the main text (excluding abstract, acknowledgments and references), a separate word count for the abstract and total number of figures and tables should be expressed.

2. Abstract: The recommended format for a structured abstract, with the following headings for an original article includes: Background, Methods, Results and Conclusion followed by maximum 5 Keywords. Keywords must be MeSH terms (https://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/meshhome.html); others could be rewritten by the editor.

3. Introduction: This section should be concise and clear, giving relevant details and background, providing a context to the study. The objective of the study and the main questions and their significance should be clearly stated. Only directly pertinent references should be provided. No data or conclusions from the work should be reported.

4. Methods: This section should consist details relevant to the procedures of the study. Study design and sampling along with selection and description of participants (inclusion and exclusion criteria) should be explained. Methods of collecting data including instruments, questionnaires, interviews, etc. should be mentioned. If any equipment or specific reagent was used, the name of the manufacturer, city and country should be provided. Statistical analysis should be described by specifying the computer software employed and statistical tests used. Moreover, it is necessary to mention if the study has been conducted according to the ethics guidelines (see above).

5. Results: The results should be presented in a logical sequence with refering tables and illustrations, giving the main or most important findings. All data in the tables or illustrations should not be repeated in the text. Data in graphs and tables should not be duplicated. Tables and figures should be restricted to those explaining the argument of the paper and providing supporting data. It is better to use graphs as an alternative to tables with many entries. All the tables and graphs should be referenced in the text. Please send an original Excel file as well as a TIFF file with at least 300-dpi resolution for each graph. Tables should be included in the text at the end of the manuscript. Tables should be used only when they can present information more efficiently than running text.

6. Discussion: This section should include implications of the main findings and exploring possible mechanism or explanation for those findings and their limitations, followed by reference to other relevant studies discussing discrepancies and similarities.

7. Limitations: Authors are urged to declare the limitations of their research. Limitations are factors and conditions that could not be controlled by the researcher and place restrictions on the methodology, results and conclusions. Limitations of the study mainly arise from the nature of self-reporting, the instruments and facility utilized in the research, the sample size and time constraints.

8. Conclusion: A paragraph describing the clear gist of research and importance of findings in clinical practice is necessary at the end of manuscript. Finally, recommendations for future research and clinical practice could be given.

9. Acknowledgements: In this section; special thanks, personal assistance and dedications should be mentioned. Contributions from individuals who do not have the quality for authorship should also be acknowledged here.

10. Conflict of interest: Declarations of interest refers to statements of financial support and/or statements of potential conflicts of interest that could be construed to have influenced the work. Within this section also disclosure of scientific writing assistance (use of an agency or agency/freelance writer), grant support and numbers and statements of employment should be mentioned if applicable. 

11. Funding and support: Source of funding and any financial support should be mentioned if applicable. Also, the approval of the research by institute research committee should be stated if applicable.

12. Legend: Legends or captions for figures should be listed on a separate page, double spaced.

13. References: References should be given in the Vancouver style and numbered consecutively in the order which they are first mentioned in the text. Citation in the text should be in line with text in parenthesis with Arabic numbering style. Below, some examples of correct style are illustrated:

-Journal article

Baud FJ, Barriot P, Toffis V, Riou B, Vicaut E, Lecarpentier Y,  et al. Elevated blood cyanide concentrations in victims of smoke inhalation. N Engl J Med. 1991;325:1761-6.

-Chapter in a book

Schwartz DT. Diagnostic Imaging. In: Flomenbaum NE, Goldfrank LR, Hoffman RS, Howland MA, Lewin NA, Nelson LS, editors. Goldfrank's Toxicologic Emergencies. 8th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill; 2006. p.63-87.

-Book

Penney DG. Carbon monoxide poisoning. 1st ed. Boca Raton: CRC Press; 2008.

-Website

World health organization (WHO). Neglected tropical diseases, Snakebite [Internet]. 2009. Available from: http://www.who.int/neglected_diseases/diseases/snakebites/en (Accessed Nov 7, 2014).

-Conference paper

Afshari R. Opioid poisoning and medical complications in Asia pacific region. In: Proceedings of the 10th Annual Congress of Asia Pacific Association of Medical Toxicology; 2011 Nov 11-14; Penang, Malaysia. p.48.

For other examples and more information about referencing style, please access "ICMJE Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals" available from: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_requirements.html

 

end