Submissions

Original Articles

The following guidelines apply to Original Article and generally for all other types of articles. Specific guidelines for other article types are described within the specific sections.

ABSTRACT AND KEYWORDS

The abstract of original articles should be structured and not exceed 250 words. The structured abstracts should have the following headings:

1. Introduction (the text must be brief and relate the purpose of the study)
2. Materials and Methods (selection of study subjects or experimental animals, observational and analytical methods)
3. Results (provide specific data with their statistical significance, when it is available)
4. Conclusion (must be succinct whilst emphasizing new and important aspects of the study)

KEYWORDS

Provide a minimum of three (3) and a maximum of five (5) keywords or short phrases that will assist in cross-indexing the article using appropriate terms from MeSH.

TEXT

This section should consist of Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion and Conclusion. The numbers of wordcount should not be more than 3000 words excluding abstract, figures, tables, acknowledegements and references.

INTRODUCTION

State briefly the purpose, rationale for the study or observation. Avoid a review of the subject by confining to only relevant information and references. Do not include data or conclusions from the work being cited.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A precise description of the selection of your observational or experimental subjects (patients or laboratory animals, including controls) must be presented. State the methods, apparatus (including manufacturer’s name and address in parenthesis), and procedures in sufficient detail to allow others to reproduce the method. In the case(s) of established methods or techniques, give references. References for methods that have been published but are not well-known must also be provided. For new or substantially adapted methods, describe and give reasons for using them and critically evaluate their limitations. All chemicals and drugs used must be identified correctly, including their generic names, the name of the manufacturer, city and country in parenthesis. The dosage should be mentioned accurately including the route of administration. The International System of Units (SI) should be used and Footnotes avoided.  

RESULTS

Provide a concise and precise description of the experimental results, their interpretation as well as the experimental conclusions that can be drawn. The Results section should include all primary and secondary outcome measures analyzed. The section may be divided into subsections, each with a concise subheading. Tables and figures central to the study should be included in the main paper. The Results section should be written in past tense.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

Elaborate on the new and important findings of the study. Do not repeat in detail data or other information already given in the Introduction or the Results sections. Compare and discuss with previous works (citing references). Discuss the implications of the findings and their limitations. Link the conclusions with the goals of the study but avoid statements and conclusions not completely supported by your data. Avoid claiming priority and alluding to work that has not been completed. State new hypotheses when warranted. Discuss your finding with regard to future research. Recommendations, when appropriate, must be given at the end of this section followed by a concluding paragraph.                              

REFERENCE 

Maximum of 50 references for original articles. 

Review Article

Review articles can be submitted by any author or by invitation. These are systematic critical assessments of literature and data sources, usually written by experts providing recent information on a given specialty. Each article should include an unstructured Abstract, Keywords (min 3, max 5) , Introduction, Relevant Section Headings, Conclusion and up to 50 References. The numbers of wordcount should not be more than 3000 words excluding abstract, figures, tables, acknowledegements and references.

Case Report

Case reports should include a brief discussion of a single case (or several similar cases) with unique features not previously described. An unstructured abstract of less than 150 words should be provided. The report should not exceed 1,500 words with a maximum of 4 figures / tables allowed. Up to 10 references are permitted.

Expert Opinion

Expert opinion can be submitted by any authors covering areas of medical education, medical ethics, fiqh in medicine, clinical practice guidelines and medico-legal. These are opinion-based essays of up to 2500 words of highly readable and compelling text by a single author or a group of authors. The author(s) name(s) and institution(s) must be clearly stated at the end of the text. Only a maximum of two figures, two tables and up to 25 references are allowed. No abstract is required.

Clinical Quiz

A clinical quiz consists of a short history, physical examination with or without investigation results of a classical or rare case limited to 500 words. The aim of the quiz is to educate the journal readers about the case. At least one image (not more than three) should be included. The authors should provide 2 “best of five” questions with answers based on the case. A concluding discussion of not more than 200 words must also be provided at the end. Only 2 authors are allowed.  An example of the question would be:

Based on the history and chest X-ray of this patient, the most likely diagnosis is:

A.    Klebsiella pneumonia
B.    Carcinoma of lung
C.    Pneumocystic carini pneumonia
D.    Right sided endocarditis
E.    Pulmonary lymphoma                    Answer: D

Student Section

This section is only for medical students. It can be in the form of an interesting clinical case, a life changing experience, a personal viewpoint on a medical issue, report of an unusual elective or a structured abstract from a study conducted during medical training.  Submissions that can potentially benefit other medical students in their training would be highly considered for publication. Articles should be written in less than 1000 words with a maximum of 5 references. You may include one additional item such as a figure, a table or a photograph. The main author should be a medical student but there is no restriction on the co-authors. All submissions will be considered by the editorial board and will not go through a peer review process.