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Information for Authors

About the Journal

BMVJ is an open-access international, peer-reviewed journal publishing high-quality, original research. Open Access means you can publish your research so it is free to access online as soon as it is published, meaning anyone can read (and cite) your work. English is the official language for publications in this journal. BMVJ accepts original papers, reviews, book reviews and editorial letters for publication.

Language

Manuscripts must be written in English in a clear and concise manner. Any author who is not fluent or native in formal English is urged to seek assistance with manuscript preparation prior to submission. Any grammatical errors are not expected to be corrected by the reviewers. Furthermore, any deficiency in this area may detract from the scientific content of the paper and result in acceptance delays or rejection.

Types of Articles

The journal seeks to publish four types of contributions in the form of original articles, short communications, reviews, and mini-reviews.

  1. Original articles: Articles that represent in-depth research in various scientific disciplines.
  2. Short communications: These should be complete manuscripts of significant importance. However, their length and/or depth do not justify a full-length paper. The total number of figures and tables should not exceed 4. The number of words should be around 3,000.
  3. Review articles: Should normally comprise less than 10,000 words; contain unstructured abstract and include up-to-date references. Meta-analyses are considered as reviews. Special attention will be paid to the teaching value of review papers.
  4. Mini-reviews: These are reviews of important and recent topics that are presented in a concise and well-focused manner. The number of words is limited to 5,000 words.

Before Submission

Manuscripts must be submitted on the understanding that they have not been published elsewhere and are only being considered by this journal. The submitting author is responsible for ensuring that the article’s publication has been approved by all the other coauthors. It is also the submitting author’s responsibility to ensure that the article has all necessary institutional approvals. Only an acknowledgment from the editorial office officially establishes the date of receipt. Further correspondence and proofs will be sent to the author(s) before publication, unless otherwise indicated. It is a condition of submission that the authors permit editing of the manuscript for readability. All inquiries concerning the publication of accepted manuscripts should be addressed to BMVJ publication team.

Preparation of Manuscripts

Manuscripts must be prepared in accordance with "Uniform requirements for Manuscripts submitted to Biomedical Journals" developed by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (October 2008). Before submitting a manuscript, contributors are requested to check for the latest instructions available here.

Online Submission

Manuscripts should be submitted by one of the authors of the manuscript through the journal's online submission system (Editorial Manager). following the instructions given on the screen. Please watch this video prior to submitting your manuscript. Only Word (.doc, .docx, .rtf) files can be submitted through the MTS, and there is no page limit. Submissions by anyone other than one of the authors will not be accepted. The submitting author takes responsibility for the manuscript during submission and peer review. If for some technical reason, submission through the MTS is not possible, the author can contact to BMVJ publication team for support.

Initial evaluation

All submitted manuscripts will be checked by the Editorial Office to determine whether they are properly prepared and whether they follow the ethical policies of the journal. All submitted manuscripts are screened for potential plagiarism via iThenticate software. Manuscripts that do not fit the journal's ethics policy or do not meet the standards of the journal will be rejected before peer review. Incomplete manuscripts not prepared in the advised style will be sent back to authors without scientific review. After these checks, the Editorial Office will consult the journal’s Editor-in-Chief to determine whether the manuscript fits the scope of the journal and whether it is scientifically sound. Manuscripts with insufficient priority for publication will be rejected promptly. Please write your text in good English (American usage is accepted). The Editor reserves the right to reject a manuscript on the grounds of insufficient language quality. Reject decisions at this stage will be verified by the Editor-in-Chief.

Submission Declaration and Verification

By submitting any research article for the purposes of publication by the journal you must certify and warrant that:
1. You have been authorized by any coauthors to submit the research article; and
(a) You are the sole author(s) of the article and are legally able and entitled to submit the article and authorize the journal to publish the research article. If the law requires that the article be published in the public domain, I/we will notify the journal at the time of submission.
(b) The research article is original, has not already been published in any other journal (medical, or otherwise) or is not currently under consideration for publication by another journal, and does not infringe any existing copyright or any other rights prescribed by law;
(c) The article contains nothing that is unlawful, defamatory, or which would, if published, constitute a breach of contract or of confidentiality;
(d) Due care, diligence, and all other requisite investigations were carried out in the preparation of the research article(s) to ensure its accuracy. To the best of your knowledge, all statements contained in it purporting to be factual are true and correct.

Article Structure

The manuscript should be compiled in the following order:

  1. Title page
  2. Abstract, Keywords
  3. Introduction
  4. Material and methods
  5. Results
  6. Discussion
  7. Conclusion
  8. Acknowledgment(s)
  9. Conflicts of Interest
  10. References
  11. Tables
  12. Figures

Title page

The title page should include the following in English:

  1. Title: The title should be brief, concise, and descriptive. It should not contain any literature references or compound numbers or non-standardized abbreviations. It should be centered, typed in Times New Roman 14 point and boldface.
  2. Authors and affiliations: Supply given names, middle initials, and family names for complete identification. They should be centered beneath the title and typed in Times New Roman 11-point, non-italic, and boldface. Use superscript lowercase letters to indicate different affiliations, which should be as detailed as possible and must include department, faculty/college, University, the city with zip code or P.O. Box and country. The primary affiliation for each author should be the institution where most of their work was done. if an author has subsequently moved, the current address may additionally be stated. Addresses will not be updated after the publication of the article.
  3. Corresponding author: Should be indicated with an asterisk, and contact details (Tel., fax, and e-mail address) should be placed in a footnote. If available, the 16-digit ORCID of the corresponding author.

Title, Authors, and affiliations in Arabic should be provided in the same order as mentioned above on a separate page in the same file.

Short running title (running head) with 80 characters as maximum.

Abstract

The abstract should be self-contained, citation-free, and should not exceed 300 words. The abstract should briefly describe the purpose of the study, how the investigation was performed, the most important results, and the principal conclusions that were drawn from the results, respectively. Nonstandard or uncommon abbreviations should be defined at first mention within the abstract. The abstract should be typed in Times New Roman, 9-point, non-italic and non-boldface.

Keywords

Authors are asked to provide (4 to 6) keywords, separated with semicolons, and should be typed in Times New Roman, 10-point, non-italic and non-boldface.

Introduction

This section should be succinct, with no subheadings. The author(s) should strive to define the significance of the work and the justification for its publication. Any background discussion should be brief and restricted to pertinent material.

Material and methods (Experimental or Methodology or Patients and methods)

This part should contain sufficient detail that would enable all procedures to be repeated. It can be divided into subsections if several methods are described. Authors should be as concise as possible in experimental descriptions. The experimental section must contain all of the information necessary to guarantee reproducibility. Previously published methods should be indicated by a reference and only relevant modifications should be described. All vendor details, including company, city, and country, should be mentioned for chemicals, reagents, strains, etc. For statistical analysis, please state the appropriate test(s) in addition to a hypothesized p-value or significant level (for example 0.05).

Results and Discussion

They should be combined. The study results should be clear and concise. Restrict the use of tables and figures to depict data that is essential to the message and interpretation of the study. The results should be presented in a logical sequence in the text, tables and illustrations. The discussion should explore the significance of the results of the work, not repeat them. Include in the discussion the implications of the findings and their limitations, how the findings fit into the context of other relevant work, and directions for future research.

Conclusion(s)

The main conclusion(s) of the study should be presented in a short conclusion statement highlighting the goals of the study and its importance. State new hypotheses when warranted. Include recommendations when appropriate.

Acknowledgment(s)

All acknowledgments (if any) should be included at the very end of the manuscript before the references. Anyone who made a contribution to the research or manuscript, but who is not a listed author, should be acknowledged (with their permission).

Conflicts of Interest

Authors must declare all relevant interests that could be perceived as conflicting. Authors should explain why each interest may represent a conflict. If no conflicts exist, the authors should state this. Submitting authors are responsible for co-authors declaring their interests.

References

Text: Indicate references by Arabic numerals in brackets, which run in order of appearance throughout the text (Vancouver style). For instance [4] or [7-10, 13,15]. The actual authors can be referred to, but the reference number(s) must always be given.

Figures

Figures and tables should not be submitted in separate files. If the article is accepted, authors will be asked to provide the source files of the figures. Each figure should be supplied in a separate electronic file. All figures should be cited in the manuscript in consecutive order. Figures should be supplied in either vector art formats (Illustrator, EPS, WMF, FreeHand, CorelDraw, PowerPoint, Excel, etc.) or bitmap formats (Photoshop, TIFF, GIF, JPEG, etc.). Bitmap images should be of 300 dpi resolution at least unless the resolution is intentionally set to a lower level for scientific reasons. If a bitmap image has labels, the image and labels should be embedded in separate layers. Figures should be referred to as Fig. 1, Figs. 2, 3-5, using Arabic numerals. Ensure that all tables, figures, and schemes are cited in the text in numerical order. Figure parts should be denoted by lowercase letters (a, b, c, etc.).

Tables

Tables should be cited consecutively in the text. Every table must have a descriptive title and if numerical measurements are given, the units should be included in the column heading. Vertical rules should not be used. Figure and table captions should be 9-point Times New Roman, boldface, and non-italic. Initially capitalize only the first word of the caption. Figure captions are to be below the figures and Table titles are to be fully justified right and left above the table.

Funding Statement

Authors must state how the research and publication of their article were funded, by naming financially supporting body(s) (written out in full) followed by associated grant number(s) in square brackets (if applicable), for example: “This work was supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council [grant numbers xxxx, yyyy]; the National Science Foundation [grant number zzzz]; and a Leverhulme Trust Research Project Grant”. If the research did not receive specific funding but was performed as part of the employment of the authors, please name this employer. If the funder was involved in the manuscript writing, editing, approval, or decision to publish, please declare this.

Nomenclature and Units

All measurements and data should be given in SI units where possible, or in other internationally accepted units in parentheses throughout the text. Illustrations and Tables should use conventional units, with conversion factors given in legends or footnotes.

Proofs

One set of page proofs (as PDF files) will be sent by e-mail to the corresponding author. Please use this proof only for checking the typesetting, editing, completeness, and correctness of the text, tables, and figures. We will do our best to get your article published quickly and accurately. Therefore, it is important to ensure that all of your corrections are sent back in one communication within 48 h. proofreading is solely your responsibility. Note that the publisher may proceed with the publication of an article if no response is received.

Revised manuscripts

When you revise your manuscript, upload your revised submissions including the following files:

  • Revised manuscript: Clarifying the changes you have made since the original submission by using the "Track Changes" option in Microsoft Word. Upload this as a "Revised Article with Changes Highlighted" file.
  • Response to reviewers: Type the specific points made by each reviewer. Include your responses to all the reviewers' and editors' comments and list the changes you have made to the manuscript. Upload this document as a "Response to reviewers" file.
  • Revised manuscript (clean copy): Upload a clean copy of your revised manuscript with names, which does not show your changes. Upload this as your "Manuscript" file.

After acceptance

Upon acceptance, your article will be exported to production to undergo typesetting. once the typesetting is complete, you will receive the proofs.

Peer Review

The journal is devoted to peer-review integrity with the highest standards of review. Each received manuscript is initially evaluated for suitability to the journal by the editor. Manuscripts are rejected by the editors if they are insufficiently original, have serious scientific flaws, need extensive improvement in the language, or do not fall within the aims and scope of the journal. Manuscripts deemed suitable are sent to a minimum of two external peer reviewers to assess the scientific quality of the paper. This journal operates a single-blind review process (the names and information of the reviewers are hidden from the author). Editors will make a decision based on the reviewers’ reports and authors are sent these reports along with the editorial decision on their manuscript. Authors should note that even in light of one positive report, concerns raised by another reviewer may fundamentally undermine the study and result in the manuscript being rejected.

Ethical Guidelines

In any study on human or animal subjects, the following ethical guidelines must be observed. For any experiments on humans, all work must be conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki (1964). Manuscripts describing experimental work which carries a risk of harm to human subjects must include a statement that the experiment was conducted with the human subjects’ understanding and consent, as well as a statement that the responsible Ethical Committee has approved the experiments. In the case of any animal experiments, the authors must provide a full description of any anesthetic or surgical procedure used, as well as evidence that all possible steps were taken to avoid animal suffering at each stage of the experiment.

Complying with Ethics of Experimentation

Please ensure that all research reported in submitted papers has been conducted in an ethical and responsible manner, and is in full compliance with all relevant codes of experimentation and legislation. All original research papers involving humans, animals, plants, biological material, protected or non-public datasets, collections or sites, must include a written statement under an Ethics Approval section including the following:

  • The name of the ethics committee(s) or institutional review board(s) involved.
  • The number or ID of the ethics approval(s).
  • A statement that human participants have provided informed consent before taking part in the research.
  • Research involving animals must adhere to ethical standards concerning animal welfare. All original research papers involving animals must:
    • Follow international, national, and institutional guidelines for the humane treatment of animals.
    • Receive approval by the ethics review committee at the institution or practice at which the research was conducted and provide details on the approval process, names of the ethics committee(s) or institutional review board(s) involved, and the number or ID of the ethics approval(s) in the Ethics Approval section.
    • Provide justification for use of animals and the species selected.
    • Provide information about housing, feeding, and environmental enrichment, and steps taken to minimize suffering.
    • Provide mode of anesthesia and euthanasia.

Studies in humans and animals

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) for experiments involving humans. The manuscript should be in line with the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals and aim for the inclusion of representative human populations (sex, age, and ethnicity) as per those recommendations. The terms sex and gender should be used correctly.

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 and should be carried out in accordance with the U.K. Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act, 1986 and associated guidelines, EU Directive 2010/63/EU for animal experiments, or the National Research Council's Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals and the authors should clearly indicate in the manuscript that such guidelines have been followed. The sex of animals must be indicated, and where appropriate, the influence (or association) of sex on the results of the study.

Supplementary materials

Authors can publish online supplementary files along with their articles or book chapter. Each supplementary file should include an article title, journal name, authors' names, affiliations, and email address of the corresponding author. Supplementary files will be published as received from the authors without any conversion, editing, or reforming.

Article Publishing Charge

There are no Article Processing Charges (APC) for publication of the journal on all submissions as Alnoor University will cover all the expenses.