Authors guidelines
yenagoa medical journal
Authors Guidelines | Yenagoa Medical Journal
Kindly read through before submitting manuscripts for publication. This will help to reduce the rate of rejection
We publish open access, peer-reviewed original articles, short research notes, short communications, review articles, systematic review articles, case reports, commentaries, perspectives, viewpoints, letters to the editor, book reviews, medical educational materials and articles on socioeconomic, political or legal matters related to medical practice.
Articles
- Original research articles
These include original data that have not been published anywhere else (except as an abstract). Research articles should follow the structure of Abstract, Introduction, Methodology, Results, Discussion, Conclusion, Acknowledgements, Authors’ contributions, Competing Interests, Funding, Consent (where applicable), Ethical approval (where applicable), and References. An original research article should not contain more than 6 illustrations/figures/tables, not more than 40 references, and should not exceed 4,000 words (all inclusive). - Short research notes
These are single-finding articles that can be reported with not more than two illustrations/figures/tables. Posters from conferences or internal meetings may be written as short research notes. Some additional detail in the methods, description of the results, and discussion may be required to enable readers have enough information to understand the description of the work. A Short research note should follow the structure of Abstract, Introduction, Methodology, Results, Discussion, Conclusion, Acknowledgements, Authors’ contributions, Competing Interests, Funding, Consent (where applicable), Ethical approval (where applicable), and References. This should not exceed 2,500 words, 3 illustrations/figures/tables, and 30 references. - Short communications
These are urgent communications of important preliminary results that are original, of high interest and likely to have a significant impact on the subject area of the Yenagoa Medical Journal. The original research article is expected to be sent to Yenagoa Medical Journal for publication following a short communication. A short communication should follow the structure of Abstract, Introduction, Methodology, Results, Discussion, Conclusion, Acknowledgements, Authors’ contributions, Competing Interests, Funding, Consent (where applicable), Ethical approval (where applicable), and References. This should not exceed 2,500 words, 2 illustrations/figures/tables, and 15 references. - Review articles
These will include discussion of published articles and data acquired in a specific area, and will not have to be data acquired by the authors. The name of the author(s) reviewing particular article(s) should be written as the author(s) of a review article. The source of the article(s) reviewed should be written in the abstract. Review articles should follow the structure of Abstract, Introduction, Body (may have different headings, and does not follow a particular pattern), Conclusion, Acknowledgements, Authors’ contributions, Competing Interests, Funding, Consent (where applicable), Ethical approval (where applicable), and References. This should not exceed 6,000 words, 100 references and 12 illustrations/figures/tables. - Systematic review articles
These are usually based on medical interventions or animal model studies. Authors should consult the PRISMA guidelines for reporting in systematic reviews. Systematic reviews deal with a clearly formulated question and use systematic and explicit methods to identify, select, and critically assess the relevant research. The sections on Acknowledgements, Authors’ contributions, Competing Interests, Funding, Consent (where applicable), Ethical approval (where applicable), and References should be included. These articles should not exceed 6,000 words, 50 references and 12 illustrations/figures/tables. - Case reports
These describe patient cases which are of particular interest due to their rarity, peculiarity, novelty and their potential message for clinical practice. These demonstrate unusual presentations which may confront the practitioner. Case reports should follow the structure of Abstract, Introduction, Case presentation, Discussion, Conclusion, Acknowledgements, Authors’ contributions, Competing Interests, Consent (where applicable), Ethical approval (where applicable), and References.
A case report should not exceed 2,500 words, 5 figures and 30 references. - Commentaries
These include a comment on a newly published article in the Yenagoa Medical Journal or a short narrowly focused article on a topical issue of public interest; usually invited by the journal editor. It should not exceed 1,500 words, 2 illustrations/figures/tables, and 30 references. - Perspectives
These present criticism or address controversy about a recently published paper, a current/ ongoing area of scientific research, or a newly implemented innovation. They are written to present the author’s insights and include both original data and personal opinion. Perspectives should follow the structure of Abstract, Introduction, Body, and Conclusion. It should not exceed 2,500 words, 2 illustrations/figures/tables, and 30 references. - Viewpoints/ Opinion articles
These highlight the strength and weaknesses about a specific topic or concept, hypothesis or scientific theory. They are written to present the author’s personal opinions and ideas on the subject and do not contain original data. Viewpoints/ Opinion articles should follow the structure of Abstract, Introduction, Body, and Conclusion. It should not exceed 2,500 words, 2 illustrations/figures/tables, and 10 references. - Letter to the editor
This will provide a means of communication between the author of an article and the reader of the Yenagoa Medical Journal. Letter to the editor may provide new insight, make corrections, offer alternate theories, or request clarification about content printed in the Yenagoa Medical Journal. Letter to the editor should not exceed 500 words, 2 illustrations/figures/tables and 10 references.
Manuscript
The manuscript should be written in English language (using the British conventions of spelling, punctuation and grammar) as word document using the Times New Roman font. The text should be written in double line spacing and single column format.
Illustrations, tables and figures should be placed at their appropriate positions inside the text. Tables should be typed and double-spaced. The headings should be placed above the table. Where footnotes are necessary, they should be placed below the table with superscript lowercase letters. The information that has been presented in a figure should not be re-presented in a table. The captions of figures should be written below the figures.
The title page should contain a brief title, name(s) of author(s) and their affiliations, and contact information of corresponding author. The title should be written without abbreviations. Affiliation should have a number in superscript just after the author’s name and in front of the appropriate address. The name of the corresponding author should be indicated with telephone number (country code inclusive for those outside Nigeria) and e-mail address.
Abstract
The abstract should be concise. It should not exceed 250 words, and should have a maximum of 6 keywords. It should briefly describe the purpose of the work, techniques and methods used, major findings with important data and conclusion. Abbreviations should not be used. If abbreviation must be used, it should be defined in the abstract, at first use.
Abstract should be written with the following headings: Background, Objective(s), Materials and Methods, Results, and Conclusion.
Abstract for a case report should be written with the following headings: Background, Case presentation and Conclusion.
Abstract for perspectives/ viewpoints/ opinion articles should be written with the following headings: Background, Areas covered and Expert opinion.
Introduction
This provides a background, defined problem, proposed solution, brief literature survey and justification of the research.
Material and methods
The methods used in the work submitted should be described in detail. The references of already published methods should be stated.
Results & Discussion
Results should state the main findings of the research. The discussion should provide detailed interpretation of the significance of the findings of the research.
Conclusion
The major findings of the research should be stated.
Acknowledgments
Acknowledgment of the people who provided support, grant/funding, assistance in manuscript preparation and technical assistance should be written.
Authors’ contributions
The contributions of all the authors should be stated.
Only authors that meet the criteria for authorship should be listed. See Publication Ethics and Publication Malpractice Statement.
Conflict of Interest
Author(s) should state clearly any conflict of interest that exists and if there is none, this should also be clearly stated.
Funding
Any funding source should be stated.
Consent
Written informed consent where applicable should be obtained from the patient and attached to the manuscript to be submitted for publication. Consent should be obtained from a next of kin if there is demise of the person presented in a case report. If the person presented is a minor, or is unable to provide consent for publication, consent should be obtained from their parents or guardians.
Ethical approval
If human subjects are involved in the research, authors should obtain a clearance certificate from the Research Ethics Committee of their institution(s) which will be attached to the manuscript for submission.
Reference style
The Yenagoa Medical Journal uses the AMA (American Medical Association) style author number “Vancouver” system of referencing. Kindly read the American Medical Association style author number “Vancouver” system of referencing before submission of manuscripts, as this will help to reduce the rate of rejection. References must be listed at the end of the manuscript and numbered in the order that they appear in the text, and the numbered references must appear at the end of the corresponding text as superscript.
For references with more than six authors, the first six authors should be listed followed by et al.
Manuscript submission
Submission of manuscript(s) to the Yenagoa Medical Journal indicates that the author(s) take full responsibility for the contents of the manuscript(s). One author must be indicated as the corresponding author. All correspondence and gallery proof of article would be sent to the corresponding author, who is considered the representative of all the authors as regards any decision related to the manuscript(s).
- Manuscripts for publication in the Yenagoa Medical Journal should be submitted by email to yenagoamedicaljournal@gmail.com.
- Manuscripts submitted to the Yenagoa Medical Journal should not have been published before or be under consideration for publication by another journal.
- Submission should include three documents:
– A title page which (apart from manuscript title, name(s) and affiliation(s) of authors, and contact information of corresponding author) contains the type of manuscript e.g., original article; case report etc., and word count.
– A manuscript document (containing manuscript title, abstract, keywords and text of the manuscript). This should not contain any information linked to the author(s) of the manuscript.
– A covering letter written (on behalf of the co-authors, where there are) by the corresponding author and wet-signed. The letter should reflect as follows:
- The title of the manuscript
- Indicate that it is being submitted to the Yenagoa Medical Journal
- State that the manuscript has not been published in another journal, nor has it been submitted to, or under consideration by another journal for publication
Submitted manuscripts
1. Manuscripts received will be acknowledged within 24 hours. Submitted manuscripts will undergo preliminary review, during which the editor-in-chief or an associate editor will check the manuscripts for compliance with the guidelines for manuscript submission and relevance to the Yenagoa Medical Journal. After preliminary review, eligible manuscripts will be sent out for peer review. Eligibility of a manuscript for peer review will be communicated to the corresponding author within 72 hours after initial acknowledgement. Manuscripts not eligible will be returned for corrections or rejected.
2. Unless a manuscript is rejected, submission of a manuscript clearly indicates that the Yenagoa Medical Journal has been given exclusive right by the author(s) to publish the article.
Peer review process
Eligible manuscripts undergo a double-blind peer review. Manuscripts are sent to two peer reviewers. Authors should please allow an average of 28 days for the peer review process. Guided by the outcome of the peer review; see Reviewers Guidelines, the editorial board decides to either accept the manuscript for publication if little or no correction/revision is required; or send the reviewed copy and relevant reviewer comments back to the author(s) for needed correction/revision and thereafter, accept for publication; or reject the manuscript outrightly.
Plagiarism policy
All manuscripts submitted to the Yenagoa Medical Journal are checked for plagiarism with a well rated plagiarism checker software; Plagiarism Checker X. See Plagiarism Checker X. Manuscripts with originality scores suggesting minor degree of plagiarism will be returned to the authors for revision. Manuscripts with originality scores suggesting significant plagiarism will be rejected.
Open Access Policy
All articles published in Yenagoa Medical Journal are immediately freely available to read, download and share. The e-journal can be downloaded without charge on the Yenagoa Medical Journal website.
Archiving of published articles
The Yenagoa Medical Journal website is well optimized for indexing of final published articles in major search engines e.g., Google Scholar, Bing, Yahoo. The website is backed up for the protection of its contents. The publisher of the Yenagoa Medical Journal – Association of Resident Doctors of the Federal Medical Centre, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, Nigeria – keeps an electronic and continuously updated archive of the published articles in two dedicated hard drives. In the nearest future, the Yenagoa Medical Journal will join the services of dark archives like CLOCKSS, Portico etc. Work is also in progress to get indexation for the Yenagoa Medical Journal in public repositories that archives open access scholarly articles.
Self Archiving: Authors of articles published in the Yenagoa Medical Journal are encouraged to deposit the Pdf format of the final published articles in their institutional repository or any suitable repository. Authors should provide a link from the deposited version to the URL of the version of record on the Yenagoa Medical Journal website.
Fees and charges
There is no fee for submission of manuscript to the Yenagoa Medical Journal. For now, until reviewed, authors are NOT required to pay article publication charge (APC) for publication in the Yenagoa Medical Journal. The Pdf formats of articles published in the journal and of the e-journal can be downloaded without charge on the Yenagoa Medical Journal website.
Copyright Notice
Copyright of the submitted manuscript and the final published article (version of record) in the Yenagoa Medical Journal is retained by the author. Therefore, the author can:
– Use their research data freely.
– Publicly share a preprint of the submitted manuscript.
– Reuse their material in new works without permission or payment.
– Receive proper credit for their published work.
– Use the final published article for scholarly purposes including to publicly share.
License Notice
Articles in the Yenagoa Medical Journal are published under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
Under this license, the Yenagoa Medical Journal has a right to:
– Publish the author’s work.
– Make the final published article available in all forms or media.
Third parties shall have a right to:
– Copy and share the final published article in any medium or format.
– Use the final published article including to adapt, remix, transform and build upon its content for any purpose, even commercially (provided appropriate credit is given to the author, changes are indicated where it is made and a link to the covering license is provided)
For more details, go to Creative Commons.
Authors Guidelines | Yenagoa Medical Journal