Organization of Sections in an Article

Cover Page

This document should carry the title of the article, a short running title, a covering letter, the names of all contributors and their professional affiliations; the name, address, phone numbers and email address of the corresponding contributor, word count, table and figure counts, acknowledgment(s) if any and an author contribution table.

Abstract
An abstract is required for all categories of manuscripts. The abstract should not exceed 500 words. The content should not have any subheadings.

For an Original Research article, the abstract should be divided into these sections:

• Background
• Aims / Objectives
• Methods
• Results
• Limitations
• Conclusion

It should not exceed 500 words.

No abstract should contain any figures, tables, or references, trade names, or manufacturer’s names.

Keywords

Provide up to five keywords at the end of the abstract for all types of articles except for Letters to the Editor and Replies.

Introduction

All articles need an Introduction that describes the objective of the investigation in not more than 500 words. The author should clearly state the specific goal or purpose of the article, and indicate why it is worthy of attention. In the Introduction, describe the hypothesis to be tested, the dilemma to be resolved, or the deficiency to be remedied.

Materials and Methods or Subject Profile

The research plan, the materials (or subjects), and the methods used should be described. An explanation of how the disease was confirmed and the controls used must be included, as well as the details of the data obtained and how it was analyzed. Methods must include the following aspects:

When a surgical device is mentioned in the manuscript for the first time, its manufactures complete detail should be mentioned such as the BRANDED name of the device/medication followed by name of the manufacturer, city, and state. For example IVC filter (C.R. Bard, Inc. Murray Hill, New Jersey, USA). Please mention the name of the Ultrasound machine, its manufacturer, and the country of origin. In addition please mention the type of transducer and its frequency used for the study. This should be mentioned in the methods or the section where you describe how the ultrasound was performed. For Example GE, Logiq E9, Milwaukee, USA

Ethics: When reporting studies on human subjects, indicate whether the procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional or regional) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000 (available at https://www.wma.net/policies-post/wma-declaration-of-helsinki-ethical-principles-for-medical-research-involving-human-subjects/). For prospective studies involving human participants, authors are expected to mention about approval of (regional/national/institutional or independent Ethics Committee or Review Board, obtaining informed consent from adult research participants and obtaining assent for children aged over 7 years participating in the trial. The age beyond which assent would be required could vary as per regional and/or national guidelines. Ensure confidentiality of subjects by desisting from mentioning participants’ names, initials or hospital numbers, especially in illustrative material. When reporting experiments on animals, indicate whether the institution’s or a national research council’s guide for or any national law on the care and use of laboratory animals was followed.

Evidence for approval by a local Ethics Committee (for both human as well as animal studies) must be supplied by the authors. Animal experimental procedures should be as humane as possible and the details of anesthetics and analgesics used should be clearly stated. The ethical standards of experiments must be in accordance with the guidelines provided by the (CPCSEA and World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki on Ethical Principles for Medical Research Involving Humans for studies involving experimental animals and human beings, respectively). The journal will not consider any manuscript which is ethically unacceptable. A statement on ethics committee permission and ethical practices must be included in all original research manuscripts under the ‘Materials and Methods’ section.

Patient consent: Patient anonymity must be maintained in all submissions. If there is any possibility that the patient can be identified in a figure, written consent must be obtained from the patient or parent/guardian by the author, and a line stating that this has been received included in the article.

Study Design

Selection and Description of Participants: Describe your selection of the observational or experimental participants (patients or laboratory animals, including controls) clearly, including eligibility and exclusion criteria and a description of the source population. Technical information: Identify the methods, apparatus (give the manufacturer’s name and address in parentheses), and procedures in sufficient detail to allow other workers to reproduce the results. Give references to established methods, including statistical methods (see below); provide references and brief descriptions for methods that have been published but are not well known; describe new or substantially modified methods, give reasons for using them, and evaluate their limitations. Identify precisely all drugs and chemicals used, including generic name(s), dose(s), and route(s) of administration.

Reports of randomized clinical trials should present information on all major study elements, including the protocol number and date, assignment of interventions (methods of randomization, concealment of allocation to treatment groups), and the method of masking (blinding), based on the CONSORT Statement (http://www.consort-statement.org).

Statistics

Whenever possible quantify findings and present them with appropriate indicators of measurement error or uncertainty (such as confidence intervals). The authors should report losses to observation (such as dropouts from a clinical trial). When data are summarized in the Result section, specify the statistical methods used to analyze them. Avoid non-technical uses of technical terms in statistics, such as ‘random’ (which implies a randomizing device), ‘normal’, ‘significant’, ‘correlations’, and ‘sample’. Define statistical terms, abbreviations, and most symbols. Specify the computer software used. For all P values include the exact value and not less than 0.05 or 0.001. Mean differences in continuous variables, proportions in categorical variables and relative risks including odds ratios and hazard ratios should be accompanied by their confidence intervals.

Results

All results should be in a clear, logical sequence and should adhere to the specific objective of the paper. Data presented in tables should not be duplicated in the text. Important trends and points observed in the study will need to be described. When data are summarized in the Results section, give numeric results not only as derivatives (for example, percentages) but also as the absolute numbers from which the derivatives were calculated, and specify the statistical methods used to analyze them. Restrict tables and figures to those needed to explain the argument of the paper and to assess its support. Use graphs as an alternative to tables with many entries; do not duplicate data in graphs and tables. Where scientifically appropriate, analyses of the data by variables such as age and sex should be included.

Discussion

The article submitted should explain clearly the outcome of the research considering the goals and results obtained. Any limitations on the materials or subjects and methods must be included. How the results differ from those obtained by previous investigators need to be presented with adequate comparisons and explanations. Include key findings (primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, results as they relate to a prior hypothesis); Strengths and limitations of the study (study question, study design, data collection, analysis and interpretation); Interpretation and implications in the context of the totality of evidence should be described. Include what this study adds to the available evidence, effects on patient care and health policy, etc.

Do not repeat the data or other material mentioned in the Introduction or the Results section. In particular, contributors should avoid making statements on economic benefits and costs unless their manuscript includes economic data and analyses. Avoid claiming priority and alluding to work that has not been completed.

References

References are to be numbered sequentially in the order in which they appear in the manuscript. Reference numbers are typed as superscripts, after the punctuation mark at the end of the line.

Example: …… with no evidence of intratubular testicular neoplasia.¹

Unpublished data or articles submitted for publication are not to be cited in the reference list. They are cited within parenthesis in the text. (Example: Aaron J, unpublished data). Papers presented at meetings are not cited in the reference list. They are cited within parenthesis in the text. (Example: Aaron J et al., presented at the 2009 annual meeting of the Society).

References follow the ICMJE guidelines. The author’s surname is followed by the author’s initials in capitals without spaces or full stops. All references show page numbers in the format (121-26). Refer to the List of Journals Indexed in Index Medicus for abbreviations of journal names, or access the list from here.

Sample references are given below:

Articles in Journals
Olson MC, Posniak HV, Fisher SG, Flisak ME, Salomon CG, Flanigan RC, et al. Directed and random biopsies of the prostate: indications based on combined results of transrectal sonography and prostate-specific antigen density determinations. Am J Roentgenol 1994;163:1407–1411.

Issue with supplement
Payne DK, Sullivan MD, Massie MJ. Women’s psychological reactions to breast cancer. Semin Oncol 1996;23(1, Suppl 2):89-97.

Volume with supplement
Shen HM, Zhang QF. Risk assessment of nickel carcinogenicity and occupational lung cancer. Environ Health Perspect 1994;102 Suppl 1:275-82.

List the first six contributors followed by et al in all references

Books and Other Monographs

Personal Author(s):

Ringsven MK, Bond D. Gerontology and leadership skills for nurses. 2nd ed. Albany (NY): Delmar Publishers; 1996.

Editor(s), compiler(s) as author:

Norman IJ, Redfern SJ, editors. Mental health care for elderly people. New York: Churchill Livingstone; 1996.

Chapter in A Book
Turgut AT, Dogra VS. Prostate carcinoma: Evaluation using transrectal sonography. In: Hayat MA, ed. Methods of cancer diagnosis, therapy and prognosis. 1st ed. New York, NA: Elsevier; 2008. p. 499-520.

Electronic Sources as Reference

Refer APA’s Quick guide on reference for electronic references.

Monograph on the Internet format: Foley KM, Gelband H, editors. Improving palliative care for cancer [monograph on the Internet]. Washington: National Academy Press; 2001 [cited 2002 Jul 9].

Refer Homepage/Web site and Part of a homepage/Web site formats in the hyperlink provided

Tables

Tables must be significant and provide a good summary of the study. Tables should be self-explanatory and not duplicate the data given in the text or figures. Each table must have a descriptive title, and each column a heading. Tables must contain a minimum of four lines and two columns of data and not exceed 10 columns and 25 rows. Tables are numbered in the order in which they are cited in the text. Abbreviations used in the tables are defined below each table. All arithmetic calculations (percentages, totals, differences) must be double-checked for accuracy, and data must agree with the data given in the text.

Graphs

Graphs need to be exported as JPEG or TIF images and submitted as figures. Graphs and line drawings need to be a minimum of 1000 dpi. Graphs should include clearly labeled error bars described in the figure legend. The authors must state whether a number that follows the ± sign is a standard error (SEM) or a standard deviation (SD). The number of independent data points (N) represented in a graph must be indicated in the legend. Numerical axes on graphs should go to 0, except for log axes.

Figures/Images