IJBMS editorial policies for authors are summarized in these instructions.

Authorship Criteria and Contributions and Authorship Form. Each author should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for appropriate portions of the content. One or more authors should take responsibility for the integrity of the work as a whole, from inception to published article. Authorship credit should be based only on

1. Substantial contributions to conception and design, or acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data
2. Drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content.
3. Final approval of the version to be published. Conditions 1, 2, and 3 must all be met.
   
   

All authors (ie, the corresponding author and each coauthor) must complete and submit an Authorship Form with signed statements on Authorship Responsibility, Criteria, and Contributions; Financial Disclosure and Funding/ Support; and either Copyright Transfer/Publishing Agreement In addition, authors are required to identify their contributions to the work described in the manuscript (see Authorship Form).

For reports of original data and systematic reviews, authors’ specific contributions will be published in the Acknowledgment section (see Manuscript Preparation and Submission Requirements, Acknowledgment Section). All other persons who have made substantial contributions to the work reported in this manuscript (eg, data collection, analysis, or writing or editing assistance) but who do not fulfill the authorship criteria should be named with their specific contributions in an Acknowledgment in the manuscript. Written permission to include the names of individuals in the Acknowledgment section must be obtained (see Manuscript Preparation and Submission Requirements, Acknowledgment Section).

The authors also must certify that the manuscript represents valid work and that neither this manuscript nor one with substantially similar content under their authorship has been published or is being considered for publication elsewhere (see also Duplicate/Previous Publication or Submission). Authors of manuscripts reporting original data or systematic reviews must provide an access to data statement from at least 1 named author, often the corresponding author (see also Data Access and Responsibility). If requested, authors should be prepared to provide the data and must cooperate fully in obtaining and providing the data on which the manuscript is based for examination by the editors or their assignees.

Role of the Corresponding Author. The corresponding author (or coauthor designee) will serve on behalf of all coauthors as the primary correspondent with the editorial office during the submission and review process. If the manuscript is accepted, the corresponding author will review an edited typescript and proof, make decisions regarding release of information in the manuscript to the news media, federal agencies, or both, and will be identified as the corresponding author in the published article. The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that the Acknowledgment section of the manuscript is complete. “Acknowledgment” is the general term for the list of contributions, credits, and other information included at the end of the text of a manuscript but before the references. The corresponding author must obtain written permission from each person named in the Acknowledgment section and must be willing to provide the editors with copies of these permissions if requested to do so . The corresponding author must sign the Acknowledgment statement part of the Authorship Form confirming that all persons who have contributed substantially but who are not authors are identified in the Acknowledgment section and that written permission from each person acknowledged has been obtained.

Group Authorship. If authorship is attributed to a group (either solely or in addition to 1 or more individual authors), all members of the group must meet the full criteria and requirements for authorship as described above.5 If that is not the case, a group must designate 1 or more individuals as authors or members of a writing group who meet full authorship criteria and requirements. Other group members who are not authors may be listed in an Acknowledgment.3(pp135-138)

Conflicts of Interest and Financial Disclosures. A conflict of interest may exist when an author (or the author’s institution or employer) has financial or personal relationships or affiliations that could influence (or bias) the author’s decisions, work, or manuscript. All authors are required to disclose all potential conflicts of interest, including specific financial interests and relationships and affiliations (other than those affiliations listed in the title page of the manuscript) relevant to the subject of their manuscript. Authors should err on the side of full disclosure and should contact the editorial office if they have questions or concerns.

All such disclosures must be listed in the Acknowledgment section at the end of the manuscript. Authors without conflicts of interest, including specific financial interests and relationships and affiliations relevant to the subject of their manuscript, should include a statement of no such interests in the Acknowledgment section of the manuscript. Failure to include this information in the manuscript may delay evaluation and review of the manuscript.

For all accepted manuscripts, each author’s disclosures of conflicts of interest and relevant financial interests and affiliations and declarations of no such interests will be published. Decisions about whether such information provided by authors should be published, and thereby disclosed to readers, are usually straightforward. Although editors are willing to discuss disclosure of specific conflicts of interest with authors, IJBMSs policy is one of complete disclosure of all potential conflicts of interest, including specific financial interests and relationships and affiliations (other than those affiliations listed in the title page of the manuscript) relevant to the subject of their manuscript. The policy requesting disclosure of conflicts of interest applies for all manuscript submissions, including letters to the editor and book reviews. If an author’s disclosure of potential conflicts of interest is determined to be inaccurate or incomplete after publication, a correction will be published to rectify the original published disclosure statement, and additional action may be taken as necessary.

Authors also are required to report detailed information regarding all financial and material support for the research and work, including but not limited to grant support, funding sources, and provision of equipment and supplies, in the Acknowledgment section of the manuscript.

All authors must also complete and sign a statement on Financial Disclosure and Funding/Support that is part of the Authorship Form.6,7

Funding/Support and Role of Sponsor: All financial and material support for the research and the work should be clearly and completely identified in an Acknowledgment section of the manuscript. The specific role of the funding organization or sponsor in each of the following should be specified: “design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data; and preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript.”6,7

Data Access and Responsibility: For all reports (regardless of funding source) containing original data, at least 1 named author (e.g., the principal investigator) who is independent of any commercial funder or sponsor must indicate that she or he “had full access to all the data in the study and takes responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis.”6 This exact statement should be included in the Acknowledgment section at the end of the manuscript. Modified statements or generic statements indicating that all authors had such access are not acceptable.

For industry-sponsored studies, an analysis of the data (based on the entire raw data set and evaluation of the study protocol, and prespecified plan for data analysis) must be conducted by an independent statistician at an academic institution, rather than by statisticians employed by the sponsor or by a commercial contract research organization. The independent biostatistician must be a faculty member at a medical school or academic medical center, or an employee of a government research institute, that has oversight over the person conducting the analysis and that is independent of the commercial sponsor. Details of this independent statistical analysis, the name and institutional affiliation of the independent statistician, and whether compensation or funding was received for conducting the analyses should be reported in the Acknowledgment section of the manuscript.7 The results of this independent statistical analysis should be the results reported in the manuscript.

Acknowledgment Section: The “Acknowledgment section” is the general term for the list of contributions, credits, and other information included at the end of the text of a manuscript but before the references. The Acknowledgment section includes authors’ contributions; information on author access to data; disclosure of potential conflicts of interest, including financial interests and relationships; sources of funding and support; an explanation of the role of sponsor(s); information on independent statistical analysis (if required); names, degrees, and affiliations of participants in a large study or other group; any important disclaimers; information on previous presentation of the information reported in the manuscript; listing of supplemental material; and the contributions, names, degrees, affiliations, and indication if compensation has been received for all persons who have made substantial contributions to the work but who are not authors.

Authors must obtain written permission to include the names of all individuals included in the Acknowledgment section and the corresponding author must confirm that such permission has been obtained in the Authorship Form.

Duplicate/Previous Publication or Submission: Manuscripts are considered with the understanding that they have not been published previously in print or electronic format and are not under consideration by another publication or electronic medium. Copies of related or possibly duplicative materials (i.e., those containing substantially similar content or using the same or similar data) that have been previously published or are under consideration elsewhere must be provided at the time of manuscript submission.3(pp151-152)

Timeliness of Data: Research reports submitted to IJBMS should be timely and current and should be based on data collected as recently as possible.8 Manuscripts based on data from randomized controlled trials should be reported as soon as possible after the trial has ended, ideally within 1 year after follow-up has been completed. For cohort studies, the date of final follow-up should be no more than 3 to 4 years before manuscript submission. Likewise, data used in case-control or cross-sectional studies should have been collected as recently as possible, but no more than 3 to 4 years before manuscript submission. Because manuscripts in which the most recent data have been collected more than 4 years ago (i.e., prior to 2005) ordinarily will receive lower priority for publication, authors of such manuscripts should provide a detailed explanation of the relevance of the information in light of current knowledge and medical practice.

Survey Research: Manuscripts reporting survey data, such as studies involving patients, clinicians, the public, or others, should report data collected as recently as possible, ideally within the past 2 years.8 Survey studies should have sufficient response rates (generally at least 60%) and appropriate characterization of nonresponders to ensure that nonresponse bias does not threaten the validity of the findings. For most surveys, such as those conducted by telephone, personal interviews (e.g., drawn from a sample of households).

Reporting Race/Ethnicity: If race and/or ethnicity is reported, indicate in the Methods section who classified individuals as to race/ethnicity, the classifications, and whether the options were defined by the investigator or the participant. Explain why race and/or ethnicity was assessed in the study.10

Ethical Approval of Studies and Informed Consent: For all manuscripts reporting data from studies involving human participants or animals, formal review and approval, or formal review and waiver, by an appropriate institutional review board or ethics committee is required and should be described in the Methods section.3(p226) For those investigators who do not have formal ethics review committees, the principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki should be followed.11 For investigations of humans, state in the Methods section the manner in which informed consent was obtained from the study participants (i.e., oral or written). Editors may request that authors provide documentation of the formal review and recommendation from the institutional review board or ethics committee responsible for oversight of the study.

Personal Communications and Unpublished Data: A signed statement of permission should be included from each individual identified as a source of information in a personal communication or as a source for unpublished data, and the date of communication and whether the communication was written or oral should be specified.3(p199)

Embargo Policy: All information regarding the content and publication date of accepted manuscripts is strictly confidential. Unauthorized prepublication release of accepted manuscripts may result in rescinding the acceptance and rejecting the paper.

Unauthorized Use: Published manuscripts become the permanent property of IJBMS and may not be published elsewhere without written permission. Unauthorized use of the IJBMS name, logo, or any content for commercial purposes or to promote commercial goods and services (in any format, including print, video, audio, and digital) is not permitted by IJBMS.

Editorial Review and Publication

Authors will be sent notifications of the receipt of manuscripts and editorial decisions by e-mail. During the review process, authors can check the status of their manuscript through mail.

IJBMS accepted manuscripts will be published within 90 days and the acceptance will be informed within 15 days of submission.

Editorial and Peer Review: All submitted manuscripts are reviewed initially by a IJBMS editor. Manuscripts are evaluated according to the following criteria:

1. Material is original and timely,
2. Writing is clear,
3. Study methods are appropriate,
4. Data are valid,
5. Conclusions are reasonable and supported by the data,
6. Information is important,
7. Topic has general medical interest.

From these basic criteria, the editors assess a paper’s eligibility for publication. Manuscripts with insufficient priority for publication are rejected promptly.

Other manuscripts are sent to expert consultants for peer review. Peer reviewer identities are kept confidential, but author identities are made known to reviewers. The existence of a manuscript under review is not revealed to anyone other than peer reviewers and editorial staff. Information from submitted manuscripts may be systematically collected and analyzed as part of research to improve the quality of the editorial or peer review process. Identifying information remains confidential.

Editing: Accepted manuscripts are edited in accordance with the IJBMS Manual of Style, and returned to the corresponding author (or his/her designee) for approval. Authors are responsible for all statements made in their work, including changes made during editing and production that are authorized by the corresponding author.

Corrections: Requests to publish corrections should be sent to the editorial office. Corrections are reviewed by editors and authors, published promptly, and linked online to the original article.

Reprints: Reprints may be ordered when the edited typescript is sent for approval to the corresponding author. Reprints ship 2 weeks after publication.

ePrints: Corresponding authors who provide an e-mail address for publication will receive an electronic link that provides 25 free online accesses to the PDF view of their article.

Categories of Articles

IJBMS publishes

1. Original contributions,
2. Reviews, brief reports,
3. Special communications,
4. Commentaries, and
5. Other categories of articles. Topics of interest include all subjects that relate to the basic medical science subjects like Anatomy, Physiology, Pharmacology, Biochemistry, Pathology, Microbiology, Medical education technologies and the subjects which contribute to the betterment of public health worldwide. The most frequently published types of articles are described herein.
6. Case reports
7. Advertisements for conferences
8. Topics on regulatory authorities
9. New drug approvals.

Original Contribution: These reports typically include randomized trials (see Clinical Trial), intervention studies, cohort studies, case-control studies, epidemiologic assessments, other observational studies, surveys with high response rates (see Survey Research), cost-effectiveness analyses and decision analyses (see Reports of Cost-effectiveness Analyses and Decision Analyses), and studies of screening and diagnostic tests (see also Reports of Diagnostic Tests). Each manuscript should clearly state an objective or hypothesis; the design and methods (including the study setting and dates, patients or participants with inclusion and exclusion criteria and/or participation or response rates, or data sources, and how these were selected for the study); the essential features of any interventions; the main outcome measures; the main results of the study; a comment section placing the results in context with the published literature and addressing study limitations; and the conclusions. Data included in research reports must be original and should be as timely and current as possible.

A structured abstract is required; for more information, see instructions for preparing structured abstracts. Maximum length: 3000 words of text (not including abstract, tables, figures, references, and online-only material) with no more than a total of 5 tables and/or figures.

Protocols: Authors of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are also encouraged to submit trial protocols along with their manuscripts.

Reports of Cost-effectiveness Analyses and Decision Analyses: These manuscripts may be classified as Original Contributions, Brief Reports, or Research Letters. Authors of reports of cost-effectiveness analyses and decision analyses must submit a copy of the decision tree comprising their model. This is for editorial evaluation and review, not necessarily for publication, unless it is included in the body of the manuscript.

Systematic Review (Including Meta-analysis): These manuscripts are systematic, critical assessments of literature and data sources pertaining to clinical topics, emphasizing factors such as cause, diagnosis, prognosis, therapy, or prevention. All articles or data sources should be searched for and selected systematically for inclusion and critically evaluated, and the search and selection process should be described in the manuscript. The specific type of study or analysis, population, intervention, exposure, and tests or outcomes should be described for each article or data source. The data sources should be as current as possible, ideally with the search having been conducted within several months of manuscript submission. A structured abstract is required; for more information, see instructions for preparing structured abstracts. Maximum length: 3500 words of text (not including abstract, tables, figures, references, and online-only material), with no more than a total of 4 tables and/or figures and no more than 50-75 references.

Brief Report: These manuscripts are short reports of original studies or evaluations or unique, first-time reports of clinical case series. A structured abstract is required; for more information, see instructions for preparing structured abstracts. Recommended length: 1000-1500 words (not including abstract, tables, figures, references, and online-only material) with no more than a total of 3 tables and/or figures.

Commentary: These papers may address virtually any important topic in medicine, public health, research, ethics, health policy, or health law and generally are not linked to a specific article. Commentaries should be well focused, scholarly, and clearly presented and must have no more than 2 authors. Maximum length: up to 1200 words of text—or 1000 words of text with 1 small table or figure—and no more than 10 references. Commentaries not meeting these guidelines will not be considered.

Letter to the Editor: Letters discussing a recent IJBMS article will have the best chance of acceptance if they are received within 4 weeks of the article’s publication. Letters may have no more than 3 authors. They should not exceed 400 words of text and 5 references; letters not meeting these specifications are generally not considered. They should be double-spaced and a word count should be provided. The text of letters should include the names, academic degrees, and primary institutional affiliations for all authors, and the e-mail address for the corresponding author. Letters must not duplicate other material published or submitted for publication and should not include unpublished data. Letters will be published at the discretion of the editors and are subject to abridgement and editing for style and content.

Letter in Reply: Replies by authors should not exceed 500 words of text and 6 references. They should have no more than 3 authors.

Research Letter: Research Letters reporting original research should not exceed 600 words of text and 6 references and may include 1 table or figure. They may have no more than 5 authors; other persons who have contributed to the study may be indicated in an Acknowledgment, with their permission, including their academic degrees, affiliation, contribution to the study, and an indication if compensation was received for their role. Letters must not duplicate other material published or submitted for publication. In general, Research Letters should be divided into the following sections: To the Editor (which serves as an introduction), Methods, Results, and Comment. Research Letters should be double-spaced and a word count should be provided with each letter. They should not include an abstract, but otherwise should follow all of the guidelines in Manuscript Preparation and Submission Requirements. Research Letters considered for publication undergo external peer review.

Poetry and Medical Science: Poems related to the medical experience, whether from the point of view of a health care worker or patient, or simply an observer, will be considered. Poems should be original, not previously published or under consideration elsewhere, and no longer than 50 lines. Authors may submit multiple poems to IJBMS simultaneously.

Manuscript Preparation and Submission Requirements

Manuscript Submission: Manuscripts should be submitted online via Submission@IJBMS.com. At the time of submission,

* Complete contact information (postal/mail address, e-mail address, telephone and fax numbers) for the corresponding author is required.
* First and last names, e-mail addresses, and institutional affiliations of all coauthors are also required.
* Manuscripts submitted through the online system should not also be submitted by mail or e-mail. After the manuscript is submitted online, the corresponding author will receive a manuscript number. Each author should complete an Authorship Form and submit the completed form by regular mail or fax.

Cover Letter: Include a cover letter and complete contact information for the corresponding author (postal/mail address, e-mail address, and telephone and fax numbers) and whether the authors have published or submitted any related papers from the same study.

Manuscript Components: Include a title page, abstract, text, references, and as appropriate, figure legends, tables, and figures. Start each of these sections on a new page, numbered consecutively, beginning with the title page.

Recommended File Sizes: We recommend individual file sizes of no more than 500 kB and not exceeding 1 MB, with the total size for all files not exceeding 5 MB (not including any video files).

Manuscript File Formats: For submission and review, acceptable manuscript file formats include Word and WordPerfect. Do not submit your manuscript in PDF format.

Use 10-, 11-, or 12-point font size, double-space text, and leave right margins unjustified (ragged).

Title Page: The title page should include a word count for text only (e.g., not including abstract, acknowledgment, or references) and the full names, highest academic degrees, and affiliations of all authors. If an author’s affiliation has changed since the work was done, the new affiliation also should be listed.

Abstracts: Include a structured abstract of no more than 300 words for reports of original data, reviews, and meta-analyses. Abstracts should be prepared in IJBMS style—see instructions for preparing structured abstracts. For other major manuscripts, include an unstructured abstract of no more than 200 words that summarizes the objective, main points, and conclusions of the article. Abstracts are not required for editorials, commentaries, and some special features.

All reports of original data, systematic reviews and meta-analyses, and clinical reviews should be submitted with structured abstracts as described below. No information should be reported in the abstract that does not appear in the text of the manuscript.

Abstracts for Reports of Original Data: Reports of original data should include an abstract of no more than 300 words using the following headings: Context, Objective, Design, Setting, Patients (or Participants), Interventions (include only if there are any), Main Outcome Measure(s), Results, and Conclusions. For brevity, parts of the abstract may be written as phrases rather than complete sentences. Each section should include the following content:

Context: The abstract should begin with a sentence or 2 explaining the clinical (or other) importance of the study question.

Objective: State the precise objective or study question addressed in the report (e.g., “To determine whether…”). If more than 1 objective is addressed, the main objective should be indicated and only key secondary objectives stated. If an a priori hypothesis was tested, it should be stated.

Design: Describe the basic design of the study. State the years of the study and the duration of follow-up. If applicable, include the name of the study (e.g., the Framingham Heart Study). As relevant, indicate whether observers were blinded to patient groupings, particularly for subjective measurements.

Setting: Describe the study setting to assist readers in determining the applicability of the report to other circumstances, for example, general community, a primary care or referral center, private or institutional practice, or ambulatory or hospitalized care.

Patients or Other Participants: State the clinical disorders, important eligibility criteria, and key sociodemographic features of patients. The numbers of participants and how they were selected should be provided (see below), including the number of otherwise eligible individuals who were approached but refused. If matching is used for comparison groups, characteristics that are matched should be specified. In follow-up studies, the proportion of participants who completed the study must be indicated. In intervention studies, the number of patients withdrawn because of adverse effects should be given. For selection procedures, these terms should be used, if appropriate: random sample (where random refers to a formal, randomized selection in which all eligible individuals have a fixed and usually equal chance of selection); population-based sample; referred sample; consecutive sample; volunteer sample; convenience sample.

Intervention(s): The essential features of any interventions should be described, including their method and duration of administration. The intervention should be named by its most common clinical name, and nonproprietary drug names should be used.

Main Outcome Measure(s): Indicate the primary study outcome measurement(s) as planned before data collection began. If the manuscript does not report the main planned outcomes of a study, this fact should be stated and the reason indicated. State clearly if the hypothesis being tested was formulated during or after data collection. Explain outcomes or measurements unfamiliar to a general medical readership.

Results: The main outcomes of the study should be reported and quantified, and must include measures of absolute risks (such as increase/decrease or absolute differences between groups), along with confidence intervals (for example, 95%) or P values. Approaches such as number needed to treat to achieve a unit of benefit may be included when appropriate. Measures of relative risk also may be reported (e.g., relative risk, hazard ratios) and should include confidence intervals. Studies of screening and diagnostic tests should report sensitivity, specificity, and likelihood ratio. If predictive value or accuracy is reported, prevalence or pretest likelihood should be given as well. All randomized controlled trials should include the results of intention-to-treat analysis, and all surveys should include response rates.

Conclusions: Provide only conclusions of the study directly supported by the results, along with implications for clinical practice, avoiding speculation and overgeneralization. Indicate whether additional study is required before the information should be used in usual clinical settings. Give equal emphasis to positive and negative findings of equal scientific merit.

Trial Registration: For clinical trials, the name of the trial registry, registration number, and URL of the registry must be included.

Abstracts for Systematic Reviews/Meta-analyses: Manuscripts reporting the results of meta-analyses should include an abstract of no more than 300 words using the following headings: Context, Objective, Data Sources, Study Selection, Data Extraction, Results, and Conclusions. The text of the manuscript should also include a section describing the methods used for data sources, study selection, data extraction, and data synthesis. Each heading should be followed by a brief description:

Context: A sentence or 2 explaining the importance of the review question.

Objective: State the precise primary objective of the review. Indicate whether the review emphasizes factors such as cause, diagnosis, prognosis, therapy, or prevention and include information about the specific population, intervention, exposure, and tests or outcomes that are being reviewed.

Data Sources: Succinctly summarize data sources, including years searched. The search should include the most current information possible, ideally with the search being conducted within several months before the date of manuscript submission. Potential sources include computerized databases and published indexes, registries, abstract booklets, conference proceedings, references identified from bibliographies of pertinent articles and books, experts or research institutions active in the field, and companies or manufacturers of tests or agents being reviewed. If a bibliographic database is used, state the exact indexing terms used for article retrieval, including any constraints (for example, English language or human study participants). If abstract space does not permit this level of detail, summarize sources in the abstract including databases and years searched, and place the remainder of the information in the Methods section.

Study Selection: Describe inclusion and exclusion criteria used to select studies for detailed review from among studies identified as relevant to the topic. Details of selection should include particular populations, interventions, outcomes, or methodological designs. The method used to apply these criteria should be specified (for example, blinded review, consensus, multiple reviewers). State the proportion of initially identified studies that met selection criteria.

Data Extraction: Describe guidelines used for abstracting data and assessing data quality and validity (such as criteria for causal inference). The method by which the guidelines were applied should be stated (for example, independent extraction by multiple observers).

Results: State the main results of the review, whether qualitative or quantitative, and outline the methods used to obtain these results. Meta-analyses should state the major outcomes that were pooled and include odds ratios or effect sizes and, if possible, sensitivity analyses. Numerical results should be accompanied by confidence intervals, if applicable, and exact levels of statistical significance. Evaluations of screening and diagnostic tests should include sensitivity, specificity, likelihood ratios, receiver operating characteristic curves, and predictive values. Assessments of prognosis should summarize survival characteristics and related variables. Major identified sources of variation between studies should be stated, including differences in treatment protocols, co-interventions, confounders, outcome measures, length of follow-up, and dropout rates.

Conclusions: The conclusions and their applications (clinical or otherwise) should be clearly stated, limiting interpretation to the domain of the review.

Abstracts for Clinical Reviews: Clinical Review articles should include an abstract of no more than 250 words with the following sections: Context, Evidence Acquisition, Results, and Conclusions.

Context: Include 1 or 2 sentences describing the clinical question or issue and its importance in clinical practice or public health.

Evidence Acquisition: Describe the data sources used, including the search strategies, years searched, and other sources of material, such as subsequent reference searches of retrieved articles. Methods used for quality assessment and inclusion of identified articles should be explained.

Results: The major findings of the review of the clinical issue or topic should be addressed in an evidence-based, objective, and balanced fashion, with the highest quality evidence available receiving the greatest emphasis.

Conclusions: The conclusions should clearly answer the questions posed if applicable, be based on available evidence, and emphasize how clinicians should apply current knowledge.

Abbreviations: Do not use abbreviations in the title or abstract and limit their use in the text. Expand all abbreviations at first mention in the text.

Names of Drugs, Devices, and Other Products: Use nonproprietary names of drugs, devices, and other products, unless the specific trade name of a drug is essential to the discussion.3(pp567-569)

References: Authors are responsible for the accuracy and completeness of their references and for correct text citation. Number references in the order they appear in the text; do not alphabetize. In text, tables, and legends, identify references with superscript Arabic numerals. When listing references, abbreviate names of journals according to the journals list in PubMed. List all authors and/or editors up to 6; if more than 6, list the first 3 followed by “et al.” Note: Journal references should include the issue number in parentheses after the volume number.

References:

1. Svetkey LP, Stevens VJ, Brantley PJ, et al; for the Weight Loss Maintenance Collaborative Research Group. Comparison of strategies for sustaining weight loss: the Weight Loss Maintenance randomized controlled trial. JAMA. 2008;299(10):1139-1148.

2. Ramphal R. Infections due to Pseudomonas species and related organisms. In: Fauci AS, Braunwald E, Kasper DL, et al, eds. Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine. 17th ed. New York, NY: McGraw Hill Medical; 2008:949-956.

Tables:
Number all tables in the order of their citation in the text.
Include a title for each table (a brief phrase, preferably no longer than 10 to 15 words).
Include all tables in a single file following the manuscript.

Guidelines for Figures in Accepted Manuscripts:
These guidelines are available here.

Acceptable Figure File Size:
To reduce the time that it takes to upload files to the IJBMS submission site and for reviewers to download files from the site, we recommend that the file size of figures be compressed before uploading them. This can be done by using compression software or by decreasing the resolution of individual files.

Acceptable Figure File Formats:
At submission, the following file formats are acceptable: AI, BMP, DOC, EMF, EPS, JPG, PDF, PPT, PSD, TIF, WMF, or XLS.
Figures may be embedded at the end of the manuscript text file or loaded as separate files for submission purposes.

Manuscript Checklist

1. Include a cover letter as an attachment.
2. Designate a corresponding author and provide a complete postal/mail address, telephone number, fax number, and email address.
3. Provide first (given) and last (family) names, email addresses, and institutional affiliations for any coauthors.
4. On the title page, include a word count for text only, exclusive of title, abstract, references, tables, and figure legends.
5. Provide an abstract that conforms to the required abstract format.
6. Double-space manuscript and leave right margins unjustified (ragged).
7. Check all references for accuracy and completeness. Put references in proper format in numerical order, making sure each is cited in sequence in the text.
8. Include a title for each table and figure and online-only material (a brief, succinct phrase, preferably no longer than 10 to 15 words) and explanatory legend as needed.
9. Have each author read, complete, and sign the Authorship Form with statements of Authorship Responsibility, Criteria, and Contributions; Financial Disclosure and Funding/Support; and Copyright Transfer/Publishing Agreement. After submission, add the manuscript number to the top of each author form and send in the author forms by mail or fax to the editorial office.
10. Indicate specific contributions from each author in the Acknowledgment section at the end of the manuscript (see authorship checklist on the Authorship Form).
11. For reports of original data, include a statement from at least one author that they “had full access to all of the data in the study and takes responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis.”
12. Include all sources of financial and material support and assistance along with detailed information on the roles of each sponsor or funder in each of the following: “design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data; and preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript” in the Acknowledgment section of the manuscript.
13. In the Acknowledgment section, include the names, academic degrees, affiliations, and specific contributions of all persons who have contributed to the work reported in the manuscript (e.g., data collection, analysis, writing or editing assistance, review of manuscript) but who do not fulfill authorship criteria. Also, indicate whether any compensation was received for such contributions. Written permission must be obtained from all persons named in the Acknowledgment section, and the corresponding author must confirm that such written permission has been obtained (see also the Acknowledgment statement in the Authorship Form that must be signed by the corresponding author).
14. Include a copy of written permission from each individual identified as a source for personal communication or unpublished data.
15. If appropriate, include information on institutional review board/ethics committee approval or waiver and informed consent.
16. The reproduction of material (including tables and figures) that was previously published is discouraged. Original material should be provided, except under extraordinary circumstances.