Instructions for Authors      Checklist

How to submit a manuscript

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Notice

1. General provisions

• The authors should ensure that the contents of the present manuscript have not been published nor intended to be published in other journals.
• The manuscript should be formatted as follows: A4 paper, 12 point font, left-aligned, double-spaced.
• An original article should be presented in the following order: cover page, abstract, key words, introduction, methods, results, discussion, references, and captions and legends for tables and figures.

2. Cover page

• This section should indicate the contact information of the corresponding author: postal code, address, phone number, fax number, and email address.
• A running title should be given in 50 characters or shorter including spaces.

3. Abstract and Key Words

• The abstract should be drafted in adequate English.
• The abstract should be divided into Background, Methods, Results, and Conclusion; it should be written in one paragraph that is within 250 words.
• Three to five Key Words should be included (preferably those recommended in MeSH of Index Medicus; the first letter of each key word should be capitalized).

4. Main text

• The title should not include abbreviations; all the words must be spelled out.
• Information regarding approval of an institutional review board and obtaining informed consent should be mentioned in the Method section
• References should be numbered in Arabic numbers in the order they are cited.
• Superscript numbers should come after commas and periods according to submission rules.
• When using abbreviations, their full forms should be used at first mention; abbreviations/acronyms should then be used consistently in further occurrences.
• Units of measure should be written in accordance with submission rules (except for % and °C, a space should come between the number and the unit of measure).
• For numbers, a comma should be inserted after every third digit.
• All statistical methods used should be described accurately in detail.

5. References

• In-text citations should be numbered and should correspond to the numbers in the references.
• Up to six authors should be mentioned. In case there are seven or more authors, “et al.” must come after the primary author.
• Official abbreviations of quoted journals must be used.
• Year, volume, and start page–end page of the quoted literature should be accurately mentioned.
• The first letter of the title of the quoted article should be capitalized.
• Compliance with quotation styles should be observed.
• The manuscript should comply with quotation rules in case a book has separate authors by chapter.

6. Table

• Each table must have its own title and be given a separate page.
• All abbreviations used in the table should be spelled out.
• All superscript numbers used in the table should comply with the contribution rules.

7. Figures

• Each figure should be produced in a separate file and should not be included in the main text.
• The file name of each figure should be the figure number.
• Figures can be black and white or in color; they will be published as submitted.
• The titles and legends of the figures should be concisely drafted on a separate page in English.
• The figures should be explained in complete sentences, not phrases or clauses.
• All abbreviations should be written out.
• When a figure contains several pictures, the explanation of the figure should be followed by that of each picture, distinguishing them as A, B, C, etc.