Instructions

OVERVIEW

The Editor of the Annals of AbbasiShaheed Hospital and Karachi Medical and Dental College, welcomesscientific contributions in the field of Medicine, dentistry, and Allied Health Sciences for publication in the journal. The journal is recognized by PMDC (PMDC#PF.11-F-97), ISSN 2958-7956 (Online), ISSN 1563-3241 (Print) and has been upgraded to Y category by Higher Education Commission. All submissions are peer reviewed by subject specialists. The peer reviewers included are both from within and outside Pakistan.The peer review is double blind i.e.the author does not know who will peer review the manuscript and the reviewer does not know whose article it is. The Annals of AbbasiShaheed Hospital and KMDC publishes original articles, special reports, review articles, short communications, case reports, letters to the editor, pictorial quiz, and commentaries on all aspects ofthe field of Medicine. The journal follows the ICMJE (International Committee of Medical Journal Editors) uniform requirement for manuscripts(UMR) submitted to Biomedical Journals. Manuscripts must be prepared in accordance with the URM (N Engl J Med 1997; 336: 309-15) and updated at ICMJE Authorship Guidelines.

ETHICAL AND LEGAL CONSIDERATION

Articles submitted for publication must be original and not have been submitted elsewhere for publication or in the process of publication in another journal. The article should also not have been published already in another journal (except as an abstract). The author’s transmittal letter must accompany the manuscript and contain these statements: The manuscript has been seen and approved by all authors involved and is neither being published nor being considered for publication elsewhere. The authors transfer the copyright to the Annals of Abbasi Shaheed Hospital and Karachi Medical and Dental College, Karachi. Accepted manuscripts may not be published elsewhere without Annals permission.

If accepted for publication, no part of the article can be published elsewhere without the consent of the Annals of Abbasi Shaheed Hospital and Karachi Medical and Dental College in any language. The Editors and reviewers try their level best to check that the manuscripts published are credible; however, the final and complete responsibility lies with the authors and not with the Journal, its Editors or the Publisher. A certificate from the Institutional Review Board or the Ethics Committee should be submitted. The certificate should mention the authors involved in the study. For those authors/investigators that do not have access to formal Ethics Review Committees, the principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki should be followed. If the study is judged exempt from review, a statement from the committee should be provided.

Correspondence will only be done with the corresponding author, as identified initially at the time of submission of the manuscript by the authors of the manuscript. The sequence of authors will not be changed, nor any other author added, other than the list of authors submitted at the time of first submission of the manuscript. If parents or guardians cannot be located despite all efforts the Chairperson of the department must sign the statement that the parents or guardian of the child could not be located for consent of publication of the case report.

PATIENT ANONYMITY AND INFORMED CONSENT

All manuscripts reporting the result of experimental investigation involving human subjects should include a written statementconfirming that informed consent was obtained from each subject or subject’s guardian after approval of the experimental protocol by a local human ethics committee.

The author is responsible for patients’ anonymity. The authors should remove patients’ names and other information from all figures. In case such details are present in figures, tables, photographs or text, the author must provide proof of informed consent from the patient (i.e., signed permission form from the guardians/parents of the child). Photographs with bars if used in publication require permission from the parents of the child patient.

COPYRIGHT AND SUBMISSION FORM

Each author must sign and complete the submission form and transfer the copyrights of the manuscript if accepted for publication to the Annals of AbbasiShaheed Hospital and Karachi Medical and Dental College.

All pre-requisites in the form must be completed and filled in the submission form including:

  • Date of submission
  • Title of manuscript
  • Site of conducting research
  • Type of submission (regular/ fast track)
  • Name of laboratory if investigations were done.
  • Sign of lab in charge with stamp
  • Sign and stamp of ethical review committee if present in institute or
  • submit approval letter of ethical review committee of another institute.
  • Source of funding (if applicable)
  • Name of institution along with sign and stamp of head of department/institution
  • Questionnaire in English and Urdu or another local language administered during the study (if applicable)
  • Bank deposit slip or online proof of submission of manuscript processing fees.
  • Principal investigator and co-investigator certification.
  • The contribution of each author according to ICMJE guidelines must be completed.

PLAGIARISM DETECTION

All articles submitted are checked for plagiarism by the Turnitin software provided by HEC. The maximum allowed similarity index for the manuscripts submitted in annals is 19% or less. If Plagiarism more than the allowed limit is detected the author will be asked to revise the manuscript with the maximum of three attempts in reducing the similarities otherwise the manuscript will be rejected. The period of debarment will depend upon the extent of the offence and final decision will be taken by the editorial board of the journal.Plagiarism of final manuscript is also checked before editorial review and it should comply with the guidelines assigned by HEC and must meet the criteria. In case of noncompliance, it will be again sent to the author for correction.

DRUGS EQUIPMENTS OR DEVICES

All drugs should be mentioned only in generic name. Any equipment or device etc if mentioned in the text should include an authentic published reference of the manufacturer.

RESPONSIBILITIES OF AUTHORS

The authors are entirely responsible for accuracy of all statements and data (including drug dosages) contained in the manuscript, accuracy of all reference information, and for obtaining and submitting permission from the author and publisher of any previously published material included in the submitted manuscript. If the manuscript is accepted for publication in the journal the corresponding author will receive an edited manuscript for “Final author approval”. The authors should review this carefully as he is responsible for all changes in his work including changes made by the copy editor. The corresponding author is also responsible for the submission of forms and metadata processing and publication fees of the journal.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

Any financial, organizational, personnel, or other relationships that could influence the results of their work or create a conflict of interest must be disclosed by researchers. The article must include acknowledgements for all sources of funding. The phrase "All authors do not have any conflict of interest" must be stated if the author or authors do not have any conflicts of interest.

MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION

Manuscript Preparation

  • The format of the Annals of Abbasi Shaheed Hospital and Karachi Medical and Dental College, Karachi complies with “Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals published by the International Committee of Journal Editors in Vancouver British Columbia, in 1979 ( the widely accepted “Vancouver style”), as described in the Annals of Internal Medicine(1982:96) [pt 1]:766-71)”with the exception of blood pressure, all units of measurements and laboratory values must be expressed in SI units; conventional units may be included parenthetically. Authors are referred to Annals of Internal Medicine (1987:1061[1]; 114-29) for guidelines in the use of SI units.
  • Manuscripts including tables, references and figure legends must be type-written, 1.5 lines spaced on size A4 paper, with margins of at least 1 inch.
  • The text itself should have a font of 12 and 1.5 line spaced.
  • The Theme font is Times New Roman.
  • Pages should be numbered consecutively on the right side, beginning with the title page and continuing through the last page of typewritten material.
  • Structured abstract: 300 words
  • Introduction, methods, results, discussion, and conclusion should be 2500 – 3000 words.
  • References include only those essential to the manuscript and should be minimum 20 and maximum 25.
  • If more than a total of three, whether figures or tables are included, an extra cost of Rs2000/-Per figure or table will be charged by the journal if paper is accepted for publication.

Cover letter

In the cover letter, provide a statement as to whether the paper was previously published in any language, including the abstract, and whether the paper is currently under consideration elsewhere for publication, importance of the topic any conflict of interest and disclosure of funding.

Title Page

The title page must contain: 1) Complete manuscript title 2) Full name of authors, in order, first name (given name) then the last name (family name), highest academic degree for each. 3) Each author’s email address, phone number (at which he/she can be easily contacted), official academic and/or clinical title and affiliation. 4) Name and address of the institution of all authors. 5) Name and address, email, including telephone and fax numbers of author to whom correspondence should be sent, if it differs from the first author, and 6) and disclaimers, for case reports, it is recommended that the number of authors be limited to four. 7) all sources of support including pharmaceutical support that require acknowledgement. 8) conflict of interest and disclosure of funding, if any 9) the word count of the manuscript body (excluding abstract, keywords, references, and figure legends), number of figures and number of tables.

Structured Abstract

All original articles must contain an abstract of not more than 300 words. The abstract should not contain references. Preferably abbreviations should not be used in the abstract. Strictly, the following subheads are allowed in an original article: Objective, Methods, Results, Conclusion and Keywords. The Keywords, three to five, should be according to MeSH (website).

Manuscript / Text Format
Organize the manuscript into 4 main headings:

Introduction: It should mention important background information and clearly statethe question the paper intends to answer or research hypothesis. It must highlight the importance of the topic in the light of previous published research globally and locally. It must mention rationale and objective of the research. If any abbreviations are used, they must be elaborated. Maximum number of references in introduction should be 8 to 10.

Methods: It should mention the study design, place, duration and time of study, inclusion and exclusion criteria, sampling technique, sample size along with justification. It should mention the detailed but relevant methods of study. Statistical methods and ethical approval numbers. Consent and other ethical considerations must be declared. 

Results: the result section must include the pertinent findings in logical sequences of the data analysis, the specific methods used and their rationale, their assumptions, whether the data met these assumptions, how missing data was handled, and the statistical methods used. Tables and figures, as necessary, may be included. Results must not be repeated if mentioned in the tables and figures. Only relevant important findings must be mentioned.

Discussion: Must include critical analysis of relevant research findings in relation to what was already known about the research problem being investigated, overall conclusion and evidence from the literature that supports the conclusion, conflicting evidence and applicability of the conclusion. Discussion should also include strength and limitation of the study and potential recommendations for future research.

Conclusions: An overview of the study should be included in the conclusion and it must answer the objective. Only use findings that are supported by the results. Don't oversell the outcome. Don't mention any benefits that haven't been researched. If the research suggests it, a new hypothesis can be added. No presumptions should be mentioned.

Acknowledgement:  If any, for person/s who have helped in the manuscript; however, not sufficient work has been done by them according to ICMJE guidelines to warrant authorship can be acknowledged in this section.

Abbreviations: For a list of standard abbreviations consult standard sources. Write out the full term for each abbreviation at its first use, and in each table and figure, unless it is a standard unit of measure.

References:

  • Key the references (double spaced) at the end of the manuscript. Please adhere to the reference limits noted for each article type, original article: 20 to 25 references, review article: 35-40 references, case report: 10 references, short communication: 10 references, invited commentary: 25-30 references and letter to editor: 3 to 5 references. List the references, double-spaced; in consecutive numerical order(order of citation in the manuscript is not alphabetical). Once a reference is cited, all subsequent citations should be to the original number. All reference must be in the text or tables. Unpublished data and personal communications will not be accepted as references.
  • References to journal articles should be according to Vancouver style and included in the order (1) Authors (2) Title (3) Journal Name (as abbreviated in Index Medicine), (4) Year (5) Volume (6) Publisher (7) Year volume and edition numbers and specific page numbers should be included, when appropriate. If there are more than 6 authors, use et al. after the 6th author. Refer to the list of Journals Indexed in Index Medicus for abbreviations of journal names or access the list at List of Journals Indexed for MEDLINE. The author is responsible for the accuracy and completeness of the reference and for their correct textual citation.

Illustrations:Pictures must also be submitted online with the paper by email as .jpg files. Written permission must accompany any photograph in which the subject can be identified or any illustration that has been previously published. All illustrations (figures) must be numbered as cited in the text in consecutive numeric order. Each figure must be saved and submitted as a separate file. Figures should not be embedded in the manuscript text file.

Figure legends: Each figure must have alegend. Legend should be brief and should be typed on a separate manuscript page, directly following the manuscript list and typed the below the figure. Captions for the figures must be typed 1.5 spacing and must not appear on the figures. For photomicrographs, the legends should include the original magnification and stain used. Remember to cite the figures consecutively in your manuscript. Number the figures in the figure legend in the order in which they are discussed. Upload the figures consecutively to the journal website and number the figures consecutively in the description box upload.

Tables: The tables should be cited consecutively in the text and numbered in that order. Each table should be submitted as a separate word document in text format. Each table must have a title. Use foot notes to define abbreviations and for other explanatory detail in a legend below the tables. The tables should be self-explanatory and must supplement, rather than duplicate the material in the text. Each table should be typed 1.5 spacing including all headings. Verify tabular statistics to make sure the tally and match data cited in the text.

ELECTRONIC MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION

The Annals of Abbasi Shaheed Hospital and Karachi Medical and Dental College, accepts manuscripts via online portal https://www.annals-ashkmdc.org/index.php/ashkmdc/submissions, manuscript must be on MS word.

EDITORS OF THE ANNALS OF ASH & KMDC

The manuscript submitted by members of the editorial board, editorial staff and student editors are subject to peer review and all the policies described above.

STUDENTS EDITORS

It is the motto of our journal to give an exposure of the editorial office, to teach the youngsters at early age and understanding of the importance of manuscript writing, submission and interaction with senior editors and faculty submitting manuscripts. In this regard the journal inducts student editors every two years. These students are chosen from the Karachi Medical and Dental College. Generally, these are 2ndyear onwards MBBS or BDS students. Keenly interested students are chosen keeping in mind that theclinical studies of the students are not affected. Their work is voluntary.

PRE-SUBMISSION CHECK LIST

  1. Submission form completed, duly signed with Ethical Approval Letter, copyright transfer agreement by every author and processing fees. Without the Ethical Approval Letter manuscripts will not be entertained.
  2. Title page, on a separate page from the remaining manuscript. Title should be brief and to the point. No abbreviations should be present in it.
  3. Authors details, with primary author, followed by co-authors. Given name and family name mentioned. Make sure that the current institute where they are working has been specified and their qualifications and designations are correct.
  4. Abstract structured, page numbers on the manuscript starting from title page, formatting according to the journal requirement. Keywords according to MeSH. No additional headings other than those specified.
  5. The manuscript should have the length and format as per type of article submitted and word count is checked and written on title page.
  6. The figures should have a legend and each figure should be on a separate page and not in the text itself. Cite the figures in the text of the manuscript. The tables should also not be embedded in the text. Check that Table legends are present. Total of 3 tables and figures should be present.
  7. Authors are advised to follow Equator guidelines www.equator-network.org/including CONSORT (reporting RCT), PRISMA (reporting systematic review) and STROBE (reporting epidemiological studies). The website provided gives additional information and is self-explanatory. In the case of revised manuscripts, each point of the reviewer should be answered separately point wise.
  8. Also, the journal requires that all changes made in the manuscript should be highlighted or made bold. Also, a grid is required to answer each query which is forwarded to authors for revised manuscripts only.

AFTER ACCEPTANCE

Once the manuscript is accepted for publication, the corresponding author will receive electronic page proofs, portable document format (PDF). It is the author’s responsibility to ensure that there are no errors in the proofs. Only the most critical changes will be made. The authors must read the proof very carefully and must submit within a period of 24 hours. Rs. 2000/- per side of PDF will be charged as publication fee upon acceptance of the manuscript for publication in the journal. The authors will receive an acceptance letter, along with information on the cost for the publication. The article once published is available on journal website and other databases, free of cost.

SARAJEVO DECLARATION

From Now Onwards Annals of Abbasi Shaheed Hospital and Karachi Medical and Dental College supports Sarajevo declaration of integrity and visibility of scholarly publication.

ANNALS OFFICE CONTACT

annalskmdc2013@gmail.com
Website: www.annals-ashkmdc.org

Email: annalskmdc2013@gmail.com.
Submission form along with pre-requisites has to be submitted by authors via OJS. 

 

GUIDELINES FOR MANUSCRIPT ACCORDING TO TYPE OF ARTICLES SUBMITTED:

AUTHORSHIP FORM