OVERVIEW
The Editor of the Annals of Abbasi Shaheed Hospital and Karachi Medical and Dental College, welcomes scientific contributions in the field of Medicine for publication in the journal. 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 Abbasi Shaheed Hospital and KMDC publishes original articles, special reports, review articles, rapid communications, case reports, letters to the editor and commentaries on all aspects ofthe field of Medicine. The journal follows the ICMJE (International Committee of Medical Journal Editors uniform requirement for manuscripts submitted to Biomedical Journals (URM). Manuscripts must be prepared in accordance with the URM (N Engl J Med 1997; 336: 309-15) and updated at http://www.icmje.org/). The journal is recognized by PMDC PMDC#PF.11-F-97, ISSN # 1536-3241.

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 Accepted manuscripts may not be published elsewhere without Annals permission.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 statement confirming 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, 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 Abbasi Shaheed Hospital and Karachi Medical and Dental College. All pre-requisites in the form must be completed (date of submission, title of manuscript, site of conducting research, name of laboratory if investigations were done, sign of lab incharge 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, sign and stamp of head of department/institution, two photostat copies of manuscript in standard format, two photostat copies of questionnaire in English and Urdu or another local language administered during the study (if applicable), copy of manuscript on CD and a copy sent by email at annalskmdc2013@gmail.com, bank deposit slip of manuscript processing fees of Rs 1000/only, principal investigator and co-investigator certification and contribution of each author according to ICMJE guidelines must be completed.

Plagiarism detection
All articles submitted will be checked for plagiarism. In case of plagiarism on an already published article, the editor would be obliged to withdraw the article from the journal website and Pakmedinet. Plagiarism, if detected and proved, will result in rejection of the manuscript from publication, along with possible debarment of the author(s) from publishing in the journal. The period of debarment will depend upon the extent of the offence and final decision would be taken by the editorial board of the journal.

Drugs
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 approve". The author should review this carefully as he is responsible for all changes in his work including changes made by the copy editor.

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 line spaced on 8 ½ x 11 inch or size A4 paper, with margins of atleast 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 right side, beginning with the title page and continuing through the last page of type written material. One original and one photocopy (and email of the entire manuscript) should be sent, along with the two sets of photographs, to the Annals office.
Original articles should be approximately 20 pages, line spacing 1.5, the pages have to be numbered, including the title page, references, figures and tables. Approximately, the following length targets are suggested for original articles; Structured abstract: 250 words, Introduction: one pageMethods: 2 to 3 pages, Results: 2 to 3 pages, Discussion: 3 to 5 pages, References include only those essential to the manuscript and should not exceed 30 in number, tables and figures 3 total.

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.

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 250 words. The abstract should not contain references. Abbreviations should not be used. Strictly, the following subheads are allowed in an original article: Objective, Methods, Results and 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 (the question the paper intends to answer): Methods (the study design, sample technique, sample size along with justification definitions such as for diagnostic criteria, laboratory and statistical methods and ethical approval): Results (the pertinent findings in logical sequences of the data analysis, the specific methods used, their rationale, their assumptions, whether the data met these assumptions, how missing data was handled and statistical methods used). Tables and figures, as necessary, may be included. If more than a total of three, whether figures or tables are included, extra cost of Rs 600 per figure or tablewill be charged by the journal if paper is accepted for publication) and: Discussion (conclusions based on findings, evidence from the literature that supports the conclusions, conflicting evidence, applicability of the conclusions, and the implication for future research or clinical applications), Acknowledgement (persons who have helped in the manuscript, however, not sufficient work has been done by them according to ICMJE guidelines to warrant authorship).
Maximum number of words for the different article types: Review article: maximum 4000 words excluding title page and unstructured abstract of 150 words. Original article: 3000 words excluding title page and abstract, short report/ short communication: maximum 1300 words excluding title page and unstructured abstract: of 150 words. Letter to editor: maximum 400 words

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, review article; 40, case report; 10, short communication; 25 to 30, invited commentary; 10and letter to editor; 3 to 5. 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 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 http://www.nlm.nih.gov/tsd/serials/lji.html. The author is responsible for the accuracy and completeness of the reference and for their correct textual citation.

Illustrations
Three copies of any figures or photographs should be included with the submitted manuscript photographs must be high contrast, glossy, black and white prints, uncounted and untrimmed, with preferred size between 4x5 inches and 5x7 inches (10x13 cms and 13x 18 cms). Colored transparencies are preferred. Figure number, name of senior author and an arrow indicating "top" should be typed on a gummed label and affixed to the back of each illustration. Pictures must also be submitted on line 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 a legend. Legend should be brief and should be typed on a separate manuscript page, directly following the manuscript list. Captions for the figures must be typed double-spaced, 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 numberedin 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 double-spaced including all headings. Verify tabular statistics to make sure the tally and match data cited in the text.

Electronic Manuscript
The Annals of Abbasi Shaheed Hospital and Karachi Medical and Dental College, Karachi accepts manuscripts on personal disks; 1) Submit electronic copy of manuscript on CD and e-mail it to annalskmdc2013@gmail.com 2) the file should be in Microsoft Word 2007 3) Label the disk with type of software used and version number and the disk format. Include the manuscript title and author name(s) on the manuscript that exactly match the disk file(s). Prepare art as Camera-ready copy; Laser prints are accepted.

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
The journal allows 2 student editors every two years. These students are chosen from the Karachi Medical and Dental College. Generally these are 3rd year or early 4th year students. Keenly interested students of third or fourth year students are chosen keeping in mind that the clinical studies of the students are not affected when they reach final year MBBS. It is the motto of our journal to give an exposure of the editorial office, to teach the youngsters at early age an understanding of the importance of manuscript writing, submission and interaction with senior editors and faculty submitting manuscripts. The work is voluntary.

PRE-SUBMISSION CHECK LIST
1. Submission form completed, duly signed with IRB, copyright transfer agreement by every author and processing fees. Without the IRB 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 4 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 case of revised manuscripts, each point of the reviewer should be answered separately point wise. 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 authors responsibility to ensure that there are no errors in the proofs. Only most critical changes will be made. The authors must read the proof very carefully and must submit within a period of 24 hours. The authors will receive an acceptance letter, along with information of the cost for the publication. The article once published is available on pakmedinet and on the annals website, free of cost.

ANNALS OFFICE CONTACT
annalskmdc2013@gmail.com
Website: www.annals-ashkmdc.org
Cell # 0302-8317-789,
Landline # 021- 99260300-1, Ext 251

Submission form along with pre-requisites has to be submitted by authors: between10.00am to 12.00 noon in Annals office KMDC 1st Floor, Karachi Medical & Dental College Block M. North Nazimabad, Karachi.

GUIDELINES FOR MANUSCRIPT ACCORDING TO TYPE OF ARTICLES SUBMITTED: