Manuscripts for research articles and letters submitted to the respective journals should be divided into the following sections; however, there can be an extension in the number of sections in review articles in accordance with the requirements of the topic.
Structured Abstract:
The abstract of an article should be its clear, concise and accurate summary, having no more than 250 words, and including the explicit sub-headings (as in-line or run-in headings in bold). Use of abbreviations should be avoided and the references should not be cited in the abstract.
All the original research articles and systematic reviews must be accompanied with a structured abstract. Ideally, each abstract should include the following sub-headings, but these may vary according to requirements of the article.
- Background
- Objective
- Methods
- Results
- Conclusion
The headings can vary, but must state the purpose of the study, details of the participants, measurements, methods, main findings and conclusion.
Text organization:
The main text should begin on a separate page and should be divided into title page, abstract and the main text. The text may be subdivided further according to the areas to be discussed, which should be followed by the List of Abbreviations (if any), Conflict of Interest, Acknowledgements and Reference sections. For Review Articles, the manuscript should be divided into title page, abstract and the main text. The text may be subdivided further according to the areas to be discussed, which should be followed by the Acknowledgements and Reference sections. The Review Article should mention any previous important recent and old reviews in the field and contain a comprehensive discussion starting with the general background of the field. It should then go on to discuss the salient features of recent developments. The authors should avoid presenting material which has already been published in a previous review. The authors are advised to present and discuss their observations in brief.
For Research Articles the manuscript should begin with the title page and abstract followed by the main text, which must be structured into separate sections as Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion, Ethics Approval and Consent to Participate, Human and Animal Rights, Conflict of Interest, Acknowledgements and References.
For case reports, the authors should follow the CARE guidelines. The CARE checklist should be submitted as a separate file.
The manuscript style must be uniform throughout the text and 10 pt Times New Roman fonts should be used. The full term for an abbreviation should precede its first appearance in the text unless it is a standard unit of measurement. The reference numbers should be given in square brackets in the text. Italics should be used for Binomial names of organisms (Genus and Species), for emphasis and for unfamiliar words or phrases. Non-assimilated words from Latin or other languages should also be italicized e.g. per se, et al., etc.
Section Headings:
Section headings should be numbered sequentially, left aligned and have the first letter capitalized, starting with the introduction. Sub-section headings however, should be in lower-case and italicized with their initials capitalized. They should be numbered as 1.1, 1.2, etc.
INTRODUCTION:
The Introduction section should include the background and aims of the research in a comprehensive manner.
MATERIALS AND METHODS:
This section provides details of the methodology used along with information on any previous efforts with corresponding references. Any details for further modifications and research should be included. Sufficient details should be provided to the reader about the original data source in order to enable the analysis, appropriateness and verification of the results reported in the study.
It is important for the Method Section should be sufficiently detailed in respect of the data presented, and the results produced from it. This section should include all the information and protocol gathered for the study at the time when it was being written. If the study is funded or financially supported by an organization to conduct the research, then it should be mentioned in the Method Section. Methods must be result-oriented. The statement regarding the approval by an independent local, regional or national review committee (e.g. name of ethic committee and institutional review board) should be part of the Methods Section.
EXPERIMENTAL:
Repeated information should not be reported in the text of an article. A calculation section must include experimental data, facts and practical development from a theoretical perspective.
RESULTS:
The important and main findings of the study should come first in the Results Section. The tables, figures and references should be given in sequence to emphasize the important information or observations related to the research. The repetition of data in tables and figures should be avoided. Results should be precise.
DISCUSSION:
This should explore the significance of the results of the work, and present reproducible procedure. Extensive citations and discussion of published literature should be avoided.
The Results and discussions may be presented individually or combined in a single section with short and informative headings.
CONCLUSION:
A small paragraph summarizing the contents of the article, presenting the final outcome of the research or proposing further study on the subject, may be given at the end of the article under the Conclusion section.
FUNDING:
The authors need to declare the funding sources of their manuscripts clearly by providing the name of the funding agency or financial support along with allotted grant/award number in round brackets (if applied), for instance, “This work was financially supported by [Name of the funding agency] (Grant number XXX).
Similarly, if a paper does not have any specific funding source, and is part of the employment of the authors, then the name of the employer will be required. Authors will have to clearly state that the funder was involved in writing, editing, approval, or decision to publish the article.
Registration of Systematic Reviews:
Systematic Reviews includes systematic updates in review protocols, methods, research, and results from all fields of health for any studies and updates on already published issues.
Ethical Approval of Studies and Informed Consent:
For human or animal experimental investigations, it is a prerequisite to provide a formal review and approval, or review and waiver, by an appropriate institutional review board or ethics committee and should be documented in your paper. For investigations undertaken on human subjects, state in the Methods section the manner in which the informed consent was obtained from the study participants (i.e., oral or written), where there is an unavoidable risk of breach of privacy- e.g., in a clinical photograph or in case details- the patient's written consent or that of the next of kin, to publication must be obtained. We will ask you to send a signed consent form before publication. Consent must be obtained for all Case Reports and Clinical Pictures.
Binomial Names: (Relevant for only Biomedical Field)
Italics should be used for Binomial names of organisms (Genus and Species), for emphasis and for unfamiliar words or phrases. Non-assimilated words from Latin or other languages should also be italicized e.g. per se, et al. etc.
Chemical Reaction Data: (Relevant for only Chemical and Biochemical Fields)
For heterogeneous catalysis, presentation should include reaction rates normalized by catalyst surface area, surface area of the active phase, or number of active surface atoms or catalytic sites, as appropriate. Typical rate units are mol s-1 m-2 or, in the case of surface atom normalization to produce turnover frequencies, s-1. For homogeneous catalysis, rates should typically be reported as turnover frequencies. Comparisons of selectivities should be made at similar conversions.
Catalytic measurements need to be carried out under kinetically limited conditions. Confirming tests need to be carried out and reported, especially for all reactions occurring in the liquid phase.
Symbols and Units:
Greek symbols and special characters often undergo formatting changes and get corrupted or lost during preparation of a manuscript for publication. To ensure that all special characters used are embedded in the text, these special characters should be inserted as a symbol but should not be a result of any format styling (Symbol font face) otherwise they will be lost during conversion to PDF/XML.
Authors are encouraged to consult reporting guidelines. These guidelines provide a set of recommendations comprising a list of items relevant to their specific research design.
Only ISO symbols, written in italic, should be used for the various parameters. All kinds of measurements should be reported only in International System of Units (SI). SI units should always be written in roman and separated from the numerical value by a space (whatever the language). The μ in μg or µm should be in roman. The symbol for liter is L and that for minute is min. For temperatures, please note the use of °C and °F but K. As the Ångström (1 Å = 10-10 m) is not an SI unit, it should be replaced by the nanometer (1 nm = 10-9 m) or by the picometer (1 pm = 10-12m): 1 Å = 0.1 nm = 100 pm. Multiple units should be written with negative superscripts (for example, 25 mguL-1 us-1).
The list of notations should appear just before the first paragraph of full text.
A list of symbols and units should be provided if used extensively throughout the text.
Equations and Mathematical Expressions:
- Avoid the use of built-up fractions in the text. If not avoided by the author(s), built-up fractions will be converted to equivalent expressions on the line when the paper is copyedited. In display matter, however, built-up fractions are preferred for clarity.
- Avoid the use of small-type mathematical expressions centered above or below arrows. If possible, try to use an alternative format.
- In the exponential function, avoid exponents having more than one or two characters.
- Avoid the use of reference numbers for equations that are not subsequently referred to in the paper. Costs are reduced if short mathematical equations and other expressions in the text are run in (instead of each being displayed on a separate line). Authors must expect that, when accepted papers are copyedited, "excess" equation reference numbers will be deleted and short equations will be run in with text.
- Be sure to indicate special marking for symbols (e.g., italics, boldface) and clearly identify any unusual symbols. Try to avoid underscored symbols because they often require hand composition and opening up lines and thus are expensive. In vector notations, indicate which letters or notations, if any, may be set in boldface type. Indicate if asterisks are to be set in superscript position or centered on the line.
- All equations should be indented and numbered as follows: (1)
- Equation number should be right justified. Put three dots(...) midway between the end of the equation and the equation number.
- Punctuation should not be used at the end of an equation.
- Particular care should be taken to distinguish between the number zero (0) and the letter O; the number one (1) and the letter l, the Roman letter v and the Greek letter nu (n). The decimal logarithm should be written "log" and the natural log "ln". The abbreviation of the exponential function is a roman e (for example, ex ) or exp (for example, exp (u2 + n)). In expressions of the type dxdt, the letter d (derivative function) is always written in roman, whereas the physical parameter (x or t) is always in italics. Numbers are written in numerals when they are followed by units, these being represented by their SI symbols (10 % but a few percent).
- In numerals, each group of three letters should be separated by a space (except for dates and postal codes).
- Authors should provide the equations in *TeX/LaTeX file format separately as well as embedded in the manuscript.
Nomenclature:
Nomenclature should conform to current American usage. Insofar as possible, authors should use systematic names similar to those used by Chemical Abstracts Service or IUPAC. Chemical Abstracts (CA) nomenclature rules are described in Appendix IV of the Chemical Abstracts Index Guide.
Supportive/Supplementary Material (if any):
We do encourage to append supportive material, for example a PowerPoint file containing a talk about the study, a PowerPoint file containing additional screenshots, a Word, RTF, or PDF document showing the original instrument(s) used, a video, or the original data (SAS/SPSS files, Excel files, Access Db files etc.) provided it is inevitable or endorsed by the journal's Editor.
Published/reproduced material should not be included unless you have obtained written permission from the copyright holder, which must be forwarded to the Editorial Office in case of acceptance of your article for publication.
Supportive/Supplementary material intended for publication must be numbered and referred to in the manuscript but should not be a part of the submitted paper. In-text citations as well as a section with the heading "Supportive/Supplementary Material" before the "References" section should be provided. Here, list all Supportive/Supplementary Material and include a brief caption line for each file describing its contents.
Any additional files will be linked into the final published article in the form supplied by the author, but will not be displayed within the paper. They will be made available in exactly the same form as originally provided only on our Web site. Please also make sure that each additional file is a single table, figure or movie (please do not upload linked worksheets or PDF files larger than one sheet). Supportive/Supplementary material must be provided in a single zipped file not larger than 4 MB.
Authors must clearly indicate if these files are not for publication but meant for the reviewers'/editors' perusal only.
