AUTHORS CHECKLIST


Authors

  1. Middle name initials provided
  2. Author for correspondence, with e-mail address provided
  3. Number of contributors restricted as per the instructions
  4. Identity not revealed in paper except title page (e.g. name of the institute in material and methods, citing previous study as ‘our study’, names on figure labels, name of institute in photographs, etc.)

Covering letter

  1. Signed by all contributors
  2. Previous publication / presentations mentioned
  3. Source of funding mentioned
  4. Conflicts of interest disclosed

Language and grammar

  1. Uniformly British English
  2. Abbreviations spelt out in full for the first time
  3. Numerals from 1 to 10 spelt out
  4. Numerals at the beginning of the sentence spelt out

Online Submission

  1. First Page File: Prepare the title page, covering letter, acknowledgement, etc. using a word processor program. All information which can reveal your identity should be here. Use text/rtf/doc/pdf files. Do not zip the files.
  2. Article file: The main text of the article, beginning from Abstract till References (including tables) should be in this file. Do not include any information (such as acknowledgement, your names in page headers, etc.) in this file. Use text/rtf/doc/pdf files. Do not zip the files. Limit the file size to 400 kb. Do not incorporate images in the file. If file size is large, graphs can be submitted as images separately without incorporating them in the article file to reduce the size of the file.
  3. Images: Submit good quality colour images. Each image should be less than 400 kb in size. Size of the image can be reduced by decreasing the actual height and width of the images (keep up to 800 pixels or 4 inches). All image formats (jpeg, tiff, gif, bmp, png, eps, etc.) are acceptable; jpeg is most suitable. Do not zip the files. Keep high resolution images with you for print edition.
  4. If the manuscript is submitted online, the contributors’ form and copyright transfer form has to be submitted in original with the signatures of all the contributors within two weeks from submission. Hard copies of the images (one set) or high resolution images on CD should be sent to the journal office at the time of submission of a revised manuscript.

Presentation and format

  1. Margins 2.9 cm from all four sides
  2. Title page contains all the desired information (vide supra)
  3. Running title provided (not more than 90 characters)
  4. Abstract page contains the full title of the manuscript
  5. Abstract provided (not more than 190 words for case reports and 290 words for original articles)
  6. Structured abstract provided for an original article
  7. Key words provided (three or more)
  8. Introduction of 79-100 words
  9. Headings in title case (not ALL CAPITALS, not underlined)
  10. References cited in superscript in the text without brackets
  11. References according to the journal’s instructions.

Tables and figures

  1. No repetition of data in tables/graphs and in text
  2. Actual numbers from which graphs drawn, provided
  3. Figures necessary and of good quality (colour)
  4. Table and figure numbers in Arabic letters (not Roman)
  5. Labels pasted on back of the photographs (no names written)
  6. Figure legends provided (not more than 40 words)
  7. Patients’ privacy maintained (if not, written permission enclosed)
  8. Credit note for borrowed figures/tables provided