Instructions for Authors

Articles and all editorial correspondence should be sent to Editor, JFMC C/O Federal Medical College, Hanna Road, G-8, Islamabad.

An article submitted to JFMC must not be previously submitted to any other journal and must not be published in part or total. The authors will have to sign an agreement to give copyright to the publishers. The authors will have to assist the editors in final proof reading of the article before publication.

The authors' names, affiliations or contact details should not be mentioned anywhere on the main manuscript. The review process is a double-blind process and the authors' details are not shared with the reviewers.

Clinical Trials: It is mandatory for a RCT to be registered prospectively and have a TRIAL NUMBER

SUBMISSION OF ARTICLE

Original Paper

The journal will accept:- (i) Guest Editorials on important subjects of current interest, (ii) Original Articles, (iii) Review Articles, (iv) Case Reports, (v) Clinical Updates (vi) Short Communications (vii) Book Reviews (viii) Case Studies (ix) Clinical Notes (x) CME (xi) Obituaries and (xii) Letters to the Editor. The authors can suggest two reviewers at the time of making submission who may be contacted by the editor if required.

Manuscript must be accompanied by a certificate signed by the author and all co-authors who have seen and approved the final version of the manuscript and have not submitted the manuscript to any other journal. Manuscript should include the name/s of supervisor/s, consultant/s of primary institute of study. All manuscripts should be typed in double spacing on A-4 paper (8.2in x 11.70in) with one-inch margin on both sides. The article words count for quantitative study should be in range 2500 - 3000 words (excluding references and abstract) with at least 20-25 references and 3–5 figures or tables. For qualitative study article word count should be in range of 3000-3500 words (excluding references and abstract) with at least 20-30 references and 3–5 figures or tables.

Each manuscript should include:

  1. Title page

    Please give complete title as well as a short title of the article

    • Name of author(s)
    • Department(s)
    • Institution(s) at which work was performed
    • Author Affiliation
    • Subject Specialty
    • Official phone no, cell no, personal e-mail address (to whom correspondence is to be addressed)
    • Short running title for header

  2. Structured Abstract

    Abstract should be of 250 words. Structure of an abstract should be in accordance to the article type:

    Structured Abstracts (Meta-analysis, original articles, research articles & systematic reviews):
    • Word Count: 250 words
    • A structured abstract should be under the following headings:
      1. Objective
      2. Methodology
      3. Results
      4. Conclusion
    Unstructured Abstracts (Case reports & series, narrative review, short communications & reports and special communications)
    • Word Count: 150 words
    • An unstructured abstract should follow a logical sequence
    • Write the clinical trial number after the abstract in case of randomized controlled trials.

  3. Text

    • Introduction: This should summarize the purpose and the rationale for the study (maximum 400 words)
    • Materials and Methods: This should include exact method or observation of experiment. If an apparatus is used, its manufacturer's name and address should be given in parenthesis. If the method is established, give reference but if the method is new, give enough information so that another author is able to perform it. If a drug is used, its generic name, dose and route of administration must be given. Methodology section should contain study design, place and duration of study, sample size, sampling technique, inclusion and exclusion criteria, data collection and analysis procedure. For patients, age, sex with mean age ± standard deviation must be given. Statistical method must be mentioned and specify any general computer programme used. Ethics Committee / Institutional Review Board (EC/IRB) approval number with date should be included in this section.
    • Results: Must be presented in the form of text, tables and illustrations. The contents of the tables should not be repeated in the text. Instead, a reference to the table number may be given. Long articles may need sub-headings within some sections (especially the results and discussion parts) to clarify their contents. Extra or supplementary materials and technical details can be placed in an appendix where it is accessible. It may be omitted from the printed version but may be published in the electronic version of the journal.
    • Discussion: This should emphasize present findings & the variations or similarities with other work done in the field by other workers. Detailed data should not be repeated in the discussion again. It must be mentioned whether the hypothesis mentioned in the article is true, false or no conclusions can be derived. This section should also include as to what new information it has added to the medical literature and its clinical significance.
    • Conclusion: this should be in line with the objectives and results. It should be the same as given in abstract.
    • Conflict of Interest: Any conflict of interest should be declared by all authors. If there are no conflict of interests, authors should still include this heading and write "none to declare."
    • Acknowledgements (if any): Contributors who do not meet all the four criteria for authorship, but helped in the study, may be listed in the acknowledgement section. Authors are responsible for obtaining written permission from person acknowledged by name. Technical help should be acknowledged in a paragraph separate from those acknowledging other contributions.
    • Key Words: Key words not more than ten. Use terms from the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) list of index medicus, if suitable MeSH terms are not yet available for recently introduced terms, present terms may be used.
    • Disclaimer: Disclose if the abstract has been presented or published in a conference, or published in an abstract book or any other relevant information. If the article is part of a PhD thesis, it should be disclosed.
    • Authors Contributions: Authorship credit should be based on:
      1. Substantial contributions to conception and design, or acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data.
      2. Drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content.
      3. Final approval of the version to be published.
      4. Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved. Authors should meet conditions 1, 2, 3 and 4.
      Authors should meet criteria according to ICMJE guidelines.

      Addition and deletion of authors may not be permitted after submission with authorship proforma duly signed.

    • References: These should be typed in superscript in text. Maximum References:
      • i. Original Article 25,
      • ii. Case Report 10
      • iii. Reviews 40
      Fifty Percent References should be from last five years These references should also be marked as superscript in the text. The References should be written in Vancouver style as per "Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing and Publication of Scholarly work in medical journals. Updated Dec. 2015. Available at: http://icmje.org/recommendations/". JFMC follows Index Medicus style for references and abbreviated journal names according to the list of Journals indexed in Index Medicus. Add DOI number of those references where it is available. Example:--

      Hakyemez IN, Kucukbayrak A, Tas T, Yikilgan AB, Akkaya A, Yasayacak A, et al. Nosocomial Acinetobacter baumannii infections and changing Antibiotic Resistance. Pak J Med Sci. 2013;29(5):1245-1248. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.12669/pjms.295.3885.

  4. Tables and Figures:

    Max five figures/ tables are allowed (each table, complete with legends and footnotes, should be merged in the manuscript). Tables and figures should be embedded and not supplied separately. Figures and pictures should clarify and augment the text. The selection of sharp, high-quality illustrations is of paramount importance. Figures should be in 300 DPI and charts in Power Point (editable) high resolution format. Figures of inferior quality will be returned to the author for correction or replacement. For x-ray films, scans, and other diagnostic images, pictures of pathology specimens or photomicrographs, high-resolution photographic image files are recommended. Photomicrographs should have internal scale markers. Symbols, arrows, or letters used in photomicrographs should stand out on the background. The internal scale should be given, and the method of staining in photomicrographs should be identified.

    • Tables: All tables should be numbered with Roman numerals. Headings should be placed above tables, left justified.
    • Figures: All figures should be numbered with Arabic numerals. Headings should be placed below figures, left justified.

  5. Proof Reading:

    Final version of manuscript is sent to corresponding author for proof reading before publication to avoid any mistakes. Corrections should be conveyed clearly & Editor informed by E-mail.

Short communication:

Short communication or brief report of research works, containing new findings. The short communication consists: Title, Abstract (structured - no more than 150 words), Keywords (max. 5), Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion, Ethical Consideration, Acknowledgment and References. Short communications should not exceeding 2500 words from introduction through references. Short communications should contain no more than 3000 words totally. The number of tables/figures should be in maximum 3.

Review Article:

Types of review articles include: Critical review, Literature review/Narrative review, Mapping review, Meta analysis, Mixed study review, Overview, Systematic review, Rapid review, Scoping review, Systemized review, Umbrella review. They should be written by authors considered expert on the subject. Therefore, the corresponding author of the review article must be one of the authors of at least three articles presented in reference section.

Case Report:

Short report of cases, clinical experience, drug trails or adverse effects may be submitted. They should not exceed 1200 words, 10 bibliographic references and either two concise table or one figure. The report must contain genuinely new information.

Qualitative study format

  1. Abstract
  2. Introduction
  3. Literature Review
  4. Methodology
  5. Qualitative Approach
  6. Participant selection strategy
  7. Data collection strategy
  8. Themes
  9. Discussion
  10. Conclusion
  11. References

Letter to Editor:

Opinions on topics and articles recently published in the journal will be considered for publication if they are constructive in nature and provide academic/clinical interest. These letters will be forwarded to author of the cited article for possible response. The editor reserves the right to shorten these letters, delete objectionable comments, make other changes, or take any other suitable decision to comply with the style of the journal.

Letters could be of two types:

  1. Commenting either on recently published articles in the journal
  2. The scientific letter include reporting cases, outbreaks, or original research.

Note:

  • All articles submitted to JFMC must only be submitted to this journal and may not have been published elsewhere in part or total. The authors will be requested to sign an agreement to give the copyright to the publishers. The authors will be required to assist the editors for reviewing proof before publication.

PROCESSING /PUBLICATION FEE

None

OPEN ACCESS POLICY

This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.

JFMC follows Budapest Open Access Initiative definition for Open Access which states that, "Readers may read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of articles and use them for any other lawful purpose."