Authors

Instructions to Authors

Journal of Sulaimani Medical College  (JSMC) is a peer-reviewed journal published quarterly by the College of Medicine, University of Sulaimani. JSMC is managed and supported by the College of Medicine, University of Sulaimani, Kurdistan Region by a dedicated board of editors in different medical specialties.

JSMC publishes manuscripts in all fields of medicine in the English language. The issues are published online in March, June, September, and December. JSMC is an open-access journal, the journal articles can be accessed freely from the journal website.

Contributions

The journal accepts original articles, review articles, case reports, editorials, medical quizzes, and letters to the editor. The authors' role in the research should be declared in the Journal’s contribution form. The journal does not accept works published in other journals or manuscripts already submitted to other journals. 

The journal does not accept works where research misconduct has occurred including research methodology, ethical insufficiency, and plagiarism. In no case shall the journal or its editors encourage such misconduct, or knowingly allow such misconduct to take place. 

In the event that a journal’s publisher or editors are made aware of any allegation of research misconduct, they deal with allegations appropriately.The editors are always willing to publish corrections, clarifications, retractions and apologies when needed.

Manuscript Submission

• The authors are responsible for the accuracy of all statements, data, and references included in manuscripts. The manuscript will be assessed by the editors, checked for plagiarism and if approved it will be forwarded for peer-reviewing for three reviewers. The authors must correct the manuscript based on the reviewer’s notes, the editor’s observations, and the journal regulations and formatting.

• After a manuscript has been accepted for publication, authors are required to supply the final version of the manuscript in Microsoft Word document, version 2010 or newer. Proofreading will be done by linguistic editors of the journal.

  • The format of JSMC complies with the uniform requirements for the manuscripts submitted to Biomedical Journals, published by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE Vancouver, British Columbia, available on the website www.icmje.org. We encourage the use of reporting guidelines such as the CONSORT statement for randomized, controlled trials and the STROBE statement for observational studies (http://www.equator-network.org/).

  • Manuscripts should be typewritten double spaced on size A4 (29.5x21cm.) paper with wide margins. Manuscripts and figures will not be returned to the author(s) whether the Editorial Board’s decision is to accept, revise or reject them.

• A manuscript must be accompanied by a covering paper signed by all authors that the paper has not been published in and will not be submitted to any other journal if accepted in JSMC. The page should contain (a) title of the manuscript (b) names of each author (c) official academic and/or clinical title and affiliation (d) name and address of the institution(s) where the work was done (e) name, address, phone number and email address, of the author to whom correspondence should be sent.

  • The manuscript should include a structured abstract, not more than 250 words. The structured abstract must be typed on a separate paper and consist of background, objective, method, results, and conclusion. Translation in Kurdish or Arabic languages is optional. Three to ten keywords should be provided on the same page as the abstract in English. As possible, the keywords to be selected from the National Library of Medicine, Medical Subject Headings.

  • The manuscript should be divided into the following parts: introduction, materials and methods, results and discussion. Measurement of length, height, weight, and volume should be reported in metric units, the temperature in degrees Celsius, blood pressure in mm Hg, and all hematologic and clinical chemistry measurements in SI units. Abbreviations should be defined on first use and then applied consequently throughout the article. Avoid abbreviations in the title and abstract.

Instructions in Writing a Case Report 

A Case Report is a detailed report of the symptoms, signs, diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up of a patient. Case Reports may contain a demographic profile of the patient but usually describes an unusual or novel occurrence.

Introduction

The content should be brief and less than 3 paragraphs:

• • Explain what the case report is for.

  • Include background information as well as relevant definitions.

Patient’s Case Presentation

• Patient demographics (age, sex, height, weight, etc.)—avoid patient identifiers (date of birth, initials)

• Patient’s complaints

• Patient’s present illness and medical/family/social/medication history before admission

• Each drug’s name, strength, dosage form, route, and dates of administration

• The completed diagnostic procedures that are pertinent and support the case and their salient results.

• Photographs of histopathology, roentgenograms, electrocardiograms, skin manifestations, or anatomy

• Patient consent and adherence to institutional guidelines

Discussion

Justify the uniqueness of the case in this section:

• • Compare and contrast the nuances of the case report with the literature review.

  • List the limitations of the case report and describe their relevance.

  • Confirm the accuracy of the descriptive patient case report.

  • Summarize the salient features of the case report.

  • Draw recommendations and conclusions.

Conclusion

This section is not always necessary in a Case Report, but if it is, summarize in a few sentences.

• Provide a justified conclusion

• Provide evidence-based recommendations

• List opportunities for research

References

References should be numbered both in the text and in the list of references in the order in which they appear in the text. The punctuation of the Vancouver style should be followed. The titles of journals should be abbreviated according to the style used in Index Medicus. This can be obtained from the website (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/). It is preferable that authors use Endnote, Mendeley, or other reference programs. The author(s) is responsible for the accuracy of references. The following are examples of the three most common types of citations:

1. Journal citation, six or fewer authors: 

Smith J, Canton EM. Weight-based administration of dalteparin in obese patients. Am J Health-SystPharm. 2003; 60(7):683-687.

2. A typical entry for the journal with more than 6 authors ( list first 6, then et al).

Rose ME, Huerbin MB, Melick J, Marion DW, Palmer AM, Schiding JK, et al. Regulation of interstitial excitatory amino acid concentrations after cortical contusion injury. Brain Res. 2002;935(1-2):40-6.

3. Book citation, noting chapter and authors:

Arevalo JA, Nesbitt TS. Medical problems during pregnancy. In: Taylor RB, Editor. Family Medicine: Principles and Practice. 6th ed. New York: Springer –Verlag; 2003. p. 109-16.

4. Electronic source:

Seal A, Kerac M. Operational implications of using 2006 World Health Organization growth standards in nutrition programs: secondary data analysis. BMJ. 2007; 334:733. http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/334/7596/733. Accessed April 12, 2007 

Style

• The tables should be typed on a separate page double-spaced, including all headings, number all tables with Arabic numerals and include a short title. The tables must be simples and not formatted. 

• The figures should be suitable for reproduction without being retouched or redrawn. Photographs should be supplied as glossy colored prints. The top of the figure should be indicated clearly.

• Legends: Captions for figures must be typed; double spaced and must not appear on the figure.

Ethical Considerations

When experiments on humans are being reported, the whole work in the manuscript should conform to the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation. For detail please read the WMA Declaration of Helsinki - Ethical Principles for Medical Research Involving Human Subjects.

Publication Fee 

Authors are required to pay 150,000 Iraqi Dinar (or its equivalent in USD) as processing and publication fee. The fee is paid to the journal name at the Finance and Account Office, College of Medicine, University of Sulaimani. The fee is non-refundable and not a guarantee that the paper will be accepted for publication.

Manuscript submission address

Editor-in-Chief

Journal of Sulaimani Medical College

College of Medicine

University of Sulaimani

François Mitterrand Street

Sulaymaniyah

46001

Iraq. 

E-mail: jsmc@univsul.edu.iq