Introduction



Medical Journal Armed Forces India (MJAFI) is a peer reviewed, multi speciality medical journal with circulation both in India and abroad. It has been published continuously every quarter since 1945 and enjoys an extensive readership. MJAFI publishes original research work of high standard for dissemination in both print and online. MJAFI is governed by the Armed Forces Medical Services of India. The Editorial Board functions independently and comprises of eminent consultants from across specialities and regions of the world. From Jan 2023, the journal will be published bimonthly.

MJAFI invites Editorials, Review articles, Original articles, Case reports and Letters to Editor/Correspondence in all disciplines of medical science from prospective authors worldwide. Presently, we are not publishing 'Case Series'. The scope of the journal covers all specialities of medicine and surgery. Content related to a general medical readership is encouraged. Separate theme sections are published from time to time on topics such as military medicine, communicable diseases, lifestyle diseases, digital health, medical education, student research and so on.

Manuscripts are subjected to a double blind peer review process. The journal does not charge for submission, processing, publication of manuscripts or for color reproduction of photographs.

The Guidelines for Authors are in accordance with the 'Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals' as published by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors at https://www.icmje.org as updated on Dec 2022. Authors are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the current guidelines/recommendations.

Manuscripts are accepted for publication with the understanding that their contents, all or in part, have not been published and will not be published elsewhere, (except in the abstract form or with the explicit consent of the Editor in Chief). Material received for consideration will be acknowledged. Manuscripts will be initially reviewed by the Editorial team for suitability. Manuscripts meeting criterion of quality would be subjected for formal review by blinded peer reviewers on multiple parameters such as originality, methodology, scientific content, quality, clinical importance and overall suitability for publication in the journal. Reviewer comments will be sent to the corresponding author for response, revision and resubmission within a specified timeframe. Manuscripts accepted for publication are edited for grammar, punctuation and format. Page proofs will be sent to the corresponding author for corrections and resubmission by email.

Articles once rejected will not be entertained ordinarily for reconsideration in future. The decision of the Editorial Board will be considered final for all purposes. Decisions of rejection may not reflect upon the quality of research submitted and merely a statement of current needs of the journal.

Articles resubmitted after the stipulated period has lapsed will be treated as new submissions and may be freshly registered at the discretion of the Editorial Board.

Authorship

All individuals designated as authors should qualify for authorship. An `author' is considered to be someone who has made substantive intellectual contributions to a published study. An author should be confident of his / her co-authors' ability and integrity.

Authorship credit should be based on the criterion below.

  1. Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis or interpretation of data for the work; AND
  2. Drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content; AND
  3. Final approval of the version to be published; AND
  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.

All those designated as authors should MEET ALL FOUR CRITERIA for authorship and those who do not meet all four criteria should only be acknowledged and not be granted authorship.

Participation solely in the acquisition of funding, for the collection of data or data entry, and general routine supervision does not justify authorship.

The Intellectual contribution of each author is to be mentioned, on the Author Certificate. CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) and other statement should be used to mention the roles of individaul authors.

The order of authorship should be a joint decision of all the co-authors. Once submitted, the order will not be changed without written consent of all the co-authors. The manuscript should be submitted by the corresponding author and requests for change in the same will NOT be entertained.

When a large multi-author group has conducted the work, the group ideally should decide who all are authors before the work is started and confi rm who are the authors at time of submitting the manuscript for publication. All members of the group named as authors should meet all four criteria for authorship, including approval of the final manuscript, and they should be able to take public responsibility for the work and should have full confidence in the accuracy and integrity of the work of other group authors. They will also be expected as individuals to complete disclosure forms. When the number of authors exceed eight, a written statement that a multicentric study is involved or there is a necessitated need for the authorship should be stated and the reasons provided. Also ordinarily, no addition/deletion of any author is permissible once the manuscript has been assigned an ID number.

Some large multi-author groups designate authorship by a group name, with or without the names of individuals. When submitting a manuscript authored by a group, the corresponding author should specify the group name if one exists, and clearly identify the group members in the group who can take credit and responsibility for the work as authors. The byline will identify the authors and non-authors/ contributors separately. All persons delineated as authors have to meet all the authorship criteria as mentioned previously and will sign individual confl ict of interest forms which need uploading at time of submission.

Ethics in publishing

MJAFI lays emphasis on the ethical aspects of research being published in its journal. Declaration of conflicts of interest/relationships and activities of each author are mandatory. Data privacy should be maintained strictly. Any report of experimental investigation on human subjects must contain evidence of informed consent by the subjects and of approval by the institutional ethics committee. In addition all original studies should have an institute ethical clearance certifi cate. Authors must mention in methods section of manuscript if good clinical care guidelines were followed and guidelines as per Helsinki declaration were adhered to. MJAFI encourages authors to see guidelines issued by COPE for elaboration on the topic. Do not use names and initials of the patients or any revealing details., especially in illustrative material. When informed consent for the same has been taken from the patient, it should be mentioned in the manuscript. Any report of experimental investigation on human subjects must contain evidence of informed consent by the subjects and of approval by the institutional ethics committee. Authors are encouraged to visit the following links on ethics in publications. https://www.elsevier.com/journal-authors/ethics#conducting- research, https://publicationethics.org/guidance/Guidelines

Authors who choose to post their work on a preprint server should choose a server that clearly identifies preprints as not peer-reviewed work and includes disclosures of authors relationships and activities. It is the responsibility of the author to inform a journal if the work has been previously posted on a preprint server. In addition, it is the author (and not journal editors) responsibility to ensure that preprints are amended to point readers to subsequent versions, including the final published article. Not providing accurate information about submission of articles in preprint servers can lead to technical reject of the articles.

Disclosure of Financial and Non Financial Relationship and Activities, and Conflicts of Interest

Authors should submit a conflict of interest/relationships and activities statement which will be published with every article. The purpose of the statement is to ensure that any factors- personal relationships, financial connections (e.g. Research projects funded by various agencies such as WHO, AFMRC, ICMR, sponsorships), industry participation etc that might bias the author of an article, are declared so that readers are aware of the potential conflict of interest and can include that knowledge in the assessment of information. Stating disclosure does not disqualify an author from publication. The Disclosure/COI form can be downloaded from the ICMJE website.

Copyright

Contents of the MJAFI are covered by copyright. MJAFI does not accept any responsibility for the statements made by the authors. The Editorial Board has the right to introduce such changes in the articles as may be considered necessary for effectiveness of communication. Once published, copyright of manuscript shall stand transferred to the Journal.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is the wrongful appropriation or purloining and publication as one's own, of the ideas, or the expression of the ideas of another. Plagiarism is considered by the MJAFI as a serious scientific/ professional misconduct. Authors are responsible to ensure that submitted manuscripts are free from plagiarism of all types. MJAFI adopts international standards to screen plagiarism. However the responsibility of plagiarism arising later rests with the authors. Authors and reviewers are advised to be careful to maintain high ethical standards. Please view https://www.editorialmanager.com/mjafi/journal- authors/ethics#writing-an-article

Approval/ Vetting of MJAFI articles by the office of DGAFMS

Certain papers/ articles submitted to MJAFI wherein Indian Armed Forces data of sensitive nature is highlighted, will be forwarded by MJAFI to the Office of DGAFMS for reviewing and granting of permission/ clearance/ approval for publication of the same in the MJAFI.

Ahead of Print

All accepted manuscripts are published online ahead of print on the MJAFI website after proof reading. This is done to improve the visibility of research pending print.

Online Only articles

The journal may publish `Online Only' articles/supplements in addition to the regular print issue. This may be done in order to reduce backlog of accepted articles pending publication in the print version at the discretion of the Editorial Committee from time to time. Articles published in the "Online Only" mode will not be published in the print version of the journal.

Submission of manuscript

All new manuscripts must be submitted through the Medical Journal Armed Forces India online manuscript management website (https://www.editorialmanager.com/mjafi). Hard copy submissions are not accepted and will be returned to authors at their cost. Please register yourself at the website and follow instructions to submit the manuscript. An author information pack may be downloaded for guidance.

By submitting a manuscript online, the author agrees to the following:

  1. The work is original and free from plagiarism.
  2. The work is not under consideration for review/ publication in another Journal.
  3. All authors are aware of the order of authorship. The corresponding author shall be solely responsible in cases of authorship disputes.

Manuscript without author/institution/location details

The manuscript should be typed in single space in MS Word ® file in US English format. Font size should be Arial 12 points. Identity of the author or institute should not be revealed in the manuscript. (For Example, do not mention the name of the institue in Methods, citing previous study as 'our study', names on the figure labels, name of institue in photographs etc). All certificates and files need to be uploaded in the online manuscript management system in a particular order as given below. Authors are advised to familiarize themselves with the same using the help functionality provided on the website.

Order of uploading documents
  1. a. Covering letter
  2. b. Title page
  3. c. Certificate from authors
  4. d. Certificate from Head of the Institution where study has been carried out
  5. e. Supplementary material: Any supporting documents (if any) like Trial Registration / Ethics clearance / Informed Consent / Sanction accorded by Offi ce of DGAFMS (only for publication of articles based on AFMRC projects) etc.
  6. f. Disclosure / Conflicts of Interest Form
  7. g. Patient/ participant consent form
  8. h. Institute Ethical Committee Approval Certificate (For all original articles)
  9. i. Manuscript without author/institution/location details
  10. j. Tables
  11. k. Figures
  12. l. Legends to tables and figures
  13. m. Reply to remarks (without author/institute/location details in case of revisions)

Certificates

It is mandatory to upload a scanned copy of the following ink signed certificates as per prescribed formats available online in the Author Information Pack. Please scan and save as a PDF file for easier uploading on the manuscript management website.
  1. Cover letter: Cover letter can be downloaded from this link
  2. Title page: Title page can be downloaded from this link
  3. Certificate from Authors: Certificate from authors can be downloaded from this link
  4. Certificate from Head of the Institution where study has been carried out: Certificate from the head of the Institution can be downloaded from this link
  5. Disclosure/COI form: Conflict of Interest form can be downloaded from ICMJE website filled up, and printed. A scan of the same may please be uploaded.
  6. Patient consent form (case report)/Patient consent format (original articles).

Cover Letter
This should be a brief letter written by the corresponding author and addressed to the editor giving a brief summary of the research, any similar work on the topic and how it relates to the readership of the journal. A sample cover letter may be downloaded for use.

Title page

Should give the title of the article, a short title, type of article (original article, case report etc), name(s) of the author(s), affiliations of author(s), place of work, names and addresses of the authors and word count of abstract and manuscript (excluding abstract and references), number of figures, tables, videos and references. The ORCID ID of all authors should preferably be available and mentioned on this page. The corresponding author is the one who is making the submission. The title should not exceed 20 words. It should have no abbreviations. Names of all the authors with the highest academic degree must be typed as per the template provided. Acknowledgements, if any, may be mentioned on this page and NOT in the manuscript. It should be uploaded in Microsoft word format. See also the title page template, https://legacyfileshare.elsevier.com/promis_misc/mjafi-title-page-template.doc

Abstract

The abstract is a synopsis of the main article in about 250 words (original article and reviews) and 150 words for case reports. It gives an opportunity to the author to encourage the reader to go through the article. For original articles it should be structured into the headings: Background, Methods, Results, Conclusion, Trial Registration No. (if any), Funding Source giving facts and not descriptions. For clinical trials the author is advised to see the CONSORT checklist for abstracts . The information in the abstract should be consistent with the main text as the manuscript gets revised. If the data has been deposited in a public repository and / or are being used in a secondary analysis, author(s) should state at the end of the abstract the unique, persistent dataset identifier, repository name and number. Abstract for case report should be in a single paragrapgh highlighting the important aspects of the case/cases being described. No abstract is required for Correspondence / Letters to the Editor. The abstract should be included in the manuscript file without author details.

Keywords

Provide not more than 6 key words using terms from Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) list of Index Medicus. Avoid abbreviations.

Manuscript without author details

The main manuscript should not contain any identification information (name / institution / funding / acknowledgements etc). The text should be divided into sections, e.g. Introduction, Methods, Results and Discussion for an original article. Each should have its individuality and must not be mixed with others. For case reports, the sections should be Introduction, Case Report and Discussion. Ensure that all references, tables and figures are cited in the text. Only authorized, internationally accepted abbreviations should be used. First time use of an abbreviation must always be preceded by its full form except for standard units of measurement.

Units/Name of Drugs
All measurements must be in metric units, preferably with corresponding SI units in parentheses. Drug concentrations may be reported in either SI or mass units. Use only generic names of drugs. In case trade names (proprietary drugs) are used, the manufacturer should be identified clearly.

Miscellaneous
Use 'radiograph', 'radiographic' instead of the word 'X-ray'. 'Significant' should be reserved for use in the statistical sense. Avoid duplication and repetition of material in Results and Discussion, in Tables and Text, and in Text and Legends.

Following the text of the manuscript, the below matter should be included in an orderly manner as follows:

References
References should cite the original research source when possible. Self citations should be avoided unless essential. Avoid citing sources from pseudo-journals / predatory journals. The responsibility of accuracy of the references lies entirely with the authors. The authors are encouraged to check for the correctness of references online. References should be listed in the order in which they are cited in the text. Only relevant and recent references are encouraged. They should be indicated in the text by superscript Arabic numerals without any parentheses. Ensure that all the references cited in the text are included in the list and vice versa. References should be in the MEDLINE®/ PubMed® Journal Article Citation Format. For examples of references of specific nature, the authors are advised to refer to the resource given at https://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_requirements.html

Tables
To be provided on separate pages. They should be serially numbered in Arabic numerals (eg. Table 1, Table 2 etc) and a short title should specify the contents of the table. The column heading of the table should be clearly visible. A table should not exceed a page in length, and should not contain less than four lines of data. Tables should be self-explanatory and should not duplicate the data in the text.

Figures/ Illustrations/ Photographs

Illustrations should be clear enough and should have at least 300 x 300 dpi resolutions. Line art drawing must have a minimum resolution of 600 dpi. Photographs/illustrations may be submitted as 'JPEG', or 'TIFF' files. In clinical photographs, the identity of the subjects should be suitably masked. In case this is not possible, a written permission from the concerned person should accompany the manuscript. Written permission to reproduce any previously published illustration must be obtained from the copyright holder.

Legends to Figures

The Figure number (numbered consecutively in Arabic numerals), title and explanations of the Figures should appear in the legend (not on the Figure). Type the legends on a separate page. Enough information should be included to interpret the figure without reference to the text.

Video & animation

MJAFI accepts video material and animation sequences to support and enhance your scientific research. Authors who have video or animation files that they wish to submit with their article are strongly encouraged to include links to these within the body of the article. This can be done in the same way as a figure or table by referring to the video or animation content and noting in the body text where it should be placed. All submitted files should be properly labeled so that they directly relate to the video file's content. Please provide the file in one of the recommended file formats with a preferred maximum size of 150 MB per file, 1 GB in total. Video and animation files supplied will be published online in the electronic version of the article. Since video and animation cannot be embedded in the print version of the journal, please provide text for both the electronic and the print version for the portions of the article that refer to this content. For more detailed instructions please visit https://www.elsevier.com/about/policies-and-standards/author/artwork-and-media-instructions

d. Case Reports: A case report should communicate a message regarding diagnosis/ management of a new and emerging disease, an unexpected association between disease or symptoms, a rare feature of a disease or unique therapeutic approach, an unexpected event while observing or treating a patient. Only the rarity of a particular case does not merit publication of the case report. The CARE guidelines for case reports are encouraged to be followed. As a routine, a maximum of four authors are permitted for a case report. Discussion should highlight unusual features of the report and briefly discuss pertinent literature. An unstructured abstract should be provided. Case reports not meeting above criteria will only be published as correspondence.


e. Correspondence / Letter to the Editor and their replies: Letters to Editor should be brief with objective and constructive criticism of published articles. They should be limited to articles published in the last two years. A short pertinent title accompanied by a covering letter should be given. Current interesting medical topics/ anomalies / short manuscripts which convey an educational message / interesting images can also be considered for Letter to Editor/Correspondence.

Size of manuscript

The Table below provides guidelines regarding maximum permissible size of text as well as number of Tables, Figures and References. Articles not adhering to the given specifications may be rejected at the discretion of the editorial team.

Type of article
 
Text
(words)
Tables and
figures
References
 
Editorial / Perpsective / Commentary / OP Ed1500210
Review Article3000845
Original Article2500830
Case Report1000410
Correspondence / Letter to the Editor80038

Email address for correspondence
Editor-in-Chief: [email protected]
Executive Editor: [email protected]
Technical Editor: [email protected]
Technical team: [email protected]

Studies in humans and animals

If the work involves the use of human subjects, the author should ensure that the work described has been carried out in accordance with The Code of Ethics of the World Medical Association (Declaration of Helsinki) for experiments involving humans. The manuscript should be in line with the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals and aim for the inclusion of representative human populations (sex, age and ethnicity) as per those recommendations. The terms sex and gender should be used correctly.

The author should ensure that the manuscript contains a statement that all procedures were performed in compliance with relevant laws and institutional guidelines and have been approved by the appropriate institutional committee(s). This statement should contain the date and reference number of the ethical approval(s) obtained. Authors should also include a statement in the manuscript that informed consent was obtained for experimentation with human subjects. The privacy rights of human subjects must always be observed.

The journal will not accept manuscripts that contain data derived from unethically sourced organs or tissue, including from executed prisoners or prisoners of conscience, consistent with recommendations by Global Rights Compliance on Mitigating Human Rights Risks in Transplantation Medicine. For all studies that use human organs or tissues authors must provide sufficient evidence that they were procured in line with WHO Guiding Principles on Human Cell, Tissue and Organ Transplantation. The source of the organs or tissues used in clinical research must be transparent and traceable. Authors of manuscripts describing organ transplantation must additionally declare within the manuscript:

  1. that autonomous consent free from coercion was obtained from the donor(s) or their next of kin; and
  2. that organs/tissues were not sourced from executed prisoners or prisoners of conscience.

All animal experiments should comply with the ARRIVE guidelines and should be carried out in accordance with the U.K. Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act, 1986 and associated guidelines, EU Directive 2010/63/EU for animal experiments, or the National Research Council's Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals and the authors should clearly indicate in the manuscript that such guidelines have been followed. The sex of animals must be indicated, and where appropriate, the influence (or association) of sex on the results of the study.

Reporting sex- and gender-based analyses

Reporting guidance
For research involving or pertaining to humans, animals or eukaryotic cells, investigators should integrate sex and gender-based analyses (SGBA) into their research design according to funder/sponsor requirements and best practices within a field. Authors should address the sex and/or gender dimensions of their research in their article. In cases where they cannot, they should discuss this as a limitation to their research's generalizability. Importantly, authors should explicitly state what definitions of sex and/or gender they are applying to enhance the precision, rigor and reproducibility of their research and to avoid ambiguity or conflation of terms and the constructs to which they refer (see Definitions section below). Authors can refer to the Sex and Gender Equity in Research (SAGER) guidelines and the SAGER guidelines checklist. These offer systematic approaches to the use and editorial review of sex and gender information in study design, data analysis, outcome reporting and research interpretation - however, please note there is no single, universally agreed-upon set of guidelines for defining sex and gender.

Definitions
Sex generally refers to a set of biological attributes that are associated with physical and physiological features (e.g., chromosomal genotype, hormonal levels, internal and external anatomy). A binary sex categorization (male/female) is usually designated at birth (""sex assigned at birth""), most often based solely on the visible external anatomy of a newborn. Gender generally refers to socially constructed roles, behaviors, and identities of women, men and gender-diverse people that occur in a historical and cultural context and may vary across societies and over time. Gender influences how people view themselves and each other, how they behave and interact and how power is distributed in society. Sex and gender are often incorrectly portrayed as binary (female/male or woman/man) and unchanging whereas these constructs actually exist along a spectrum and include additional sex categorizations and gender identities such as people who are intersex/have differences of sex development (DSD) or identify as non-binary. Moreover, the terms ""sex"" and ""gender"" can be ambiguous—thus it is important for authors to define the manner in which they are used. In addition to this definition guidance and the SAGER guidelines, the resources on this page offer further insight around sex and gender in research studies.

Preprint references
Where a preprint has subsequently become available as a peer-reviewed publication, the formal publication should be used as the reference. If there are preprints that are central to your work or that cover crucial developments in the topic, but are not yet formally published, these may be referenced. Preprints should be clearly marked as such, for example by including the word preprint, or the name of the preprint server, as part of the reference. The preprint DOI should also be provided.