Format Requirements

 Submission Format according to article type

 Review article: maximum 4000 words excluding title page and an unstructured abstract of 150 words and references with no more than five tables or figures and 35 references.

 Original article: maximum 3000 words excluding title page and a structured abstract of 250 words and references with no more than three tables or figures and 25 references Short Reports / Short Communications / Special Communications / Case reports: maximum 1250 words excluding title page and an unstructured abstract of 150 words and references with no more than two tables or figures and 10 references. It should not be signed by more than six authors.

 Case Report: Abstract; Introduction; Case Report; Discussion and Conclusion.

 Short Report: Abstract; Introduction; Patients Methods and Result; and Conclusion.

 Special Communication: Abstract; Introduction; Methods and Result; and Conclusion.

 Letters to the Editor: maximum 250 words if it is in reference to a recent journal article, or 400 words in all other cases. It must have no more than five references and one figure or table. It must not be signed by any more than three authors. Letters referring to a recent journal article must be received within four weeks of its publication.

 General Requirements

 Manuscript must be written in ‘British English’. Non-native English speakers must seek the assistance of experienced, English-speaking medical editors if in doubt. Taking feedback from your colleagues also makes the manuscript writing more productive, versatile and simple for the readers.

 • Type the manuscript on A4 size (8.5x11 inches or 21.6x27 cm) white bond paper, with margins of at least 1.5 inches (4 cm).

 • Type on one side of the paper, double spacing every page.

 • Begin each section on separate page and in the following order: title page, abstract, introduction, materials / subjects / patients and methods, results, discussion, acknowledgements, references, tables and figures with legends.

 • Number pages consecutively in the upper right-hand corner of each page, beginning with the title page. Type the page number.

 • Present decimal figures up to 2 decimals only. e.g. 0.07 is correct instead of 0.071

 • Sentences should be properly structured instead of giving brackets within a sentence. e.g. The study participants (women of age group 25-30 years) were approached for the interviews. The correct way is ‘The study participants included women of age group 25-30 years. They were approached for the interviews.’

Special Instructions

 The editorial board of Pakistan Journal of Medical & Health Sciences appreciates the efforts of The EQUATOR (Enhancing the Quality and Transparency Of health Research) Network for promoting good reporting of research. It has played a pivotal role in development, dissemination and implementation of reporting guidelines throughout the world. To find details visit http://www.equator-network.org/

 Reporting of each article should be according to the scientific reporting guidelines provided by the EQUATOR Network. Separate guidelines are available for each study design and topic under study. We are thankful to the office bearers and contributors of the EQUATOR Network to allow Journal of the Pakistan Medical Association to be the first journal from Pakistan to adapt these reporting guidelines. A comprehensive list of reporting guidelines is available at http://www.equator-network.org/resource-centre/library-of-health-research-reporting/

A. Title Page

 The title page of the manuscript should include:

• Concise and informative title (less than 14 words)

 • Complete by line, with first, middle and last names of each author.

 • Complete affiliation for each author, with the name of department (s) and institution (s) to which the work should be attributed. Name, address and telephone number and email address (necessary) of one author responsible for correspondence about the manuscript.

 • Clearly identify the corresponding author.

 • Source(s) of support in the form of grants equipment, drugs, or all of these.

 • Disclaimer, if any.

 • Word count of abstract with 3-5 MeSH words

 • Word count of main article, excluding abstract and references.

 B. Abstracts

 It should briefly describe the problem being addressed in the study, how the study was performed, the salient result and what the authors conclude from the results. Structured of unstructured abstract should be in accordance to the article type. A structured abstract of not more than 250 words for original article and an unstructured abstract of no more than 150 words for other submission types (case report, short communication, special communication and review article) is required. The structured abstract should consist of four paragraphs, under the headings: Objective, Methods, Results and Conclusion. Results should mention key frequencies, percentages and findings. Abstracts should be followed by 3-5 MeSH words. Details available from the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) list of index medicus. For assistance see: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/mesh

 C. Introduction

 Global, regional and local reports on the topic being mentioned in the article should, where appropriate, be included. State the purpose of the study. Give only strictly pertinent references. Explain your hypothesis, why you think this research was required and what benefit will be derived from your objectives. Clearly mention the objective(s) of the study in this section without adding any sub-heading.

 D. Methods

 Mention all the components of methodology here, including study design, describe your selection of the observational or experimental subjects (patients or laboratory animals, including controls).Mention study setting, duration, sampling method, sample size calculations with reference and follow-up period. Mention the inclusion and exclusion criteria, if applicable without adding any headings.

Identify the methods, apparatus (give the manufacturer's name and address in parenthesis) and procedures in sufficient detail to allow other workers to reproduce the results. Give references to established methods if necessary, provide references and brief descriptions for methods that have been published but are not well known; describe new or substantially modified methods, give reasons for using them and evaluate their limitations. Identify precisely all drugs and chemicals used, including generic name(s), dose(s) and route(s) of administration.

Authors submitting review manuscripts should include a section describing the methods used for locating, selecting, extracting and synthesizing data. These methods should also be summarized in the abstract.

 Ethics

When reporting experiments on human subjects, indicate whether the procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation and with the latest (2008) version of Helsinki Declaration of 1975. Do not use patients' names, initials, or hospital numbers, in text and illustrative material.

When reporting experiments on animals, indicate whether the institutions or a national research council’s guide for or any national law on the care and use of laboratory animals was followed.

Please, document that the study was approved by the ERB (Ethical Review Board) of the concerned University / Institution. You may be required to provide a certificate from the ERB, with data and signature of all authors involved in the study. Also, informed consent of the subjects studied should be clearly stated.

 Statistics

Methods section in incomplete without mention of the statistical tests applied. Describe statistical methods with enough detail to enable a knowledgeable reader with access to the original data to verify the reported results. When possible, quantify findings and present them with appropriate indicators of measurements error or uncertainty (such as standard deviation when mentioning mean values of quantitative variables, or confidence intervals where odds ratio is mentioned, etc.). Mention the statistical test used for analysis to obtain the P values. Discuss the eligibility of experimental subjects. Give details about randomization. Describe the method for and success of any blinding of observations. Report complications from treatment. Give numbers of observations. Report losses to observation (such as dropouts from a clinical trial). References (if necessary) for the design of the study and statistical methods should be to standard works when possible (with pages stated) rather than to papers in which the designs or methods were originally reported. Specify any general use computer programs used.

 Put a general description of methods in the methods section. When data are summarized in the results section, specify the statistical methods used to analyze them. Restrict tables and figures to those needed to explain the argument of the paper and to assess its support. Use graphs as an alternative to tables with many entries; do not duplicate data in graphs and tables. Avoid non-technical uses of technical terms in statistics, such as "random", (which implies a randomizing device), "normal", "significant","correlations" and "samples". Define statistical terms, abbreviations and most symbols.

 E. Results

 Present your results in logical sequence in the text, tables and illustrations. Do not repeat in the text all data in the tables or illustrations emphasize or summarize important observations. Frequencies and percentages both should be mentioned. e.g. There were 18(2%) men. Exact p values should be reported. Mean should be with SDs. Medians should be with IQR.

 F. Discussion

 Emphasize the new and important aspects of the study and conclusions that follow from them. Do not repeat in detail data or other material given in the introduction or the results section. Include in discussion section the implications of the findings and their limitations including implications for future research. Relate the observations to other relevant studies.

Link the conclusions with the goals of the study but avoid unqualified statements and conclusions not completely supported by data. In particular, authors should avoid making statements on economic benefits and costs unless their manuscript includes economics data and analyses. Avoid claiming priority and alluding to work that has not bf completed. State new hypothesis when warranted. But clearly label them such recommendations, when appropriate, may be included.

 G .Conclusion

 It should be based on the objective and principal findings. False ambiguous conclusion and speculations should be avoided.

 H. Acknowledgements

 Persons who have contributed intellectually to the research but whose contributions do not justify authorship may be named and the function or contribution is described - for example, "scientific advisor critical review of study proposal, "data collection," or "participation clinical trial". Such persons must have given their permission to be named. Authors are responsible for obtaining written permission from person acknowledged by name, because readers may infer their endorsement the data and conclusions. Technical help should be acknowledged in a paragraph separate from those acknowledging other contributions.

 I. References

 Vancouver style is essential for publication in Pakistan Journal of Medical & Health Sciences. References should be cited in consecutive numerical order at first mentioned in the text and designated by the reference number in superscript. References appearing in a table or figure should be numbered sequentially with those in text.

The reference list must be typed double spaced and numbers consecutively, as in the text. The Journal follows Index Medicus style for references and abbreviated journal names according to the list of Journals indexed in Index Medicus. "Unpublished observations" and "personal communications" should not be used as references, although written-not verbal-communications may be noted as such in the text. References cited as "in press" must have been accepted and not merely in preparation or submitted. The author is responsible for the accuracy of all references and must verify them against the original document.

For journal articles, list the first six authors, et al. Hoshimoto-Iwamoto M, Koike A, Nagayama O, Tajima A, Uejima T, Adachi H, et al. Determination of the VE/VCO2 slope from a constant work rate Exercise test in Cardiac patients. J Physiol Sci 2008; 58: 291-5.

Dalby MA. Epilepsy and three per second spike and wave rhythms: a clinical electroencephalographic and prognostic analysis of 346 patients. Acta Neurol Scand 1969; suppl 40: 1-30.

For books and book chapters, follow the examples below: Drury I. Activation of seizures by hyperventilation. In: Luders HO, Noachtars, eds. Epileptic seizures: pathophysiology and clinical semiology, Philadelphia: Churchill & Livingstone, 2000; pp 575-9.

For newspaper articles, Carynrabin R. When the Surgeon is infected, how safe is the surgery? New York Times 2007 July 3.

Journal article in electronic: Jonas J, Vignal JP, Baumann C, Anxionnat JF, Muresan M, Vespignani H, et al. Effect of hyperventilation on seizure activation: potentiation by antiepileptic drug tapering. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. Published Online First: 20 June 2010 doi:10.1136/jnnp.2009.200329.

Monograph in electronic form CDI, clinical dermatology illustrated [monographs on CD-ROM] Reeves JRT, Maibach H. CMEA Multimedia group, producers 2nd ed. Version 2.0. San Diego: CMEA, 1995.

Conference proceedings Kimura J, Shibasaki H, editors. Recent advances in clinical neurophysiology. Proceedings of the 10th International Congress of EMG and Clinical Neurophysiology, 1995 Oct 15-19, Kyoto, Japan. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1996.

Dissertation Kaplan SJ. Post-hospital home health care the elderly's access and utilization [dissertation]. St. Louis (MO): Washington Univ., 1995.

Volume with supplement Shen HM, Zhang QF. Risk assessment of nickel carcinogenicity and occupational lung cancer. Environ Health Perspect, 1994;102 Suppl 1:275-82.

World Wide Web page Beckleheimer J. How do you cite URL's in a bibliography? [online] 1994 [ cited 2000 Dec 13]. Available from: URL: http://www.nrlssc.navy.mil/meta/bibliography.html

World Wide Web page (no author) Educating America for the 21st century: Developing a strategic plan for educational leadership [online] 1994 [cited 1999 May 15]. Available from: URL: http://www.ilt.columbia.edu/CONF/Edplan.html

World Wide Web Home page Curtin University of Technology. [Homepage of the Curtin University of Technology] [online] 2000 May 22 last update. [cited 2000 Jun 12]. Available from: URL: http://www.curtin.edu.au/

 Abbreviations and Symbols

With the exception of units of measurement, journal discourages the use of abbreviations, for additional information on proper medical abbreviation, consult the CBE style Manual, Fifth Edition (Bethesda, MD Council of Biology Editions, 1983). When an abbreviation is used, it should be preceded by the full word or name of the item being abbreviated.

 Drug Names

Generic names should be used.

 Species Names

Species should be written in italics. e.g. P.vivax

 M. Tables

 Type each table double-spaced on a separate page. Do not submit tables as photographs. Tables should be self-explanatory and should supplement, not duplicate the text. Each table must be cited in consecutive numerical order in the text. Number the tables consecutively with an Arabic number following the word Table. The titles/legends should be descriptive, brief and mentioned on top of the table. Give each column a short or abbreviated heading.

Place explanatory matter in footnotes not in heading. Use the following symbols in this sequence *,+,++,#,**. Expand in the footnote all non-standard abbreviations used in each table. For footnotes, identify statistical measures of variations, such as standard deviation and standard error of the mean. If data from another published source are used, obtain written permission from the publisher of the original source and acknowledge fully. If data from an unpublished source are used, obtain permission from the principal investigator and acknowledge fully. If abbreviations are used in table give full text at the bottom of the table.

 J. Figures

 Figures and pictures should clarify and augment the text. The selection of sharp, high-quality illustrations is of paramount importance. Figures of inferior quality will be returned to the author for correction or replacement.

Submit two complete sets of glossy illustrations, no smaller than 3.5x5 inches nor larger than 8x10 inches. Do not send original artwork. Glossy photographs of line drawings rendered professionally on white drawing paper in black India ink, with template or typeset lettering, should be submitted. No hand drawn or typewritten art will be accepted. Letters, number and symbols (typeset or template) must be clear and of sufficient size to retain legibility after reduction.

Each illustration must be numbered and cited in consecutive order in the text. Illustrations should be identified on a gummed label affixed to the back of each illustration and containing the following information: figure number, part of figure (if more than one) and designation of "top".

Colour illustrations will be considered for publication, but the author is responsible for all charges relating to separations and printing. An estimate of these charges will be sent to the author at the time of production Authors' approval of charges is required before production will continue. Three complete sets of glossy colour photographs (not transparencies) must be submitted for review. Polaroid prints are not acceptable.

All submitted illustrations become the property of Journal of the Pakistan Medical Association and will not be returned unless the manuscript is rejected.

 K. Legends for Illustrations

 Legends for illustrations should be concise and should not repeat the text. Legends should be typed double-spaced on a separate page. Each figure should be cited in consecutive numerical order in the text. Give the figures a number following the word Figure. Use letters to designate parts of illustrations (e g , A,B,C) and describe each part clearly in the legend. Any letter designations or arrows appearing on the illustration should be identified and described fully.

Originally (not previously published) illustrations are preferred for publication in the Journal; however, if illustrations have been published previously, authors are responsible for obtaining written permission from the publisher to reprint. The source of the original material must be cited in the references and the following credit line included in the legend. (Reprinted by permission of Ref. X). All permission release must be submitted to the Editor at the time of manuscript submission.