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The Ceylon Medical Journal (CMJ) is published quarterly (end of March, June, September and December) by the Sri Lanka Medical Association. Material received for publication in the CMJ must be submitted for publication elsewhere without the Editors’ permission (see below under Previous Publication and under Cover letter).
 CONTENT |
ETHICAL
RESPONSIBILITIES |
| SUBMITTING
MANUSCRIPTS |
SELECTION
FOR PUBLICATION |
| PREPARATION
OF MANUSCRIPT |
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The CMJ publishes original papers, reviews and commentaries, which have relevance to medicine and allied sciences.
Papers
Original work concerning the causes, mechanisms, diagnosis, management and prevention of disease belong in this category. So do articles on health systems research, health economics and management, and medical ethics. They should preferably have less than 2500 words, six tables and illustrations, and 25 references.
Brief reports
This category includes case reports of drug adverse effects, preliminary reports of drug trials, new patient management methods, and reports of new techniques and devices. They should not exceed 750 words, contain more than three tables or illustrations, or more than 10 references.
Leading articles
Most leading articles are solicited by the editors, and are expert opinions on current topics or commentaries on other papers published in the CMJ. They should not exceed 1500 words or have more than 20 references. Tables and illustrations are usually not included in leading articles.
Reviews
Most reviews are solicited by the editors. They should be detailed, critical, balanced surveys of published research relevant to clinical medicine, or meta-analyses. They should not exceed 3000 words or have more 30 references.
Perspectives
The CMJ also welcomes essays expressing opinions, presenting hypotheses, broaching controversial issues, clarifying recent advances in the basic sciences, and essays pertaining to medical education, history of medicine, biographical sketches, health politics and patients’ rights. They should not have more than 3000 words, six tables and illustrations, or 30 references.
Miscellany
The CMJ will also consider for publication letters (less than 400 words of text, three authors, and five references), obituaries (less than 400 words), and contributions to the picture-story series (not more than 250 words of text, three authors, three references and three clear black and white photographs -- see CMJ 1992; 37: 135, December 1992). Quotations to inspire and to convey insight rather than opinion to CMJ’s medical readership provided they refer, however obliquely, to the study and practice of medicine, are also welcome.
Cover letter
Manuscripts should be submitted with a letter stating (1) that the contents have been published elsewhere; (2) that the paper is not being submitted elsewhere (or provide information on possible prior publication); and (3) that the authors agree to transfer copyright to the CMJ if the article is selected for publication. The letter should acknowledge any potential conflict of interest (see Ethical Responsibilities below) and call the Editors’ attention to any possible overlap with prior publications. The name, full mailing address, and telephone number of the author responsible for correspondence about the paper should also be included.
Number of copies
Submit an original copy and three copies (photocopies are acceptable) of all parts of the manuscript, three original glossy prints of all figures and two copies of the cover letter.
The manuscript should be mailed, with adequate protection for figures, to the editors, Ceylon Medical Journal, 6 Wijerama Mawatha, Colombo 7, Sri Lanka.
Criteria for authorship
Only persons who contributed to the intellectual content of the paper should be listed as authors. Authors should meet all of the following criteria and be able to take public responsibility for the content of the paper.
- Conceived and planned the work that led to the paper, or interpreted the evidence it presents, or both.
- Wrote the paper or reviewed successive versions and took part in revising them.
- Approved the final version
Collecting and assembling data reported in a paper and performing routine investigations are not, by themselves, criteria for authorship.
Conflict of interest
Financial support for the work, including equipment and drugs, should be listed on the title page. Authors should describe in the cover letter any financial interests, direct or indirect, that might affect the conduct or reporting of the work they have submitted. If the authors are uncertain as to what might be considered a potential conflict of interest, they should err on the side of full disclosure. Information about potential conflict of interest may be made available to referees and may be published with the manuscript, at the discretion of the Editors.
Previous publication
In the cover letter give full details on any possible previous publication of any content of the paper.
Examples of such content include:
Reworked data already reported.
- Patients in a study already described in a published report.
- Content already published or to be published in another format such as the proceeding of a meeting, a chapter in a book, or a letter to the editor.
Previous publications of some content of a paper does not necessarily preclude its being published in the CMJ, but the Editors need information about previous publication when deciding how to make efficient use of space in the journal, and regard failure of a full disclosure by authors of possible prior publication as a breach of scientific ethics.
Informed consent
The authors must ensure that informed consent forms have been obtained. Authors should state in the methods section, when appropriate, the ethical guidelines followed. If patients are recognizable in illustration, signed consent by the patients (or guardians) must be submitted with the paper.
All articles received will be acknowledged to the corresponding author. Each manuscript will be read by the Editors to decide whether it should be further reviewed. Those selected for review will be sent anonymously to a reference, along with a structured format and written guidelines. When necessary a manuscript may also be reviewed anonymously by a medical statistician.
Peer review
Referees are asked to treat papers as confidential communications and not to share their content with anyone except colleagues they have asked to assist them in reviewing, or to use content for their own purposes. They are asked to declare any conflicts of interest (such as personal ties to authors) and not to copy manuscripts.
Editorial board
All articles, which receive favorable reviews, are submitted anonymously to the Editorial Board, which meets once a month. Members of the board are asked to assess articles on the basis of importance of the research problem, scientific strength, clarity of presentation and appropriateness for readers of the CMJ.
Referees’ comments and the gist of observations of the Editorials Boards are conveyed to authors of articles that are rejected or require substantial modification.
Editors reserve the right to modify style, shorten articles, make editorial corrections where necessary, and to determine priority and time of publication.
The CMJ will consider all manuscripts prepared in accordance with the uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals developed by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (1). A summary of these and requirements of the CMJ are given below.
Manuscript typing
All parts of manuscript, including tables and figure legends, must be typed with double-spacing. References must also be double-spaced. Manuscripts should be typed in capital and lower case letter, on white paper, 216 x 279 mm (8 x 11 in), or A4 (212 x 297 mm). Arrange components in the following order: title page, abstract, text, references, tables in numerical sequence, and figure legends. Begin each component on a separate page. Number all pages consecutively, starting with the tittle page.
Title page
The title page should contain the following:
- Main title and subtitle (if any).
- Authors listed in the form and order in which they are to appear in the published article.
- Institutional affiliation for each author, in a footnote on the title page of the article. The institutions listed should reflect the affiliations of the authors at the time of the study, not their present affiliations, if they differ.
- Financial support information. Include the grant number, if any, and the granting agency. Other financial support, such as that for equipment and drugs should also be listed.
- Name, address, and telephone number of author responsible for correspondence.
- Name and complete address of the author who will receive reprint requests.
- The number of words in the manuscript, exclusive of the abstract, references, tables, figures, and figure legends.
Abstract
Abstracts for articles are limited to 250 words; those for Brief Reports, to 150 words. Authors of original research and of review articles are asked to submit a structured abstract organized into the following categories:
| Original Research | Reviews |
| Objective | Purpose |
| Design | Data sources |
| Setting | Study selection |
| Patients | Data extraction |
| Intervention (if any) | Results |
| Measurements | Conclusions |
| Results | |
| Conclusions |
Authors are asked to see papers in any recent issue of the British Medical Journal or Annals of Internal Medicine for guidance on structuring the abstract.
Heading in text
Use only three levels of headings in the text. Clearly indicate the levels of headings by using different typographic conventions (such as all capital letters or bold type) or by positioning (flush to margin, indented). Keeping headings short (three or four words); do not use abbreviations. Do not underline any headings.
Style
The British Medical Journal and Annals of Internal Medicine are recommended to authors as guides to style, clarity of presentation and conciseness.
Units
Use SI units throughout (2), except for systemic arterial blood pressure and hemoglobin content. Other units may be given in parentheses. Use only Arabic numerals.
Names of drugs and instruments
Generic names must be used for all drugs. Include the proprietary name only if it is needed for a specific purpose (e.g. to differentiate between drug forms or if a particular preparation is involved in an adverse effect). Instruments may be referred to by
proprietary name, giving the name and location of the manufacturer in the text in parentheses.
References
Number references in the order in which they are first cited in the text. Use Arabic numbers within parentheses. Note that the CMJ requires the COMPLETE name of journal (and not its abbreviation), year, volume and first and last page numbers.
The reference list should not include unpublished material. Symposium papers may be cited from published proceeding; oral presentation of a paper at a meeting does not constitute publication. References to articles or books accepted for publication but not yet published must include the title of the journal (or name of the publisher) and the year of expected publication. Unpublished work (personal communications, papers in preparation) may be cited by inserting a reference within parentheses in the text; authors must submit a letter of permission from the cited persons to cite such communications.
Sample reference below are in the style required by the CMJ.
Journals:
List all authors when six fewer; when seven or more, list only the first six and add et al.
1. Standard article.
Bernstein H, Gold H. Sodium diphenylhydantoin in the treatment of recurrent arrhythmias. Journal of the American Medical Association 1965; 191:695-9.
2. Corporate author.
The Royal Marsden Hospital Bone Marrow Transplantation Team. Failure of syngeneic bone marrow graft without preconditioning in post-hepatitis marrow aplasia. Lancet 1977; 2: 242-4.
3. Special format
Cahal DA. Methyldopa and haemolytic anaemia (Letter). Lancet 1975; 1; 201.
Books:
List all authors or editors when six or fewer; when seven or more, list only the first six and add et al.
1. Author
Eisen HN. Immunology: An Introduction to Molecular and Cellular Principles of the Immune Response. 5th ed. New York: Harper and Row; 1974: 406.
2. Editors
Dausset J. Colombani J: eds. Histocompatibility Testing 1972. Copenhagen:
Munksgaard; 1973: 12-8.
3. Chapter in a book.
Hellstrom I, Helstrom KE. Lymphocyte-mediated cytotoxic reactions and blocking serum factors in tumor-bearing individuals. In: Brent L, Holbrow J; eds. Progress in Immunology II.v.5.New York: American Elsevier; 1974: 147-57.
Other Citations in Reference List :
In press (must have journal title).
Dienstag JL. Experimental infection in chimpanzees with hepatitis A virus. Journal of Infectious Diseases. 1975 In Press.
Roueche B. Annals of medicine : the Santa Claus culture. The New Yorker. 1971.Sep 4: 66-81
In-Text citations of unpublished material (to be placed within
parentheses):
1. Personal communication.
(Strott CA, Nugent CA. Personal communication)
2. Unpublished papers.
(Lerner RA, Dixon FJ. The induction of acute glomerulonephritis in rats. In preparation). (Smith J New agents for cancer chemotherapy. Presented at the Third Annual Meeting of the American Cancer Society, June 13, 1983, New York).
Tables
All tables must be typed double-spaced. Do not submit tables as glossy prints. Tables should be numbered with Arabic numerals, in the order in which they are cited in the text. A table title should describe concisely the content of the table so that the table can be understood without reference to the text. Abbreviations that would be permitted in text may be used in tables, but they must be explained in footnotes to the table.
Figures
Figures should be professionally drawn or prepared using a computer and high-resolution printer. Lettering should be uniform in style. Free hand or typewritten lettering is not acceptable. Number the figures in the order in which they are cited in the text. Photomicrographs should have scale makers that indicate the degree of magnification.
Submit three glossy prints of each figure. Indicate on a label the name of the first author of the first author of the paper, the figure number, and the top of the figure: then paste the label on the back of the figure. Do not mount figures on backing board.
Colour figures may be submitted and will be published if essential. Three colour prints should be submitted for each figure. Indicate cropping, if needed, with an overlay of transparent paper. Colour photographs are included only if publishing costs are borne by the author. Authors may also be asked to contribute towards the cost of publishing black and white photographs and figures.
Legends for figures
Reduce the length of legends by using partial sentences. Explain all abbreviations and symbols on the figure, even if they are explained in the text.
Stain and magnification should be given at the end of the legend for each part of the figure. If there is no scale marker on the figure, the original magnification used during the observation should be given, not that of the photographic print.
Acknowledgments
Acknowledge only persons who have contributed to the scientific contents and provided financial or technical support. Authors must submit written permission from persons acknowledged for other than financial or technical support.
Ordering reprints
A from for ordering reprints is sent to authors when articles are in press.
Handling charge (local)
A nominal handling fee of Rs 350 will be charged from authors at the time of submission of an article. This fee is not refundable. Please write your cheque in favour of "The Ceylon Medical Journal Account 10185".
Editorial correspondence
Address all editorial correspondence to the Editor, The Ceylon Medical Journal, 6 Wijerama Mawatha, Colombo 7, Sri Lanka.
References
1. International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals.
New England Journal of Medicine 1991; 324: 424-8.
2. Young D. Implementation of SI Units for clinical laboratory data: style specifications and conversion tables. Annals of Internal Medicine 1987: 114-29.