Sequence for Submission

The corresponding author will submit the article and all further communications will be made through the corresponding author only. The corresponding author has to mention the name and contact details. Further s/he should upload the files as mentioned below.

1. INITIAL FILE (Including covering letter, acknowledgements, source of support, conflict of interest, ethical considerations)

The file should be submitted as Microsoft word document. This should include covering letter, acknowledgements, source of support, conflict of interest, ethical considerations

COVERING LETTER

A covering letter must accompany all submitted manuscripts. The covering letter should provide the name, complete postal address, telephone number, electronic mail address of the corresponding author. Mention the type of article and broad speciality area in the covering letter. Author must mention few important features of the article for consideration of publication of the article in covering letter. Acknowledgement of receipt of manuscripts by the Editorial office will be made via email only. The responsibility will lie solely with corresponding author. The authors should clearly state that the manuscript or parts of it have not and will not be submitted elsewhere for publication.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

It must be mentioned after the covering letter. The work of persons who do not qualify for authorship may be acknowledged. The acknowledgment may be for official permission, statistical analysis, cooperation etc.

SOURCE OF SUPPORT

If the work has received full or partial financial support, it must be clearly mentioned. The name and address of funding agency and the reference number along with date should be mentioned.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

Authors are expected to disclose any commercial associations that might pose a conflict of interest in connection with the submitted manuscript. All authors must disclose any financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that could inappropriately influence (bias) their work. Examples of potential conflicts of interest include employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications/ registrations, and grants or other source of support. If there are no conflicts of interest then please state this: ‘Conflict of interest: Nil’. All authors must sign the Conflict of Interest

ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS

The study should be submitted and approved by the Institutional Ethics Committee and should be mentioned. It is mandatory when human or animal studies are reported. If the institutional ethical approval letter is not available then it should be mentioned stating the reason for it unavailability. In case of interventional trials, trial registered number obtained/received from competent authority should be mentioned. Informed verbal or written consent from study participants for participation or publication should be mentioned. Clinical Trial Registry of India number (or equivalent from other countries) in relevant cases should also be mentioned.

2. TITLE PAGE (including article title, name of authors with affiliation and corresponding author with contact details)

The file should be submitted as Microsoft word document. This should include title of the article and authors information

TITLE

The Title should be concise and informative. Titles are often used in information-retrieval systems. Avoid abbreviations and formulae where possible.

AUTHORS INFORMATION

The title page must include names and details of all contributing authors in the sequence of authorship. No prefixes like Dr, Mr, Mrs and Ms should be used before any author names. It should include the family name (surname), given name and middle name (father/husband) in that sequence, highest academic title(s), current affiliation(s) of the authors and if available, the e-mail address. Please ensure that the given name(s) and family name(s) of each author are accurately spelt. The name/names of institutions where the work is performed should be mentioned as authors’ main affiliation. Indicate all affiliations with Arabic numerals in superscript immediately after the author’s name and in front of the appropriate institutional name and address. Provide the full postal address of each affiliation, including the country name. If an author has moved since the work described in the article was done, or was visiting at the time, a ‘Present address’ (or ‘Permanent address’) may be indicated as a footnote to that author’s name.

All authors are encouraged to submit their ORCID

CORRESPONDING AUTHOR

Clearly indicate the corresponding author and mention full address, telephone/mobile number, email address and ORCID of the corresponding author separately.

3. MAIN FILE (including title, abstract and key words, introduction, material and methods, results/observation, discussion, conclusions, references, tables and figure legends and captions)

The file should be submitted as Microsoft word document and should be blinded (does not contain any authors’ identity revealing information). This should include abstract, key words, introduction including objectives, material and methods, results/ observations, discussion including strengths and limitations, conclusions, references, tables, figure legends and disclaimer if any in that order. The file should be prepared as per the instruction mentioned under blinded manuscript preparation tab.

ABSTRACT

The abstract should be typed on a separate page and should not exceed 250 words. The abstract should state briefly the purpose of the research, the principal results and major conclusions. An abstract is often presented separately from the article, so it must be able to stand alone. For this reason, references should be avoided. Also, non-standard or uncommon abbreviations should be avoided, but if essential, they must be defined at their first mention in the abstract itself. Using American spelling and avoiding general and plural terms and multiple concepts (avoid, for example, ‘and’, ‘of’). The abstract should be followed by a maximum of 6 key words. (These keywords will be used for indexing purposes. )

4. FIGURES / GRAPHS (if applicable)

• Provide a figure title i.e. figure legend for your artwork files at the bottom in bold.
• Figures must be submitted in electronic format, submitting each figure as a separate file.
• For electronic artwork, make sure you use uniform lettering and sizing of your original artwork. Use only Arial font of 12 size throughout.
• Images should be provided in JPG (JPEG) or PNG format. Graphics software such as Photoshop and Illustrator and not presentation software such as Power Point may be used to create art.
• Color images must be CMYK, at least 300 DPI, with a digital color proof and not a color laser print or color photography.
• Please include hardware and software information in addition to file names.
• If your electronic artwork is created in a Microsoft Office application (Word, PowerPoint, Excel) then please supply ‘as is’ in the native document format
• Regardless of the application used other than Microsoft Office, when your electronic artwork is finalized, please ‘Save as’ or convert the images to one of the following formats (note the resolution requirements for line drawings, halftones, and line/halftone combinations given below).
  • PNG/JPEG: Color or grayscale photographs (halftones); keep to a minimum of 300 dpi.
  • PNG/JPEG: Bitmapped (pure black & white pixels) line drawings, keep to a minimum of 1000 dpi.
  • PNG/JPEG: Combinations bitmapped line/half-tone (color or grayscale), keep to a minimum of 500 dpi.
• Size the illustrations close to the desired dimensions of the published version as given: Maximum size for portrait type of figure should be 8.5 cm (320 pixels) in width and 22.0 cm (831 pixels) in height. Landscape type of figure should be maximum 17.5 cm (661 pixels) in width and 10.0 cm (378 pixels) in height.
• All the figures must be of standard size as given below for inclusion in the print version.
• Please do not supply files that are optimized for screen use (e.g., GIF, BMP, PICT, WPG); these typically have a low number of pixels and limited set of colors.
• Please do not supply files that are too low in resolution or submit graphics that are disproportionately large for the content.
• If the photographs are not upto the mark, resubmission will be considered within two days of receiving the mail.

5. CONTRIBUTORS FORM (if applicable)

If 2 or more authors have contributed for the study and article submission, the authors should submit the contributors form.

6. ADDITIONAL FILES (if applicable)

Copy of Institutional Ethics Committee permission letter and Clinical Trial Registry of India number (or equivalent from other countries) in relevant cases should be submitted as additional files.