International Journal of Health Sciences

Policy of the Journal

It is policy of the International Journal of Health Sciences (IJHS) to publish articles pertaining to different fields of medical sciences( Medicine, Dentistry & Applied Medical Sciences) providing sufficient contribution to medical knowledge. The articles may include new experimental methods of medical importance; new results obtained experimentally; new interpretation of existing results or data pertaining to clinical problems; or epidemiological work giving substantial scientific information pertaining to medical sciences.

All such articles should aim for development of medical concepts rather than mere recording of facts. Incomplete studies will be discouraged.

OBJECTIVES

1. To publish original, well documented, peer reviewed clinical and basic sciences articles.
2. To inculcate the habit of medical writing.
3. To enable physicians to remain informed in multiple areas of medicine, including developments in fields other than their own.
4. To share the experience and knowledge for benefit of patients.
5. To document medical problems pertinent to community as leishmaniasis, heat stroke, smoking, obesity, prevention of road side accidents etc.
6. To achieve the highest level of ethical medical journalism and to produce a publication that is timely, credible, and enjoyable to read.

AUTHORSHIP AND CONTRIBUTORSHIP

An “author” is generally considered to be someone who has made substantive intellectual contributions to a study. Authorship credit should be based on:

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

Authors should meet all the above criteria. 
It is important to note that:

1. Acquisition of funding, collection of data, or general supervision of the research group alone, does not justify authorship.
2. All persons designated as authors should qualify for authorship, and all those who qualify should be listed.
3. Each author should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for appropriate portions of the content.

MANUSCRIPT PROCESSING

Upon the initial submission of the manuscript, the author is acknowledged. The manuscript is categorized according to the type of article into Original, Review, Case Report and so forth. Each type of article has a special format and should comply with the updated IJHS Instruction to Authors, which are published in all issues. Normally an article is reviewed by at least two subject experts and the other member of the editorial committee. Accepted manuscript is then checked for data analysis and verification of reference respectively. The editor, then critically goes through each of the article, get their order, pagination and final form of article.

PEER REVIEW POLICY

Unbiased, independent, critical assessment is an intrinsic part of all scholarly work, including the scientific process. Peer review is the critical assessment of manuscripts submitted to journals by experts who are not part of the editorial staff. Peer review can therefore be viewed as an important extension of the scientific process. It is the policy of IJHS that every article received for publication is peer reviewed by at least two senior specialists of the concerned specialty. The “double blind” process is strictly followed. In certain controversial cases, the opinion of a 3rd reviewer is also obtained.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

Conflict of interest exists when as author (or the author’s institution), reviewer, or editor has financial or personal relationships that inappropriately influence (bias) his or her actions (such relationship are also known as dual commitments, competing interests, or competing loyalties). However, conflicts can occur for other reasons, such as personal relationships, academic competition, and intellectual passion. Increasingly, individual studies receive funding from commercial firms, private foundations, and government. The conditions of this funding have the potential to bias and otherwise discredit the research.

When authors submit a manuscript, whether an article or a letter, they are responsible for disclosing all financial and personal relationships that might bias their work. To prevent ambiguity, authors must state explicitly whether potential conflicts do or do not exist.

It is the discretion of editorial committee of IJHS to resolve any conflict of interest between the author(s) and reviewers. Editors may choose not to consider an article for publication if they feel that the research is biased by the sponsors funding the research project.

PLAGIARISM

Plagiarism is the unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and representing them as one’s own original work. Within the academia, researcher is considered academic dishonesty or academic fraud and offenders are subject to academic censure. Plagiarism can be unintentional or intentional reproducing academic material without appropriate citation. Similarly self plagiarism is the re-use of significant, identical or near identical portions of one’s own work without citing the original work. This is also known as “Recycling fraud”. Worst form of plagiarism is to steal the whole article from some journal and publish it under own name in another journal. Lately the use of internet has made it easier to plagiarize, by copying the electronic tests and using them as original work. It is the policy of editorial committee of IJHS to blacklist any author found to be guilty of plagiarism. The name of author(s) committing plagiarism will also be disseminated to editors of other medical journals.

ETHICAL ISSUES

When reporting experiments on human subjects, authors should indicate whether the procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000. If doubt exists whether the research was conducted in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration, the authors must explain the rationale for their approach, and demonstrate that the institutional review body explicitly approved the doubtful aspects of the study. When reporting experiments on animals, authors should be asked to indicate whether the institutional and national guide for the care and use of laboratory animals was followed.

In case of any study involving clinical trial, taking of informed consent of patients is mandatory.

Whenever editorial committee of IJHS feels necessary, the research paper will be referred to the ethical committee at College of Medicine, Qassim University for its evaluation and approval.

EDITORIAL OFFICE

The editorial office has been established at College of Medicine, Qassim University, KSA A meeting of editorial advisory board is held as often as required to give approval/decision on matters forwarded by editor pertaining to any change in the existing policy, appointment/deletion of any member of the editorial board and any other point.

THE EDITORIAL BOARD

The members of the editorial board are appointed keeping in view their professional competence in different fields of medical sciences. The aim is to have members having wide experience in different fields of medical sciences. In addition to senior specialists from Saudi Arabia, senior professionals from foreign countries will be co-opted with approval of the editorial advisory board.

EDITORIAL COMMITTEE

An editorial committee consisting of Editor- in - Chief, editor, assistant editor(s) and the editorial secretaries meet at least once a month to expedite the business of the journal.

The editorial committee follows the guidelines provided by International Committee of medical Journal editors in” Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals: Writing and Editing for Biomedical Publication” which can be downloaded from http://www.icmje.org/

GUIDANCE FOR AUTHORS

Articles and all editorial correspondence should be sent to Editor-in-Chief, IJHS, College of Medicine, Qassim University by e mail.

EDITORIAL

Each editorial is written by one member of the editorial board as solicited by the editor. The editorial is scientific review on one or two of the current topics pertaining to medical sciences (preference is given to current health problems in Saudi Arabia).

SUBMISSION OF ARTICLE

Original Paper

Manuscript must be accompanied by a certificate signed by author and all coauthors that they have seen and approved the final version of the manuscript and they have not submitted the manuscript to any other journal. All manuscript should be typed in double spacing on A-4 paper with margin on both sides. Soft copy should be sent with the manuscript. Each manuscript should include:

1. Title page:
   1. Complete title of the article
   2. Name of author(s)
   3. Department(s)
   4. Institution(s) at which work was performed
   5. Official phone/fax no, cell no, personal e-mail address (to whom correspondence is to be addressed) in case of posting please provide new address
2. Structured Abstract: (the structured abstract should be factual condensation of the entire work and should not concede 250 words).
   1. Objective
   2. Methodology
   3. Results
   4. Conclusion
3. Text: (the text must include a brief survey of literature, purpose of study, groups of study, methodology and procedures, findings in sequences and implication of these observations. Be flexible and thinkable whilst drawing conclusions of the study). The text should contain following:
   1. Introduction
   2. Methods
   3. Results
   4. Discussion
   5. Conclusion(s)
   6. Acknowledgements (if any)

• References:(references should be listed consecutively as numerical in parentheses. The final bibliography should be in the order in which they are quoted in the text and written in “Vancouver Style”)

• Journals: Standard journal article. (List all authors when six or less; when seven or more, list only first six and add et al)

• You CH. Lee KY, Chey WY, Manguy R. Electrogastrographic study of patients with unexplained nausea, bloating and vomiting. Gastroenterology 1980; 79: 311-4.

• Chapter in a book: Weinstein L, Swartz MN. Pathogenic properties of invading microorganisms. In: Sodeman WA Jr, Sodeman WA, eds. Pathologic physiology: mechanisms of disease. WB Saunders, Philadelphia 1994; 457-72.

1. Tables and figures: (each table, complete with legends and footnotes, should be merged in the manuscript).

Reviews

The purpose of a review is to provide clinicians, scientists and those in training with a clear and up to date concept of a subject of current interest. It should be very informative thoroughly referenced and easily readable with fluency of language. The text should not exceed 3-7 journal pages. For information’s regarding the typing and reference style, please follow the instructions above.

Rapid Communication

Rapid/Special/Short communication should be complete work, not merely a preliminary report and should not exceed 1500 words with one figure and/or one table. An editorial decision will be provided rapidly without reports. For writing and references style, please refer to the instruction above.

Case Report

Short report of cases, clinical experience, drug trails or adverse effects may be submitted. They should not exceed 500 words, 5 bibliographic references and either one concise table or one figure. The report must contain genuinely new information.

Letters

Opinions on topics and articles recently published in the journal will be considered for publication if they are constructive in nature and provide academic/clinical interest. These letters will be forwarded to author of the cited article for possible response. The editor reserves the right to shorten these letters, delete objectionable comments, make other changes, or take any other suitable decision to comply with the style of the journal.

Detailed Instruction

The journal will conform to the “Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to Biomedical journals” (Br Med J, 1988; 296: 400-5). 
Note: All articles submitted to IJHS must only be submitted to this journal and may not have been published elsewhere in part or total. The authors will be requested to sign an agreement to give the copyright to the publishers. The authors will be required to assist the editors for reviewing proof before publication.

GUIDELINES FOR REVIEWERS

1. An unpublished manuscript is a privileged document. Please protect it from any form of exploitation. Don’t cite a manuscript or refer to the work it describes before it has been published and don’t use the information that it contains for the advancement of your own research or in discussions with colleagues.
2. Adopt a positive, impartial attitude toward the manuscript under review, with the aim of promoting effective and accurate scientific communication. If you believe that you cannot judge a given article impartially, please return it immediately to the editor.
3. Reviews must be completed by the date stipulated on the review form. If you know that you cannot finish the review within that time, immediately return the manuscript to the editor.
4. In your review, consider the following aspects of the manuscript:-
   1. Significance of research question or subject studied.
   2. Originality of work.
   3. Appropriateness of approach or Methodology.
   4. Adequacy of experimental techniques.
   5. Soundness of conclusions and interpretation.
   6. Relevance of discussion
   7. Soundness of organization.
   8. Adherence to style as set forth in instructions to authors.
   9. Adequacy of title and abstract.
   10. Appropriateness of figures and tables.
   11. Length of article.
   12. Adherence to correct nomenclature (genetic, enzyme, drug, biochemical etc).
   13. Appropriate literature citations.
5. Any help you can give in clarifying meaning will be appreciated. If you wish to mark the text of the manuscript, use a pencil or make a photocopy, mark it, and return it together with the original.
6. You can be particularly helpful in pointing out unnecessary illustrations and data that are presented in both tabular (and graphic) form and in detail in the text. Such redundancies are a waste of space and readers time.
7. A significant number of authors have not learnt how to organize data and will be benefit from your guidance.
8. Do not discuss the paper with its authors.
9. In your comments intended for transmission to the author, don’t make any specific statement about the acceptability of a paper. Suggested revision should be stated as such and not expressed as conditions of acceptance. Present criticism dispassionately and avoid offensive remarks.
10. Organize your review so that an introductory paragraph summarizes the major findings of the article, gives your overall impression of the paper and highlights the major shortcomings. This paragraph should be followed by specific numbered comments which if appropriate may be subdivided into major and minor points.
11. Confidential remarks directed to the editor should be typed (or handwritten) on a separate sheet, not on the review form. You might want to distinguish between revisions considered essential and those judged merely desirable.
12. Your criticisms, arguments and suggestions concerning the paper will be most useful to the editor and to the author if they are carefully documented. Do not make dogmatic, dismissive statements, particularly about the novelty of work. Substantiate your statements.
13. Reviewer’s recommendations are gratefully received by the editor. However, since editorial decisions are usually based on evaluations derived from several sources, reviewers should not expect the editor to honor every recommendation.
14. Categories of recommendation: accept, reject, modify, or convert to some other form. Very few papers qualify for “accept” upon original submission for publication except for minor style changes.
15. Keep a copy of the review in your files. The manuscript may be returned to you for a second review. You might require this copy to evaluate the author’s responses to your criticisms.