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Guidelines for Authors
Formerly known as ‘The Journal of the Kuwait Medical Association’, the Kuwait Medical Journal (KMJ) was established in the year 1967. It is the official publication of the Kuwait Medical Association and is published quarterly and regularly every March, June, September and December.
KMJ aims to publish peer-reviewed manuscripts of international interest. Submissions on clinical, scientific or laboratory investigations of relevance to medicine and health science come within the scope of its publication. Original articles, case reports, brief communications, book reviews, insights and letters to the editor are all considered. Review articles are solicited. Basic medical science articles are published under the section ‘Experimental Medicine’.
The Kuwait Medical Journal follows the guidelines set down in “Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals” developed by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). The official and most recent version of the recommendations are available at www.icmje.org.
Journal Policies
Ethics in Publishing
Where human investigations are part of the study, the research must be conducted ethically in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki, and the design of the work has to be approved by a local ethics committee and informed written consent must be obtained from all subjects. Documented review and approval from the Institutional Review Board or Ethics Committee must be submitted along with any studies involving people, medical records and human tissues. A relevant statement of approval should be added in the ‘Subjects and Methods’ section of the manuscript.
Authors should also consult guidelines for the reporting of specific study types (e.g., the CONSORT guidelines for the reporting of randomized trials); see http://equator-network.org.
Copyright
The publisher reserves copyright on the Journal’s contents. No part may be reproduced, translated or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including scanning, photocopying, recording or any other information storage and retrieval system without prior permission from the publisher. The publisher shall not be held responsible for any inaccuracy of the information contained therein.
Conflict of Interest
Potential conflicts of interest for all authors must be identified in a ‘Conflict of interest’ statement at the end of the manuscript. An electronic cover letter from the corresponding author is acceptable. Authors of research articles should disclose any affiliation with any organization with a financial interest, direct or indirect, in the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript (e.g., consultancies, employment, expert testimony, honoraria, retainers, stock) that may affect the conduct or reporting of the work submitted. If uncertain as to what might be considered a potential conflict of interest, authors should err on the side of full disclosure. Because reviews and editorials are based on selection and interpretation of the literature, the Journal expects that authors of such articles will not have any financial interest in a company (or its competitor) that makes a product discussed in the article. Information about potential conflict of interest will be made available to reviewers and will be published with the manuscript at the discretion of the editors. If there is no conflict of interest, please state: “The authors declare no conflicts of interest.”
Peer Review
All submitted manuscripts are reviewed by the editorial staff to ensure adherence to the guidelines of the Journal. Manuscripts that are considered suitable for review are sent to a peer in the relevant field of study as part of a double- blinded peer review. The reviewer may recommend the manuscript be accepted as is, undergo revision, or be rejected. If a reviewer recommends revision of a manuscript, the revised version must be re-submitted to the Journal within 3 months from the date when the review report is sent to the corresponding author.
Authors
To be named as an author on a submission, the following 4 criteria are followed:
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 work 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.
In addition to being accountable for the parts of the work he/she has done, an author should be able to identify which co-authors are responsible for specific other parts of the work. Authors should also have confidence in the integrity of the contributions of their co-authors. Specific contributions made by each author to the article must be clearly stated at the end of the document. Those who do not meet all four criteria should be mentioned in the Acknowledgment section of the submission.
Once a paper has been accepted, the Journal does not consider requests to add, delete or rearrange the sequence of the authors. If the corresponding author requests to add, remove or rearrange the authors’ names after manuscript submission, the journal will seek justification for the requested change. Written confirmation signed by all authors, attesting that they agree to the addition, removal, or rearrangement of names is required. In the case of the addition or removal of authors, the author being added or removed must confirm assent. Requests that are not sent by the corresponding author will not be considered.
The corresponding author is responsible for communication with the journal during the manuscript submission, peer review, and publication process, and must ensure that all the journal’s administrative requirements are properly completed. He/she should also be available throught out the submission and peer review process to respond to editorial queries in a timely manner. It is also the corresponding authors responsibility to ensure all the co-authors are made aware of the most recent status of their submission.
Fees
Publication in the Kuwait Medical Journal is free of charge.
Plagiarism
The Journal defines plagiarism as the use of others’ published and unpublished ideas or words without prior consent, and presenting them as new and original, whether intentional or not. If an accepted or published paper is found to be plagiarised, the manuscript will be retracted and the author will be blacklisted from submitting to the journal.
Preparing your manuscript
Article types
Original Articles: Original Articles include laboratory and clinical investigations as well as research not previously published or being considered for publication elsewhere. The text should contain a Title page, Abstract (in structured format) of not more than 250 words, Key Words (no more than five), Introduction, Subjects (or Materials) and Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion, Acknowledgment/s (if any) and References, Figure Legends, Tables, and Figures in this order. Details of the section contents are explained below for further adherence.
Review Articles (solicited only): Review articles should contain separate sections such as Title Page, Abstract (preferably in structured format) of no more than 250 words, Key Words (no more than five), Introduction, Methods/History (if applicable), Literature Review, Conclusion, Acknowledgment/s (if any) and References followed by (if relevant), Legends to figures, Tables, and Figures.
Case Reports: These should contain separate sections such as Title page, Abstract (a short summary of not more than 200 words), Key Words (no more than five), Introduction, Case history/report, Discussion, Conclusion, Acknowledgment/s (if any) and References followed by (if relevant), Legends to figures, Tables, and Figures.
Short Communications: Short communications are concise articles that aim to report new ideas, significant improvements to existing methods, a new practical application, or a new tool or resource. Short communications do not cover in detail background information about the problems treated, rather they provide key pointers to the reader. The work reported needs to be technically sound, innovative and significantly unique, advancing the state of the art. Short communication is not intended to publish preliminary results. Short communications should be similar to a research article, but with briefer Materials and Methods and Discussion.
Letters to the Editor: Letters may comment on recently published KMJ articles, novel cases or topics of current interest to the public. They should be concise and to the point, with a maximum of 1000 words and 2 authors. Letters commenting on previously published articles must be received within 6 months of publication of the relevant article.
Title Page
The title page of the submitted manuscript should provide a clear title of the study followed by full names of all authors, the highest academic degree and affiliations if any, the name and address of the institution(s) where the work was done including the department, the name and complete address of the corresponding author to whom proofs and correspondences shall be sent, duly supported with contacts such as telephone, mobile and the e-mail address. This page must also contain any disclaimers, sources of support and a conflict of interest declaration.
Structured abstract
A structured abstract (no more than 250 words) is required for studies under the section “Original Articles”. It must provide an overview of the entire paper, and should contain succinct statements on the following, where appropriate:
Objective(s), Design, Setting, Subjects, Intervention(s), Main Outcome Measure(s), Result(s), and Conclusion(s). (See: Haynes RB, Mulrow CD, Huth AJ, Altman DG, Gardner MJ. More informative abstracts revisited. Annals of Internal Medicine 1990; 113:69-76). Abstracts for all other category of submissions shall be a short summary followed by Key words and the report or review.
Preparation of the manuscript
The manuscript should be typed as ‘normal text’ with no hyphenation and no hard-returns within paragraphs (use automatic wordwrap) on A4 size (29.7 x 21 cm) paper in single column format, preferably in font size 12. Cell format for paragraphs, artwork and/or special effects for the text and/or table(s) are not acceptable. Italics shall be used only for foreign/Latin expressions and/or special terminologies such as names of micro-organisms. Maintain a minimum of 2 cm margin on both sides of the text and a 3 cm margin at the top and bottom of each page. No part of the manuscript other than abbreviations and/or subtitles should be written in upper case. Header/foot notes, end notes, lines drawn to separate the paragraphs or pages etc. Are not acceptable. Do not submit articles written/saved in ‘Trackchange’ mode.
More than six authors are not appreciated for a research article and if listed, the authors may be asked to justify the contribution of each individual author. For case reports, not more than three authors are acceptable. Regarding contributions of authors over the limit mentioned above, please read the ‘Acknowledgment’ section.
Key words
Key Words (maximum five) should be preferably MeSH terms, and shall not duplicate words already in the manuscript title. MeSH terms can be checked at: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/.
Tables
Tables typed on separate pages using table format (MS Word or Excel) should follow the list of references. Tables must be numbered consecutively using Arabic numerals and provided with appropriate titles. Contents of the table should be simple, and information therein not duplicated, but duly referred to, in the main text. Tables recording only a few values are not appreciated, since such information can be more accurately, usefully and concisely presented in a sentence or two in the manuscript.
Design of the work
This should be stated clearly. The rationale behind the choice of sample size should be given. Those about to begin randomized controlled studies may wish to study the CONSORT statement (JAMA 1996; 276:637-639).
Illustrations
All illustrations including figures should be numbered as Fig 1, Fig 2, etc in running sequence and submitted as separate attachments along with the manuscript. Photographs should fit within a print area of 164 x 235 mm. In the case of figures where patient’s identity is not concealed, authors need to submit a written consent of the patient or of the patient’s guardian, in case of minors. Figure legends should be listed separately after the ‘References’ section. If any of the tables, illustrations or photomicrographs have been published elsewhere previously, a written consent for re-production is required from the copyright holder along with the manuscript. When charts are submitted, the numerical data on which they were based should be supplied.
Abbreviations
Except for units of measurement, abbreviations should be defined on their first use in the abstract and in the text and then applied consistently throughout the article. Non-standard abbreviations or those appearing fewer than three times are not accepted. Use abbreviated units of measure, only when used with numbers. Abbreviations used as legends in Tables and/or figures should be duly defined below the respective item.
Numbers and units
Measurements of length, height, weight and volume must be reported in metric units (meter, kilogram, liter etc.) or their decimal multiples. Temperature should be given in degrees Celsius, Blood pressure in mmHg, and hematological and biochemical measurements in Système International (SI) units. For decimal values, use a point, and not a comma, e.g., 5.7. Use a comma for numbers > 10,000 (i.e., 103) and do not use a comma for numbers < 9999, (e.g., 6542).
Drug names
Non-proprietary (generic) names of product should be employed. If a brand name for a drug is used, the British or international non-proprietary (approved) name should be given in parentheses. The source of any new or experimental preparation should also be given.
Acknowledgment
Contributors who meet fewer than all 4 of the aforementioned criteria for authorship should only be listed in this section. Contributions of others who have involved in the study, such as statisticians, radiologists etc. and/or those who have assisted in the preparation of the manuscript being submitted could also be included in this section. The corresponding author must obtain written permission to be acknowledged from all acknowledged individuals.
References
Indicate references in the text in sequence using Arabic numerals within square brackets and as superscripts (e.g.,[1, 3-5] etc). Do not quote additional data (like part of the title, year of publication etc.) from the references, with citations in the text, unless very important. In the References section, list them in the same sequence as they appeared in the text. Include the names and initials of all authors if not more than six (< 6). Write the last name of authors followed by the initials with no punctuation other than a comma to separate the names. In references where authorship exceeds six, use et al after six author names. Do not use automatic numbering, end notes or footnotes for references. References to manuscripts either in preparation or submitted for publication, personal communications, unpublished data, etc. are not acceptable.
References should be limited to those relating directly to the contents of the paper and should be set out in the style outlined by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), as shown in the examples below. Additional examples are in the ICMJE sample references. https://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_requirements.html
Examples
Article: Rose ME, Huerbin MB, Melick J, Marion DW, Palmer AM, Schiding JK, et al. Regulation of interstitial excitatory amino acid concentrations after cortical contusion injury. Brain Res. 2002;935(1-2):40-6.
Book: Murray PR, Rosenthal KS, Kobayashi GS, Pfaller MA. Medical microbiology. 4th ed. St. Louis: Mosby; 2002.
Book chapter: Meltzer PS, Kallioniemi A, Trent JM. Chromosome alterations in human solid tumors. In: Vogelstein B, Kinzler KW, editors. The genetic basis of human cancer. New York: McGraw-Hill; 2002. p. 93-113.
Weblinks: eatright.org [Internet]. Chicago: Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics; c2016 [cited 2016 Dec 27]. Available from: http://www.eatright.org/.
Manuscript submission
To present your original work for consideration, one complete set of the manuscript written in English, accompanied by tables and one set of figures (if applicable) should be submitted to the Editor by e-mail to “kmj@kma.org.kw” as attachment files.
The manuscript submitted by e-mail should be in MS Word document (.doc) format, together with a scanned copy or PDF version of the signed consent letter of the author(s) (see the section ‘Authorship and Consent Form’ for details). Figures or photographs, if any, need to be presented as separate attachments in JPG or BMP format with a resolution of 300 dpi and illustrations such as graphs, charts etc., as Excel format files. Incomplete/improper submissions will not be processed, and will be returned. Author(s) will receive a formal acknowledgment letter with a permanent reference number towards each successful submission.
Following a peer review process, the corresponding author will be advised of the status; acceptance or recommendation for revision or rejection of the paper, in a formal letter sent through e-mail. A galley proof will be forwarded to the corresponding author by e-mail at the time of publication of the accepted paper, which must be returned to the journal office within 48 hours with specific comments or corrections, if any. Such corrections in the galley proof must be limited to typographical errors or missing contents from the finally accepted version.
Authorship and consent form
All authors must give their signed consent for publication in a letter of submission, which should accompany the manuscript. This letter should contain the following statement:
“This manuscript (write the title) is an unpublished work which is not under consideration elsewhere and the results contained in this paper have not been published previously in whole or part, except in abstract form. In consideration of the KMJ accepting my/our submission for publication, the author(s) undersigned hereby assign all copyrights ownership to the KMJ and shall have no right to withdraw its publication. It is expressly certified that I/we, have done/actively participated in this study and agree to the accuracy of contents of this manuscript. It was conducted in accordance with current ethical considerations and meets with the committee’s approval. I/all of us agree to its publication in KMJ and to the authorship as expressed in this declaration and in the title page of our manuscript”.
The consent form must also contain the names of all authors, along with their signatures.
Manuscripts should be submitted to:
The Editor,
Kuwait Medical Journal
P.O. Box: 1202
Code-13013-Safat
Kuwait.
Telephone: (965) 1881181, 25333920 extn. 114
E-mail: kmj@kma.org.kw
Website: www.kma.org.kw/KMJ
