Guidelines for Authors

All authors submitting to UniCath Journal of Biomedicine and Ethics should conform to the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals prepared by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). The manuscript has to be prepared as an editable Word document in a 12-point double spacing Book Antiqua font. All pages have to be numbered consecutively, starting with the title page and including the tables and figures. The manuscript submitted as the original research, should be assembled in the following sequence:

• Title and Authorship (single page)
• Abstract and Keywords (single page)
• Introduction
• Materials and methods
• Results and discussion
• Conclusion
• Acknowledgments
• Conflict of interest
• References
• Tables (one table per page)
• Figures (one figure per page)

There are no strict formatting requirements for other forms of manuscript, but all manuscripts must contain the essential elements needed to evaluate a manuscript: abstract, author affiliation, figures, tables, funder information, references. Further details may be requested upon acceptance.

The criteria for the acceptance of papers are: originality, quality of work and clarity of style. Use clear and concise language to communicate your ideas effectively.

Once you have finished writing, take some time to review and revise your work. Look for any errors in grammar, spelling, or punctuation. Make sure that your writing is well-organized and that your arguments are clearly presented. All papers will be reviewed by at least two experts. Editorial board will make the final decision about acceptance of a manuscript.

Title page

The title of article should be clear, concise, and accurately reflect the content of submitted paper. Using acronyms or abbreviations in the title should be avoided. Include the names of all authors, their institutional affiliations, and email addresses. List each author’s affiliation and email address in superscript beside their name. Indicate the corresponding author for the manuscript by including their full name, affiliation, mailing address, phone number, and email address.

This author will be responsible for communicating with the journal during the review process and after publication. If your research was supported by funding, include the name of the funding organization and the grant number.

Abstract and Keywords

Abstract: Provide a structured abstract of 200 to 350 words. Minimize the use of abbreviations and do not cite references in the abstract. Reports of randomized controlled trials should follow the CONSORT extension for abstracts. The abstract must include the following subtitles:

Background: the context and purpose of the study

Aim: State the main objective of the study.

Methods: how the study was performed, and which statistical tests were used. In this section is important to state the type of the study design, place of research, sample (participants), measured variables and statistical analysis.

Results: the main findings (the main results of the study)

Conclusions: State the conclusions (not repeating the results!) and potential implications

Title Registration: (if you have registered study protocol) information about the registration of the study protocol – registry and registration number (e.g., ClinicalTrials.gov and NCT number, link to OSF registration)

Key words: Provide a list of 3 to 6 key words that accurately reflect the content of your article. Terms from the Medical Subject Headings’ (MeSH) list of Index Medicus should be used for key words. MeSH on Demand is a tool that can automatically identify relevant MeSH terms from text.

Introduction

Start by clearly stating the purpose of your study or research question. This will help to orient the reader and provide context for the rest of the article. Provide a brief overview of the background literature that is relevant to your study. This will help situate your research within the broader context of the field and identify any gaps in current knowledge. State the objectives or hypotheses of your study clearly. This will help guide the reader and provide a clear focus for the rest of the article.

Provide enough detail to allow others to replicate the study. Start by providing a brief overview of the study design, including the research question, hypothesis, or objective. Continue with ethics: statement that the study obtained ethics approval, including the name of the ethics committee(s) and the official number of the document, as well as a statement that participants gave informed consent before taking part.

When ethics approval was not required, this must be stated (and the reason why). Describe the study population or subjects, including any inclusion or exclusion criteria, recruitment methods, and demographics. Provide a detailed description of the data collection process, including the procedures and instruments used to measure or collect data. Be sure to include any relevant details, such as sample size, duration of the study, and any measurements taken. Describe the statistical methods used to analyze the data, including any software or packages used. Be sure to include any relevant details, such as the used level of significance, any made assumptions, and any performed tests. Provide details on any ethical considerations involved in the study, including any approvals or permissions obtained from institutional review boards or ethical committees.

Be clear and concise in your presentation and interpretation of the results. Avoid overinterpreting the data or drawing conclusions that are not supported with evidence. Provide appropriate context for the findings and highlight any potential implications or applications of the results. Start by organizing the results section in a logical and easy-to-follow manner. This may include subsections or headings to group related findings together. Present the results clearly and concisely, using tables, figures, and graphs as necessary. Avoid repeating information in both text and figures. Provide text descriptions of the main findings presented in tables, figures, and graphs.

Figures should be provided with sufficiently high resolution (300 dpi or higher), and in a single zip archieve. Common formats are accepted: JPEG, TIF, EPS. All Figures and Tables should be inserted into the main text and numbered. Equations should be prepared by Microsoft Equation Editor or the Math Type, if Word is used. Equations should be editable and not appear in a picture format. SI Units (International System of Units) should be used.

Start by summarizing the main findings presented in the Results section. This will help to provide context for the rest of the discussion. Interpret the results in the context of the research question, hypothesis, or objective. Discuss how the findings contribute to current knowledge in the field and any potential implications or applications. Compare the results to previous studies in the field, highlighting any similarities or differences. Discuss any potential reasons for discrepancies and any potential limitations of the study that may impact the interpretation of the results. Remember to be clear and concise in your discussion of the results. Provide appropriate context for the findings and avoid overinterpreting the data or drawing conclusions that are not supported by the evidence.

Highlight any strengths and limitations of the study and provide a clear and concise conclusion that summarizes the main findings and their implications.

Provide a clear and concise conclusion that summarizes the main findings of the study, their interpretation, and any potential implications or applications.

Author declarations

In this section authors must provide the following declarations.

Acknowledgments

 List all contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship.

Acknowledge any given support (person who provided purely technical help, or a department chair that provided only general support) and funding, which was not covered by the author’s contribution.

Author contributions:

Authors’ declared contributions to the research should be listed according to the authorship criteria developed by ICMJE .

This part contains statement that the study  obtained ethics approval, including the name of the ethics committee(s) and the official number of the document, as well as a statement that participants gave an informed consent before taking part. When ethics approval was not required, this must be stated. These statements should be a part of the Methods section, too.

Funding: State the details of all sources of funding for the study. If there was no funding, this must be stated, too.

Competing interests

State in the manuscript any possible conflict of interest. We ask authors to fill out the form that is available at the ICMJE site. The ICMJE forms should be given by  the corresponding author. We also ask its reviewers to declare possible conflicts of interest related to the manuscripts under review.

In the Vancouver style, references are cited using numbers in parentheses within the text, with each number corresponding to a specific reference listed in the reference list at the end of the document. References style should follow the NLM standards summarized in the ICMJE Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals: Samples of Formatted References for Authors of Journal Articles. 

Authors must provide a statement that the availability of the research data associated with a paper is available, as well as the conditions under which the data can be accessed. Where applicable, link should be added.