Authors' Guidelines

Disease and Diagnosis (formerly: International Electronic Journal of Medicine) is an official journal of Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences. Disease and Diagnosis is a peer-reviewed general medical journal for all physicians, doctors, medical researchers, and health workers.

General Information

• A platinum open-access journal, i.e., without any article processing charge (APC) or publication fee.
• It follows ICMJE Recommendations and the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME) policies.
• The manuscript should be prepared according to the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals (International Committee of Medical Journal Editors) and must comply with the ethical standards recommended by the Helsinki Declaration.
• Submitted manuscripts should be extracted from research projects with an ethical approval code from the Deputy of Research of Universities.

Preparation of Manuscripts

Submission of Manuscripts

All manuscripts must be submitted online through the website: https://ddj.hums.ac.ir/Login. First-time users will have to register at this site. Manuscripts submitted via email are not processed.

The Disease and Diagnosis is a signatory journal to the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals, issued by the ICMJE. Manuscripts must be prepared in accordance with “ICMJE Recommendations.” The uniform requirements and specific requirement of Disease and Diagnosis are summarized below. Before submitting a manuscript, authors are requested to check for the latest instructions available. Instructions are also available from the website of the journal https://ddj.hums.ac.ir/.

Registered authors can keep track of their articles after logging into the site using their username and password. The submitted manuscripts that are not as per the “Authors' Guidelines” would be returned to the authors for technical correction before they undergo the editorial/peer-review stage. Generally, the manuscript should be submitted in the form of several separate files:

Font:

Times New Roman; 14 points font size(bold) title, 12 (bold) for subheadings, 12 for the manuscript body.

Title page:

This file should provide:

1- Manuscript Type: please see the details from the “Types of Manuscripts” section.

2. The title of the manuscript

3. Authors’ Information: names of all authors/contributors and name(s) of department(s) and/ or institution(s) to which the work should be credited.

4. Disclaimers, Conflict of Interest Disclosures, Funding/Support, Ethical Statement/Informed Consent, and Author’s Contribution:

• Conflict of Interest Disclosures: All authors must disclose all conflicts of interest; they may have with the publication of the manuscript or an institution or product that is mentioned in the manuscript and/or is important to the outcome of the study presented. Authors should also disclose conflicts of interest with products that compete with those mentioned in their manuscript. All sources of funding should be declared; otherwise, the following sentence should be stated: “The authors declare that they have no conflict of interests”.
• Disclaimer: A section of the disclaimer is required to discrete the opinions of the authors from funding sources, organizations, or others. For example, The views expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Ministry of Health and Medical Education.
• Funding/Support: Authors should provide any information regarding funding sources (including "grant ID", contract numbers, the name of the grant-receiving researcher, and the grant provider).
• Author’s Contribution: Please explain the role of each author based on the CRediT author statement, which is a taxonomy consisting of 14 roles (Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Funding acquisition, Investigation, Methodology, Project administration, Resources, Software, Supervision, Validation, Visualization, Writing–original draft, Writing–review & editing) that define the specific contributions made by each contributor to a research output.

• Ethical Statement: This is a mandatory section in all types of articles that should be addressed by authors in submission process. We strongly recommend that authors consider guidelines provided by ICMJE, and Equator Network.

Note. If there are no ethical considerations, declare it as “Not applicable” or “None declared”.

• Acknowledgment, if any. One or more statements should specify 1) contributions that need acknowledging but do not justify authorship, such as general support by a departmental chair; 2) acknowledgments of technical help.
• The name, address, e-mail, Fax, and telephone number of the corresponding author, who is responsible for communicating with the other authors about revisions and final approval of the proofs, if that information is not included on the manuscript itself.

• Word counts separately for the abstract and for the text (excluding the references, tables figure legends, and abstract).

• The number of figures and tables.

For further information visit the ICMJE recommendations.

Cover letter: This letter should be uploaded online as a word file. The author should state that the manuscript has not been and will not be published or submitted elsewhere.

Main Manuscript: The main text of the article, beginning from Abstract till References (including tables) should be in this file. The file must not contain any mention of the authors’ names or initials or the institution at which the study was done or acknowledgments. Page headers/running titles can include the title but not the authors’ names. Manuscripts not in compliance with the Journal’s blinding policy will be returned to the corresponding author. If the file size is large, graphs can be submitted as images separately without incorporating them in the article file to reduce the size of the file. The pages should be numbered consecutively, beginning with the first page of the blinded article file.

Note: Acceptable file formats include Microsoft Word. Please do not submit your manuscripts in PDF format.

Sections of Main Manuscript

The manuscript should follow through these sections: Abstract, Keywords, Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion, and References. Tables and Figures should be inserted within the text as close as possible to where they are cited.

Images/Figures

• Figures should be numbered consecutively according to the order in which they have been first cited in the text.
• All images must be of high quality; i.e., resolutions of at least 300 dpi for color figures, 600 dpi for greyscales, and 1200 dpi for line arts.
• Any identifying marks and specific patient details should be removed or blacked out (e.g., X-rays, MRI scans, etc).
• Figures should be inserted within the text as close as possible to where they are cited
• Legends for the figures/images should be included within the text as close as possible to where they are cited.
• Labels, numbers, and symbols should be clear and of uniform size.
• Symbols, arrows, or letters used in photomicrographs should contrast with the background and should be marked neatly with transfer type or by tissue overlay and not by pen.
• If a figure has been published elsewhere, acknowledge the source and submit written permission from the copyright holder to reproduce the material. A credit line should appear in the legend for such figures.
• Legends for illustrations: Type or print out legends (maximum 40 words, excluding the credit line) for illustrations using double spacing, with Arabic numerals corresponding to the illustrations. When symbols, arrows, numbers, or letters are used to identify parts of the illustrations, identify and explain each one in the legend. Explain the internal scale (magnification) and identify the method of staining in photomicrographs.

Tables

• Include a title for each table (no longer than 15 words)
• Should be cited in numerical order upon their first mention.
• Should be prepared left to right and cell-based (i.e., created in Word with the Tables tool).
• All tables should be inserted within the text as close as possible to where they are referenced. Authors should not upload them as separate files.
• All p values should be reported as exact numbers to 2 digits past the decimal point, regardless of significance, unless they are lower than 0.01, in which case they should be presented to 3 digits. Express any p values lower than 0.001 as p<0.001. p values can never equal 0 or 1.
• Obtain permission for all fully borrowed, adapted, and modified tables and provided a credit line in the footnote.

Types of Manuscripts

[1] Original Articles:

These include randomized controlled trials, basic medical studies, studies of screening and diagnostic tests, outcome studies, cost-effectiveness analyses, case-control series, and in vitro studies. The text of original articles amounting to up to 3500 words (excluding Abstract, References, and Tables) should be divided into sections with the headings Abstract, Keywords, Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, and Conclusion.

Abstract: The abstract of original articles in Disease and Diagnosis is a structured abstract, which includes the following four parts: Background, Materials and Methods, Results, and Conclusion. The total number of words abstract is no more than 250 words. Keywords are used for indexing purposes; each article should provide 3-5 keywords selected from the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH).

Introduction: State the purpose and summarize the rationale for the study or observation.

Materials and Methods: It should include and describe the following aspects: Ethics Issue: When reporting studies on human beings, indicate whether the procedures followed were by the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional or regional) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000. For prospective studies involving human participants, authors are expected to mention about approval of the regional/ national/ institutional or independent Ethics Committee or Review Board, obtaining informed consent from adult research participants, and obtaining assent for children aged over 7 years participating in the trial. The age beyond which assent would be required could vary as per regional and/or national guidelines. Ensure confidentiality of subjects by desisting from mentioning participants’ names, initials, or hospital numbers, especially in illustrative material. When reporting experiments on animals, indicate whether the institution’s or a national research council’s guide for or any national law on the care and use of laboratory animals was followed. Evidence of approval by a local Ethics Committee (for both human as well as animal studies) must be supplied by the authors on demand. Animal experimental procedures should be as humane as possible, and the details of anesthetics and analgesics used should be clearly stated. The ethical standards of experiments must be in accordance with the guidelines provided by the CPCSEA and World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki on Ethical Principles for Medical Research Involving Humans for studies involving experimental animals and human beings, respectively). The journal will not consider any paper which is ethically unacceptable. A statement on ethics committee permission and ethical practices must be included in all research articles under the ‘Materials and Methods section.

Study design: Selection and Description of Participants; describe your selection of the observational or experimental participants (patients or laboratory animals, including controls) clearly, including eligibility and exclusion criteria and a description of the source population.

Technical information: Identify the methods, apparatus (give the manufacturer’s name and address in parentheses), and procedures in sufficient detail to allow other workers to reproduce the results.

Give references to established methods, including statistical methods (see below); provide references and brief descriptions for methods that have been published but are not well known; describe new or substantially modified methods, give reasons for using them, and evaluate their limitations. Identify precisely all drugs and chemicals used, including generic name(s), dose(s), and route(s) of administration.

Reports of randomized clinical trials should present information on all major study elements, including the protocol, assignment of interventions (methods of randomization, concealment of allocation to treatment groups), and the method of blinding, based on the CONSORT Statement (https://www.consort-statement.org/).

Statistical Analysis: Whenever possible quantify findings and present them with appropriate indicators of measurement error or uncertainty (such as confidence intervals). Authors should report losses to observation (such as dropouts from a clinical trial). When data are summarized in the Results section, specify the statistical methods used to analyze them. Avoid non-technical uses of technical terms in statistics, such as ‘random’ (which implies a randomizing device), ‘normal,’ ‘significant,’ ‘correlations,’ and ‘sample.’ Define statistical terms, abbreviations, and most symbols. Specify the computer software used. Use upper italics (p=0.048). For all p values include the exact value and not less than 0.05 or 0.001. Mean differences in continuous variables, proportions in categorical variables and relative risks including odds ratios and hazard ratios should be accompanied by their confidence intervals.

Results: Present your results in a logical sequence in the text, tables, and illustrations, giving the main or most important findings first. Do not repeat in the text all the data in the tables or illustrations; emphasize or summarize only important observations. Extra- or supplementary materials and technical detail can be placed in an appendix where it will be accessible but will not interrupt the flow of the text; alternatively, it can be published only in the electronic version of the journal.

When data are summarized in the Results section, give numeric results not only as derivatives (for example, percentages) but also as the absolute numbers from which the derivatives were calculated, and specify the statistical methods used to analyze them.

Restrict tables and figures to those needed to explain the argument of the paper and to assess its support. Use graphs as an alternative to tables with many entries; do not duplicate data in graphs and tables. Where scientifically appropriate, analyses of the data by variables such as age and sex should be included.

Discussion: Include summary of key findings (primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, results as they relate to a prior hypothesis); Strengths and limitations of the study (study question, study design, data collection, analysis, and interpretation); Interpretation and implications in the context of the totality of evidence (is there a systematic review to refer to, if not, could one be reasonably done here and now?, what this study adds to the available evidence, effects on patient care and health policy, possible mechanisms); Controversies raised by this study; and Future research directions (for this particular research collaboration, underlying mechanisms, clinical research).

Do not repeat in detail data or other material given in the Introduction or the Results section.

In particular, contributors should avoid making statements on economic benefits and costs unless their manuscript includes economic data and analyses. Avoid claiming priority and alluding to work that has not been completed. New hypotheses may be stated if needed, however they should be clearly labeled as such.

[2] Meta-analysis: Only results of the meta-analysis are reported in this kind of article. The length of the article is within 3000-5500 words (not including Tables, Figures, and References). The Meta-analysis should have the following headings: Abstract, Keywords, Introduction, Search Strategies, Results, Discussion, Conclusion, and Reference in that order.

[3] Review Articles: It is expected that these articles would be written by individuals who have done substantial work on the subject or are considered experts in the field. The prescribed word count is up to 7000 words excluding Tables, References, and Abstract. The manuscript should have unstructured Abstract (250 words) representing an accurate summary of the article. The section titles would depend on the topic reviewed. Authors submitting the review articles should include a section describing the methods used for locating, selecting, extracting, and synthesizing data.

[4] Short Communication: These articles are short reports of original research. They should not exceed 2000 words with no more than one Table, one Figure, and 20 References, and should have the following headings: Abstract, Keywords, Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, and References in that order.

[5] Letter to Editor: They should preferably be related to articles previously published in the Journal or views expressed in the journal or briefly report a case or research results. They do not contain an abstract, and there is no obligation to divide the text into sections. The letter could have up to 700 words and 10 references with one Table and/or one Figure.

[6] Editorial: Editorials are usually commissioned. However, unsolicited editorials are also welcome. We are keen to consider editorials or ideas for editorials from authors outside Iran. Editorials can be up to 2000 words length with no more than 25 references.

[7] Case Report: Case reports are uncommon presentations of a common disease or common presentations of an uncommon disease. The maximum number of authors should be limited to six. The text of case report amounting to up to 2000 words (excluding Abstract, References, and Tables) should be divided into sections with the headings Abstract (include Background, Case Report, and Conclusion), Keywords, Introduction, Case Presentation, Discussion, Conclusion References (up to 10 references).

Format of References

• All references in the text must be numbered consecutively, place each citation immediately after the term or phrase and usually before the period; they should appear like the following: (1, 2, 5, 6) or (7-9).
• References in the text, tables, and figures should be in numerical order according to where the item is cited in the text.
• Listing references, follow abbreviate names of journals according to the journal list in PubMed.
• Only one publication can be listed for each number.
• Unpublished work accepted for publication but not yet released should be included in the reference list with the words “In Press” in parentheses beside the name of the journal concerned. References must be verified by the author(s) against the original documents.
• Personal communications or manuscripts either “in preparation” or “submitted for publication” are unacceptable as a reference.
• Citations in the reference list should contain named authors up to 6; if more than 6, list the first 6 authors followed by” et al”.

Some examples of the journal’s reference style are shown below. Please carefully follow the reference style:

1. Journal Article:

   Urita Y, Watanabe T, Imai T, Samana W, Heiram A, Ehsak A, et al. Influence of chronic ethanol consumption on extra-pancreatic secretory function in rat. N Am J Med Sci. 2009;1(4):239-43. doi: 10.4297/najms.2009.5239.

   Book Chapter:

2. Ramphal R. Infections due to Pseudomonas species and related organisms. In: Fauci AS, Braunwald E, Kasper DL, eds. Harrison Principles of Internal Medicine. 17th ed. New York, NY: McGraw Hill Medical; 2008:949-56.

   Complete Book:
   

3. Margulis L. Origin of Eukaryotic Cells. New Haven: Yale University Press; 1970.

   Link/URL:
   

4. U.S. positions on selected issues at the third negotiating session of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. Washington, D.C.: Committee on Government Reform, 2002.  Available from: https://www.house.gov/reform/min/inves_tobacco/index_accord.htm. Accessed March 4, 2002.

   5. Dissertation:
   

Kaplan SI. Post-hospital home health care: the elderly access and utilization. [dissertation]. St. Louis, Mo: Washington University; 1994.

Protection of Patients’ Rights to Privacy

Identifying information should not be published in written descriptions, photographs, sonograms, CT scans, etc., and pedigrees unless the information is essential for scientific purposes and the patient (or parent or guardian, wherever applicable) gives written informed consent for publication. Authors should remove patients’ names from figures unless they have obtained written informed consent from the patients. When informed consent has been obtained, it should be indicated in the article and copy of the consent should be attached with the covering letter.

Sending A Revised Manuscript

The revised version of the manuscript should be submitted online in a manner similar to that used for the submission of the manuscript for the first time. However, there is no need to submit the “First Page” or “Covering Letter” file while submitting a revised version. When submitting a revised manuscript, authors are requested to include, the ‘referees’ remarks along with point-to-point clarification at the beginning of the revised file itself. Also, they are expected to mark the changes as underlined or colored text in the article.