Info for Authors

Include a cover letter and complete contact information for the corresponding author (postal/mail address, e-mail address, and telephone and fax numbers) and whether the authors have published or submitted any related papers from the same study (see Duplicate/Previous Publication or Submission).

Manuscripts should be prepared in accordance with the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals.²

Include a title page, abstract, text, references, and as appropriate, figure legends, tables, and figures. Start each of these sections on a new page, numbered consecutively, beginning with the title page.

We recommend individual file sizes of no more than 500 kB and not exceeding 1 MB, with the total size for all files not exceeding 5 MB (not including any video files).

For submission and review, acceptable manuscript file formats include Word, WordPerfect, PDF, EPS, Text, Postscript, or RTF format. Use 12-point font size, double-space text, and leave right margins unjustified (ragged).

The Title Page should include a word count for text only, the title (concise and informative, not to exceed 80 characters in length); the first and last name(s) of author(s) and appointments; and a short running head of not more than 40 characters (count letters and spaces) placed at the foot of the page and identified. If authors belong to several different institutions, superscript digits should be used to relate the authors’ names to respective institutions. The present address of any author, if different from the place work was done, should be shown. The name, address (including e-mail), telephone and fax numbers of the author to whom correspondence should be addressed must be provided.

The second page should contain the Abstract and six to ten key words. In selecting key words, the authors should strictly refer to the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) list of the Index Medicus. In the case of reports on clinical trials, the abstract should also include the information on the identifying number of the trial and the name of the registration database. Any potential conflict of interest should also be disclosed on this page. Authors should disclose any commercial affiliations as well as consultancies, stock or equity interests, and patent-licensing arrangements which could be considered a conflict of interest. The details of such disclosures will be kept confidential but MMJ urges the authors to make general statements in the Acknowledgements section of the manuscript.

Each manuscript should follow this sequence: title page; abstract, key words, trial identification number for registered trials; text (Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusions); acknowledgements; references; tables (each table complete with title and footnotes on a separate page), figure legends, and the last page.

Do not use abbreviations in the title or abstract and limit their use in the text. Expand all abbreviations at first mention in the text.

Conventional units of measure are preferred, with Système International (SI) units expressed secondarily (in parentheses). In tables and figures, a conversion factor to SI may be presented in the footnote or legend to economize space. Exceptions to this policy include calories, hematocrit, glycosylated haemoglobin, blood cell counts, and ejection fraction, for which conventional units alone should be expressed. The metric system is preferred for the expression of length, area, mass, and volume. For more details, see the SI unit conversion table.

Use nonproprietary names of drugs, devices, and other products, unless the specific trade name of a drug is essential to the discussion.¹

Consult the Human Genome Organisation Gene Nomenclature Committee site for gene names and symbols (http://www.gene.ucl.ac.uk/nomenclature).

MMJ does not republish text, tables, figures, or other material from other publishers, except under rare circumstances. Please delete any such material and replace with originals.

The title is the most important summary of a scientific article. The title should also include information on the scope of investigation,e.g., the type of study (clinical, experimental, epidemiological) average follow-up time, etc. If animal or cadaver experiments are reported, the title should carry this information.

MMJ requires that the authors prepare a structured abstract of not more than 300 words. Abstracts re not required for editorials, commentaries, and some special features. The abstract should include (at least) four headings: Background. State explicitly and concisely the purpose and rationale of the study. Methods. Concisely and systematically list the basic procedures, selection of study subjects or laboratory animals, methods of observation and analysis. Avoid listing of common or irrelevant methods; enable the reader to fathom the essence of your procedure(s) and methods. The essential data on patient characteristics belong here, not in the Results section. Results. List your basic results without any introduction. Only essential statistical significances should be added in brackets. Draw no conclusions as yet: they belong into the next section. Conclusions. List your conclusions in a short, clear and simple manner. State only those conclusions that stem directly from the results shown in the paper. Rather than summarizing the data, conclude from them. Do not forget to include the identifying number of the trial and registration database for reports on clinical trials.

The Introduction section should include the hypothesis and specific protocol objectives. The author should briefly introduce the problem, particularly emphasizing the level of knowledge about the problem at the beginning of the investigation. Continue logically, and finish the section with a short description of the aim of the study. Introduction section should generally not exceed one typewritten page. This is no place to write a review of the field or to mention textbooks commonplaces: you are addressing an educated reader, and this section should introduce him/ her to the specific problem investigated.

This section need not be brief. Use of subheadings is advised. For clinical trials define: (a) planned study population, including controls;
(b) inclusion and exclusion criteria;
(c) planned subgroup analyses;
(d) prognostic factors that may affect study results;
(e) outcome measures and minimum difference(s) to be considered clinically important;
(f) planned treatment interventions;
(g) method of assignment of subjects to treatments (e.g., randomization method, blinding or masking procedure, matching criteria);
(h) planned sample size and power calculations;
(i) rules for stopping the study; and
(j) methods of statistical analysis in sufficient detail to permit replication. It is important to specify exactly how the patients were selected. The patients should be characterized in detail, so as to avoid confusion about uncontrolled variables.

Give the reasons for a given patient’s exclusion from the follow-up, and analyze whether or not he/she was a representative of the primary series. A follow- up close to 100 percent is required in most studies. Follow-up time should generally not be less than 2 years. Give the exact dates of the study. Control group(s) should be described as precisely as experimental groups. For animals, the species, sex, age, breed, and physiologic condition should be given. Names of chemicals and devices used should be followed by the information on the manufacturer (name, city, and country) set in parentheses. Give generic names for the drugs and chemicals, followed by their commercial names in brackets. In reports on the experiments on human subjects, it should be indicated whether the procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional or regional) or with the Helsinki Declaration (3), as revised in 1975 and 1983. Do not use patients’ names, initials, or hospital numbers, especially in illustrative material. Permission to use patient’s pictures and their informed consent must accompany such material. All human and animal studies must have been approved by the authors’ Institutional Review Board.

Statistics
List the tests used. Relate each test to a particular data analysis. This should be repeated in the Results section. Tables should not contain only statistical test results. Statistics is a tool, not the purpose of analysis; it serves to corroborate the specific data. Statistical significances should be shown along with the data in the text, as well as in tables and figures. Provide exact p-values, with three decimal places.

A clinical study as conducted should include:
(a) inclusive dates of accrual of study population;
(b) sample size achieved;
(c) how many subjects were excluded or withdrew, and the reasons;
(d) demographic and clinical characteristics of the study population, including controls; and
(e) how the study as conducted deviated from the study as planned, and the reasons (e.g., compliance).

Study findings should include:
(a) estimates of treatment effects, stated as comparisons among treatment groups (e.g., differences in risks, rates or means of outcome measures, as well as exact p-values;
(b) measures of precision for outcome measures and for estimates of treatment effects (confidence intervals, standard errors);
(c) summary data and appropriate descriptive statistics;
(d) complications of treatment; and
(e) repository where original data can be obtained (e.g., principal investigator).

Key rules for writing the Results section are:
(a) the text should be understandable without referring to the respective tables and figures, and vice versa;
(b) however, the text should not simply repeat the data contained in the tables and figures; and
(c) the text and data in tables and figures should be related to the statements in the text by means of reference marks.

Thus, it is best to describe the main findings in the text, and refer the reader to the tables and figures, implying that details are shown there. Information on significance and other statistical data should preferably be given in the tables and figures. The formulations such as “It is shown in Table 1 that the outcome of Group A was better than that of Group B” should be replaced by “The outcome of Group A was better than that of Group B (Table 1).” Call experimental groups by their real (albeit maybe more descriptive/longer) names, rather than assigning them numbers or letters. The need for brevity should not clash with the requirement that all results be presented.

The discussion section should include interpretation of study findings, and results considered in the context of results in other trials reported in the literature. This section has three main functions:
(a) assessment of the results for their validity with respect to the hypothesis, relevance of methods, and significance of differences observed;
(b) discussion of relevant literature providing evidence or counterevidence for your findings; and
(c) assessment of the significance of the conclusions for the application in further research. Do not recapitulate your results, discuss them!

The Acknowledgements section is the general term for the list of contributions, credits, and other information included at the end of the text of a manuscript but before the references. The Acknowledgment section includes authors’ contributions; information on author access to data; disclosure of potential conflicts of interests, including financial interests and relationships; sources of funding and support; an explanation of the role of sponsor(s); information on independent statistical analysis (if required); names, degrees, and affiliations of members of a participants in a large study or other group; any important disclaimers; information on previous presentation of the information reported in the manuscript; and the names, degrees, affiliations, and indication if compensation has been received for all persons who have made substantial contributions to the work but who are not authors.

In style, references and abbreviations should follow the guidelines of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. The references should be typed entirely double-spaced, numbered consecutively and presented in superscript within the text. References that apply to tables or figures should be numbered in sequence where the text first refers to the table or figure concerned. Each numbered references should give the last names, initials, without punctuation, of all six if six or fewer. If there are more than six authors, provide the first three authors and et al. The titles of journals should be abbreviated according to the style used in Index Medicus. Do not use boldface or underlining when typing references.

Avoid using abstracts, “unpublished observations” and “personal communication” as references. References to written, not verbal, communications may be inserted as parentheses, identified by year in the text e.g. (Harries AD, 1998, personal communication). Manuscripts accepted but not yet published may be used only if designated followed by “in press”. Information submitted but not yet accepted should be cited in the text as “unpublished observations” (in parentheses). While all necessary references should be cited, it is preferable not to use an excessively large number. The references used must be verified by the author(s) against the original documents. Examples of correct forms of references are provided below.

Use the following link for reference example: https://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_requirements.html

• et al should be used in references where are more than six and should come after six authors, digital object identifiers (DOIs) should be added to all open-access references.

Standard Journal Article
Audu R, Omilabu SA, Peenze I, Steele D. Viral diarrhoea in young children in two districts in Nigeria. Cent Afr J Med. 2002;48(5–6):59–63

Book
Cooper RS, Ghali JK. Coronary heart disease: black-white differences. In: Saunders E, ed. Cardiovascular diseases in blacks. Philadelphia: F.A Davis Company; 1999: 205–25

Published Proceedings Paper
Tembo K, Magai D, Nyasulu YMZ. Proceedings of the Sixth College of Medicine Research Dissemination Conference, University of Malawi College of Medicine, 2002: 24

Tables should bear Arabic numerals. Each table should be put on a separate sheet of paper (using page break function). Each table should be self-explanatory, with an adequate title (clearly suggesting the contents), and logical presentation of data. The title should not repeat the information given in the headings. Use tables in order to present the exact values of the data that cannot be summarized in a few sentences in the text. Use tables instead of case reports unless a very small number of cases are presented. Avoid repetitive words in the columns: these should be coded, and their explanations given in the footnotes. Never present the same data in more than one way: present them in a table OR a figure. Data should be organized so that related elements read downward, not across. The data arranged in columns should correspond to the time sequence of their collection when read from left to right:
Age→ Sex→Symptoms→ Physical findings →Radiographs →Treatment →Outcome. Each column heading for numerical data should include the unit of measurement applied to all the data under the heading. Choose suitable SI units, so that the values given in the table should fall within the range 0-999. Large numbers can be expressed in smaller units with appropriate column headings (or footnotes). Headings such as ×103 for thousands should be avoided, as it is not clear whether the data given are to be or have already been multiplied by that factor. The precision of biological measurements seldom allows for more than 2 decimal digits. Tabular footnotes should be indicated with superscript lowercase letters. Use table grid option in MS Word for table lines (both vertical and horizontal). Place explanatory matter in footnotes, not in the heading. Explain in footnotes all nonstandard abbreviations that are used in each table.

Number all tables in the order of their citation in the text. Include a title for each table (a brief phrase, preferably no longer than 10 to 15 words). Include all tables in a single file following the manuscript. Refer to Categories of Articles because there may be a limit on the number of tables for the type of manuscript. If a table must be continued, repeat the title on a second sheet, followed by “(cont).”

Instructions for Table Creation
Contact the MMJ Editorial office for more information on this. Figures Diagrams, line drawings and photographs should be referred to as figures. They should be numbered in sequence with Arabic numerals. Legends to figures should be listed on a separate page, in the consecutive order. The legend of a figure should contain the following information:
(a) the word “Figure”, followed by its respective number;
(b) figure title;
(c) all the necessary explanations of symbols and findings, written continuously;
(d) statistics. Do not put the title of the figure on the figure! Several figures related to the same patient, e.g., radiographs taken at different times, should be labeled Figure 1 A, B, C, etc. rather than Figures 1, 2, 3. Symbols should be consistent throughout a series of figures. Use simple symbols, like closed and open circles, triangles and squares. Different types of connecting lines can be used. The meanings of symbols and lines should be defined in the legend. The axes should be equal in length so as to make the diagrams square. They should normally be thinner than curve lines. Each axis should be labeled with a description of the variable it represents. Only the first letter of the first word should be capitalized. The labeling should be parallel with the respective axis.

All units should be expressed in SI units and parenthesized. Make liberal use of scale markings, directed outwards. Axes should not extend beyond the last numeral, and should never be terminated by arrows. Choose units so that the values expressed may fall within the between 0 and 999. All the values on a given axis should have the same number of decimals. If an axis is labeled in percentages, this should be indicated. If an axis is not continuous, this must be indicated by a clearly marked interruption.
Figures should be drawn professionally. Photographs must be sharp and glossy or delivered in high-quality electronic format. All micrographs must include a bar to indicate the scale. Graphs or charts must be provided as complete MS Excel files. Do not draw three-dimensional graphs if not absolutely necessary. Do not shade the background. Do not use grids. Most figures are properly presentable in column width, i.e., 7.9 cm. Suitable line thickness for this format is 0.17-0.35 mm, and suitable type size for capital letters is 10 points. Radiographs should be cropped so as to present only what is essential. It is rarely necessary to show normal radiographs, even for the purpose of comparison. Frontal and lateral projections should be of the same scale and density, and corresponding details (e.g., joint space) should be at the same level.

Number all figures (graphs, charts, photographs, and illustrations) in the order of their citation in the text. Include a title for each figure (a brief phrase, preferably no longer than 10 to 15 words). For initial manuscript submissions, figures must be of sufficient quality for editorial assessment and peer review. All graphs, charts, illustrations, titles, and legends of accepted manuscripts will be re-created or edited according to MMJ style and standards prior to publication. Digital images in accepted manuscripts will be reviewed to determine whether they have undergone improper modification.

Advice on preparing digital images
File names should be alphanumeric. Do not include any spaces or special characters.
The best file format is TIFF. We cannot accept PowerPoint files; also, files saved in TIF format from Power Point application are not at sufficiently high resolution to meet our formatting requirements. Submitted digital halftones of black and white photographic images must have an image resolution of at least 300 dpi at publication size. To check the size and resolution of the image in Adobe Photoshop, select “Image Size” in the “Image” menu. Make sure the “Resample Image” box in “Image Size” dialog window is not checked and the “Width,” “Height,” and “Resolution” boxes are linked by the graphic chain. (It may be necessary to click twice on the “Resample Image” box to establish this link.) This will mean that no resolution (ie dots or data) is lost when reducing the dimensions of an image and that the machine does not add dots to an image when increasing its dimensions. Set the print size to the desired size of the image in the printed journal and make sure that the resolution at this size is equal to or above 300 dpi. Please submit in the TIF format by selecting this choice in the format box of the “Save” dialog window. The resolution for color images should also be at least 300 dpi. Please submit files in RGB format. For published manuscripts, image files will be posted online in their original RGB format, maintaining the full color of your original files. When saving, always embed any ICC profile you have worked with. All profiles will be accurately converted to Adobe RGB. If possible, we recommend that authors use Adobe RGB when preparing files. Note that we will still need to convert all RGB files to CMYK for printing on paper and color shifts may occur in conversion.

You can view an approximation of print results by converting to CMYK in Photoshop or Illustrator. For line art, vector files should be created in an illustration program such as Adobe Illustrator and should be saved and submitted as EPS (Encapsulated PostScript). Only Times, Helvetica, Arial, or Symbol fonts should be used. Using other fonts may result in lost or improperly converted characters. All color art should be in RGB format. For figures with a combination of photographs and line art, prepare photographic image files in Photoshop as above at 300 dpi as described above. Prepare line art in Illustrator as above (if you will be importing color images, be sure to create an RGB Illustrator file). Image files should be placed into the file containing the line art. Always embed images, never link. In Illustrator, copying and pasting or dragging directly from Photoshop will embed the image. If you use the “Place” command, be sure to uncheck “Link” in the dialogue box. If you use another illustration program, please refer to the specific documentation for that application (generally there will be a “link,” “proxy” or “OPI” option on import which should be unchecked). Save as EPS, always embedding any color profile used. We recommend Adobe RGB.

Common mistakes in presenting Data
Averages (means) should be followed by ±SD, and medians by ranges (in parentheses). Percentages should not be given when the total sample number is less than 100. Otherwise, use absolute numbers, decimal fractions or “one third,” “three quarters,” etc. Percentages above 10 usually do not need decimals. Details on the style of scientific writing can be found in several excellent books.⁸

Acceptable Figure File Size
To reduce the time that it takes to upload files to the MMJ submission site and for reviewers to download files from the site, we recommend that the file size of figures be compressed before uploading them. This can be done by using compression software or by decreasing the resolution of individual files.

Acceptable Figure File Formats
At submission, the following file formats are acceptable: AI, BMP, DOC, EMF, EPS, JPG, PDF, PPT, PSD, TIF, WMF, or XLS. Figures may be embedded at the end of the manuscript text file or loaded as separate files for submission purposes.

Figure Legends (Captions)
Include a legend for each photograph, graph, and illustration at the end of the manuscript (maximum length, 40 words). For photomicrographs, include the type of specimen, original magnification or a scale bar, and stain. For gross pathology specimens, label any rulers with unit of measure

Number of Figures
Refer to Categories of Articles as there may be a limit on the number of figures for the type of manuscript.

Video file formats acceptable at submission are MOV, AVI, MPEG, RM, and WM, and the file size should not exceed 5 MB with a maximum dimension of 800 pixels wide and/or 600 pixels deep.

The language of the MMJ is UK English. The Editors retain the customary right to style and, if necessary, shorten texts accepted for publication. This does not mean that we prefer short articles –actually, we do not limit their size – but rather a resection of the obviously redundant material. The past tense is recommended in the Results Section. Avoid using Latin terms; if necessary, they should be added in parentheses after the English terms. Real names rather than “levels” or “values” should refer to parameters with concrete units (e.g., concentration). Above all, the author should have in mind that his/her article is intended for a general medical journal and a general reader.