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Policy Document

 

POLICY OF THE JOURNAL

  • The Journal MEDICAL FORUM agrees to accept manuscripts prepared in accordance with the Uniform Requirements submitted to the Biomedical Journals as approved by THE ICMJE guidelines published in the British Medical Journal 1991; 302:334-41. Revised in February 2006 and updated in December 2019, available at: "http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/".
  • Medical Forum Monthly is a Peer Review Journal of all Specialties. Recognized by PMDC, HEC and Indexed by WHO, EXCERPTA MEDICA, SCOPUS Database, Pakmedinet, National Library of Pakistan, Medlip of CPSP and registered with International serials data system of France.

 

SUBMISSION OF MANUSCRIPT

  • The material submitted for publication should be exclusively to the journal "Medical Forum Monthly Lahore" paper sent or accepted elsewhere for publication should not be submitted.
  • Manuscript submitted in our online editorial system at www.medforum.pk in the MS
  • Word in one file starting from title to references included tables.
  • Submission of the manuscript also by two hard copies of laser print.
  • Submission of manuscript also by email on med_forum@hotmail.com or medicalforum@gmail.com.
  • Letter of undertaking from all authors. (Click here to get letter)
  • Letter of contribution of all authors.
  • Letter from institutional review board/ ethical review board is also required.
  • Multiple or duplicate submission of the same work to other journal should be avoided.
  • Title page; complete title of manuscript, name of all authors with their highest qualification, department, institution, cell number, e-mail address, postal address etc.
  • Short running title of article, number of figures, tables and total workout from title to last page.

 

PLAGIARISM

  • Manuscripts are screened for plagiarism using "Turnitin" software.

 

AUTHORSHIP CRITERIA

The ICMJE recommends that authorship be based on the following 4 criteria:

  • Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition,analysis, or interpretation of data for the work
  • Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content
  • Final approval of the version to be published
  • Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questionsrelated to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriatelyinvestigated and resolved.

 

 

NON AUTHORSHIP CRITERIA 

  • Contributors who meet fewer than all 4 of the above criteria for authorship should not be listed as authors, but they should be acknowledged. Examples of activities that alone (without other contributions) do not qualify a contributor for authorship are acquisition of funding; general supervision of a research group or general administrative support; and writing assistance, technical editing, language editing, and proofreading.
  • Those whose contributions do not justify authorship may be acknowledged individually or together as a group under a single heading (e.g., "Clinical Investigators" or "Participating Investigators") and their contributions should be specified (e.g., "served as scientific advisors," "critically reviewed the study proposal," "collected data," "provided and cared for study patients, "participated in writing or technical editing of the manuscript").

 

ARTICLE CATEGORIES

 

ORIGINAL ARTICLE:

  • 2000 to 3000 Words including title page, tables or figures and references.
  • Not more than 4 Tables or Figures.
  • 200 to 250 words of Structured Abstract.
  • 3-10 Keywords.
  • 20-25 (local and international) References.
  • S0% references from last 3 years at the time of submission.
  • 60% reference from the journals.

 

REVIEW ARTICLE:

  • 3000 Words with at least not more than 40 references.
  • Not more than 3 Tables or Figures.
  • 200 to 250 words of Structured Abstract.
  • 3 Keywords.
  • 40 (local and international) References.
  • 50% references from last 3 years at the time of submission.
  • 60% reference from the journals.

 

SHORT COMMUNICATIONS OR CASE REPORTS:

  • 1000-1200 Words
  • 150 words Non Structured Abstract.
  • 2 Tables or illustrations
  • 6 References.

EVIDENCE BASED REPORTS:

  • 1000-1200 Words.
  • 150 words Non Structured Abstract.
  • 2 Tables or illustrations
  • 10-12 References.

CLINICAL CASE REPORTS:

  • 800 Words.
  • 100-150 words Non Structured Abstract.
  • 1-2 Tables or illustrations
  • 10-12 References.

LETTER TO EDITOR:

  • 350 Words
  • References

GUEST EDITORIAL:

  • 1000 Words
  • 5-8 References.

 

DISCUSSION

  • Present finding, variations and similarities with other studies in the field. New and important aspects of your study and conclusions you should mentioned here that the hypothesis of your study is true, false or no conclusion can be derived.

 

CONCLUSION

  • In this link write the goals of the study.

 

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

  • Any conflict for interest should be declared by all authors.

 

DISCLOSURE

  • Nonmonetary disclosures regarding being part of thesis or dissertation, a pilot projector an ongoing study should be made explicitly at the time of submission.

 

FUNDING

  • Any company or institution who has financially contributed to the study must be acknowledged.

 

RECOMMENDATIONS

  • When appropriate, may be included.

 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  • List of all contributors who do not meet the criteria for Authorship, such as a person who provided purely technical help, writing assistance or department chair who provided only general support.
  • Financial & Material support should be acknowledged.

 

REFERENCES

  • It should be in the Vancouver Style. References should be numbered in the order in which they are cited in the text.
  • At the end of the article, the full list of references should give the names and initials of all the authors. (If authors are more than 6, then et al should be followed after the 6th name).

 

References from Journal

  • Author's name with initials, full title of cited article, name of the journal in abbreviated form, year of publication, journal’s volume, number and finally first & last page numbers.

 

References from Book

  • Authors name with initials, full title of cited article, complete title of the book, name of editors, address (city), the publisher, first & last page numbers and finally the year of publication.

 

INITIAL ASSESSMENT

  • Every submitted article will be evaluated by editorial staff then selected paper will be sent to the two external reviewers.

 

PEER REVIEW

  • After initial assessment, two external reviewers of subject specialists identified by the editor (Blind / Double Review).
  • Two-week time will be given for the review of manuscript.

 

TEXT ARRANGEMENTS

 

TITLE OF THE ARTICLE:

  • Complete title of manuscript, name of all authors with their highest qualification, department, institution, cell number, e-mail address, postal address etc.

 

ABSTRACT

In Original Article, it should consist of the following seven subheadings:

  • Objective
  • Study Design
  • Place and Duration of study
  • Materials & Methods
  • Results
  • Conclusion
  • Keywords should not more than 250 words.

 

INTRODUCTION

  • The start of the introduction should be Relevant. Reasons and Importance of the study should be clear.
  • Give only strictly pertinent References and do not include data or conclusions from the work being reported.

 

MATERIALS & METHODS

  • If the method is already existing give reference but if new give its detail information.
  • If use of any drug, give its generic name.
  • For patient, give age and sex.
  • Statistical method must be mentioned
  • The Population taken for the study should be uniform and Sample selection criteria
  • should be reliable. Inclusion & Exclusion criteria should be clearly specified.

 

RESULTS

  • Present your results in a logical sequence must be in the form of Text, Tables, illustrations, Figures and Graphs.
  • The contents of the tables should not repeat, only a reference to the table number may be given.

 

COPYRIGHT TERMS

  • Any article submitted must not be previously submitted to any other journal and must not be published in part or total in any other journal.
  • The authors will be requested to sign an agreement to give exclusive commercial rights to the publishers.
  • The author(s) retain (part of) the copyright in addition to all other intellectual property rights.

 

OPEN ACCESS POLICY

  • Medical Forum is committed to providing immediate open access to its content. As the reader, you are free to:
  • Share- copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format
  • Adapt- remix, transform, and build upon the material
  • The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the following licensing terms.
  • Attribution - You MUST give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
  • Non-Commercial- You MAY NOT use the material for commercial purposes.
  • No additional restrictions- You MAY NOT apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.

 

LICENSING TERMS

  • Medical Forum follows the 'CC BY NC' License as per the Creative Commons Licences.
  • Authors will be asked to sign a right to license as per the CC BY NC Creative Commons Licences.
  • This work is licensed under a "http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.o/"

 

EDITORS RESPONSIBILITIES

Publication decisions

  • The editor is responsible for deciding which of the papers submitted to the journal will be published. The editor will evaluate manuscripts. The decision will be based on the paper’s importance, originality and clarity, and the study’s validity and its relevance to the journal's scope. The Editor-in-Chief has full authority over the entire editorial content of the journal and the timing of publication of that content.

Confidentiality

  • The editor and any editorial staff must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisers, and the publisher, as appropriate.

Disclosure and conflicts of interest

  • Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted paper will not be used by the editor or the members of the editorial board for their own research purposes without the author's explicit written consent. Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for the reviewer’s personal advantage. This applies also to invited reviewers who decline the review invitation.

Ethical Obligation

  • Editors will take responsive measures when ethical concerns are raised with regard to a submitted manuscript or published paper. Editors will follow COPE flow chart when dealing with cases of suspected misconduct.

 

REVIEWERS RESPONSIBILITIES

Contribution to editorial decisions

  • The peer-reviewing process assists the editor and the editorial board in making editorial decisions and may also serve the author in improving the paper.

Promptness

  • Any selected referee who feels unqualified to review the research reported in a manuscript or knows that its prompt review will be impossible should notify the editor and withdraw from the review process.

Confidentiality

  • Any manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents. They must not be disclosed to or discussed with others except as authorized by the editor.

Standards of objectivity

  • Reviews should be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate. Referees should express their views clearly with supporting arguments.

 

Acknowledgement of sources

  • Reviewers should identify cases in which relevant published work referred to in the paper has not been cited in the reference section. They should point out whether observations or arguments derived from other publications are accompanied by the respective source. Reviewers will notify the editor of any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published paper of which they have personal knowledge.

Disclosure and conflict of interest

  • Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage. Reviewers should not consider manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions associated with the papers.

 

AUTHORS RESPONSIBILITIES

Reporting standards

  • Authors of original research reports should present an accurate account of the work performed as well as an objective discussion of its significance. Underlying data should be represented accurately in the paper. A paper should contain sufficient detail and references to permit others to replicate the work. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behavior and are unacceptable.

Data access and retention

  • Authors could be asked to provide the raw data of their study together with the paper for editorial review and should be prepared to make the data publicly available if practicable. In any event, authors should ensure accessibility of such data to other competent professionals for at least ten years after publication (preferably via an institutional or subject-based data repository or other data center), provided that the confidentiality of the participants can be protected and legal rights concerning proprietary data do not preclude their release.

Originality, plagiarism and acknowledgement of sources

  • Authors will submit only entirely original works, and will appropriately cite or quote the work and/or words of others. Publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the reported work should also be cited.

Multiple, redundant or concurrent publication

  • In general, papers describing essentially the same research should not be published in more than one journal. Submitting the same paper to more than one journal constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable.

 

PROCESSING CHARGES

  • Rs. 10000/-
  • Fast Track Processing: RS. 20000/-for local US$ 200/-for Overseas

 

PUBLICATION CHARGES

  • Original Article Rs. 30000/- up to 4 pages. US$ 400/- for Overseas
  • Review Article Rs. 35000/- up to 4 pages. US$ 500/-for Overseas
  • Case Report/Brief Communication Rs. 20000/ US$ 300/-for Overseas
  • Letters to Editor: Rs. S000/- 
  • Note: Rs. 5000/-for each additional page. US$ 50/-for overseas
  • Printed Copy: One printed copy will be supplied to the corresponding author. Authors can be order additional copy Rs. 2000/- which include of courier charges.

 

PAYMENT MODE

Processing and publication charges can be given:

  • By Cash OR Through online OR May be through bank draft OR Pay Order
  • Title of Account: Medical Forum Monthly
  • Account No. 0001370043679003
  • IBAN No. PK65HABBOO01370043679003
  • Name of Bank: Habib Bank Limited 
  • Branch Address: Ameen Chamber, Davis Road, Lahore-Pakistan

 

DEADLINES OF ALL PROCESSES

  • Submission of Article 10 of every month
  • Initial Assessment of Article 16 of every month
  • Review of Article upto 30"/31" of every month
  • Acceptance of Article One to Two month
  • Publication of Article One to Three months
  • Online Publication of Journal 8 of every next month
  • Receipt of Article till publication One to Three months

 

CONTACT: