Submissions

Author Guidelines

Preparation of manuscript

Manuscript should be prepared in accordance with the “Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts submission to Biomedical Journals” provided by International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. Manuscripts' file formats must include Microsoft Word 2007 or newer version. Do not submit your manuscripts in PDF format. The manuscript is required to be written in English, with numbered page, double-spaced, Using Time New Roman 9 point. Each page should have adequate margins (25 mm in both sides).
The manuscript should include: Title page; the Abstract; Introduction; Materials and Methods; Results; Discussion and References.

o Cover letter

Submission of an article implies that the work described has not been published previously  that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, that its publication is approved by all authors and tacitly or explicitly by the responsible authorities where the work was carried out, and that, if accepted, it will not be published elsewhere including electronically in the same form, in English or in any other language, without the written consent of the copyright-holder. A cover letter, that includes this assurance and is signed by all authors, must be included with each submission. 

o Title page

The title page must submit as a seperate file and must contain:
· The type of manuscript (original article, case report, review article, Letter to editor, Images, etc.)
· Title of article
· Running Title no more than 40 characters
· Author's full names, middle initials and last names
· Author's ORCID iD
· Highest academic degree of each author
· Each author‟s official academic and/or clinical title and affiliation (Department of …, School of …., University of …, City, Country)
· Telephone number and e-mails of all authors and also address and fax number of corresponding author
· Source(s) of support in the form of grants, equipment, drugs, or all of these
· Acknowledgement, 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; and 3) acknowledgments of financial and material support, which should specify the nature of the support. This should be included in the title page of the manuscript and not in the main article file.
· Registration number in case of a clinical trial and where it is registered (name of the registry and its URL)
· Conflicts of Interest of each author/ contributor. A statement of financial or other relationships that might lead to a conflict of interest, if that information is not included in the manuscript itself or in an authors' form
· A statement that the manuscript has been read and approved by all the authors, that the requirements for authorship as stated earlier in this document have been met, and that each author believes that the manuscript represents honest work, if that information is not provided in another form.

o Blinded Article

This page should include following:

• Abstract

All original articles must contain a structured abstract of not more than 250 words. The abstract should include: Background, Methods, Results, Conclusion and at least 3 to 7 Key words, chosen from the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) list of index medicus ( http://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/MBrowser.html ). Text in this page does not include any references. They should therefore be specific and relevant to the paper. Authors need to be careful that the abstract reflects the content of the article accurately. For randomized Controlled Trials the method of randomization and primary outcome measure should be stated in the Abstract.

• Introduction

This should summarize the purpose and the rationale for the study. It should neither review the subject extensively nor should it have data or conclusions of the study.

• Materials and Methods

It should include and describe the following aspects:

Ethics

In documenting studies that involve human participants, it is essential to verify that the procedures followed the ethical guidelines of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional or regional) and were in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000 (available at http://www.wma.net/e/policy/17-c_e.html). In prospective studies with human participants, authors must disclose the approval from appropriate Ethics Committees or Review Boards, and confirm the acquisition of informed consent from adult participants and assent from children over 7 years involved in the study. Authors are obliged to maintain participant confidentiality by not disclosing names, initials, or hospital numbers, particularly in illustrative content. For animal experiments, authors should state compliance with institutional, national research council guides, or national laws on laboratory animal care and use. Authors must provide evidence of local Ethics Committee approval for both human and animal studies upon request. Animal experimental procedures should be humane, and details of anesthetics and analgesics must be explicitly stated. Ethical standards for experiments should align with CPCSEA guidelines and the World Medical Association's Declaration of Helsinki for human research. The journal will reject papers that do not meet ethical standards. A declaration of ethics committee approval and adherence to ethical practices should be included in the 'Materials and Methods' section of all research papers.

- 

Study Design:

1. Participant Selection and Description: Provide a clear description of the selection process for observational or experimental participants (including patients or laboratory animals, as well as controls), detailing eligibility and exclusion criteria, and describe the source population.
2. Technical Information: Provide detailed descriptions of the methods, apparatus (specify the manufacturer's name and address), and procedures to facilitate replication of the results. Cite established methods, including statistical one, offer references and concise descriptions for published methods that are not well-known. Ensure all drugs and chemicals are clearly identified, including their generic names, dosages, and administration routes. 
Reports on randomized clinical trials must include comprehensive details on key aspects of the study, such as the protocol, intervention assignments (randomization methods, concealment of treatment group allocation), and masking techniques (blinding), following the CONSORT Statement guidelines.

- statistics:

it is crucial to quantify findings and present them with proper indicators of measurement error or uncertainty, such as confidence intervals. Summarize data in the Results section and detail the statistical methods employed for analysis. Define all statistical terms, abbreviations, and symbols. Mention the computer software utilized. For all P-values, report the precise value and ensure it is not merely stated as less than 0.05 | 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

Authors should report losses to observation (such as, dropouts from a clinical trial). Avoid non-technical uses of technical terms in statistics, such as 'random' (which implies a randomizing device), 'normal', 'significant','correlations', and 'sample'. This part should include the pertinent findings in a logical sequence with tables and figures as necessary. It must be presented in the form of text, tables and illustrations. The contents of the tables should not be all repeated in the text. Instead, a reference to the table number may be given. Long articles may need sub-headings within some sections (especially the Results and Discussion parts) to clarify their contents. Unnecessary overlap between tables, figures and text should be avoided.

• Discussion

The discussion should emphasize the present findings and the variations or similarities with other work done in the field by other workers. Conclusions based on the findings, evidence from the literature that supports the conclusions, applicability of the conclusions, and implications for future research. The detailed data should not be repeated in the discussion again. Emphasize the new and important aspects of the study and the conclusions that follow from them. It must be mentioned whether the hypothesis mentioned in the article is true, false or no conclusions can be derived.

• References

References should be numbered consecutively in the order they first appear in the text, not alphabetically. Mark references in the text and tables as superscript numbers. References cited solely in tables or figure legends must be numbered according to the sequence established by their first mention in the text of the specific table or figure. Follow the style of the examples provided, which adhere to the formats used by the NLM in Index Medicus. 

For journals not indexed, utilize the complete journal title. Avoid using abstracts as references. Reference information from manuscripts not yet approved as "unpublished observations," ensuring written consent from the cited source. Personal communication should be cited only if it offers essential information that is not available from a public source.

The commonly cited types of references are shown here, for other types of references such as newspaper items please refer to ICMJE Guidelines (http://www.icmje.org or http://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_requirements.html).

Article:

1. Standard journal article:

Parkin DM, Clayton D, Black RJ, Masuyer E, Friedi HP, Ivanov E, et al. Childhood leukaemia in Europe after Chernobyl:5 year follow-up. Br Cancer 1996;73:1006-12.

2. Article not in English:

Ayatollahi SMT, Khosravi A. A control of migraine and tension-type headache's risk factors among Shiraz schoolchildren. Scientific Journal of Hamadan University of Medical Sciences and Health Services 2005;11(4(sn 34)):37-42.[Persian].

3. Organization as author:

The Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand. Clinical exercise stress testing. Safety and performance guidelines. Med Aust 1996;164:282-4.

4. No author given:

Cancer in South Aferica [editorial]. S Afr Med J 1994;84:15.

5. Issue with supplement:

Shen HM, Zhang QF, Risk assessment of nickel carcinogenecity and occupational lung cancer. Environ Health Perspect 1994;102 (Suppl1):275-82.

6. In press:

Leshner AL. Molecular mechanisms of cocaine addiction.N Engl J Med.In press 1996.

7. Journal article in electronic format:

Morss SS. Factors in the emergence of infectius disease.Emerg Infect Dis [serial online] 1995 Jan-Mar [cited 1996 Jun5];1(1):[24 screens]. Available from: URL:http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/eid.htm.

Monograph in electronic format:

CDI, Clinical dermatology illustrated [monograph on CD-ROM].Reeves JRT, Maibach H. CMEA Multimedia Gorup, producers.2nd ed. Version 2.0. San Diego: CMEA;1995.

Computer files:

Hemodynamics III: the ups and downs of hemodynamics [computer program]. Version 2.2. Orlando (FL): Computerized Educational Systems;1993.

Book:

1. Personal author (s):

Norman IJ, Redfern SJ, editors. Mental health care for elderly people. New York: Church Lvingston;1996.

2. Books not in English:

Shariati M, Dadgari A, editors. Study guide: Preparation and its application in medical education. Tehran: Hayyan press;2007.[Persian].

3. Organization as author or publisher:

Institute of Medicine (US).Looking at the future of the Medicaid program. Washington: The Institute;1992.

4. Chapter in book:

Philips SJ, Whisnant JP. Hypertension and stroke. In:Laragh JH, Brenner BM, editors. Hypertension:Pathophysiology. diagnosis and management. 2nd ed. New York:Raven Press;1995.p.465-78.

Dissertations:

Kapan SJ. Post-hospital home health care:the elderly's access and utilization [dissertation]. St. Louis (MO) :Washington Univ.;1995.

Conference:

1. Conference paper:

Kimyra J, Shibasaki H, editors. Recent advances in clinical neurophysiology. Proceeding of 10th international congress of EMG and Clinical Neurophysiology;1995 Oct 15-19;Kyoto,Japan. Amsterdam:Elsevier;1996.

2. Conference proceedings:

Bengtsson S, Solheim BG, Enforcement of data protection, Privacy and security in medical informatics.In:Lun KC, Degoulet P, Piemme TE, Rienhoof O, editors. MEDIINFO 92. Proceeding of the 7th world Congress on Medical Informations;1992 Sep 6-10;Geneva, Switzerland. Amsterdam:North-Holland;1992.p.1561-5.

Web Site:

H1N1 flu (swine flu) :resources for pregnant women. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web site. http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/pregnancy/. Updated December 14, 2009.Accessed July 25, 2010.

Web site references can be challenging because the availability of the information needed for a reference varies. Include the following elements, if available, in the order shown:
Author (s), if given (often, no authors are given). Title of the specific item cited (if none is given, use the name of the organization responsible for the site). Name of the Web site.URL.Published [date].Updated [date].Accessed [date].

• Tables

o Tables should be self-explanatory and should not duplicate textual material.
o Tables with more than 10 columns and 25 rows are not acceptable.
o Number tables, in Arabic numerals, consecutively in the order of their first citation in the text and supply a brief title for each.
o Place explanatory matter in footnotes of table, not in the heading.
o Explain in footnotes all non-standard abbreviations that are used in each table.
o Obtain permission for all fully borrowed, adapted, and modified tables and provide a credit line in the footnote.

For footnotes, use the following symbols in this sequence: * , †, ‡, §,¶, **, ††, ‡‡. .Tables and their legends should be placed at the end of the document, following the references section. Ensure that each table is numbered and cited at the appropriate point within the text.

 

• Illustrations (Figures)

1. Upload images in JPEG format. The file size must not exceed 1024 kb during upload.
2. Number figures consecutively in the order they are first mentioned in the text.
3. Use symbols, arrows, or letters in photomicrographs that contrast with the background, and mark them neatly with transfer type or tissue overlay, not with pen.
4. Place titles and detailed explanations in the legends for illustrations, not on the illustrations themselves. The photographs and figures should be trimmed to remove all the unwanted areas. 
5. The photographs and figures should be trimmed to remove all the unwanted areas.
   o If photographs of individuals are used, their pictures must be accompanied by written permission to use the photograph.
   
   
6. If a figure has been published elsewhere, acknowledge the original source and submit written permission from the copyright holder to reproduce the material. A credit line should appear in the legend for such figures.
   
   
7. For illustrations, type or print legends (up to 40 words, credit line not included) using double spacing. Legends should correspond to the illustrations with Arabic numerals. Define and clarify any symbols, arrows, numbers, or letters used in the illustrations within the legend. Detail the internal scale and the staining method used in photomicrographs.
   
   
8. For final print production, please submit sharp, glossy, unmounted color photographic prints measuring 4 inches in height and 6 inches in width along with the revised manuscript. Prints from digital photographs are not acceptable. If digital images are your sole image source, they must have a minimum resolution of 300 dpi (1800*1600 pixels) in TIFF format.

Sending a revised manuscript

Two files, the revised manuscript and the reply template, must be submitted online. Upon submitting a revised manuscript, contributors should download the "Reply Template"(https://ijhs.shmu.ac.ir/upload/Reply_template.doc) and address the referees' comments with point-by-point clarification. Additionally, they should highlight the changes in the manuscript by using colored text..

Proof Reading

The computer-generated printout is sent to the corresponding author for proofreading before publication to prevent any errors. Corrections must be clearly marked and promptly returned to the journal office.