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Author Guidelines
General Information
Manuscripts submitted for publication must be the authors' own original work and cannot have been published or considered for publication elsewhere. Abstracts presented at conferences that are not published as a supplementary issue do not count as prior publication. Manuscripts can be published as original articles, brief reports, review articles (both systematic and narrative), case reports, and letters to the editor. The Journal is published every quarter.
The instructions for authors provide details on getting a manuscript ready for submission, conditions for publication, and how to submit online. It is advised to read them before submitting a contribution to the Journal of the Iranian Scientific Association of Medical Ethics. Additional important details about the journal can be located in the section titled "About the journal".
Process of submitting
Submit all papers through the online submission system on the journal's webpage titled "Online submission". Additionally, all steps in the publishing process, such as checking the manuscript's status, replying, and submitting revisions, must be completed using our online system.
Make sure to tick the "Author" box when registering for the new account, as indicated in the picture provided.
Preparation of the manuscript
Generally, the following formats should proceed for a submitted manuscript:
- Microsoft Word (DOC, DOCX)
- Double line space
- Fonts 12 Times New Roman
- Continues page numbering at bottom of the pages
- To ensuring a blind review, insert the Title page on a separate page.
- Cover letter, Figure original file, and other supporting files should be uploaded in submission step 4 as a supplementary file.
Cover letter
Each submitted manuscript must include a cover letter explaining the reasons for conducting the research and choosing the Iranian Scientific Association of Medical Ethics, along with a statement confirming that the manuscript has not been published or is being considered by another journal until the review process is finalized. Please indicate if authors have published or submitted any related papers from the same study. Ultimately, all potential conflicts of interest must be explicitly disclosed.
Title Page
The cover page should be on its own page and include the article type, title, authors' full names, affiliations, and contact details for the corresponding author(s) like name, degree, phone number, email, and current work address. It is highly advised to include ORCID ID for the corresponding author(s).
Abstract and Keywords
The manuscript needs to include an unstructured summary in English. Abstracts should not exceed 250 words for original and review articles, and should not surpass 150 words for brief and case reports.
Following the abstract, list 3-5 keywords that summarize the article's main content, separated by commas. Attempt to utilize the vocabulary that is distinct from the terms in the title of the piece.
Main text
Original articles: are required to have an introduction, patients and methods section, results, discussion, conclusions, and references. The paper should have a maximum of 4,000 words, not including references, abstract, figures, and tables.
Brief reports: This article format should consist of an introduction, materials (patients) and methods, results, discussion, conclusions, and references. The paper should not be more than 1,500 words, not including references, abstract, figures, or tables. A maximum of two tables or figures are permitted.
Narrative review articles: do not have a specific structure to follow, but should be organized into sections with appropriate headings and should include a thorough conclusion. The utilization of suitable tables and figures is also recommended.
Systematic reviews and meta-analysis: require an introduction, materials and methods, results, discussion, conclusions, and references to be included in the article.
Case studies: This kind of paper should consist of an introduction, presenting the case, discussing the findings, providing a conclusion, acknowledging any contributions, and listing references. In a case report, you can include a maximum of two tables or figures and a total of 20 references. Please rephrase the passage above while using the same language and maintaining the word limit of 1500 words. Patients must give their consent to report their cases.
Letters to the Editor: There are three types of letters that are accepted - those that discuss a recently published article, a short review on a trending topic by an Editorial board member, and reporting on limited original research. The letters should not exceed a length of 500 words. The letters must avoid abstract, subheadings, over 20 references, and two tables and figures.
Correction: Journal allows for the submission of Erratum or Publisher Correction to address any mistakes made by the journal or authors in a published article. You can send your Erratum as a fresh submission through our online system.
References:
Citation in text:
Make sure that each citation mentioned in the main text is listed in the reference list, and vice versa. Unpublished data and personal communications are not appropriate for the reference list, but can be cited in the text as a quotation. Sequentially numbered reference citations should be enclosed in square brackets [1], or [1-3]. The references mentioned in the main text should be presented at the end of the manuscript under a distinct section labeled "References", in the same format as in the text.
Reference style
Standard Vancouver reference style should be followed as shown below:
Journal articles:
1. Cheng MF, Chen WL, Hung WY, Huang IF, Chiou YH, Chen YS, et al. Emergence of extended spectrum-beta-lactamase-producing Escherichia coli O25b-ST131: a major community-acquired uropathogen in infants. Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2015;34(5):469-75.
2. Karimi A, Fakhimi-Derakhshan K, Imanzadeh F, Rezaei M, Cavoshzadeh Z, Maham S. Helicobacter pylori infection and pediatric asthma. Iran J Microbiol. 2013 Jun;5(2):132-5.
Book chapters:
Author(s) of chapter. Title of chapter. In: Editor(s) of book, editors. Title of book. edition (if not first). Place of publication: Publisher name; Year of publication. p. [page numbers of chapter].
Online documents:
Author/organization's name (if available). Title of the page [Internet]. Place of publication: Publisher's name; Publication date or year [updated date - year month day; cited date - year month day]. Available from: URL
Tables and Figures:
Tables and figures should be referenced in the order they are mentioned in the text, using Arabic numerals like Table 1 or Figure 1. All tables and figures should be included on individual pages at the conclusion of the document. Tables ought to be straightforward and avoid redundancies of information already presented in the main body of the text. Do not upload tables as an image. Please include figures only when they contribute additional information. All figures require captions in the main document along with the text. JPEG or TIFF formats with at least 300 dpi resolution are preferred for figures.
Supplementary:
Supplementary files in any format will be accessible online for free, but it is advisable to utilize commonly used file formats. Supplementary files should be referenced in the same order they are mentioned in the text, using the format Supplementary file 1, 2, and so on.
Authorship:
It is the duty of the corresponding author to ensure that all listed authors have reviewed and endorsed the final version of the manuscript being submitted. Additionally, the corresponding author must verify that the listed authors have contributed significantly to the article. The authors' involvement needs to be stated in the "Authors' contributions" part. Any contributors who do not qualify for authorship should be included in the "Acknowledgements" section.
Note that authors do not allow altering the authorship once a manuscript has been accepted. A letter detailing the reason(s) for any changes in authorship must be sent to the editorial office, along with signed confirmation from all authors, following the initial submission. Authors may be requested by the editorial office to verify their responses through email directly.
Funding:
A separate section titled "Funding" must disclose all sources of funding and the sponsor(s) involved in the research.
Conflicts of interest:
Authors must disclose all current or possible conflicts of interest, whether financial, personal, or otherwise, that could impact their research. If no declaration is provided, state 'None Declared'.
Human and animals rights:
Any clinical research involving humans or human materials must adhere to the guidelines set out in the Declaration of Helsinki and should confirm that informed consent was obtained from all participants or their guardians prior to their involvement. Additionally, every study must contain a declaration confirming that the project received approval from the local Ethical Committee. Any justifications for forgoing the need to obtain informed consent must be clearly stated.
Every research paper presenting findings from animal experiments must confirm that the animals were treated in compliance with a commonly accepted protocol and must mention that the use of animals was sanctioned by the local Ethics Committee.
Having a registration number from a public trials registry is required for articles reporting health care intervention results on human participants (clinical trial study) to allow free online access to the public.
The Editor must guarantee that ethical standards are met throughout the publication process.
Article-processing and publication charge
Currently, publication in the Iranian Scientific Association of Medical Ethics is free of charge for, and there are no submission or publication charges. Also, there is no fee for using color images.
Submission Preparation Checklist
As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission's compliance with all of the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors that do not adhere to these guidelines.
- The submission has not been previously published, nor is it before another journal for consideration.
- The submission file is in Microsoft Word document file format (DOC, DOCX).
- The text adheres to the stylistic and bibliographic requirements outlined in the Author Guidelines, which is found in About the Journal.
- If submitting to a peer-reviewed section of the journal, the instructions in Ensuring a Blind Review have been followed.
- Suggest at least 3 potential Reviewers for this submission in "Comments for the Editor" box. Suggested reviewers should be individuals qualified to evaluate the work you have submitted. The reviewers suggested may not be current, recent, or extensive collaborators of yours, and cannot have been involved in the preparation of the manuscript. Reviewers must not be members of the same institution as the authors.
- The author(s) confirm that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article [and/or] its supplementary materials. Otherwise, data supporting the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author on request.
- The author(s) confirm that all potential conflicts of interest are disclosed in the manuscript.
- The author(s) confirm that the listed authors have made a substantive contribution to the article, and they read and approved the final version of the submitted manuscript. Also, the author's contribution statement has been declared in the manuscript. Please note that no changes to authorship can be made after acceptance of a manuscript. Any change in authorship after initial submission must be approved by all authors and the editorial office.
- The cover letter (is mandatory), Figure file, and other supporting files should be uploaded in submission step 4 as a supplementary file.
Copyright Notice
Content in the Iranian Scientific Association of Medical Ethics is subject to the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) license. Users can distribute or modify material under the CC BY-NC 4.0 license as long as they maintain its integrity and credit the original authors, citation details, and publisher. The license also guarantees that the published content can be added to any scientific archive or repository. However, with the CC BY-NC 4.0 license, users cannot utilize the material for commercial reasons. For additional information on these licenses, please go to the Creative Commons website.
Authors keep their copyright and give the Iranian Scientific Association of Medical Ethics the first right to publish their work, while also allowing it to be licensed under the CC BY-NC 4.0 license.
Authors can share the published version of their article, such as by posting it in a repository, as long as they acknowledge its first publication in the Iranian Scientific Association of Medical Ethics.
Privacy Statement
All the personal information includes names, affiliation, and contact details recorded in this journal will be used exclusively for the processing and publication of the manuscript and will not be made available for any other purpose or to any other party.