Submissions

Author Guidelines

Instructions to Authors

Accepted Manuscript File Formats

Please submit your paper in MS Word (.doc or .docx) file format according to the detailed instructions given below. The number of pages is at the discretion of the authors. Average papers are 10-20 pages long. Use font no less than 10 (Times New Roman, Arial, Calibri – are preferable). When preparing your paper for publication, pay particular attention to your research methods, key results, and language. To ensure rapid review and publication, please adhere to the following guidelines.

Originality

Submissions must be original work. No copyrighted material should be included without proper permission. Originality, creativity, and a cross-disciplinary approach or perspective are strongly encouraged. Significant duplication of papers and parallel submissions are not allowed, and in such cases, the publisher reserves the right to withdraw publishing rights from authors and co-authors. The authors' responsibility is to check for possible copyright conflicts with any copyright holders and agree to our Publication Ethics and Publication Malpractice Statements.

Language

Manuscripts must be written in English. If English is not the author's mother tongue, we recommend that the paper be proofread to ensure its accuracy and improve the language quality. The publisher can provide a copy-editing service for an additional payment.

Manuscript Preparation

General: Manuscripts must be type-written, double-spaced with wide margins. The first page of the manuscript should include (a) Title of Manuscript; (b) Names, addresses, and email addresses of all co-authors; (c) Name, complete address, telephone number, fax number, and email address of the corresponding author; and (d) Abstract. An electronic copy of the paper will be submitted for consideration and publication. The editors reserve the right to adjust the style to certain standards for uniformity.

Paper Length: The editors generally encourage brevity for all Research Papers. Short Communications will be given priority for rapid publication.

Abstracts: Abstracts should not exceed 250 words and should not contain a full reference.

Keywords: A minimum of 5 keywords must be included on a separate line below the main abstract and labeled "Keywords.” To optimize searching, avoid keywords already used in the title. Avoid general and plural terms and multiple concepts (for example: avoid words like 'and' 'of'). Be sparing with abbreviations: only abbreviations firmly established in the field may be used. These keywords are essential for indexing purposes.

Text: Follow this order when typing manuscripts: Title, Author, Affiliations, Abstract, Keywords, Text, Acknowledgments, Appendix, References, Figure Captions, and the Figures/Tables. Do not import the Figures or Tables into your main text file in MS Word format. Provide a separate PDF file of your manuscript text with the correct placement of figures and tables. The corresponding author should be identified with an asterisk. All other footnote numerals should be identified with superscript Arabic numbers.
Units: SI units should be used. If other units are necessary, include the conversion factor and add the non–standard unit in parentheses.

Symbols: Define in the text. Place an extensive list of symbols in an appendix.

Math: Avoid double suffix and punctuate carefully.

References: References must be listed in the numerical system (Vancouver style). All references should be numbered sequentially [in square brackets] (example: [1,2]. [1-10], there are no spaces between numbers) in the text and listed in the same numerical order in the reference section. The reference number must be finalized, and the bibliography must be fully formatted before submission. DOI of the references needs to be added, if available, at the end of each citation. 

Journal titles are abbreviated in the style of NLM Title Abbreviations (for a list of accepted abbreviations see: PubMed Journals Database <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=journals>).   

• Only the first word of the article title and words that normally begin with a capital letter is capitalized.
• If the journal has continuous page numbering, you may omit the month/issue number.
• For research papers having six or more authors, the first three authors should be listed, followed by a comma, and et al. (in Italics).

Every reference should end with a period, even if it means adding a period at the end of a doi.

See examples below of references listed in the correct Vancouver style:

     1. Smith SD, Jones AD. Organ donation. N Engl J Med 2001; 657: 230-5. doi:10.1093/bja/aer357.

     2. Brown JG. Asphyxiation. Med J Aust 2003; 432: 120-4.

DOI format:

doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2006.10.018.

doi: 10.1111/j.1743-6109.2011.02248.x.

doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2011.06.015.

Typical Chapter Reference:

3. Blaxter PS, Farnsworth TP. Social health and class inequalities. In: Carter C, Peel JR, eds. Equalities and inequalities in health. 2nd ed. London: Academic Press; 1976. p. 165-78.

Book Reference:

4. Carlson BM. Human embryology and developmental biology. 3rd ed. St. Louis: Mosby; 2004.

Edited Book:

5. Brown AM, Stubbs DW, Eds. Medical physiology. New York: Wiley; 1983.

Conference Paper and Proceedings:

6. Anderson JC. Current status of chorion villus biopsy. In: Tudenhope D, Chenoweth J, eds. Proceedings of the 4th Congress of the Australian Perinatal Society; 1986: Brisbane, Queensland: Australian Perinatal Society; 1987: 190-6.
7. Harris AH, editor. Economics and health: Proceedings of the 19th Australian Conference of Health Economists; 1997: Sep 13-14; Sydney, Australia. Kensington, NSW: School of Health Services Management, University of New South Wales; 1998.

Journal Article on the Internet:

8. Aylin P, Bottle A, Jarman B, Elliott, P. Paediatric cardiac surgical mortality in England after Bristol: a descriptive analysis of hospital episode statistics 1991-2002. BMJ [serial on the Internet]. 2004 Oct 9;[cited 2004 October 15]; 329:[about 10 screens]. Available from: http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/329/7470/825

Book/Monograph on the Internet:

9. Donaldson MS, ED. Measuring the quality of health care [monograph on the Internet]. Washington: National Academy Press; 1999 [cited 2004 Oct 8]: Available from http://legacy.netlibrary.com/

Web site/Homepage:

10. HeartCentreOnline [homepage on the Internet]. Boca Raton, FL: HeartCentreOnline, Inc.; c2000-2004 [updated 2004 May 23; the date of access 2004 Oct 15]: Available from: http://www.heartcenteronline.com/

Journal with Part/Supplement:

If a journal carries continuous pagination throughout the volume, then the issue number can be omitted.

An issue with Supplement:

11. Glauser TA. Integrating clinical trial data into clinical practice. Neurology 2002; 58(12 Suppl 7): S6-12.

Volume with Part:

12. Abend SM, Kulish N. The psychoanalytic method from an epistemological viewpoint. Int J Psychoanal 2002; 83(Pt 2): 491-5.

An issue with Part:

13. Ahrar K, Madoff DC, Gupta S, Wallace MJ, Price RE, Wright KC. Development of a large animal model for lung tumors. J Vasc Interv Radiol 2002; 13(9 Pt 1): 923-8.

Patent:

14. Pagedas AC, inventor; Ancel Surgical R&D Inc., assignee. Flexible endoscopic grasping and cutting device and positioning tool assembly. United States patent US 20020103498. 2002 Aug.

E-citations:

15. Citations for articles/material published exclusively online or in open access (free-to-view) must contain the exact Web addresses (URLs) at the end of the reference(s), except those posted on an author’s Web site unless editorially essential, e.g. ‘Reference: Available from URL.’

Foreign Language Materials - Latin-based scripts

Type of material: Book
Original language: Italian

16. Molinari, E., & Labella, A. Psicologia clinica: Dialoghi e confronti [Clinical psychology: Dialogue and confrontation]. Milan: Springer, 2007.

Comments

- Book/article titles and names are written in Latin-based scripts (French, Spanish, German, etc.) can be cited with only minor adjustments.

- Provide a translation of the title in square brackets. Do not translate names written in Latin-based scripts.

Note: be mindful of grammatical rules in other languages. German, for example, capitalizes all nouns.

 Foreign Language Materials - Non-Latin Scripts

Type of material: Book
Original language: Arabic

17. Najm, Y. Al-qissah fi al-adab Al-Arabi al-hadith[The novel in modern Arabic literature]. Beirut: Dar Al-Thaqafah, 1966).

Comments

- Titles and names written in non-Latin scripts (Chinese, Arabic, Russian, etc.) must be transliterated before translating and citing. If you are uncomfortable transliterating material yourself, do not guess -- get help!

- Titles should be transliterated and translated into English.

- Names should be transliterated (not translated) and arranged in the "Western" order, e.g., ordered by surname in the reference list.

- When citing a foreign language journal, transliterate if necessary.

- Do not translate foreign journal titles into English.

Some important points to remember:

1. All references must be complete and accurate.
2. Online citations should include the date of access.
3. Journal abbreviations should follow Index Medicus/MEDLINE.
4. Take special care of the punctuation conventions as described in the above-mentioned examples.
5. Do not use superscript with the in-text citations and reference section.
6. Abstracts, unpublished data, and personal communications (which can only be included if prior permission has been obtained) should not be cited in the reference section. 
7. The authors are encouraged to use a recent version of EndNote or Reference Manager (version 10) when formatting their reference list. This allows references to be automatically extracted.

Illustrations:

Digital Image Guide: Digital artwork should be prepared according to professional standards and must meet Journal requirements to be accepted for publication. Files that do not meet the guidelines will be rejected. Please refer to the instructions below when preparing images for publication.

To verify that you have fulfilled the requirements for electronic image preparation, use the following checklist. Each category is expanded below the checklist.

___ Black-and-white images are saved in grayscale mode (not black and white).

___ Photographic images are saved in RGB color mode (not CMYK or indexed color).

___ Files are submitted in native JPEG, TIFF, or PNG and are not embedded in another program such as Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, or Excel.

___ Charts or illustrations created in Microsoft Office (Word, PowerPoint, Excel) are submitted in native format and do not include embedded images.

___ Charts created in SPSS, SigmaPlot, or ChemDraw are submitted as JPEG, TIFF, or PNG images. (All charts must be exported to JPEG, TIFF, or PNG files and saved in separated files.)

___ All graphics are sized to 100% of their print dimensions so that no scaling is necessary (3.2" wide for 1-column figures and 6.4" wide for 2-column figures).

___ Images have been scanned according to our scanning guidelines.

___ Files are named using our recommended naming conventions.

1. Color. When preparing digital images for publication, it is important to scan and save electronic files in the correct color space.
2. Photographic images. Images such as photographs, pulmonary angiograms, chest x-ray, etc., should be scanned and saved in RGB color mode.
3. Line art. Black-and-white images, including line drawings, charts, graphs, and pulmonary function tests, should be scanned and saved in grayscale mode (not black-and-white or color).
4. File Format. Submit only JPEG, TIFF, or PNG for electronic images. See instructions for submitting artwork created in Microsoft Office programs (Word, PowerPoint, Excel).
5. JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group). JPEG/JPG is recommended for photographic images. When preparing JPEG images, be sure to refer to our scanning guidelines for proper resolution. When submitting JPEG files for publication, be sure to use the following guidelines: use line weights greater than 0.5 points, use a resolution of 300 dpi/ppi, save color images in RGB color mode.

A JPEG is made in most software programs by choosing File / Save as… or Export / JPEG or JPG or JPE. For more information, consult the Help menu of your software.

TIFF (Tagged Image File Format). TIFF format is also recommended for photographic images. When preparing TIFF images, be sure to refer to our scanning guidelines for proper resolution. When submitting TIFF files for publication, be sure to use the following guidelines:

• Use a resolution of 300 dpi.
• The Journal accepts TIFF images saved with LZW compression.

A TIFF is made in most software programs by choosing File / Save as… or Export / TIFF or TIF.

PNG (Portable Network Graphics). PNG format is recommended for line art, charts, simple graphic images, and illustrations created using professional drawing programs such as Adobe Illustrator, SPSS, ChemDraw, or SigmaPlot. When submitting PNG files for publication, be sure to use the following guidelines:

• Use line weights greater than 0.5 points.
• Use format 24-bit PNG (24 bits per pixel).
• Save as none compression and none interlace.
• In most drawing programs, a PNG file is made by choosing File / Save as …or Export / PNG.

Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint). Charts and illustrations created using Microsoft Office programs are acceptable. Do not submit Microsoft Office files that contain embedded images. When creating charts and illustration, preferably:

• Work in black-and-white, not color.
• Do not use patterns for fill color; use black, white, and shades of gray.
• Avoid 3-dimensional charts.
• Use only Journal-approved fonts (as above).
• Use line weights greater than 0.5 points.
• Submit the grouped image so that Journal compositors can access the datasheet.

AVOID THE FOLLOWING:

• Submitting graphics downloaded or saved from Web pages. The resolution will be too low, regardless of how the image looks on the screen.
• Submitting GIF files. GIF files are never appropriate for publication.
• Scanning preprinted photographs (already published halftones). The printing process introduces distortion into the photograph that will transfer to the scan.

Resolution and Scanning

1. Images must be scanned at the proper resolution to ensure print quality. Use the following guidelines to select the correct scanning resolution. Images scanned at lower resolutions will be rejected.

• Photographic images without text or arrows: 300 dpi/ppi
• Photographic images with text or arrows: 600 dpi/ppi
• Black-and-white line art: 600 dpi/ppi
• Scanning photographic images without text or arrows
• Scan in RGB mode.
• Scan at 300 dpi/ppi.
• Select a target width of 3.2" for 1-column figures and 6.4" for 2-column figures.
• Crop images tightly; do not scan the margins.
• Use the proper naming convention; save as JPEG files, high to Maximum quality (Quality 8-12).
• Scanning photographic images with text or arrows
• Scan in RGB mode.
• Scan at 600 dpi/ppi (even if text or labels will be added after the image is scanned).
• Select a target width of 3.2" for 1-column figures, or 6.4" for 2-column figures.
• Crop images tightly; do not scan the margins.
• If adding labels, use an approved font. If these are pixilated, you may be asked for an unlabeled version.
• Use the proper naming convention; save as JPEG files, high to Maximum quality (Quality 8-12).
• Scanning black-and-white line art
• Scan in grayscale mode.
• Scan at 600 dpi/ppi.
• Select a target width of 3.2" for 1-column figures and 6.4" for 2-column figures.
• Images should be tightly cropped; do not scan the margins.
• If adding labels, use an approved font. If these are pixilated, you may be asked for an unlabeled version.
• Use the proper naming convention; save as a JPEG file, high to Maximum quality (Quality 8-12).
• Scanning originals that are smaller than the target width
• Choose the correct color space for photographic images or line art.
• Determine the correct resolution. If an image has a width smaller than the target width, it is necessary to compensate with an increase in the scanning resolution. To do this, divide the actual width by the target width (either 3.2" or 6.4"). Multiply the answer by the target dpi and round up to the nearest hundred. This will determine the scanning dpi. Use the following example:

If an image is 2.4" wide and needs to be 300 dpi/ppi at 3.2" wide, then

3.2 ÷ 2.4 = 1.33

1.33 × 300 = 399 – Round up to 400.

Thus, if the 2.4" image is scanned at 400 dpi/ppi, the Journal can properly convert the image to 3.2" wide at 300 dpi.

• Use the proper naming convention and save.

Naming Files

1. Please use the following naming convention for electronic images: Author last name + figure number—file format.

1. Revising images. Any time you revise an image and resubmit it to the Journal, you need to add a version number to ensure that the image will be re-evaluated.

Tables

Tables should be numbered consecutively, and each table typed on a separate page. Footnotes to tables should be typed below the tables and should be referred to by superscript lowercase letters. Tables should not duplicate results presented elsewhere in the manuscript.

Ethics:

Our authors need to adhere to the ethical principles of publications strongly:

• Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. Transparency about the contributions of authors is encouraged, for example, in the form of a CRediT author statement.
• The authors should ensure that they have written entirely original works, and if the authors have used the work and/or words of others, this has been appropriately cited or quoted.
• Authors may be asked to provide the raw data connected with a paper for editorial review and should be prepared to provide public access to such data.
• An author should not, in general, publish manuscripts describing essentially the same research in more than one journal or primary publication. IJIPEM does not view the following uses of a work as prior publication: publication in the form of an abstract; publication as an academic thesis; publication as an electronic preprint. Note: some society-owned titles and journals that operate double-blind review have different policies on prior publication. Information on prior publication is included within each SPPH, LLC journal’s guide for authors.
• Proper acknowledgment of the work of others must always be given.
• All submissions must include disclosure of all relationships that could be viewed as presenting a potential conflict of interest.
• When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published work, it is the author's obligation to promptly notify the journal editor or publisher and cooperate with the editor to retract or correct the paper.
• Authors of reports of original research should present an accurate account of the work performed and an objective discussion of its significance.
• Statements of compliance are required if the work involves chemicals, procedures, or equipment that have any unusual hazards inherent in their use or if it involves the use of animal or human subjects.
• Studies on patients or volunteers require ethics committee approval and informed consent, documented in the paper.

Proofs
Proofs will be sent to the corresponding author. Corrections should be restricted to typesetting errors. Any queries should be answered in full. Please note that authors are urged to check their proofs carefully before return. The inclusion of late corrections cannot be guaranteed.

 Processing Fee
Regular Article Processing/Publishing Charges fee is $250 applies ONLY to accepted manuscripts.  The journal does not charge a submission fee. Some discounts and/or waivers may be granted per request sent to an editor during the submission process with an explanation of hardship or the waiver's reason. The submission page states the updated publication charges; as soon as the author starts a new manuscript submission, he/she gets this information upfront.