About the Journal

Instructions to Authors

SCOPE

Infectious Disease Journal of Pakistan (IDJP) is an official journal of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases Society of Pakistan (MMIDSP). IDJP is a peer-reviewed, open access journal and publishes original articles, review articles, brief reports, case reports, short communications, letter to the editor and notes and news in the fields of microbiology, infectious diseases, public health; with laboratory, clinical, or epidemiological aspects. The Journal does not publish veterinary studies and studies based on animal models alone.

 SUBMISSION OF THE MANUSCRIPT 

  • Go to the IDJP official website: http://ojs.idj.org.pk/index.php/Files/index
  • Click ‘make a submission’ tab on IDJP official website.
  • Please read checklist and make sure that no point in the checklist is missing
  • Click ‘register’ if you are submitting to IDJP for the first time. If you are already registered with the journal then click ‘login’.
  • A new page will open once you click ‘register’. Enter the required information in the given fields. The journal requests all its authors to register themselves as reviewer by clicking ‘Yes, request the reviewer role’ available at the bottom of ‘registration’ page. After clicking on ‘register’ a new page will open.
  • Please click ‘make a new submission’ on this page
  • A new page will open, with 5 tabs on the top.
    • Start,
    • Upload submission,
    • Enter metadata,
    • Confirmation,
    • Next steps. You will be in ‘start’ tab.
  • In ‘Section’ dropdown list, select the appropriate option. Please make sure that all the ‘submission requirements’ are fulfilled. Tick the checkbox against each requirement. Note: if any of the requirement is not fulfilled, and you put a tick mark against it, you still will be able to proceed and complete your submission process but the submission will be declined automatically by the system. In ‘comments for the editor’ area you can write your comments, however, it is optional. Under ‘Acknowledge the copyright statement’ tick the checkboxes against both the options. Click ‘save and continue’
  • Now you will be in ‘upload submission’ tab. A dialogue box will open and here you can upload all your files (article text, title page, ERC/IRB approval letter, undertaking) one by one. At the moment the journal does not charge any processing fee. Click ‘save and continue’.
  • Now you will be in ‘enter metadata’ tab. You may leave ‘prefix’ field blank. Write title of the article in ‘title’ field. Write running/short title in ‘subtitle’ field (you may leave it blank). Copy/paste abstract in abstract area. In ‘list of contributors’ sections, click ‘add contributor’ (if you have other authors with you). A new dialogue box will open. Please fill in details of each contributor (author). Please do give affiliation of each contributor. Additional details about the contributor can be given in the text box below. For ‘contributor’s role’ please click ‘author’. Please tick the check box ‘Principal contact for editorial correspondence’ for corresponding author only. Lower checkbox ‘Include this contributor in browse lists?’ will remain ticked for all the authors. Click ‘save’ and repeat the same process for all the authors one by one. Please add all the authors as per the pre-decided sequence. Please fill the ‘languages’, ‘subjects’, ‘discipline’ and ‘key words’ fields appropriately. These fields are essential. Each key word MUST be added SEPARATELY one by one instead of 'copy/paste' all the key words together. Please click ‘save and continue’.
  • You are now in ‘confirmation’ tab. Please click ‘finish submission’. Congratulations, you have successfully completed your submission to IDJP.
  • You can track the status/progress of your article through editorial process any time by logging into your account.

MANUSCRIPT CATEGORIES 

1. Original Articles

Articles should report original work in the fields of microbiology, infectious disease or public health. The word limit for original articles is 2000 to 2500 (excluding abstract and references).

  • Title page: This should list the (i) title of the article: Should be concise and self-descriptive, (ii) the full names of each author with highest academic degree(s), institutional addresses, contact numbers and email addresses of all authors. (iii) The corresponding author should also be indicated with his/her name, address, telephone, fax number and e-mail address. (iv) A short running title of not more than 40 characters (count letters and spaces) placed at the foot end of the title page. (v) a conflict-of-interest statement should also be included in this section.
  • Abstract: Abstract should be between 200-250 words and must be structured in to separate sections headed Background, Material and Methods, Results and Conclusions and Key words. Please do not use abbreviations or cite references in the abstract. A short list of three to ten key words should be provided to facilitate. Use terms from the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) list of index medicus, if suitable MeSH terms are not yet available for recently introduced terms, present terms may be used. Key words should be arranged alphabetically.
  • Background: The section must clearly state the background to the research and its aims. Controversies in the field should be mentioned. The key aspects of the literature should be reviewed focusing on why the study was necessary and what additional contribution will it make to the already existing knowledge in that field of study. The section should end with a very brief statement of the aims of the article.
  • Material and Methods: Please provide details of subject selection (patients or experimental animals). Details must be sufficient to allow other workers to reproduce the results. The design of study and details of interventions used must be clearly described. Identify precisely all drugs and chemicals used, including generic name(s) and route(s) of administration All research carried out on humans must be in compliance with the Helsinki Declaration, and animal studies must follow internationally recognized guidelines. The authors are expected to include a statement to this effect in the Methods section of the manuscript. A description of the sample size calculation and statistical analysis used should be provided. ERC should bear the signature of the President of the ERC on official letter head with stamp and date of approval along with the reference number. If the president or the member of the ethical review committee is author of study, then the certificate will be signed by any senior member of the committee. Reference number of the Institution Review Committee (IRC)/ Ethical Review Board (ERB) certificate to be mentioned in the methodology section. Title of the research article should match the title on the ERC.
  • Results: Present results in logical sequences in the text, tables and illustrations. Articles can have a maximum of 5 illustrations (in a combination of figures and tables) per article. The results should be in past tense and repetition of results presented in the tables should be avoided. Exact P-values should be reported along with reporting of OR and RR with their Confidence Intervals where applicable.
  • Discussion: Emphasize the new and important aspects of the study and conclusions that follow from them. Do not repeat the details from the results section. Discuss and compare results of your study with national and international studies. Discuss the implications of the findings and the strengths and limitations of the study. Link the conclusions with the goals of the study but avoid unqualified statements and conclusion not completely supported by your data.
  • Conflict of Interest: When authors submit a manuscript, they must disclose all financial and personnel relationship that might bias their work. Authors must state explicitly whether potential conflicts do or do not exist. They should do so in the manuscript on the title page. Additional details can be provided, if necessary, in a covering letter which accompanies the manuscript. Authors of study funded by an agency with proprietary or financial interest in the outcome must sign a statement that they had full excess to all the data in the study and take complete responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis. This statement should be submitted along with the manuscript.
  • Acknowledgments: All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be covered in the acknowledgement section. It should include persons who provided technical help, writing assistance and departmental head that only provided general support. Financial and material support should also be acknowledged.
  • Author Contributions: Authorship credit should be based on:

Substantial contributions to conception and design, or acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data.

  • Drafting the article 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 questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.
  • Authors are bound to declare that the Manuscript includes the name/s of supervisor/s in authorship (Abstract of studies, thesis, dissertation or any research) (For details of authorship criteria kindly consult ICMJE recommendationsfor the conduct, reporting, editing and publication of scholarly work in Medical Journals.
  • Completely fill contributions of each author mentioned in the authors certificate

Acquisition of funding, collection of data, or general supervision of the research group, alone does not justify authorship. All persons designated as authors should qualify for authorship & all those who qualify should be listed.

  • Each author should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for appropriate portions of the content.
  • In case of more than one author in a manuscript, the contributions of each person listed as author in the study should be mentioned.
  • Those who provide technical support, writing assistance, or department chair who provided just support should also be mentioned in acknowledgment
  • If there is any conflict of interest, please mention in the manuscript.

When a large, multi-center group has conducted the work, the group should identify the individuals who accept direct responsibility for the manuscript. These individuals should fully meet the criteria for authorship defined above and editors will ask these individuals to complete journal-specific author and conflict of interest disclosure forms. When submitting a group author manuscript, the corresponding author should clearly indicate the preferred citation and should clearly identify all individual authors as well as the group name. Other members of the group should be listed in the acknowledgements. Addition and deletion of authors may not be permitted after submission with authorship proforma duly signed.

2. Review Articles

 Authoritative and state of the art review articles on topical issues are also published, with a word limit of 2000. It should consist of critical overview of existing literature along with reference to new developments in that field. These should be comprehensive and fully referenced. Articles should contain an Abstract; Main Text divided into sections, Conclusions and References.

3. Brief Reports

Short clinical and laboratory observations are included as Brief Reports. The text should contain no more than 1000 words, two illustrations or tables and up to 10 references.

4. Case Reports

Instructive cases with a message are published as case reports. Routine syndromes or rare entities without unusual or new features are invariably rejected. The text should contain no more than 1000 words, two illustrations or tables and up to 10 references. The authorship should not exceed 3-4 persons.

5. Letter to the Editor

These may relate to material published in the IDJ, topic of interest pertaining to infectious diseases, and/or unusual clinical observations. A letter should not be more than 300 words, one figure and 3-5 references.

6. News and Views

Informative, breaking news updates in infectious diseases from around the world (approx. 200 words).

7. Notices

Announcements of conferences, symposia or meetings may be sent for publication at least 12 weeks in advance of the meeting date. Details of programs should not be included.

LETTER FROM INSTITUTIONAL REVIEW BOARD / BIOMEDICAL ETHICAL COMMITTEE/ ETHICAL REVIEW COMMITTEE

Authors are required to send letter from Institutional Review Board / Biomedical Ethical Committee/Ethical Review Committee along with Original articles, Short communications and Case reports.

References

Number references consecutively in the order in which they are first mentioned in the text. Reference should provide the following information: Author’s name with initials, full title of cited article, name of the journal in which the article appeared (in abbreviated form), Year of Publication, Journal’s Volume, Number and finally first & the last page numbers. Write Page No. like this 120-126. References appearing in a table or figure should be numbered sequentially with those in text. DOI number of those references where it is available. According to “Uniform Requirements of Manuscripts submitted to Biomedical Journals”, as cited in N Engl J Med 1997; 336:309-15.

For quantitative study 18-25 references are allowed and for qualitative study 30-40 references are allowed. 50% of the references should be from the Clarivate Impact Factor Journals. Mention place /first author/ year of previous studies, mention their statistics while giving reference in the introduction and discussion. The reference should not be split and make sure uniform style (Vancouver) is followed throughout. IDJP follows Index Medicus style for references and abbreviated journal names according to the list of Journals indexed in Index Medicus.

Journals: Standard journal article. (List all authors when six or less; when seven or more, list only first six and add et al)

You CH. Lee KY, Chey WY, Manguy R. Electro gastrographic study of patients with unexplained nausea, bloating and vomiting. Gastroenterol 1980; 79: 311-314
Chapter in a book: Weinstein L, Swartz MN. Pathogenic properties of invading microorganisms. In: Sodeman WA Jr, Sodeman WA, eds. Pathologic physiology: mechanisms of disease. WB Saunders, Philadelphia 1974; 457-472.

  • et al. is written after 6 authors names, list first 6 authors’ names then write et al. in references.
  • Write complete surname and convert first name and middle name to the initials, following each surname. e.g., Rimondini LR, Zolfanelli B, Bernardi F, Bez C.

TABLES AND FIGURES 

Data reported either in a table or in a figure should be illustrative of information reported in the text, but should not be redundant with the text. Each table must be presented on a separate sheet of paper and numbered in order of appearance in the text. Table should be numbered consecutively in Arabic numerals. Tables and Figures legends should be self-explanatory with adequate headings and footnotes. Results which can be described as short statements within the text should not be presented as figures or tables.

PLAGIARISM 

Plagiarism is the unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and representing them as one’s own original work. Within the academia, a researcher is considered an academic fraud and the offenders are subjected to academic censure. Plagiarism can be unintentional or intentional reproducing academic material without appropriate citation. Similarly self-plagiarism is the re-use of significant, identical or near identical portions of one’s own work without citing the original work. This is also known as ―Recycling fraud‖. Worst form of plagiarism is to steal the whole article from some journal and publish it under one's own name in another journal. Lately the use of internet has made it easier to plagiarize, by copying the electronic tests and using them as the original work. All articles are checked for plagiarism and any article found to have a similarity index of more than 33% is not processed further. It is the policy of editorial committee of IDJP to blacklist any author found to be guilty of plagiarism. The name of author(s) committing plagiarism will also be disseminated to editors of other medical journals, PMC and HEC.