Author Guidelines

MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION GUIDELINES FOR AUTHORS 

Contact Email:  contact@uojm.ca

The University of Ottawa Journal of Medicine (UOJM) is a student-run medical journal. We provide medical and graduate students with in-depth exposure to the process of scientific inquiry and to various forms of academic writing. We welcome student submissions from a variety of areas, including: original research, review articles, news & commentary, case reports and opinion pieces. It is not necessary for authors to be students at the University of Ottawa and no preference is given. Articles may be accepted for publication online and/or in print.

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PART 1: SUBMISSION OVERVIEW

Please note, the Editors reserve the right to return manuscripts that are not in accordance with the instructions outlined below.

1.1 SUBMISSION COMPONENTS

• All articles must be submitted electronically through the UOJM electronic submissions via OJS (Open Journal Systems) (https://uottawa.scholarsportal.info/ojs/index.php/uojm-jmuo/index). Items to be submitted include the following.
• Manuscript (including abstract, text, references, figures, tables and legends, and acknowledgements) – see manuscript template
• We have recently switched to an updated version of OJS (OJS 3). For updated information on how to navigate the website, please consult this PDF guide: https://pkp.gitbooks.io/ojs3/content/en/authoring.html
• Please upload each as a separate file as a supplementary file
• Cover letter (see Sample cover letter)
• Any Electronic supplementary materials (e.g. video, high resolution images) 
• For case reports, the Patient Consent Form, with signatures scanned and uploaded

1.2 FORMATTING

UOJM recommends using the UOJM manuscript template  to ensure all formatting is compliant with our guidelines. The template is available online at uojm.ca/submissions

All manuscripts must adhere to the following:

• All text documents should be submitted as Microsoft Word documents (both .doc or .docx files are acceptable). Please do not submit PDF files.
• The font should be “Times New Roman”, size 12.
• Text should be double-spaced throughout the manuscript.
• Each page in the manuscript document must be numbered.
• Each page must contain a short title in the header (maximum of 40 characters), except the title page that contains the full article title.
• Each page in the manuscript document must include continuous line numbers, including abstract and references.
• In Microsoft Word, select the “Layout” tab and click on “Line Numbers”. From the drop-down menu, select “Continuous”.

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PART 2: SUBMISSION DETAILS

2.1 COVER LETTERS

Cover letters should adhere to the following checklist (see Sample cover letter for an example):

• 1) The name, address, phone and e-mail address of the corresponding authors. If the corresponding author is a student, the school’s name and graduating year should be stated (e.g. University of Ottawa, Class of 2013). Authors should be listed in the order of first author to last author
• 2) Affiliations of all authors*** included on the manuscript (University and Faculty; e.g. University of Ottawa, Faculty of Medicine)
• 3) Study objectives, followed by a brief description of the main findings and the implications of the results
• 4) Authors should certify that all co-authors have read the final version of the manuscript and participated in the study substantially
• 5) Authors must certify that patient consent has been obtained for any patient data included in the submitted work
• 6) Authors must confirm that the manuscript has not been accepted elsewhere for publication
• 7) All conflicts of interest and financial sources must be disclosed, including agency name and country, and grant name when appropriate
• 8) Letters should not exceed 1.5 pages.
• 9) .doc or .pdf file formats are accepted
• 10) When uploading the cover letter as a supplementary file on OJS, make sure that "Present file to reviewers" is unchecked to ensure your identity is not revealed.

2.2 MANUSCRIPT

To ensure masking of authors’ identities in the double-blinded peer review process, please DO NOT include names of the authors or other identifiers in the manuscript text upon initial submission. If author-identifying information is present within the text, it will be sent back to author for revision. Please note, all manuscripts will be screened for plagiarism via Turnitin prior to peer review.

The manuscript should include the following components in the order listed: 

2.2a Title Page

The title page should include the following:

• Title of manuscript
• A 'Short Title' of no more than 40 characters
• Word count for the abstract
• Word count for the manuscript (not including abstract, references, figure legends and tables)
• 4-5 key words (these should also be included in the article metadata)

 2.2b Abstract

Abstracts should be between 200-250 words and should be structured in the following order: objectives, methods, results and conclusions. Note that abstracts are not essential for case reports or newsletters but authors are recommended to include one if possible. For commentaries, a 75-100 word abstract is sufficient. 

 2.2c Text

For research articles, content should be arranged in the following order:

• Introduction
• Methods
• Results
• Discussion
• Conclusion
• Legends for figures and tables

 In-Text Citations:

• In-text citations should be formatted with superscripts at the end of the sentence after the punctuation mark, as demonstrated in the following example (National Library of Medicine (NLM) Style):
• Smoking cessation is a beneficial intervention for patients with COPD.¹
• When a sentence references multiple sources, please place all citations at the end of the sentence as demonstrated in the following example:
• According to several studies, smoking cessation is a beneficial intervention for patients with COPD.^1,3-5

 2.2d Acknowledgements

This section is to acknowledge the people, organizations and other support sources for the manuscript. For editorial purposes, acknowledgements should be written and uploaded on a separate document to ensure masking in the peer review process.

 2.2e References

Please ensure that references are appropriately formatted in NLM Style. References should be numbered and placed in the order in which they appear in the article (do not arrange alphabetically). Examples of correct reference formatting are shown below.

Articles:

Manolios N, Geczy CL, Schrieber L. High endothelial venule morphology and function are inducible in germ-free mice: a possible role for interferon-gamma. Cell Immunol. 1988 Nov;117(1):136-51.

Books:

Phillips SJ, Wisnant JP, Norman IJ, et al. Hypertension and stroke. In: Laragh JH, Brenner BM, eds. Hypertension: Pathophysiology, Diagnosis, and Management. Vol 2. 2nd ed. Albany, NY: Raven Press; 1995. 465-78 p.                                  

Websites:

Smith AA. Physiology of the Heart [Internet]. Ottawa (ON): University of Ottawa, Department of Medicine; 2009 Dec 31 [updated 2010 Dec 31; cited 2011 Jun 30]. Available from: http://www.domainname.com/.

Note: If citations contain more than six authors, list the first six authors followed by “et al.”

Please refer to the following website for complete referencing instructions and instructions for other types of sources: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/bookshelf/br.fcgi?book=citmed

2.2f Figures, Tables, and Pictures

Please adhere to the following guidelines: 

1. Figures, tables and pictures should be included at the end of the document after References, NOT be embedded within the text.
2. In the word document itself, tables must be included as editable files (no PDFs please).
   • Tables should be prepared to fit either the width of a single journal column (8.9cm/3.5in) or a full journal page (19cm/7.5in)
   • Font used in tables should be 12pt, Times New Roman

3. Figures, tables and pictures must also be uploaded as separate PDF files.

• Please name files according to figure/table number (e.g. Fig1.pdf, Table1.pdf)
• Do not include the figure/table legend in the image file
• Figures, tables and pictures must be available upon request of the editor as images for final copies
• All images must be at least 300 dpi in resolution

4. Subfigures should be labelled alphabetically (capitalized), in the order in which they are presented in the Results.

2.2g Legends for figures/tables

Figures & tables should be numbered in the order that they appear in the text. Their titles should be included in the figure legends and not in the figures. Abbreviations should be defined. 

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 PART 3: TYPES OF ARTICLES ACCEPTED

3.1 ORIGINAL RESEARCH

• Definition: reports of original research conducted by students in areas of: basic science, clinical/translational research, and epidemiology
• Goal: present a research question, the study design used to investigate the question, the main findings and interpretation of findings for a general medicine audience
• Components: abstract, introduction (including research question and hypothesis), materials and methods, results, discussion, acknowledgements, references, disclaimers, and tables and figures
• Abstract should be divided into the following headings: Objective, Methods, Results, Conclusion (<250 words)
• < 3000 words excluding abstract, figures, tables, references

3.1b Brief Report

• Definition: original research submission, as described in 3.1, but of a smaller scale
• Abstract subheadings (i.e., Objective, Methods, etc.) should be used if/when appropriate, but abstract should be of a size proportional to the text
• < 1200 words excluding abstract, figures, tables, references

3.2 REVIEW & CLINICAL PRACTICE

• Goal: to critically review a body of literature, identify gaps and limitations in the current research or clinical guideline, and suggest future directions or clinical practice recommendations
• Specific Components: abstract, citation selection criteria, data sources that are as current as possible, tables and figures are recommended, references
• It is the author’s responsibility to ensure the work of others is reported in an accurate fashion and controversial ideas are discussed objectively and impartially
• A review should summarize a broad scope of work as opposed to predominantly that of a single research group
• < 3000 words excluding abstract, tables, figures, references

3.3 CASE & ELECTIVE REPORTS

3.3a Case Report

• Definition: describes a notable clinical encounter with unique features
• Goal: provide an overview of a previously unreported or rare: clinical condition, observation of recognized disease, use of imaging or diagnostic tests, treatment of a recognized disease, or complications of a procedure
• Components: introduction to case, history of presenting illness, relevant signs and symptoms, diagnostic tests, discussion of potential treatment modalities, definitive diagnosis, pathophysiology of condition, aspects of its presentation and history, and ethical issues if applicable
• Requirements:
• Obtained fully informed, voluntary and written consent to publish the material from the patient and that it will be made available to UOJM (see UOJM patient consent form).
• At least one author is the patient's attending physician
• Advised the patient that their name and initials are not included in the manuscripts and that I have taken efforts to conceal their identity, but that anonymity cannot be guaranteed and someone may recognize them, especially if there are images with distinctive body markings.
• Advised the patient that the materials published in UOJM may be reproduced in other works in print or digital form and made available to the general public.
• Advised the patient that once the manuscript is accepted, their consent cannot be revoked.
• If a different patient consent form is used, authors must agree to the terms outlined in Declaration of Informed consent 
• < 1500 words
• Example of a case report can be found at BMJ (http://casereports.bmj.com/content/2011/bcr.02.2011.3836.full)

3.3b Elective Reports

• Definition: a summary of a student’s  reflections and impressions of his or her experience during an elective
• Goal: increase student exposure to a variety of medical specialties locally and internationally, highlight clinical experiences and communicate feedback regarding the program
• < 1000 words

3.4 NEWS AND LETTERS

These submissions do not require abstracts

3.4a News Articles

• Highlight current events relevant to science and medicine covering a range of topics including: medical policy & economics, discoveries & innovations in medicine, technological advances and medical education
• < 1000 words

3.4b Letter to the Editor

• Meant for readers to express their opinion in response to any articles published in past issues
• < 500 words

 3.5 COMMENTARIES

• Commentaries are a non-technical platform for intellectual dialogue and analysis that can address any noteworthy topic in medicine, public health, research, ethics, health policy, health law, etc. through a variety of means: perspectives, book review, policy forum, opinion pieces
• Can be subjective by drawing on personal experiences or objective by referring to published data but do not contain primary data
• A 75-100 word abstract is required, but not included in the total word count

3.5a Perspective

• Discuss recent news and developments relevant to medicine  (policies, economics, scientific discoveries & innovations, technological advances, education, etc.), explaining its potential significance
• Can express a personal viewpoint
• < 2000 words

3.5b Opinion Pieces

• A personal, anecdotal, and thought-provoking view on controversial issues surrounding science and medicine faced by medical students, residents, practicing physicians, policymakers, and recipients of health care
• Designed to target a wide audience including readers from non-medical disciplines
• < 1500 words

3.6 INTERVIEWS

• Definition: Q&A style report highlighting the successful career of a medical professional or scientist who has contributed significantly to their field
• Goal: describe the individual's contributions to their field, their educational and professional background, reflections on their experiences, and advice for students interested in pursuing a similar career
• Note: All interviews require pre-approval by the Editors-in-Chief (contact@uojm.ca) prior to submission.