Instructions for Authors

Manuscript submission to SJIP is online and the following supporting documents must be submitted during submission:

1. Cover letter (except for letters to the editor)
2. Ethical approval form
3. Author undertaking form

Ethical and Regulatory Compliance

1. Human Research: Institutional Ethics Committee (IEC)/Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval and written informed consent from participants are mandatory and should be mentioned in the Methods section.
2. Animal Research: Institutional and national guidelines should be followed, including adoption of the 3Rs (Replacement, Reduction, Refinement).
3. Clinical Trials: The trials must be pre-registered. Registration number should appear in the Abstract and Methods sections.

Manuscript Preparation

Title and Front Matter

1. Titles should be concise and ideally reflect the main result or conclusion. Vague or question-based titles should be avoided.
2. A running title (≤ 50 characters) in the header should be included in all pages.
3. All pages should be numbered.
4. Author names and full affiliations with the highest education qualification, corresponding author contact details (e-mail, official address with telephone/WhatsApp number) and ORCID ID should be included.
5. An author should be defined according to internationally accepted guidelines, primarily those of the ICMJE. Any person who is not fulfilling the criteria for authorship, should be included under acknowledgment.

Abstract and Keywords

1. The abstract should be ≤ 300 words and may be structured/non-structured, based on the article type.
2. Abbreviations or references should not be present within the abstract.
3. Approximately 3-8 keywords should be provided.

Main Body of Text

In case of original research articles, the text should be structured into the following sections:

1. Introduction: Study context, rationale, and objectives.
2. Materials and Methods: Full details of experimental design, reagents, ethical approvals, and statistical methods employed.
3. Results: Demographic data, baseline values, major findings, and statistical analysis data
4. Discussion: Interpretation, limitations, comparison with similar studies, and significance of the study.
5. Conclusion: Summary of key findings, implications of the study, recommendations for future research, and final takeaway message.
6. Acknowledgments, Funding Sources, Conflict of Interest: All relevant information on these aspects should be presented.

References

1. References should be numbered chronologically, in the order of their first appearance in the text.

1. Citation of abstracts, posters, or conference proceedings is strongly discouraged.

3. For articles accepted but not published, the terms “in press” or “forthcoming” should be used with supporting documentary proof of acceptance.
4. Unpublished data should only be cited within the text, along with the author’s written consent and labelled as “unpublished data”.
5. Citation of personal communications is discouraged, unless absolutely essential. If cited, the name of the sender and communication date should be incorporated in the text after obtaining written consent.
6. Review articles may be cited for overview purposes but should not replace citations of primary original research where available.
7. Excessive referencing should be avoided by prioritizing important original research.
8. Authors may use reference managers like EndNote, Mendeley, or Zotero.

1. The Vancouver style of referencing should be used.

10. Whenever available, PMID or DOI should be incorporated.

Tables

1. Tables must be self-explanatory and should not duplicate textual material.
2. Tables should be created separately in MS Word format and not as embedded images.
3. Shading and color highlighting the tables should be avoided.
4. Tables should be numbered in Arabic numerals in the order of their first citation in the text.
5. A brief title should be given for each table that clearly describes the presented data.

Illustrations

Illustrations include figures, graphs, flowcharts, images and photographs. The following points pertaining to illustrations should be noted:

1. Illustrations should be self-explanatory, without repetition in tables.
2. Illustrations should be submitted in separate files.
3. Illustrations should be numbered in Arabic numerals, according to the order in which they appear in the text.
4. Images should be submitted as JPG or JPEG files and graphs should be submitted along with editable data in Excel.
5. Letters, numbers, and symbols in figures should be large enough to remain legible when the figure is reduced for publication.
6. Symbols, arrows, or letters used in photomicrographs should contrast with the background.
7. Photographs of patients must be de-identified by covering the identifiable features.
8. Illustrations must be provided with a brief informative legend below it.

Units of Measurement 

1. Measurements of length, height, weight, and volume should be reported in metric units (meter, kilogram, or liter respectively) or their decimal multiples.
2. Temperatures should be in degrees Celsius.

3. Blood pressures should be in millimeters of mercury.

Manuscript Formatting by Article Type

NA: Not applicable

Supporting Documents

Cover Letter

A cover letter is an obligatory supporting document for all types of manuscripts except letter to the editor. A cover letter should include the following information:

1. Title of the manuscript.
2. What is already known on the subject.
3. What the results of the study will add.
4. How the results could help in clinical practice.

Ethical Approval of Research

The following information is mandatory:

1. IEC/IRB number.
2. Date when IEC/IRB approval was given.
3. Signature of official of IEC/IRB with stamp of the institute.
4. Letter should be on the letter head of the IRB of the institute.

Author Undertaking Form

1. All author details must be submitted, including designation, affiliation, e-mail, phone/WhatsApp numbers, highest degree, and year of study in case of students.

1. Signatures of all the authors should be present.
2. Details of contributions made by each author.
3. Disclosure of conflicts of interest (if any).
4. Disclosure of funding source(s).

Note: The order of the authors will not be changed at any stage.

Formatting And Submission

1. The manuscript should be submitted in editable formats (.docx or .tex).
2. Single-column layout in A4 size should be prepared. The line spacing should be 1.5 in 12-point Calibri font.

Publication Charges

1. The authors will not be required to pay any Article Processing Charges (APC).

Instructions for Reviewers

The following aspects should be kept in mind while reviewing an article:

Scope and Focus of the Journal

The reviewer should check whether the manuscript aligns with the scope and focus of the journal.

Evaluation Criteria

The criteria to be followed while peer-reviewing are tabulated below:

Format of the Review

The review report should be structured into the following sections:

Confidential Comments to the Editor

1. Brief summary of the overall evaluation
2. Any concerns not suitable to share with the author, such as ethical issues and conflicts of interest.

Comments to the Authors

1. Summary of the manuscript.
2. General Comments: Scientific concerns, methodological flaws, or issues requiring major revision.
3. Specific Comments: Language, formatting, small clarifications, or additional references.

Confidentiality and Ethical Conduct

1. The manuscript is confidential and should not be shared with others.
2. No part of the work should be used by the reviewer for his/her own research.
3. Any conflicts of interest (personal, financial, or professional) should be disclosed before accepting a manuscript for review.
4. Reviews will be anonymous unless otherwise stated.