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Author Guidelines
Information and Instructions for Authors
(Abbreviated Form)
The Nigerian Journal of Ophthalmology (NJO), the journal of the Ophthalmological Society of Nigeria, publishes articles on clinical, laboratory and community medicine, basic medical sciences, medical technology, as well as the economics and management of health care delivery, especially in the African environment.
The Editorial Board welcomes contributions in the form of review articles, original research reports, brief communications, case report commentaries, clinical practice materials, letters to the editor, medical memoranda or position papers. The journal also publishes reviews of books and audiovisual and educational (medical) materials; socioeconomic, political and legal matters relating to medical practice; conference and workshop reports and other categories, including medical news.
Manuscripts
Three copies of manuscripts, tables, figures, etc., as well as books for review, notices of conferences and news of importance, should be sent with a covering letter to:
The Editor
Nigerian Journal of Ophthalmology
OSN National Secretariat
j Department of Ophthalmology
University College Hospital, Ibadan
P.O. Box 851, Dugbe
Ibadan, Nigeria
Manuscripts may be E-mailed as attachments to:
Email: njophthalmology@yahoo.com
Manuscripts should be prepared in accordance with the
uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to bio-medical journals (vide infra and reference one). A x2500.00 bank draft should accompany manuscripts to cover the cost of processing articles. In addition, a minimum of 50 offprints of your article must be purchased at x10.00 each upon the acceptance of the paper for publication.
Manuscripts are considered with the understanding that they have neither been published previously nor are under consideration by another publisher. Publication of preliminary findings elsewhere (in abstract form) does not exclude consideration by NJO.
All contributions, including those solicited, are reviewed by the editors of the NJO and / or invited assessors. The decision of the editors is final. Authors are responsible for all statements contained in their contributions.
CATEGORIES OF CONTRIBUTIONS
Original articles
Original research concerning any aspect (e.g., aetiopathogenesis,
diagnosis, management and prevention) of disease. Animal research contribution of relevance to human health are also welcome. The text should be 8-20 pages, doublespaced, (A4) manuscript pages (maximum 4000 words).
Reviews including meta-analyses
Detailed, systematic and critical evaluation of the literature on
a specified clinical problem. Reviews should include information such as type study, selection process, etc. Reviewed papers should not exceed 5000 words or 15-20 double-spaced, A4 manuscript pages and should contain subheadings.
Short communications and case reports
These may be unique case reports, clinical experiences or short
reports of original research. Text should not exceed 1500 words
or 3-10 double-spaced, A4 pages including tables and legends,
a maximum of 15 references, two illustrations and two tables.
The format is the same as original research contributions.
Workshop and conference reports
These may be general or specific conferences like medical grand
rounds. The text should have a maximum of 5000 words or 15-20 double-spaced, A4 pages.
Medical memoranda
These are papers expressing personal or group opinions on political, socioeconomic, and other matters which relate to the practice of medicine. The text should be between 8-15 doublespaced,
A4 pages.
Letters to the editor
Letters to the editor are handled solely by the editor and not subject to peer review. Letters should contain a maximum of 1000 words, two illustrations / tables and ten references. Contents of letters may be comments on materials published in the NJO, clinical observations or other matters of relevance to medicine and allied professions. Submit an original and one copy, typed in a double-spaced format.
MANUSCRIPT FORMAT AND PREPARATION
Manuscript should be typewritten in English, double-spaced on
one side only of 21.6 x 27.9 cm (A4) white bond, with 2.5 cm margins all around. The manuscript should consist of:
a. Title page e. References
b. Summary f. Tables
c. Text g. Figures
d. Acknowledgments h. Legends
Submit the original and two copies of the manuscript, with three sets of glossy prints of figures. Number manuscript pages consecutively beginning with the title page. Each manuscript component should begin on a new page in the sequence given above.
Title page should include:
• Title of manuscript
• Initials and surname
• Qualification of each author
• Names of each department and institution in which the work was done
• Name and address of corresponding author
• Three to six key words
• A running title of not more than forty characters
(Avoid the use of abbreviations in the title)
Summary should contain 150-250 words and be structured under the specified headings for original articles, short communications, case reports, and reviews as follows:
Original contributions: (a) Objectives (b) Methods (c) Results (d)
Conclusions.
Reviews: (a) Purpose (b) Source of data (c) Study selection (d)
Data extraction (e) Results (f) Conclusions.
Other articles should be preceded by an unstructured summary.
Editorials, letters, commentaries, medical memoranda and position papers, do not require a summary. Please avoid the use of abbreviations in the summary.
Key words. Provide three to six key words (preferably using Index Medicus Medical Subject Headings
Information and Instructions for Authors
The body of the paper should consist of an introduction, including a brief review of the literature; details of research design, subject materials and methods, ethics, statistics, results and discussion. Long articles should contain subheadings.
Abbreviations and nomenclature
List in alphabetical order, non standard abbreviations contained
in the manuscript, excluding those in the references, with definitions after key words. Use abbreviations where necessary to save space and to avoid repeating long chemical names or therapeutic regimes. In a figure or table, define the abbreviations in a footnote.
Use generic names for all drugs except where there is a good reason to use proprietary (trade) names, such as for drugs which have adverse effects, or for comparison of different preparations of the same agent.
Ethical Considerations
All manuscripts reporting experiments on human subjects should be accompanied by a statement in the methods section that the author(s) has (have) complied with the requirements of the ethical committee of the institution in which the work was done. If investigators have no access to an ethics committee, the principles outlined in the Helsinki Declaration1 should be followed. Avoid using patients’ names, initials, or hospital numbers. If full-face photographs are to be used, such photographs must be accompanied by a signed or thumbprinted informed consent of the subject. Animal
experimentation must follow the institution’s guidelines and/or
national laws on the use of laboratory animals in research.
Conflict of Interest
Authors should indicate any conflict of interest if any. If none
exists, this should be clearly stated.
Acknowledgments
Acknowledgments of general support, financial and material support, technical help, etc. should be indicated at the end of the main text. It is the responsibility of authors to obtain the consent of those being acknowledged.
References
Number references in order of appearance in text. Identify a reference number in text, tables, or legends by Arabic numerals in superscript. References should be in the Vancouver style, the standard format for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals.2
Examples of correct forms of references
1. Journal articles should include the following information:
(a) surname and initials of all authors (up to 6) when 7 or more,
list the first 6 and add et al., (b) article title, (c) name of journal
(d) year (e) volume (f) number (g) pages. Example:
Solanke TF, Ayeni O and Osanyintay SO. Effect of a mixture of
red pepper (Capsicum frutescens). Niger Med J 1976; 6 (2): 23-
25.
2. Book with one or two authors
(a) Surname and initials of all authors (b) title of the book (c)
city (d) publisher (e) date (g) pages cited. Example:
Schram R. History of Nigerian Health Services. 2nd ed. Ibadan:
Ibadan University Press, 1991; 70-75.
3. Chapter in a book
(a) Surname and initials of ALL authors of particular chapter (b)
title of chapter (c) editors (d) title of book (e) edition, except if
first (f) city (g) publisher (h) year (i) pages. Example:
Majekodunmi AA. Ocular emergencies. In: HO Adeyemo-Doro,
ed. Manual of Emergency Surgery, 2nd ed. Lagos, University
of Lagos Press, 1991; 30-50.
Authors should verify references cited against the original
document. Journal abbreviations should be as in the list of
journals in the Index Medicus.
Units of measure
Measure height, weight, length, and volume in metres, kilogrammes, litres and other decimal multiples, respectively. Temperature should be reported in degrees celsius, while blood pressure will be given in millimeters of mercury (mmHg). Haematological and clinical chemistry measurements should be reported in SI units with conversion factors provided as a footnote.
Tables
Tables should be double-spaced on separate A4 sheets, numbered consecutively and referred to in the text in Arabic numerals. Their approximate positions in the text should be indicated. The table title should be short, and likewise headings over columns should be short or use abbreviations. Explanations should be placed under the table, not in the heading. Footnote symbols should use the following sequence: * † ‡ § ¶ ** †† [left to right and top to bottom of the table]. Avoid the use of internal horizontal and vertical lines.
Figures and illustrations
Submit three sets of professionally drawn or computer-scanned
or created figures. Original drawings, X-rays, etc. are not acceptable. Black and white glossy prints of figures should be 127 x 173 mm (5 x 7 inches). Letters, numbers and symbols should be clear and large enough so that when reduced for publication each item will be legible. Titles and explanatory notes should be in the legend for the illustrations, NOT on the illustrations themselves.
Photomicrographs should have internal scale markers and
numerals according to the order in which they have been first
cited in the text. Materials taken from other sources must be
accompanied by written permission for reproduction from the
publisher and/or author. Paste a label on the back of each
figure indicating the number of the figure, author’s name and
top of the figure and original source of illustration. Colour figures will be published at the author’s expense. Submit figures as unmounted and untrimmed prints in a protective envelope.
Legends for illustrations/ figures
Legends for illustrations should be numbered consecutively using Arabic numerals and placed directly under each figure. Identify and explain in the legend each symbol, number, letter, etc. used in the illustration. Explain the internal scale or any methods of staining in photomicrographs.
Revised manuscripts and proofs
Two hard copies of the revised manuscript should be sent along
with a 3.5 floppy disc copy using Microsoft Word or another
compatible computer programme. Proofs may be sent to the corresponding author for corrections if specifically requested. Such proofs must be returned to the editor within seven days of posting.
Copyright
On acceptance, the copyright of the paper will be vested in the journal and publisher. All authors are required to sign the copyright form which will accompany the letter of acceptance and return the form with the revised copy of the manuscript.
References
1 41st World Medical Assembly. Declaration of research involving human subjects. Bull Pan Am Health Org 1990; 24:
606-609.
2 International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to
biomedical journals. Br Med J 1991; 302: 338-41.
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 (or an explanation has been provided in Comments to the Editor).
- The submission file is in Microsoft Word, RTF, or WordPerfect document file format.
- Where available, URLs for the references have been provided.
- The text is single-spaced; uses a 12-point font; employs italics, rather than underlining (except with URL addresses); and all illustrations, figures, and tables are placed within the text at the appropriate points, rather than at the end.
- 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.
Copyright Notice
Copyright for articles published in this journal is retained by the journal.
Privacy Statement
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