Afrimedic Journal
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Afrimedic Journal is an open access journal with the purpose of promoting clinical and academic excellence in Medicine and Dentistry. It is available in print and online versions. The journal considers for publication any original work that advances or illuminates medical science or practice. We welcome contributions from basic and clinical medical sciences as well as dentistry.

Authors are advised to have their manuscripts pre-reviewed by a colleague preferably from the same clinical specialty.

Contributions may be in the form of original articles, review articles, case reports, short communications and letters to the editor. The AJ will also publish articles on socio-economic, political and legal matters related to medical practice, conference and workshop reports and medical news.

Authors submitting articles to Afrimedic Journal do so with the understanding that these articles have not been previously published, or are not under consideration for publication anywhere else in the same or similar form.

Authorship

Authorship of an article should be based on the following:

1. Substantial contribution to the conceptualization, design, data collection, analysis and interpretation.
2. Drafting and/or critical revision of the article for important intellectual content.
3. Approval of the final version to be published.
4. Accountability for all aspects of the work, ensuring that all issues related to the accuracy and integrity of the article are properly addressed.

Further information can be obtained from the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), at www.icmje.org.

Conflict of Interest

Authors are required to disclose all financial and personal connections that may constitute a conflict of interest. More information can be obtained from the Council of Science Editors’ (CSE) white paper on promoting integrity in scientific journal publications, 2012 update at www.councilscienceditors.org.

Ethical consideration

All manuscripts reporting experiments on human subjects should be accompanied by a statement in the methods section that all authors have complied with the requirements of the ethics committee of the institution in which the work was done.

Information that may identify a patient will not be published in any form unless such information is essential, and the patient (or parent or guardian) has given written informed consent for such publication. If full-face photographs are to be used, such photographs must be accompanied by a signed or thumb printed informed consent of the subject.

Animal experimentation must also follow institution’s guidelines and/or national laws in the use of laboratory animals in research.

For randomized controlled trials (RCTs), the registration number of the trial and the name of the trial registry are required.

For further information, refer to the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals of the International Committee for Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements of general support, grants, technical assistance should be indicated. Authors are responsible for obtaining the consent of those acknowledged.

 

MANUSCRIPT FORMAT

• Manuscripts should be written in British (UK) English
• Manuscripts should be in .doc or .docx or RTF format. The text should be typewritten with double line spacing, font 12 Times New Roman, with 2.5cm margins from each edge on one side of a white A4 paper.
• Abbreviations should be spelt out when initially used, and thereafter consistently used.
• AJ uses the International System of Units (SI). Temperature should be in degrees Celsius, blood pressure should be in millimeters of mercury, haemoglobin as g/dl
• International, non-proprietary (generic) names for drugs are preferred.

 

A manuscript should be divided into these sections; with each section beginning on a new page:

1. 1.      Title page

This page should contain the following information:

1. Title of the paper (this should be concise, informative and devoid of abbreviations)
2. Author information: Surname(s) and two initials of the author(s) and up to two academic degrees, institutions of the authors and the phone number and address (including e-mail) of the corresponding author.
3. Source(s) of support including grants, equipment and drugs.
4. Word count for paper text (excluding its abstract, acknowledgements, tables, figures, references). A separate word count for the abstract is required.
5. Conflict of interest declaration
6. A note stating that all the authors have read and approved the manuscript for publication. See section on authorship.
7. 2.      Abstract

This should not exceed 250 words and should accurately reflect the content of the article, emphasizing its important findings and limitations. For original articles, this should be structured into background, objectives, methods, results and conclusion. Abstracts should not include more than 6 key words.

1. 3.      Main Text

To ensure an unbiased review, the main texts of manuscripts should not bear details such as author(s) name, affiliation or acknowledgements or any such information that will enable identification. Manuscripts that do not comply with the journal’s blinding policy will be simply returned.

1. a.      Original Articles

This is report of clinical or experimental investigation. It should not exceed 4,000 words (excluding abstract and references) with up to five illustrations/tables. Its abstract should not exceed 250 words and should be structured into background, objectives, methods, results and conclusion; with a maximum of 6 key words.

Texts of original articles should be written in sections; introduction, methods, results, discussion, conclusions, acknowledgements (if any), tables/figures and references.

Introduction: This should be concise and state the background and clear objective of the paper.

Methods: This should be clear enough for another researcher to be able to repeat the study.

Results: The result should be presented in logical sequence in the text, tables and illustrations. Do not repeat in the text all the data in the tables and illustrations. Emphasize or summarize only important observations.

Discussion: This should cover pertinent issues from the introduction and mainly the results.

Conclusion: As much as is possible, a relevant conclusion from the results should be stated.

1. b.      Review Articles

This should be a comprehensive review of a timely, important clinical subject, along with analysis by the author leading to conclusions. It should not exceed 4000 words and should have an structured abstract explaining the review, its importance and the method of sourcing and selecting data. The main text should contain sub-headings.

1. c.       Case reports and short communications

New/interesting/very rare cases and/or issues can be reported. This should not exceed 1,000 words with a maximum of 2 illustrations and 25 references. Short communications should contain sub-headings. Case reports should have an abstract not exceeding 250 words. Preference will be given to cases that have important clinical lessons.

1. d.      Letters to the editor

The content may be clinical observations or other matters relevant to medicine or comments on materials published in the AJ. Letters should contain a maximum of 1,000 words, 2 illustrations and/or tables.

1. e.       Tables and illustrations

Tables should be self-explanatory and should not duplicate textual material. They should be numbered in Roman numeral, consecutively in the order of their first citation in the text and supply a brief of each text. Explain in footnotes all non-standard abbreviations that are used in each table. Obtain permission for all fully borrowed, adapted and modified tables and provide a credit line in the footnote.

Illustrations should be sharp and clear, preferably in JPEG format. Authors will be requested to pay for coloured illustration.

1. 4.      References

References should be Vancouver style and numbered consecutively in the order in which they are first mentioned in the text. A full list of the authors should be written, except when they exceed six (6), in which case six (6) should be given followed by et al.

Journal articles

Author’s name should be followed by the title of the original work, name of the journal abbreviated according to the style of Index Medicus, year of publication, the volume and the first and last page numbers. For example: Mbonu OO. Delayed presentation of torsion of the testis. Niger Prostgrad Med Journal. 2008; 5: 76-78. However, the journals with abbreviations not yet cited in Index Medicus should be written in full. Articles in press are not to be cited.

Textbooks

References to a chapter in a textbook should include the surname and up to two initials of each author, title of the chapter, surname and two initials of each editor of the book, title of the book, edition of the book, place of publication, publisher, year of publication and pages of the chapter. For example: Umeh BU. Preoperative evaluation and postoperative management. In: Berek S, Adashi Y, Hillard PA (eds). Novak’s Gynaecology. 13^th edition. Baltimore, Maryland: Williams and Wilkins, 1999: 543-619.

Peer review process

Authors submitting articles to Afrimedic Journal do so with the understanding that these articles have not been previously published, or are not under consideration for publication anywhere else in the same or similar form. Submitted articles are formally acknowledged and are read by two members of the editorial board.

The article, if selected for possible publication, is sent to two or more peer reviewers who are renowned specialists and scientists in the area of medicine under focus. The names and affiliations of the authors are usually removed from the articles before they are sent to the reviewers. Reviewers return the articles with their comments normally within 15 calendar days; and the combined assessment of the reviewers are considered and recorded. If rejected by the reviewers, the article is not accepted for publication in the journal.

Articles considered worthy of publication but requiring changes or condensation will be returned to the corresponding author for revision. After the corrections have been made, the article may then be sent back to the reviewers to confirm compliance with stated corrections before the article is returned to the Editor. A formal letter of acceptance is then sent to the corresponding author and the article publication fee is paid.

At this stage, the article is proofed by the editorial team and sent to the corresponding author to make final comments and give assent for the publication. The returned article is formatted for publication along with other articles. These are then uploaded on the journal website, emailed to the publisher for printing as well as to the corresponding author as the final published version.

Processing fee:

Authors will be required to pay a processing fee of forty thousand naira (₦40,000.00) or eighty US dollars ($80.00) only, or its equivalent after an article has  has been accepted for publication. Payment details and further instruction will be provided via e-mail.

Copyright Notice

On acceptance, the copyright of a manuscript will be vested in the journal and publisher. Articles published in Afrimedic journal are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License which allows for unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, for any non-commercial purpose, subject to proper citation of the original work.

INDEXING INFORMATION

Afrimedic Journal is currently indexed in AJOL and Google scholar. We are working to ensure that AJ is listed in other biomedical databases of repute in order to reach a wider audience.

PRIVACY STATEMENT

The personal information of users of this site will be used for the purpose of this journal only and will not be made available to any other party without the permission of the user.

SUBMISSION CHECKLIST

Before submitting your manuscript, please ensure the following:

1. That your paper is has not been submitted to, nor has been previously published by another journal.
2. The manuscript has been divided into the following sections: title page, abstract, main text and references, with each section beginning on a new page.
3. Only the title page bears information that can identify the author(s) and/or author’s institution.
4. The word count, source(s) of funding, conflict of interest and authorship statement are all included in the title page.
5. The manuscript is in keeping with the journal’s style and requirements as outlined in the Instructions to Authors section.
6. Cover letter.

 

All correspondence should be addressed to:

Dr. Agbanu Chiemezie
Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology
Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital
P.M.B 5025, Nnewi
Anambra state, Nigeria.
Email: editor@afrimedicjournal.com.ng
Telephone: +2348138611735