INSTRUCTIONS TO AUTHOR:

RJMAHS is an open access, biannual peer reviewed journal published by Sri Siddhartha Medical College and Research Centre (A Constituent college of SSAHE, Tumakuru, Karnataka, India).

RJMAHS follows the guidelines of International Committee of Medical journal editors (ICMJE)

The journal invites original papers, review articles, short communications, case reports and case series that are not published or not being considered for publication elsewhere.

GENERAL GUIDELINES

Use only the Times New Roman font.

Double-spacing should be maintained throughout the manuscript.

20 font for the title of the article, 14 font for the headings which should be bold, 12 font for sub- headings which should be bold. 12 font for the text.

Do not use capital letters for title and sub-headings.

2.5cm margins on all the four sides.

Should number all the pages of the manuscript consecutively, begun with the title page.

FIRST PAGE FILE:

Type of manuscript: (original article, review article, case report, etc.)

Article title:

Author information:

• Each author's highest academic degrees should be listed. The name of the department(s) and institution(s) or organizations where the work should be attributed should be specified.

• Authors full names and institutional affiliations. Contact information for corresponding authors. The name, mailing address, telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail address of the author responsible for correspondence about the manuscript.

Disclaimers, if any:

Source(s) of support in the form of grants, equipment, drugs, or all of these:

Word counts.

Number of figures :

Number of tables:

Conflict of Interest:

Acknowledgement:

Clinical trial registry number, wherever applicable:

ARTICLE FILE:

The manuscript must not contain any mention of the authors’ names or initials or the institution at which the study was done or acknowledgements.

This will include the title of the article, abstract, introduction and the rest of the manuscript.

ABSTRACT

Structured abstracts (250 words) in the form of Background, Aim, Material and Methods, Results, and Conclusion, followed by 3-6 key words are preferred for original research.

INTRODUCTION

Provide a context or background for the study (that is, the nature of the problem and its significance). State the specific purpose or hypothesis tested by the study or observation. Specify what is already known and what the present study adds to the literature.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The guiding principle of the Methods section should be clarity about how and why a study was done in a particular way.

Describe selection of the observational or experimental participants (patients or laboratory animals, including controls) clearly, including inclusion and exclusion criteria and a description of the source population.

Identify the methods, apparatus (give the manufacturer’s name and address in parentheses), and procedures in sufficient detail. Give references to established methods, including statistical methods; provide references and brief descriptions for methods that have been published but are not well-known; describe new or substantially modified methods, give the reasons for using them, and evaluate their limitations. Identify precisely all drugs and chemicals used, including generic name(s), dose(s), and route(s) of administration.

Include a statement indicating that the research was approved by an independent local, regional or national review body (e.g., ethics committee, institutional review board).

Describe statistical methods and specify the computer software used.

RESULTS

Present your results in logical sequence in the text, tables, and illustrations, giving the main or most important findings first. Do not repeat all the data in the tables or illustrations in the text; emphasize or summarize only the most important observations. Extra or supplementary materials and technical detail can be placed in an appendix where they will be accessible but will not interrupt the flow of the text.

When data are summarized in the Results section, give numeric results not only as derivatives (for example, percentages) but also as the absolute numbers from which the derivatives were calculated, and specify the statistical methods used to analyze them.

Restrict tables and figures to those needed to explain the argument of the paper and to assess supporting data.

Use graphs as an alternative to tables with many entries; do not duplicate data in graphs and table

DISCUSSION

Emphasize the new and important aspects of the study and the conclusions that follow from them in the context of the totality of the best available evidence.

Do not repeat in detail data or other information given in the Introduction or the Results section. For experimental studies, it is useful to begin the discussion by briefly summarizing the main findings, then explore possible mechanisms or explanations for these findings, compare and contrast the results with other relevant studies, state the limitations of the study, and explore the implications of the findings for future research and for clinical practice.

Link the conclusions with the goals of the study but avoid unqualified statements and conclusions not adequately supported by the data.

REFERENCES

The references should be in the Vancouver’s style.

References should be numbered consecutively in the order in which they are first mentioned in the text (not in alphabetic order).

Identify references in text, tables, and legends by Arabic numerals in superscript with square bracket after the punctuation marks.

References cited only in tables or figure legends should be numbered in accordance with the sequence established by the first identification in the text of the particular table or figure.

Use the style of the examples below, which are based on the formats used by the NLM in Index Medicus. The titles of journals should be abbreviated according to the style used in Index Medicus.

Use complete name of the journal for non-indexed journals. Avoid using abstracts as references.

The commonly cited types of references are shown here, for other types of references such as newspaper items please refer to ICMJE Guidelines

(http://www.icmje.org or http://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_requirements.html).

Articles in Journals

Standard journal article (for up to six authors): Shukla N, Husain N, Agarwal GG, Husain M. Utility of cysticercus fasciolaris antigen in Dot ELISA for the diagnosis of neurocysticercosis. Indian J Med Sci 2008;62:222-7.

Standard journal article (for more than six authors): List the first six contributors followed by et al. Nozari Y, Hashemlu A, Hatmi ZN, Sheikhvatan M, Iravani A, Bazdar A, et al. Outcome of coronary artery bypass grafting in patients without major risk factors and patients with at least one major risk factor for coronary artery disease. Indian J Med Sci 2007;61:547-54

Volume with supplement: Shen HM, Zhang QF. Risk assessment of nickel carcinogenicity and occupational lung cancer. Environ Health Perspect 1994; 102 Suppl 1:275-82.

Issue with supplement: Payne DK, Sullivan MD, Massie MJ. Women's psychological reactions to breast cancer. Semin Oncol 1996; 23(1, Suppl 2):89-97

Books and Other Monographs

Books: Murray PR, Rosenthal KS, Kobayashi GS, Pfaller MA.Medical microbiology. 4th ed. St. Louis: Mosby; 2002.

Personal author(s): Ringsven MK, Bond D. Gerontology and leadership skills for nurses. 2nd ed. Albany (NY): Delmar Publishers; 1996.

Editor(s), compiler(s) as author: Norman IJ, Redfern SJ, editors. Mental health care for elderly people. New York: Churchill Livingstone; 1996.

Chapter in a book: Phillips SJ, Whisnant JP. Hypertension and stroke. In: Laragh JH, Brenner BM, editors. Hypertension: pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management. 2nd ed. New York: Raven Press; 1995. pp. 465-78.

Electronic Sources as reference

Journal article on the Internet: Abood S. Quality improvement initiative in nursing homes: the ANA acts in an advisory role. Am J Nurs [serial on the Internet]. 2002 Jun [cited 2002 Aug 12];102(6):[about 3 p.]. Available from: http://www.nursingworld.org/AJN/2002/june/Wawatch.htm

Monograph on the Internet: Foley KM, Gelband H, editors. Improving palliative care for cancer [Internet]. Washington: National Academy Press; 2001 [cited 2002 Jul 9]. Available from: http:// www.nap.edu/books/0309074029/html/.

Homepage/Web site: Cancer-Pain.org [Internet]. New York: Association of Cancer Online Resources, Inc.; c2000-01 [updated 2002 May 16; cited 2002 Jul 9]. Available from: http:// www.cancer-pain.org/.)

Tables

Type or print each table with double-spacing on a separate sheet of paper.

Number tables consecutively in the order of their first citation in the text and supply a brief title for each. Do not use internal horizontal or vertical lines.

Authors should place explanatory matter in footnotes, not in the heading. If you use data from another published or unpublished source, obtain permission and acknowledge that source fully.

Figures

Figures should be in JPEG or GIF format total figure size not exceeding 4MB.

For x-ray films, scans, and other diagnostic images, as well as pictures of pathology specimens or photomicrographs, send sharp, glossy, black-and white or color photographic prints, usually 127 x 173 mm (5 x 7 inches). Letters, numbers, and symbols on figures should therefore be clear and consistent throughout, and large enough to remain legible when the figure is reduced for publication. Photomicrographs should have internal scale markers.

Symbols, arrows, or letters used in photomicrographs should contrast with the background. Photographs of potentially identifiable people must be accompanied by written permission to use the photograph.

Figures should be numbered consecutively according to the order in which they have been cited in the text. If a figure has been published previously, acknowledge the original source and submit written permission from the copyright holder to reproduce the figure.

Legends for Illustrations (Figures) Type or print out legends for illustrations using double spacing, starting on a separate page, with Roman numerals corresponding to the illustrations. When symbols, arrows, numbers, or letters are used to identify parts of the illustrations, identify and explain each one clearly in the legend. Explain the internal scale and identify the method of staining in photomicrographs.

Units of Measurement Measurements of length, height, weight, and volume should be reported in metric units (meter, kilogram, or liter) or their decimal multiples. Temperatures should be in degree Celsius. Blood pressure should be in millimeters of mercury. For reporting hematologic, clinical chemistry, drug concentrations, and other measurements, use both local as well as International System of Units (SI units). Abbreviations and Symbols Use only standard abbreviations. Avoid abbreviations in the title of the manuscript. The spelled-out abbreviation followed by the abbreviation in parenthesis should be used on first mention unless the abbreviation is a standard unit of measurement.

Review Articles:

The prescribed word count is up to 4000 words excluding tables, references and abstract. The manuscript may have about 50 to 60 references. The manuscript should have an abstract (250 words) representing an accurate summary of the article. The section titles would depend upon the topic reviewed. Authors submitting review manuscripts should include a section describing the methods used for locating, selecting, extracting, and synthesizing data. These methods should also be summarized in the abstract.

Case reports/series:

New, interesting and rare cases can be reported. They should be unique in providing a learning opportunity for the readers. Cases with clinical implications will be given priority. These communications could be of up to 1500 words (excluding abstract and references) and should have the following headings: Abstract, Key-words, Introduction, Case report, Discussion, References, Tables and figures. This could be supported with upto 10 references. Case Reports could be authored by up to four authors.

Letters to the Editor:

These should be short and decisive observations. They should preferably be related to articles previously published in the Journal or views expressed in the journal. The letter could have up to 600 words and 6 references. It could be generally authored by not more than four authors.

Short /Brief communication:

The manuscript could be of up to 1000 words (excluding references and abstract) and could be supported with up 6 to 8 references.