•  
•  

Author Guidelines

Authors are advised to confirm that their submission includes the following elements before submitting it for review:

One author has been identified as the corresponding author, with their contact information, including:

• Email address
• Full postal address

All necessary files have been uploaded.

Manuscript Requirements

Please ensure that your manuscript meets the following criteria before submission:

• All manuscript files have been successfully uploaded.
• The manuscript includes all essential sections in the appropriate order, such as Title, Abstract, Keywords, Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusions, Conflicts of Interest, and Acknowledgements.
• The title of the manuscript is concise and informative.
• Author names and their affiliations are clearly provided.
• The abstract is self-contained and does not exceed 300 words.
• All references listed in the Reference List are cited in the text, and vice versa.
• All figures are included with relevant captions.
• All tables have titles, descriptions, and footnotes as necessary.
• Ensure that all citations of figures and tables in the text correspond to the files provided.

Further Considerations

Please ensure the following additional considerations are addressed before submitting your manuscript:

• The manuscript has been thoroughly spell-checked and grammar-checked using the US English setting.
• All references listed in the Reference List are appropriately cited in the text, and vice versa. Additionally, ensure that permission has been obtained for the use of copyrighted material from other sources, including the Internet.
• A conflict of interest statement is provided, even if the authors have no competing interests to declare.
• Journal policies outlined in the submission guide have been carefully reviewed and adhered to.
• Referee suggestions and contact details have been provided, in accordance with the journal's requirements.

Author Agreement (signed by corresponding authors)

Before you begin

Studies in Humans and Animals

For all original research papers involving humans, animals, and biological material, please ensure that the Ethics Approval section includes the following information:

• The name(s) of the ethics committee(s) or institutional review board(s) that provided approval.
• The number or ID of the ethics approval(s) obtained.
• A statement confirming that informed consent was obtained from human participants before their involvement in the research.
• Research involving animals must adhere to ethical standards concerning animal welfare.

All original research papers involving animals must:

• Adhere to international, national, and institutional guidelines for the humane treatment of animals.
• Obtain approval from the ethics review committee at the institution or practice where the research was conducted. Include details on the approval process, names of ethics committee(s) or institutional review board(s) involved, and the number or ID of the ethics approval(s) in the Ethics Approval section.
• Justify the use of animals and provide rationale for the selection of the species.
• Provide detailed information about housing, feeding, environmental enrichment, and measures taken to minimize suffering of the animals involved in the research.
• Specify the mode of anaesthesia and euthanasia used in the study.
• Manuscripts that fail to meet these requirements regarding ethical approval and animal welfare will be rejected.

Research Involving Humans

If the work involves the use of human subjects, the author should ensure that the work described has been carried out in accordance with The Code of Ethics of the World Medical Association (Declaration of Helsinki) for experiments involving humans. The manuscript should be in line with the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals and aim for the inclusion of representative human populations (sex, age and ethnicity) as per those recommendations. The terms sex and gender should be used correctly. Authors should include a statement in the manuscript that informed consent was obtained for experimentation with human subjects. The privacy rights of human subjects must always be observed.

Research Involving Animals

All animal experiments must adhere to the University of Al-Ameed guidelines and comply with the ARRIVE guidelines. Furthermore, they should be conducted in accordance with relevant regulations, such as the U.K. Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act, 1986 and associated guidelines EU Directive 2010/63/EU for animal experiments, or the National Research Council's Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals. Authors must clearly state in the manuscript that these guidelines have been followed.

Furthermore, it is imperative that the sex of animals utilized in the study is explicitly stated. Additionally, if relevant, authors should address the influence or association of sex on the results of the study. This ensures transparency and allows for a comprehensive understanding of the research findings.

Declaration of interest

All authors are required to disclose any financial and personal relationships with individuals or organizations that could potentially bias their work. These relationships may include but are not limited to: employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications/registrations, and grants or other funding received. By disclosing such competing interests, authors maintain transparency and uphold the integrity of their research.

Changes to authorship

Authors are advised to carefully consider the list and order of authors before submitting their manuscript and provide the definitive list of authors at the time of original submission. Any addition, deletion, or rearrangement of author names should only occur before the manuscript has been accepted and must be approved by the journal's Editor-in-Chief. To request such a change, the corresponding author must provide the following to the Editor-in-Chief:

1. The reason for the change in the author list.
2. Written confirmation (via email or letter) from all authors indicating their agreement with the addition, removal, or rearrangement. In cases of addition or removal of authors, confirmation from the affected author(s) is also required.

For reporting clinical trials, randomized controlled trials should adhere to the CONSORT guidelines. Authors must submit the CONSORT checklist along with a flow diagram illustrating the progress of patients through the trial, including recruitment, enrolment, randomization, withdrawal, and completion. Additionally, a detailed description of the randomization procedure must be provided.

Author contributions

To ensure transparency, authors are encouraged to submit an author statement file detailing their individual contributions to the paper, using the relevant roles such as:

• Conceptualization
• Data curation
• Formal analysis
• Funding acquisition
• Investigation
• Methodology
• Project administration
• Resources
• Software
• Supervision
• Validation
• Visualization
• Roles/Writing - original draft
• Writing - review & editing

By outlining each author's contributions, this author statement file provides clarity regarding the roles and responsibilities of each contributor in the research process.

Informed consent and patient details

For studies involving patients or volunteers, it is essential to obtain approval from an ethics committee and informed consent from the participants, which should be clearly documented in the paper. Authors intending to include case details, personal information, or images of patients and other individuals in an Elsevier publication must obtain appropriate consents, permissions, and releases. Written consents should be retained by the author.

If the author does not possess written permission from a patient (or next of kin if applicable), all personal details of the patient included in the article and any supplementary materials, such as illustrations and videos, must be removed before submission.

In cases where consent cannot be obtained from a deceased patient, guardian, or family member, the head of the medical team/hospital or legal team must take responsibility. They should confirm that exhaustive attempts have been made to contact the family and that the paper has been adequately anonymized to prevent harm to the patient or their family. Authors will need to upload a signed document attesting to these efforts.

Submission

Our online submission system guides you stepwise through the process of entering your article details and uploading your files. The system converts your article files to a single PDF file used in the peer-review process. Editable files (e.g., Word) are required to typeset your article for final publication. All correspondence, including notification of the Editor-in-chief's decision and requests for revision, is sent by email.

Submit your article

Please submit your article via https://www2.cloud.editorialmanager.com/njms/default2.aspx

Open access

We aim to minimize barriers to the dissemination of knowledge by providing a free journal for researchers, with no charges imposed on authors. Our goal is to promote accessibility to scholarly research and support the academic community in sharing their findings without financial constraints.

Formatting requirements

While there are no strict formatting requirements, all manuscripts must include essential elements to effectively convey your research findings. These elements typically include:

• Abstract
• Keywords
• Introduction
• Materials and Methods
• Results
• Conclusions
• Artwork and Tables with Captions
• If your article contains any supplementary material, it should be included in your initial submission for peer review purposes. It's essential to divide the article into clearly defined sections to enhance readability and comprehension for readers and reviewers alike.

Figures and tables

It is important to ensure that figures and tables included in the manuscript are positioned next to the relevant text, rather than at the bottom or top of the file. Additionally, the corresponding caption should be placed directly below the figure or table. Each illustration should have a caption, which consists of a brief title (not on the figure itself) and a description of the illustration.

It is advisable to keep the text within the illustrations to a minimum, but ensure that all symbols and abbreviations used are explained. This practice enhances the readability and clarity of the manuscript, allowing readers to easily understand the information presented in the figures and tables.

Peer review

This journal employs a double anonymized review process. All submissions are typically sent to at least two independent expert reviewers who assess the scientific quality of the paper. The final decision regarding acceptance or rejection of articles lies with the Editor-in-Chief, whose decision is considered final.

Editors are not involved in decisions regarding papers they have authored themselves, those authored by family members or colleagues, or those related to products or services in which the editor has a vested interest. Any such submissions undergo the journal's standard procedures, with peer review conducted independently of the relevant editor and their research groups.

Organization of the manuscript

Below is the recommended order for presenting your manuscript, starting with the first page:

• Title: Begin with the first letter capitalized, followed by subsequent letters in lowercase. Avoid abbreviations.
• Names of all authors.
• Affiliations of all authors. Use superscripted lowercase letters after each author's name to distinguish affiliations if necessary.
• Corresponding author's information: Include the name, mailing address, telephone and fax numbers, and email address of the author to whom proofs and correspondence should be sent.
• Abstract: Provide an abstract for research papers (not for reviews) with a maximum of 250 words.
• Keywords: Include keywords for indexing purposes, with a maximum of six entries.

Abbreviations

Abbreviations must be explained the first time they are used, both in the Abstract and again in the main text. This ensures clarity and comprehension for readers.

Introduction

State the objectives of the work and provide an adequate background, avoiding a detailed literature survey or a summary of the results.

Material and methods

It is essential to provide sufficient details in the methods section to enable the replication of the work by an independent researcher. When describing methods that have been previously published, they should be summarized and referenced accordingly. If directly quoting from a previously published method, use quotation marks and cite the source. Any modifications or adaptations made to existing methods should also be clearly described to ensure transparency and reproducibility of the research.

Results

The results section should present findings in a clear and concise manner, focusing on key outcomes and avoiding unnecessary details. Data should be organized logically, with tables, figures, and graphs used to enhance clarity where appropriate. Ensure that results are presented objectively, without interpretation or speculation. This approach enables readers to quickly understand the main findings of the study.

Discussion

The discussion section should delve into the significance of the results obtained from the work, rather than simply repeating them. It should provide an in-depth analysis and interpretation of the findings in the context of the research objectives and broader implications. While referencing relevant literature is important, avoid extensive citations and discussion of published literature. Instead, focus on synthesizing the results with existing knowledge, highlighting novel insights, addressing limitations, and proposing future directions for research. This approach ensures that the discussion adds value by providing a comprehensive understanding of the implications of the study findings.

Conclusions

The conclusions of the study should be presented in a short and concise section. Summarize the main findings of the research and emphasize the key takeaways or implications. Avoid introducing new information or delving into further analysis. Instead, focus on providing a clear and definitive summary of the study's outcomes and their significance. This allows readers to quickly grasp the main conclusions of the research.

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgments should be collated in a separate section at the end of the article, preceding the references. These acknowledgments should not be included on the title page, as a footnote to the title, or in any other location. In this section, list individuals who provided assistance during the research process, such as those who offered language help, writing assistance, or proofreading of the article.

Funding source

Authors are requested to identify any sources of financial support that contributed to the research or preparation of the article. This includes support in the study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, writing of the report, and the decision to submit the article for publication. If the funding source(s) had no involvement in these aspects, it is recommended to explicitly state this. Please note that funding information must appear under the Acknowledgments heading.

Footnotes

Footnotes should be employed sparingly throughout the article. They should be numbered consecutively and utilized only when necessary. Many word processors incorporate footnotes directly into the text, and this functionality can be utilized. If this feature is not available, indicate the position of footnotes in the text and present the footnotes separately at the end of the article. This ensures that footnotes are clearly marked and easily accessible for readers.

Artwork

Authors should ensure uniform lettering and sizing of original artwork. The preferred font is Times New Roman. Artwork files should be submitted in an acceptable format such as TIFF (or JPEG), EPS (or PDF), or MS Office files, and with the correct resolution. If usable color figures are submitted with the accepted article, they will appear in color online. This ensures consistency and clarity in the presentation of artwork within the manuscript.

References

Citing references should adhere to the standards outlined in the American Psychological Association (APA) Publication Manual, which is commonly used in the health and social sciences. Below is an example of APA style for citing journal articles online:

Structure:

Author Last name, First name. Middle name. (Year Published). Title of article. Title of Periodical, Volume(Issue), page range. https://doi.org/xxxx or URL.

After Acceptance

Online proof correction

To ensure a speedy publication process, we kindly request authors to provide proof corrections within two days of receiving the proofs. Corresponding authors will receive an email containing a link to our online proofing system, enabling them to annotate and correct proofs directly online. Alternatively, authors may choose to annotate and upload edits on the PDF version if preferred. All instructions for proofing will be provided in the email sent to authors, including alternative methods to the online version and PDF.

We strive to expedite the publication of your article while maintaining accuracy. Please utilize the proof solely to check the typesetting, editing, completeness, and correctness of the text, tables, and figures. Any significant changes to the article as accepted for publication will only be considered at this stage with permission from the Editor-in-Chief.It is crucial to ensure that all corrections are sent back to us in one communication. Please review carefully before replying, as subsequent corrections cannot be guaranteed to be included. Proofreading is the sole responsibility of the author.