Submission of manuscripts

  The Iranian Red Crescent Medical Journal uses a web-based submission and review system at www.irmj.ir . Online submission facilitates the submission of manuscripts from authors and streamlines the reviewing and publication process.

  Should you presently be unable to take advantage of online submission and review, please fax the Editorial office on (+98)7112345080 for further instructions.

  Authors may send queries concerning the submission process to irmj@irmj.ir or info@irmj.ir For enquiries about the review process and journal procedures, the editorial office can be contacted at irmj@irmj.ir . As a matter of policy, the status of documents will not be discussed by telephone.

  Once you have prepared your manuscript according to the instructions below, please go to the online submission system. First-time users must click "Register" on the navigation menu at the top of the screen. The system will accept automatically your user name and password. Detailed guidelines for authors and reviewers are available at the submission site.

  Review of manuscripts

  All manuscripts correctly submitted to the Iranian Red Crescent Medical Journal will first be reviewed by the Editors. Some manuscripts will be returned to authors at this stage if the paper is deemed inappropriate for publication in the Iranian Red Crescent Medical Journal, if the paper does not meet submission requirements, or if the paper is not deemed to have a sufficiently high priority. All papers considered suitable by the Editors to progress further in the review process will undergo appropriate peer review and all papers provisionally accepted for publication will undergo a detailed statistical review.

  Fast track publication

  (1) Authors must send their manuscript by e-mail to: irmj@irmj.ir or info@irmj.ir , ensuring that the manuscript adheres to the Iranian Red Crescent Medical Journal's Instructions for Authors. The accompanying cover letter should detail why the authors think the manuscript would be suitable for fast track publication.

 

(2) The Editorial Office will communicate whether fast track assessment is appropriate within 48 hours. If the Editors decide not to accept fast track assessment, the paper may be considered for the normal review process. Authors will also have the opportunity to withdraw their submission. Please note that fast track assessment does not in any way guarantee acceptance of the manuscript.

  (3) For manuscripts entering fast-track assessment, the first Editorial decision will be made within 7 working days. If provisionally accepted, a revised manuscript must be returned to the Editorial office as soon as possible.

(4) If the manuscript is accepted for publication, the Editors will aim to publish it online 15 days after acceptance and in print within the following 8 weeks, provided galley proofs are returned within 72 hours.

Please note: all authors of accepted articles are required to sign an authorship statement. If your article is accepted for Fast Track Publication. you will be required to submit this form immediately: a delay in submitting the form signed by ALL authors will result in a delay in publication.

  Preparation of manuscripts

  All submitted manuscripts must not exceed 5000 words (or for Editorials 1500 words and Correspondence 500 words), including References, Figure Legends and Tables. The number of Tables, Figures and References should be appropriate to the manuscript content and should not be excessive. Style and spelling Oxford English spelling should be used. Authors whose first language is not English are requested to have their manuscripts checked carefully before submission. This will help expedite the review process and avoid confusion.

  Abbreviations of standard SI units of measurement only should be used. Declaration of Helsinki . The authors should state that their study complies with the Declaration of Helsinki, that the locally appointed ethics committee has approved the research protocol and that informed consent has been obtained from the subjects (or their guardians).

  Sections of the manuscript. Clinical and Pre-clinical papers should be divided into the following sections: (1) Title page, (2) Abstract and Keywords, (3) Introduction, (4) Methods, (5) Results, (6) Discussion, (7) Acknowledgements, (8) References, (9) Figure legends, (10) Appendices, (11) Text tables, (12) Figures.

  General format. Prepare your manuscript text using a Word processing package (save in .doc or .rtf format). Submissions of text in the form of PDF files are not permitted. Manuscripts should be double-spaced, including text, tables, legends and references.

  Number each page. Please avoid footnotes; use instead, and as sparingly as possible, parenthesis within brackets. Enter text in the style and order of the journal. Type references in the correct order and style of the journal. Type unjustified, without hyphenation, except for compound words. Type headings in the style of the journal. Use the TAB key once for paragraph indents. Where possible use Times New Roman for the text font and Symbol for the Greek and special characters. Use the word processing formatting features to indicate Bold, Italic, Greek, Maths, Superscript and Subscript characters. Clearly identify unusual symbols and Greek letters. Differentiate between the letter O and zero, and the letters I and l and the number 1. Mark the approximate position of each figure and table.

  Check the final copy of your paper carefully, as any spelling mistakes and errors may be translated into the typeset version.

  Title page. The title page should include the following: (1) the title, (2) the name(s) of authors (no more than 12 authors are acceptable), (3) the institution(s) where work was performed, (4) the position, institution, and location of all authors, (5) the telephone number, fax number and e-mail address of the corresponding author (6) the institutional affiliations of the authors (including corporate appointments) should be acknowledged in a footnote.

  Abstract. All abstracts may not contain more than 200 words. The abstract should be formatted with the following heading: (1) Background, (2)Objective(3) Methods (4) Results, (5) Conclusion.

  Keywords. A maximum of six keywords may be submitted.

  Figures The review process will not begin until all figures are received. Figures should be limited to the number necessary for clarity and must not duplicate data given in tables or in the text. They must be suitable for high quality reproduction and should be submitted in the desired final printed size so that reduction can be avoided. Figures should be no larger than 125 (height) x 180 (width) mm (5 x 7 inches) and should be submitted in a separate file from that of the manuscript.

  Electronic submission of figures. Figures should be saved in TIFF or jpg format at a resolution of at least 300 pixels per inch at the final printed size for colour figures and photographs, and 1200 pixels per inch for black and white line drawings. Although some other formats can be translated into TIFF format by the publisher, the conversion may alter the tones, resolution and contrast of the image. Digital colour art should be submitted in CMYK rather than RGB format, as the printing process requires colours to be separated into CMYK and this conversion can alter the intensity and brightness of colours. Therefore authors should be satisfied with the colours in CMYK (both on screen and when printed) before submission. Please also keep in mind that colours can appear differently on different screens and printers. Failure to follow these guides could result in complications and delays.

  Where there is difficulty submitting the figures electronically, they may be sent, separately from the manuscript, by post to:

  Photographs . Photographs should be of sufficiently high quality with respect to detail, contrast and fineness of grain to withstand the inevitable loss of contrast and detail inherent in the printing process. Please indicate the magnification by a rule on the photograph.

  Colour figures . There is no charge for the inclusion of colour figures. Colour figures can be uploaded as online Supplementary data at no charge.

  Line drawings. Please provide these as clear, sharp illustrations, suitable for reproduction as submitted. All labelling should be on the original. Faint and grey shading or stippling will be lost upon reproduction and should be avoided. Where various shadings are used within one figure please ensure that it is easy to differentiate between them, using standard shadings (see the hard copy of the journal for examples). There should be sufficient white space between lines and dots to ensure the areas will not fill in and look grey. If stippling is used, this should be made up of clear black dots with visible white space between them.

  Ensure that the size of the lettering is in proportion with the overall dimensions of the drawing. Ideally, the drawings should be submitted in the desired final printed size to avoid reduction. If submitting line drawings which require reduction, please check that the lettering will be clearly legible after the drawing has been reduced to the size at which it will be printed. After reduction, letters should not be smaller than 2 mm in height.

  Figure legends. These should be on a separate, numbered manuscript sheet grouped under the heading "Legends" on a separate sheet of the manuscript after the References. Define all symbols and abbreviations used in the figure. Common abbreviations and others in the preceding text should not be redefined in the legend.

  Tables. Tables should be typed with double spacing, but minimising redundant space, and each should be placed on a separate sheet. Tables should be submitted, wherever possible, in a portrait, as opposed to landscape, layout. Each Table should be numbered in sequence using Arabic numerals. Tables should also have a title above and an explanatory footnote below.

  Acknowledgements. All sources of funding and support, and substantive contributions of individuals, should be noted in the Acknowledgements, positioned before the conflict of interest statement.

  Conflict of interest. All authors must make a formal statement indicating any potential conflict of interest that might constitute an embarrassment to any of the authors if it were not to be declared and were to emerge after publication. Such conflicts might include, but are not limited to, shareholding in or receipt of a grant or consultancy fee from a company whose product features in the submitted manuscript or which manufactures a competing product. The statement should be positioned before the list of references. If there are no conflicts of interest, please insert the wording 'Conflict of Interest: none declared'.

  Reference format

  References should be identified in the text by Arabic numerals and numbered in the order cited. All references should be compiled at the end of the article in the Vancouver style.

  Complete information should be given for each Reference including the title of the article, abbreviated journal title and page numbers. All authors should be listed.

  Personal communications, manuscripts in preparation and other unpublished data should not be cited in the reference list but may be mentioned in parentheses in the text. Authors should get permission from the source to cite unpublished data. Titles of journals should be abbreviated in accordance with Index Medicus (see list printed annually in the January issue of Index Medicus). If a journal is not listed in Index Medicus then its name should be written out in full.

  Article citation example:

  1. Afhami MR, Hasanzadeh P, Panahi JR. Evaluation the facility of endotracheal intubation with propofol and alfentanyl without muscle relaxants in elderly patients. MJIRC 2006; 8: 15-20.

  Chapter citation example: 2. Nichols WW, O'Rourke MF. Aging, high blood pressure and disease in humans. In: Arnold E, ed. McDonald's Blood Flow in Arteries: Theoretical, Experimental and Clinical Principles. 3rd ed. London/Melbourne/Auckland: Lea and Febiger; 1990. p. 398-420.

  Webpage citation example: 3. Panteghini M. Recommendations on use of biochemical markers in acute coronary syndrome: IFCC proposals. eJIFCC 14. http://www.ifcc.org/ejifcc/vol14no2/1402062003014n.htm (28 May 2004) 

  Where the date in parenthesis refers to the access date.

  Supplementary data

  Supporting material that is not essential for inclusion in the full text of the manuscript, but would nevertheless benefit the reader, can be made available by the publisher as online-only content, linked to the online manuscript. The material should not be essential to understanding the conclusions of the paper, but should contain data that is additional or complementary and directly relevant to the article content. Such information might include more detailed methods, extended data sets/data analysis, list of Investigators, or colour/additional figures.

  All text and figures must be provided in suitable electronic formats (instructions for the preparation of Supplementary data can be viewed here). All material to be considered as Supplementary data must be submitted at the same time as the main manuscript for peer review. It cannot be altered or replaced after the paper has been accepted for publication. Please indicate clearly the material intended as Supplementary data upon submission. Also ensure that the Supplementary data is referred to in the main manuscript where necessary.

  Statistics

  All manuscripts selected for publication will be reviewed for the appropriateness and accuracy of the statistical methods used and the interpretation of statistical results. All papers submitted should provide in their Methods section a subsection detailing the statistical methods, including the specific method used to summarize the data, the methods used to test their hypothesis testing and (if any) the level of significance used for hypothesis testing.

  Sources of funding

  All sources of funding for the work should be acknowledged in a footnote on the title page and in the Acknowledgements within the manuscript, as should all the institutional affiliations of the authors (including corporate appointments).

  Conflict of interest

  All authors must make a formal statement at the time of submission indicating any potential conflict of interest that might constitute an embarrassment to any of the authors if it were not to be declared and were to emerge after publication. Such conflicts might include, but are not limited to, shareholding in or receipt of a grant or consultancy fee from a company whose product features in the submitted manuscript or which manufactures a competing product. All authors must submit a statement of Conflict of Interest to be published at the end of their article. If no Conflict of Interest is declared, this will be stated in the article using the following wording:

  'Conflict of Interest: none declared' It is a condition of publication that a statement declaring any conflict of interest is included in the manuscript on first submission. Failure to insert a statement for all authors will delay the review process.

  Self-archiving and post-print policy

  Authors may deposit the post-print of their article into PubMedCentral, other subject repositories or institutional repositories, but must stipulate that public availability be delayed until 12 months after the first online publication. For further details of this policy please visit: Author Self-archiving Policy

  Copyright information

 
When papers are provisionally accepted, the corresponding author will be asked to return a signed letter (including signatures of all co-authors) by fax to (+98) 7112345080 or email to irmj@irmj.ir or info@irmj.ir stating that all authors have seen and approved the paper and that the work has not been, and will not be, published elsewhere. Papers will not be published until the Editorial Office has received this faxed letter.

 
It is a condition of publication in the Journal that authors assign copyright to The Iranian Red Crescent Journal. This ensures that requests from third parties to reproduce articles are handled efficiently and consistently and will also allow the article to be as widely disseminated as possible. In assigning copyright authors may use their own material in other publications provided that the Journal is acknowledged as the original place of publication and Iranian Red Crescent Society Press is notified in writing and in advance.

  Permissions information

  If illustrations or figures are to be duplicated from previously published work, written permission must be obtained both from the publisher and the author, and a credit line giving the source added to the relevant Figure Legend. If text material (250 to 300 words) is to be reproduced from published sources, written permission is required from both publisher and author. For shorter quotations, it is sufficient to add a bibliographic credit. The Letters containing the permission for the reproduction of either text or illustrations must accompany the manuscript. If you have been unable to obtain permission, please indicate this.

  Proofs

  Page proofs will be sent to the corresponding author. Please provide an e-mail address to enable page proofs to be sent via e-mail. These should be checked thoroughly for any possible changes or typographic errors. Significant alterations instigated at this stage by the author will be charged to the author.

 
It is the intention of the Editor to review, correct and publish your article as quickly possible. To achieve this it is important that all of your corrections are returned to us in one all-inclusive mail or fax. Subsequent additional corrections will not be possible, so please ensure that your first communication is complete.

  Online access and offprints

 
Details of free online access will be sent to the corresponding author, who may then circulate them to co-authors. If the offprints is required, a completed offprint order form must be returned with the proofs. Late orders submitted after the journal is in press are subject to prices.