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AUTHOR INSTRUCTIONS
Manuscript Preparation
Al-Zahrawi Journal of Medical Sciences
Authors are kindly requested to review the following manuscript preparation requirements before submission to the Al-Zahrawi Journal of Medical Sciences. Careful compliance with these instructions will facilitate efficient editorial handling, peer review, and publication.
1. Submission of Manuscripts
Manuscripts should be submitted either through the journal’s online submission system or through the official editorial email of the Al-Zahrawi Journal of Medical Sciences. Authors are advised to ensure that all files are complete and prepared in accordance with the journal’s required format before submission.
2. General Manuscript Structure
Research Manuscripts
Research manuscripts should normally comprise the following sections:
Front Matter: Title, Author List, Affiliations, Abstract, Keywords.
Main Sections: Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, and Conclusions (optional).
Back Matter: Supplementary Materials, Acknowledgments, Author Contributions, Funding, Data Availability Statement, Conflicts of Interest, and References.
Front Matter: Title, Author List, Affiliations, Abstract, Keywords.
Main Sections: Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, and Conclusions (optional).
Back Matter: Supplementary Materials, Acknowledgments, Author Contributions, Funding, Data Availability Statement, Conflicts of Interest, and References.
Review Manuscripts
Review manuscripts should normally comprise:
Front Matter: Title, Author List, Affiliations, Abstract, Keywords.
Review Content: A logically organized literature review, divided into sections and subsections where appropriate.
Back Matter: Acknowledgments, Author Contributions, Conflicts of Interest, and References.
The manuscript template may be used to prepare the front matter and back matter of review articles; however, it is not necessary to follow the entire structure of a research manuscript.
Front Matter: Title, Author List, Affiliations, Abstract, Keywords.
Review Content: A logically organized literature review, divided into sections and subsections where appropriate.
Back Matter: Acknowledgments, Author Contributions, Conflicts of Interest, and References.
The manuscript template may be used to prepare the front matter and back matter of review articles; however, it is not necessary to follow the entire structure of a research manuscript.
3. Graphical Abstract
A graphical abstract is an image that appears alongside the text abstract in the Table of Contents. It should summarize the content of the article in a visually engaging manner and represent the subject of the paper clearly and attractively. The graphical abstract must not be identical to a figure within the manuscript or merely a combination of subfigures. It should be original and unpublished artwork.
Postage stamps, currencies, and trademarked items must not be included. Acceptable file formats are PNG, JPEG, and TIFF. Any text included should be clearly readable and use one of the following fonts: Times, Arial, Courier, Helvetica, Ubuntu, or Calibri.
The minimum required size is 560 × 1100 pixels (height × width), and the image must be of sufficient quality for proper reproduction.
Postage stamps, currencies, and trademarked items must not be included. Acceptable file formats are PNG, JPEG, and TIFF. Any text included should be clearly readable and use one of the following fonts: Times, Arial, Courier, Helvetica, Ubuntu, or Calibri.
The minimum required size is 560 × 1100 pixels (height × width), and the image must be of sufficient quality for proper reproduction.
4. Technical Preparation Requirements
Acronyms / Abbreviations
Acronyms, abbreviations, and initialisms must be defined the first time they appear in each of the following sections: the abstract, the main text, and the first figure or table. The abbreviated term should appear in parentheses after the full term upon first mention.
Units
SI Units (International System of Units) should be used throughout the manuscript. Imperial, US customary, or other units should be converted to SI units wherever possible.
Equations
Equations should be prepared using the Microsoft Equation Editor or MathType. All equations must remain editable by the editorial office and should not appear as image files.
Research Data
Publication of a manuscript implies that all materials, data, and protocols related to the publication should be made available to readers. Any restrictions regarding the availability of materials or information should be disclosed at the submission stage.
5. Front Matter
Title: The title should be concise, specific, and relevant. It should clearly identify the nature of the study, such as human or animal trial data, systematic review, meta-analysis, or replication study where applicable. Abbreviated or short versions of the title, such as running titles, should not be included.
Author List and Affiliations: Full first and last names of all authors must be provided. Initials of middle names may also be included. Affiliations should follow the PubMed/MEDLINE style and include complete address information, such as city, zip code, state or province, and country. At least one author must be identified as the corresponding author. The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring consent from all co-authors regarding the display of email addresses in the published article.
Equal Contributions: Authors who contributed equally should be marked with a superscript symbol (†), and the statement “These authors contributed equally to this work” should be included below the affiliations. Equal roles should also be described clearly in the Author Contributions section.
Abstract: The abstract should be a single paragraph of approximately 200 words maximum. It should be written in a structured style without headings and should cover: background, methods, results, and conclusion. The abstract must be an objective summary of the article and should not contain findings or claims that are not supported by the main text.
Keywords: Three to ten relevant keywords should be provided immediately after the abstract. Keywords should be specific to the article while remaining sufficiently common within the discipline.
6. Research Manuscript Sections
Introduction: The introduction should place the study in a broader context, explain why the work is important, define its purpose, and indicate the significance of the research. The current state of the field should be reviewed carefully with citation of key publications, including controversial or diverging hypotheses where relevant. The main aim of the work and the principal conclusions should also be highlighted briefly.
Materials and Methods: This section should provide enough detail to allow others to replicate the study and build on the results. New methods should be described fully, while established methods may be summarized with appropriate citations. The name and version of any software used should be provided, and the availability of code should be clearly stated where relevant.
Results: This section should provide a concise and precise presentation of the findings, their interpretation, and the conclusions that may be drawn from the experiments or analyses.
Discussion: The discussion should interpret the results in the context of previous studies and the hypotheses of the work. The broader implications and limitations of the research should be highlighted, and possible directions for future work may also be mentioned. This section may be combined with Results if appropriate.
Conclusions: A separate Conclusions section is optional and may be included where the discussion is particularly long or complex.
Materials and Methods: This section should provide enough detail to allow others to replicate the study and build on the results. New methods should be described fully, while established methods may be summarized with appropriate citations. The name and version of any software used should be provided, and the availability of code should be clearly stated where relevant.
Results: This section should provide a concise and precise presentation of the findings, their interpretation, and the conclusions that may be drawn from the experiments or analyses.
Discussion: The discussion should interpret the results in the context of previous studies and the hypotheses of the work. The broader implications and limitations of the research should be highlighted, and possible directions for future work may also be mentioned. This section may be combined with Results if appropriate.
Conclusions: A separate Conclusions section is optional and may be included where the discussion is particularly long or complex.
7. Back Matter
Supplementary Materials: Any supplementary material published online with the manuscript should be described clearly, including figures, tables, videos, spreadsheets, or datasets. Each item should be identified with a title, for example: Figure S1, Table S1, etc.
Author Contributions: Each author should have made substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work, or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data, or the drafting or critical revision of the manuscript. Each author must also approve the submitted version and agree to be personally accountable for their contributions.
Funding: All sources of financial support should be disclosed. Authors should clearly indicate grant numbers and identify whether any funds were used to cover publication costs. If no external funding was received, authors should state: “This research received no external funding.” Where applicable, authors may also state: “This research was funded by [name of funder], grant number [xxx].” and “The APC was funded by [XXX].”
Data Availability Statement: Authors should provide information on where data supporting the reported results can be found, including links to archived datasets where applicable. This statement may be omitted only if the manuscript does not report any data.
Acknowledgments: Authors may acknowledge support that is not covered by the Author Contributions or Funding sections, such as administrative support, technical assistance, or donated materials.
Conflicts of Interest: Authors must declare any personal, financial, or professional relationships that could influence the interpretation of the work. If there is no conflict of interest, authors should state: “The authors declare no conflict of interest.” Any role of funding sponsors in the design, execution, analysis, interpretation, writing, or publication decision must be disclosed. If there was no such role, authors should state: “The sponsors had no role in the design, execution, interpretation, or writing of the study.”
Author Contributions: Each author should have made substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work, or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data, or the drafting or critical revision of the manuscript. Each author must also approve the submitted version and agree to be personally accountable for their contributions.
Funding: All sources of financial support should be disclosed. Authors should clearly indicate grant numbers and identify whether any funds were used to cover publication costs. If no external funding was received, authors should state: “This research received no external funding.” Where applicable, authors may also state: “This research was funded by [name of funder], grant number [xxx].” and “The APC was funded by [XXX].”
Data Availability Statement: Authors should provide information on where data supporting the reported results can be found, including links to archived datasets where applicable. This statement may be omitted only if the manuscript does not report any data.
Acknowledgments: Authors may acknowledge support that is not covered by the Author Contributions or Funding sections, such as administrative support, technical assistance, or donated materials.
Conflicts of Interest: Authors must declare any personal, financial, or professional relationships that could influence the interpretation of the work. If there is no conflict of interest, authors should state: “The authors declare no conflict of interest.” Any role of funding sponsors in the design, execution, analysis, interpretation, writing, or publication decision must be disclosed. If there was no such role, authors should state: “The sponsors had no role in the design, execution, interpretation, or writing of the study.”
8. References and Citation Style
References must be numbered in the order of appearance in the text, including citations in figure legends and table captions, and listed individually at the end of the manuscript. The reference list should include the full title of each cited work. Authors are encouraged to use reference management software such as EndNote, Mendeley, or Zotero to avoid errors and duplication.
In-text citation numbers should appear in square brackets before punctuation, for example: [1], [1–3], or [1,3]. For citations with page numbers, use the reference number followed by the page reference, for example: [5] (p. 10) or [6] (pp. 101–105).
Citations and references in supplementary files are acceptable, provided that they also appear in the main text and in the reference list.
In-text citation numbers should appear in square brackets before punctuation, for example: [1], [1–3], or [1,3]. For citations with page numbers, use the reference number followed by the page reference, for example: [5] (p. 10) or [6] (pp. 101–105).
Citations and references in supplementary files are acceptable, provided that they also appear in the main text and in the reference list.
9. Reference Formats
Journal Articles:
Author 1, A.B.; Author 2, C.D. Title of the article. Abbreviated Journal Name Year, Volume, page range.
Books and Book Chapters:
Author 1, A.; Author 2, B. Book Title, 3rd ed.; Publisher: Publisher Location, Country, Year; pp. 154–196.
Author 1, A.; Author 2, B. Title of the chapter. In Book Title, 2nd ed.; Editor 1, A., Editor 2, B., Eds.; Publisher: Publisher Location, Country, Year; Volume 3, pp. 154–196.
Unpublished Materials Intended for Publication:
Author 1, A.B.; Author 2, C. Title of Unpublished Work. Affiliation, City, State, Country, Year, status (manuscript in preparation; to be submitted; submitted; accepted; in press).
Unpublished Materials Not Intended for Publication:
Author 1, A.B. (Affiliation, City, State, Country); Author 2, C. (Affiliation, City, State, Country). Personal communication, private communication, unpublished work, etc., Year.
Conference Proceedings:
Author 1, A.B.; Author 2, C.D.; Author 3, E.F. Title of Presentation. In Title of the Collected Work, Proceedings of the Conference, Conference Location, Country, Date; Editor(s), Eds.; Publisher: City, Country, Year; Pagination if available.
Theses:
Author 1, A.B. Title of Thesis. Level of Thesis, Degree-Granting University, University Location, Date of Completion.
Websites:
Title of Site. Available online: URL (accessed on Day Month Year).
Because websites may change or disappear over time, authors are encouraged to archive cited web pages using a service such as WebCite and cite the archived link where applicable.
Author 1, A.B.; Author 2, C.D. Title of the article. Abbreviated Journal Name Year, Volume, page range.
Books and Book Chapters:
Author 1, A.; Author 2, B. Book Title, 3rd ed.; Publisher: Publisher Location, Country, Year; pp. 154–196.
Author 1, A.; Author 2, B. Title of the chapter. In Book Title, 2nd ed.; Editor 1, A., Editor 2, B., Eds.; Publisher: Publisher Location, Country, Year; Volume 3, pp. 154–196.
Unpublished Materials Intended for Publication:
Author 1, A.B.; Author 2, C. Title of Unpublished Work. Affiliation, City, State, Country, Year, status (manuscript in preparation; to be submitted; submitted; accepted; in press).
Unpublished Materials Not Intended for Publication:
Author 1, A.B. (Affiliation, City, State, Country); Author 2, C. (Affiliation, City, State, Country). Personal communication, private communication, unpublished work, etc., Year.
Conference Proceedings:
Author 1, A.B.; Author 2, C.D.; Author 3, E.F. Title of Presentation. In Title of the Collected Work, Proceedings of the Conference, Conference Location, Country, Date; Editor(s), Eds.; Publisher: City, Country, Year; Pagination if available.
Theses:
Author 1, A.B. Title of Thesis. Level of Thesis, Degree-Granting University, University Location, Date of Completion.
Websites:
Title of Site. Available online: URL (accessed on Day Month Year).
Because websites may change or disappear over time, authors are encouraged to archive cited web pages using a service such as WebCite and cite the archived link where applicable.
Important Note
Authors are strongly encouraged to ensure that manuscripts are complete, clearly written, and fully aligned with the journal’s requirements before submission. Manuscripts that do not comply with the preparation and reference guidelines may be returned for technical revision prior to peer review.
