Guide for authors

About the Journal
TEHRAN UNIVERSITY of MEDICAL SCIENCES (TUMS) will consider for publication original papers on any scientific aspect of medicine, namely basic science and animal studies, and clinical topics, including epidemiological, social, psychological and psychiatric aspects, as well as reviews and case reports. Tehran University Medical Journal (TUMJ) is pleased to accept articles in Persian. Manuscripts are received with the understanding that they are submitted solely to the TUMJ and that, apart from abstracts, none of the material contained in the manuscript has been published previously or is under consideration for publication elsewhere. The publisher reserves copyright on all published material and material may not be reproduced without the written permission of the publisher. Statements and opinions are the responsibility of the authors. Written approval by the local animal or human institutional review committee must be stated in the manuscript except for work that is noninvasive and minimally intrusive, or that is based upon routine clinical statistics already existing for the purposes of clinical care or follow-up and is part of the ordinary treatment of patients or human subjects.
ADDRESS EDITORIAL AND MANUSCRIPTS TO EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Prof. Nadereh Behtash, Office: Tehran University Medical Journal, No. 59, Enayat Alley, Poursina Ave, Ghods St, Keshavarz Blvd, Tehran, Iran. PO. Box:14155-6447, Tel: +98(21)88962510, Fax: +98 (21)88962510, Authors are encouraged to contact the Editor-in-Chief by e-mail: n_behtash@tumj.ir if they have questions regarding the suitability of a paper. Announcements will also be accepted and should be submitted by fax or letter to the Editor-in-Chief at the above address.
GENERAL GUIDELINES: Submit the manuscript in electronic form, either as an email attachment to http://manuscriptonline.com on a computer disc using mail services. Any standard word processing software may be used. The manuscript should be double-spaced throughout, with 3 cm margins all around.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST GUIDELINES: Sources of funding should be acknowledged, and all authors must disclose any commercial associations or other arrangements (eg, financial compensation, potential to profit, consultancy, stock ownership, honoraria, patent-licencing arrangement, etc) that might pose a conflict of interest in connection with the submitted article. Some or all of this information will be made available to the reviewers and, at the discretion of the editor, may be published in a footnote to the article.
MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION: Arrange the manuscript as follows: title page, summary, structured abstract and key words, introduction, methods, results, discussion, acknowledgements, references, figure legends, tables and figures. Number the pages consecutively, beginning with the title page as 1. The last name of the first author should be typed at the top of each page.
TITLE PAGE: Include the title, authors’ names (including full first name and middle initial and degrees or other qualifications) and a short running title of up to 45 characters. Provide information concerning grants, contracts and other forms of financial support and the name(s) of institution(s) at which the work originated. Under a heading of ‘address for correspondence’, provide the full name, exact mailing address with postal code, telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail address of the author to whom communication, proofs and requests for reprints should be sent.
SUMMARY: A condensed abstract of no more than 250 words for the table of contents should summarize the study and conclusions with emphasis on clinical implications. Do not use abbreviations or refer to data not provided in the body of the manuscript.
STRUCTURED ABSTRACT: On a separate page provide a structured abstract of no more than 250 words organized under the following headings: Background, Objectives, Methods, Results and Conclusions. Abstracts for Reviews, Viewpoints and Case Reports need not be structured and should be limited to 100 words.
KEY WORDS: At the end of the abstract, include a list of three to six key words and subjects for index-ing purposes.
TEXT: Abbreviations should follow the form recommended in Appropriate headings and subheadings should be provided in the methods, results and discussion sections. References, figures and tables should be cited in the text with numbers assigned according to the order of mention in the text. Brief acknowledge-ments may appear at the end of the text, before the references.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: Individuals who contributed significantly to the research or preparation of the manuscript may be acknowledged in this section. When this is done, the letter of transmittal should indicate that all those named have given their permission.
REFERENCES: Personal communications, manuscripts in preparation and other unpublished data are not cited in the reference list but may be mentioned in the text in parentheses. Identify references in the text by Farsi numerals in parentheses on the line. References should be typed, double-spaced, separate from the text and numbered consecutively in the order in which they are mentioned in the text. (References cited in figures and tables, but not in the text, should be numbered consecutively following the text references.) Journal references should contain inclusive page numbers; book references specific page numbers. Indicate abstracts by the abbreviation ‘Abst’ and letters by ‘Lett’ in parentheses. Abbreviations of journals should conform to those used in Index Medicus, National Library of Medicine. Examples:
Periodicals:
List all authors if six or fewer; otherwise, list first three and add ‘et al’. Do not use periods after the authors initials.
1. Rance G, Roper R, Symons L, Moody LJ, Poulis C, Dourlay M, et al. Hearing threshold estimation in infants using auditory steady-state responses. J Am Acad Audiol 2005; 16: 291-300.
2. Khalili MA, Pourshafie MR, Saifi M, Khalili MB. Bacterial infection of the reproductive tract of infertile men in iran. Mid East Fertil soc J 2000; 5: 126-31.
Books:
1. Zacharin RF. Pelvic floor anatomy and the sergury of pulsion enterocle. 2nd ed. New York: Springer: 1985.
2. Wall PD, Melzack RA. Textbook of Pain. 3rd ed. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone: 1994.
Chapter in book:
1. Monks R. Psychotropic drugs. In: Wall PD, Melzack RA, Eds. Textbook of Pain. 3rd ed. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone: 1994; p. 963-89.
2. Nochols DH, Randall CL. Massive eversion of the vagina. In: Nichols DH, Randall CL, editors. Vaginal segury. 3nd ed. Baltimore: Williams Wikins: 1989; p. 328-57.
Website:
National Library of Medicine. Images from the History of Medicine. (May 1, 1997) http://www.ihm.nlm.nih.gov/ (January 5, 1999).
FIGURE LEGENDS: Type double-spaced, separate from the text, with figure numbers corresponding to the order in which figures are presented in the text. Identify all abbreviations appearing on figures in alphabetical order at the end of each legend. Enough information should be given to allow interpretation of the figure without reference to the text. Written permission must be obtained from the publisher to reproduce any previously published figures. Cite the source of the figure in the legend. Figure legends should not appear on the actual figures.
TABLES: Type double-spaced on separate sheets with the table number above the table and explanatory notes below. Table numbers should appear in persian numerals and should correspond to the order of the tables in the text. Footnote each table with an alphabetical listing of all abbreviations used. Ensure that tables are self-explanatory and that the data are not duplicated in the text. Written permission from the publisher to reproduce any previously published tables must be included.
FIGURES: Submit three sets of unmounted glossy proofs and drawings. Artwork will not be returned. Figures are to be no larger than 22×28 cm (8½×11″). The lettering on the figures should be sufficiently large to withstand reduction. Decimals, lines and other details must be bold enough for reproduction. Place crop marks on photomicrographs to show essential field, and designate special features with arrows (which must contrast with the background). The first author’s last name, the figure number and the location of the ‘top’ must be indicated on the back of each figure, best achieved with an adhesive label. Figures are limited to the number necessary for clarity. There is no charge for figures.
SPECIAL DEPARTMENTS: Editorials, Viewpoint articles, Case Reports and Letters to the Editor are accepted and should be addressed to the Editor-in-chief at the above mentioned address.
REPRINTS: Two hard copies may be obtained from the TUMJ office. TUMJ is a free medical journal.