Ethiopian Journal of Pediatrics and Child Health
Journal / Ethiopian Journal of Pediatrics and Child Health / Submissions

 

Guidelines for Authors

The Ethiopian Journal of Pediatrics and Child Health (EJPCH), which is the official Journal of the Ethiopian Pediatrics Society (EPS) is an open-access journal devoted to the advancement and dissemination of knowledge pertaining to the broad field of pediatrics, and child health and related relevant areas in Ethiopia and the world at large. Prospective contributors to the Journal should take note of the instructions for manuscript preparation and submission to EJPCH, as outlined below.                                                          

Article Types accepted by EJPCH

• Original Articles (vide infra) on experimental and observational studies with clinical relevance.
• Brief Communications
• Case Series
• Case Reports
• Systematic Review
• Teaching Articles
• Editorial
• Correspondences/Letters to the Editor- A letter to the editor (LTE) is a letter sent to a publication about issues of concern to its readers. The word count of the letters to the editor should be less than 300 words
• Monographs or sets of articles on specific themes appearing in Special Issues of the Journal

N.B. Articles are accepted only if NOT previously published or submitted elsewhere in print or electronic format, except in form of abstracts in proceedings of conferences.

Content and format of articles: 

1. Original Art

Original research articles should report on original primary research, or present a new experimental or computational method, test, or procedure and includes but is not limited to Clinical trials, intervention studies, meta-analysis, studies reporting screening and diagnostic tests, cohort studies, cost-effectiveness analyses, case-control studies, and epidemiologic assessments and other observational studies which may involve primary or secondary data.

1. Requirements: 

• Word count: The manuscript word count should be limited to 2500 words, excluding Abstracts, References, Figures, and Tables. 
• Manuscript sections: The manuscript of the original Article, should appear under the following headings: Make sure it serves both as a general introduction to the topic and as a brief, non-technical summary of the main results and their implications

1. Title page: This should be on a separate page and the title should be in sentence case with capitalizing only proper names. It should be well descriptive with the type of study mentioned as appropriate and should not exceed two line or 25 words or 150 characters including space. Avoid using abbreviations in the title as much as possible. Include the name(s), qualification of the author(s); the department or Institution (affiliation) of the authors; and address of the corresponding author. For affiliation of authors, use superscripted numbers and put the affiliation footnotes next to the list of names in chronological order of the superscripted numbers. Indicate the corresponding author using superscripted symbols preferably asterisks.
2. A) Abstract (vide infra): The Abstracts of an Article should be prepared on a separate page and contain a maximum of 250 words; it should be structured under the following titles: a) Background; b) Methods; c) Results; d) Conclusions. Briefly summarize the essential features of the article under the above headings, respectively. Mention the problem being addressed in the study; how the study was conducted; the results and what the author(s) concluded from the results. The statistical method used may appear under the Methods paragraph of the Abstract, but and do not insert abbreviations or References in the Abstract section. Trial registration in the available registry should be stated for studies reporting intervention on human participants.
3. Keywords: Three to six keywords or short phrases separated by semi-colon should be provided at the end of the abstract page. Use terms from the medical subject heading of Index Medicus to assist in cross-indexing the article.
4. Introduction: Should provide necessary information and background of the topic including the summary of available evidence, prevailing gaps or controversies, and significance of the study. . It should not be a review of the subject
5. Patients or (Materials) and Methods: Should contain details to enable reproducibility of the study by others including the detail about clear aim, design, participants, setting of the study, detailed description of the statistical methods, and others as required. This section must also include a clear statement specifying that a free and informed consent of the subjects or their legal guardians was obtained and that the study was approved by the relevant institutional and/ or national ethics review board. For manuscripts on clinical trials, a copy of an ethical approval letter from the concerned body should be submitted with the manuscript. Photos of patients should be disguised or have written consent.
6. Results: Should present the experimental or observational findings in text, tables, or figures in the way that it gives specific answers to the aims or questions stated in the study. The data in Tables and Figures should not be described extensively in the text.
7. Discussion: The first paragraph should provide a summary of key findings that will then be discussed one by one in the paragraphs to follow. The discussion should focus on the interpretation and significance of the findings in the results of the study with comments that compare and describe their relation to the work of others (with references) to the topic. Do not repeat the information of the results section in this section. Discussion should be summarized by presenting the limitation of the study.
8. Conclusions: A brief concluding paragraph showing the implications of the study results and possible new research directions and suggestive recommendations on the subject area should be in place under this subheading
9. Tables and Figures: together, these should not total more than six. Tables should be typed in triplicate on separate sheets and given serial Arabic numbers. They should be titled and labeled clearly. Unnecessary and lengthy tables and figures are discouraged. The same result should not be presented in more than one form (either figure or table should be chosen). Units should appear in parentheses in captions but not in the body of the table. Statistical procedures, if not in common use, should be detailed in the METHODS section or supported by references. Legends for figures should be typed on separate sheets, not stapled or coupled to the figures. Three-dimensional histograms are discouraged. Recognizable photographs of patients should be disguised.
10. Declarations

Ethical consideration: For manuscripts of research output involving humans, include the ethical approval with the name of the ethics committee that approved the study.

Authors’ contribution: Individual authors’ contributions for those who are listed as an author on the manuscript should be specified.

Competing interests: Disclose any possible conflict of interest in the manuscript.

Funding: All sources of funding and their role in the work should be specified if applicable.    

Acknowledgments: Appropriate recognition of contributors to the research, not included under the list of authors should be mentioned here; also add a note about sources of financial or research funding, when applicable.

1. References: - The titles of journals should be abbreviated according to the style used in MEDLINE (ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nlmcatalog/journals). References should be numbered consecutively in the order in which they are first mentioned in the text and identify references in text, tables, and legends by Arabic numerals in parentheses. Type the references on a separate sheet, double spaced, and keyed to the text. Personal communications should be placed NOT in the list of references but in the text in parentheses, giving the name, date, and place where the information was gathered or the work carried out (e.g., personal communication, Alasebu Berhanu, MD, 1984, Gondar College of Medical Sciences). Unpublished data should also be referred to in the text. References with six or fewer authors should all be listed. If more than six names list the first three, followed by et al. Listing of a reference to a journal should be according to the guidelines of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (‘Vancouver Style’) and should include the authors’ name(s) and initial(s) separated by commas, full title of the article, correctly abbreviated name of the journal, year, volume number and first and last page numbers. Reference to a book should contain the author’s or authors’ name(s) and initials, the title of the chapter, names of editors, the title of a book, city, and name of publisher, year, first and last page numbers.

The following examples demonstrate the acceptable Reference styles.

Articles:

• Gilbert C, Foster A. Childhood blindness in the context of Vision 2020: the right to sight. Bull World Health Org 2001; 79:227-32
• Teklu B. Disease patterns amongst civil servants in Addis Ababa: an analysis of outpatient visits to a Bank employees’ clinic. Ethiop. Med J 1980; 18:1-6
• Tsega E, Mengesha B, Nordenfelt E, Hansen B-G; lindberg J. Serological survey of human immunodeficiency virus infection in Ethiopia. Ethiop Med J 1988; 26(4):179-84
• Laird M, Deen M,  Brooks S, et al. Telemedicine diagnosis of Diabetic Retinopathy and Glaucoma by direct ophthalmoscopy (Abstract). Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci.1996; 37:104-5

Books and chapters from books:

Reference to a book should contain author’s (s’) name (s) and initials, the title of chapter, name of editors, title of book, city and name of publisher, year, first and last page numbers. For example:

Zorc J, Kiddoo D, Shaw K. Diagnosis and management of pediatric urinary tract infection. Clin Microbiology Rev 2005, 18: 417-22.

Martin Barrat, Patrick Niaude. Clinical evaluation. In Pediatric Nephrology 5th edition. (Ellis D. Avner, William E. Harmon, Patrick Niaudet Ed). Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, Philadelphia 2004, 387-98.

Henderson JW. Orbital Tumors, 3rd ed. Raven Press New York, 1994

Clipard JP. Dry Eye disorders. In Albert DM, Jakobiec FA (Eds). Principles and Practice of Ophthalmology. Philadelphia: W.B Saunders: 1994. pp. 257-76

Website: David K Lynch; laser History: Masers and lasers. http://home.achilles.net/-jtalbot/history/massers.htmAccessed 19/04/2001

1. Brief Communication: Short versions of Research and Applications articles, often describing focused approaches to solve a particular health problem or preliminary evaluation of a novel system or methodology.

• Word count; up to 2000 words.
• Abstract up to 150 words; excluding Abstract, Title, Tables/Figures, and References
• Tables and Figures up to five.
• References (Vide supra- Original Article)

1. Case Series
   Short versions of Research and Applications articles, often describing focused approaches to solve a particular health problem or preliminary evaluation of a novel system or methodology.

• Word count; up to 2000 words excluding Abstract, Title, Tables/Figures and References
• Abstract up to 200 words;
• Tables and Figures up to five. References (Vide supra- Original Article)
• Minimum of three and maximum of 20 case reports.
• Up to 1000 words; excluding Abstract, Title, Tables/Figures, and References
• Abstracts of up to 200 words; unstructured; (vide supra)
• Statistical statements here are expressed as 5/8 (62.5%)
• Tables and Figures: no more than three
• References: maximum of 20

1. Case Report

Report on a rare case or uncommon manifestation of a disease of academic or practical significance.

• Up to 750 words; excluding Abstract, Title, Tables/Figures, and References
• Abstract of up to 100 words; unstructured;
• Tables and Figures: no more than three 
• References: maximum of 10

1. Systematic Review

Review of the literature on topics of broad scientific interest and relevant to EJPCH readers

• Abstract structured with headings as for an Original Article (vide supra)
• The text should follow the same format as the one required of an Original Article
• Word count: up to 8,000 words, excluding abstract, tables/figures and references
• Structured abstract up to 250 words
• Tables and figures up to 8

1. Teaching Article

A comprehensive treatise of a specific topic/subject, considered relevant to clinical medicine and public health targeting EJPCH readers.

• By invitation of the Editorial Board; an outline of the proposal can be submitted
• Word limit of 8,000; excluding abstracts, tables/figures, and references
• Unstructured Abstract up to 250 words

1. Editorial

• By invitation of the Editorial Board, but, an Editorial topic can be proposed and submitted.
• Word limit of 1000 words: excluding references and title; no Abstract;
• References up to 15.

Preparation of manuscripts

EJPCH follows the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals recommended guide to writing manuscripts by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).

• All forms of manuscripts submitted for consideration of publication must get typed on one side of an A-4 size paper, in double spacing and with 12-point font size, left side margin of 3 cm, right side margin of 1.0 cm, and top-bottom margins of 1.5 all across.
• Manuscripts must be prepared in English, the official language of the Journal.
• On a single separate sheet, there must be the title of the paper, with keywords for indexing if required, each author’s full name and professional degrees, the department where work was done, and the present address of any author if different from that where work was done, the name and full postal address of the corresponding author, and word count of the manuscript (excluding title page, abstract, references, figures, and tables). Each table/figure/Boxes or other illustrations, complete with title and footnotes, should be on a separate page.
• All pages should be numbered consecutively in the following order: Title page; abstract and keywords page; main manuscript text pages; reference pages; acknowledgment page; Figure legends and Tables.
• The Metric system of weights and measures must be used; temperature is indicated in degrees Centigrade.
• Generic names should be used for drugs, followed by propriety brand name; the manufacturer name in parenthesis, e.g., diazepam (Valium, Roche UK).
• Statistical estimates e.g., mean, median proportions, and percentages should be given to one decimal place; standard deviations, odds ratios, or relative risks and confidence intervals to two decimal places.
• Acronyms/Abbreviations should be used sparingly and must be given in full, at all first mention in the text and at the head of Tables/ foot of Figure, if used in tables/ figures. Eg. Blood Urea Nitrogen (BUN). Intestinal Lung Disease (ILD).
• Using the binomial nomenclature, reference to a bacterium must be given in full and underlined-underlining in typescript becomes italics in print (e.g. Haemophilus influenzae), and later reference may show capitalized initial for the genus (e.g. H. influenzae).
• In the text of an article, the first reference to any medical phrase must be given in full, with the initials following in parentheses, e.g. blood urea nitrogen (BUN); in later references, the initials may be used.
• The manuscript for submission should be prepared in Microsoft Word document file format.
• Include page numbers in your manuscript to ease the editors and peer reviewers' point out for items/revisions.
• Scientific Articles and Contributing Authors are required to meet the specified Style all across.

Submission of manuscript

• As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission’s compliance with journals requirement (Read guidelines to author).
• All manuscripts must be submitted to the submission system of the Journal/ through email, fulfilling all requirements by the journal and submission system including but not limited to:
• The submission files at least include 
• A cover letter describing the importance of the work to be published, how it fits the EJPCH journal aim, and also declaring that the paper has not been published elsewhere in whole or in part, and is not submitted elsewhere while offered to the Ethiopian Journal of Pediatrics and Child Health. This does not refer to abstracts of oral communications at conferences/ symposia or other proceedings. The cover letter should be signed by each author
• Title page
• Manuscript body prepared according to the manuscript preparation guideline
• Supporting information like Ethical clearance letter, underlying data, assessment tools based on request
• It is the author’s responsibility to proofread the typescript or off-print before submitting or resubmitting it to the Journal and to ensure language standard and accuracy of numerals in the text and tables.
• Manuscript not returned in time will be considered withdrawn by the author(s).

Fees and charges

• Even though publishing is not without cost, currently the Ethiopian Journal of Pediatrics doesn't request an article processing charge for the manuscripts. All of the publication costs are covered by the Ethiopian Pediatric society which is the sole publisher of the journal.