Author Guidelines
Correspondence
All manuscripts and queries regarding manuscripts should be sent to: The Editor Medical Journal of Zambia Editorial Office Dept. of Medicine Room 39 P/Bag RW 1X University Teaching Hospital, Lusaka Zambia.
Except for letters to the editor where only one copy is required, all other articles should be submitted in triplicate (i.e. three copies) and an electronic version preferably submitted as an attachment to an email. Additional illustrations and photographs are to be attached as JPEG documents. Authors from the University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka may find it quicker to submit their articles through the e-mail: MedJZambia@yahoo.com.
Manuscripts Papers should be clear, precise and logical. The Journal welcomes submissions in any of the following categories: original articles, review articles, short reports, case reports, letters to the editor, and conference reports, as well as articles of medico-political nature (e.g. points of view).
Papers describing a particular event (e.g. an outbreak of infectious disease) should be submitted as soon as possible after the event.
Original articles and review articles should not exceed 3000 words, including the references.
Short reports and articles submitted as points of view should not exceed 1000 words.
Letters to the editors should be concise, not exceed 500 words and should not be accompanied by more than one table or figure.
The paper must be typewritten, on one side of the paper only, double-spaced throughout with margins on both sides of at least 2.5cm (one inch). Words to appear in italics should be underlined. Headings should not be underlined.
Copyright
It is condition of publication in the journal that the author assign copyright to the Medical Journal of Zambia. To this effect all accompanying letters must contain the following statement. The authors being the sole and legitimate holder of the copyright hereby transfer it to Medical Journal of Zambia.
Condition of Acceptance
Articles are accepted for publication on condition that they are contributed solely to Medical Journal of Zambia. The editor cannot enter into correspondence about papers considered unsuitable for publication and the decision is final. Neither the editor nor the publishers accept responsibility for the views.
Authorship
The Journal advises potential authors to ensure that only individuals who have made a substantial contribution to the scientific (or otherwise) merit of the work are included on the authorship. Underserved or passive authorship is discouraged. The Journal will normally not accept more than six (6) authors per single paper. Papers not fulfilling this requirement will be returned for justification of authorship.
Papers should be sent out as follows:
1. Title page bearing title, all authors, initials, surnames, main degrees (up to two only) and the name and location of the institution where the work was done.
2. Abstract: This should briefly outline the content of the paper under the following headlines: objectives, design, main outcomes, measures, results and conclusions.
3. Introduction
4. Methods
5. Results
6. Discussions
7. Acknowledgement
8. References
Review articles and other contributions that may not easily comply with the above layout should have appropriate subheadings instead. Tables and figures should be kept to a minimum. Tables must be comprehensible without reference to the text. Reference should not be cited in the tables. Authors should indicate at approximately what point in the text the table should appear. Figures, graphs, drawings etc., should be on separate sheets, numbered and executed in black ink and given suitable legends. Illustrations and tables should be kept separate from the text.
References
References should be in the order made in the text and numbered accordingly using figures (numbers). These numbers should be inserted at the end of the paper and should consist of the surnames and initials of all authors when six or less, when seven or more, list the first three and add the words et al, title of article, full name of Journal, year, volume, first and last page numbers, as follows: 1. Ng’andu, N.H. and Watts, T.E. Child growth and breast feeding in Urban Zambia. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 1992; 44:281-285. 2. For books, names and initials of all author, the full title, place of publication, publishers, year of publication and page number should be given. Authors should personally verify the accuracy of every reference before submitting the paper for publication and should ensure that the listed references correspond exactly to those in the text.
A checklist for authors and contributors
• Must ensure you have submitted three copies of the manuscript.
• Be sure you have used the referencing style of the journal.
• Make sure every legends for illustrations are clearly written.
• Illustrations must be of good quality, unmounted glossy prints, usually 17x173mm, or attached as JPEG documents electronically.
• Has a colleague assessed your paper before submitting it?
• Take time to go through the instructions for authors and assess where your manuscript stands.
