Author Guidelines
I would like to introduce you to our new scientific journal, Nigerian Journal of Family Practice (NJFP), which is published by the Society of Family Physicians of Nigeria. (SOFPON).
Nigerian Journal of Family practice (NJFP) serves as a repository for cutting-edge, peer-reviewed research in all fields of primary health care and family medicine in a uniquely African context. Encouraging scholarly exchange between family medicine and primary health care researchers and practitioners across Sub-Saharan Africa, NJFP provides a contextual and holistic view of family medicine as practiced across the continent. The journal is indispensable for family medicine specialists, primary health care practitioners and academics from both the developing and developed worlds, and offers an engaging insight into the growth of these disciplines from a distinctly African perspective.
Coverage of NJFP includes: Family medicine; Primary health care; District health; Rural health; Health promotion Prevention of disease and disability ;Community oriented primary care ;Education and training of professionals and health workers in primary health care and family medicine; Medical informatics and information science; Accident & Emergency care ;Occupational Health ;Travel Medicine etc.
NJFP is published twice a year and is committed to the timely publication of all original, innovative contributions submitted for publication. As such, the identification and selection of reviewers who have expertise and interest in the topics appropriate to each manuscript are essential elements in ensuring a timely, productive peer review process. Reviewers are asked to return their comments within six weeks and will generally not receive more than two manuscripts per year to review.
Thank you in advance for your support.
Dr. Shabi
Editor
Author Guidelines
Submissions can only be made online at iwokshabi@yahoo.com All manuscripts must be submitted in MS Word® format using Times New Roman font size 10 and single-spacing.
The author must always retain a copy. All the named authors must have approved the final manuscript. Pages should be numbered consecutively in the lower right corner. The following contributions are accepted (word counts exclude abstracts, tables and references):
1. Original research (Between 1000 and 3500 words):
2. Letters to the Editor (Up to 400 words):
3. Scientific Letters (Less than 700 words): One table or graph and not more than 5 references.
4. Review articles (Up to 1800 words): Most review articles are published as part of the continuous professional development (CPD) programme of the Society of Family Physicians of Nigeria and NJFP. A scientific editor is appointed to approve topics, invite authors and to review the articles before they are independently peer-reviewed. All articles are reviewed by a family physician as well a topic specialist. Review articles outside the CPD programme are welcomed. Once accepted they may be published in full in the printed journal OR a 600 word abstract will be published in print with the full article available online on the SOFPON website.
5. Case reports (between 1000 to 2500 words): This may be special reports, unique clinical experience and short reports of original research with a maximum of two tables or illustrations and not more than 15 references.
Format
Title page: All articles must have a title page with the following information and in this particular order: Title of the article; surname, initials, qualifications and affiliation of each author; The name, postal address, e-mail address and telephonic contact details of the corresponding author; at least 5 keywords.
Abstract: All articles should include an abstract. The structured abstract for an Original Research article should be between 250 and 300 words and should consist of four paragraphs labelled "Background, Methods, Results, and Conclusions". It should briefly describe the problem or issue being addressed in the study, how the study was performed, the major results, and what the authors conclude from these results. The abstracts for other types of articles should be no longer than 200 words and need not follow the structured abstract format.
Keywords: All articles should include keywords. Up to five words or short phrases should be used. Use terms from the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) of Index Medicus when available and appropriate. Key words are used to index the article and may be published with the abstract.
Acknowledgements: In a separate section, acknowledge any financial support received or possible conflict of interest. This section may also be used to acknowledge substantial contributions to the research or preparation of the manuscript made by persons other than the authors.
Implications for policy/practice: All articles must include three implications for policy makers and three implications for clinical practice
Contributions of each author: All articles must include the contributions of each of the authors to the work. (Conceptualization and Review of literature; Design of methodology; Data collection; Data analysis and presentation of fifindings; Discussion of findings; Final authorization of completed work).
References: Cite references in numerical order in the text, in superscript format. Do not use brackets. In the References section, references must be numbered consecutively in the order in which they are cited, not alphabetically. The style for references should follow the format set forth in the "Uniform requirements for Manuscript submitted to Biomedical Journals" prepared by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors.
Abbreviations for journal titles should follow Index Medicus format. Authors are responsible for the accuracy of all references. Personal communications and unpublished data should not be referenced. If essential, such material should be incorporated in the appropriate place in the text. List all authors when there are six or fewer; when there are seven or more, list the first three, then "et al." When citing URLs to web documents, place in the reference list, and use following format:
Authors of document (if available). Title of document (if available). URL. (Accessed [date]).
The following are sample references:
1, Omigbodun OO, Babalola O. Psychosocial dynamics of psychoactive substance misuse among Nigerian adolescents. Annals of Medicine, 2004; 3(3):111-115.
2. FDATalk Paper: http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/ANSWERS/2002/ANS01151.html (Accessed 04/10/2002).
Tables. Tables should be self-explanatory, clearly organised, and supplemental to the text of the manuscript. Each table should include a clear descriptive title on top and numbered in Roman numerals (I, II, etc) in order of its appearance as called out in text. Tables must be inserted in the correct position in the text. Authors should place explanatory matter in footnotes, not in the heading. Explain in footnotes all nonstandard abbreviations. For footnotes use the following symbols, in sequence: *,†,‡,§,||,,**,††,‡‡
Figures. All figures must be inserted in the appropriate position of the electronic document. Symbols, lettering, and numbering (in Arabic numerals e.g. 1, 2, etc. in order of appearance in the text) should be placed below the figure, clear and large enough to remain legible after the figure has been reduced. Figures must have clear descriptive titles.
Photographs and images: If photographs of patients are used, either the subject should not be identifiable or use of the picture should be authorised by an enclosed written permission from the subject. The position of photographs and images should be clearly indicated in the text. Electronic images should be saved as either jpeg or gif files. All photographs should be scanned at a high resolution (300dpi, print optimised).
Permission. Permission should be obtained from the author and publisher for the use of quotes, illustrations, tables, and other materials taken from previously published works, which are not in the public domain. The author is responsible for the payment of any copyright fee(s) if these have not been waived. The letters of permission should accompany the manuscript. The original source(s) should be mentioned in the figure legend or as a footnote to a table.
Review and action. Manuscripts are initially examined by the editorial staff and are usually sent to independent reviewers who are not informed of the identity of the author(s). When publication in its original form is not recommended, the reviewers' comments (without the identity of the reviewer being disclosed) may be passed to the first author and may include suggested revisions. Manuscripts not approved for publication will not be returned.
Ethical considerations. Papers based on original research must adhere to the Declaration of Helsinki on "Ethical Principles for Medical Research Involving Human Subjects" and must specify from which recognised ethics committee approval for the research was obtained.
Conflict of interest. Authors must declare all financial contributions to their work or other forms of conflict of interest, which may prevent them from executing and publishing unbiased research. [Conflict of interest exists when an author (or the author's institution), has financial or personal relationships with other persons or organizations that inappropriately influence (bias) his or her opinions or actions.]* *Modified from: Davidoff F, et al. Sponsorship, Authorship, and Accountability. (Editorial) JAMA2001: 286(10)
The following declaration may be used if appropriate: "I declare that I have no financial or personal relationship(s) which may have inappropriately influenced me in writing this paper."
Submissions and correspondence. All submissions must be made online at iwokshabi@yahoo.com. All correspondence regarding manuscripts should be addressed to:
Dr. Shabi Olabode
The Editor, Nigerian Journal of Family Practice, Federal Teaching Hospital, Ido Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria.
E-mail: iwokshabi@yahoo.com GSM: 08037173584.
Submission Preparation Checklist
As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission's compliance with all of the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors that do not adhere to these guidelines.
1. The submission has not been previously published, nor is it before another journal for consideration (or an explanation has been provided in Comments to the Editor).
2. The submission file is in Microsoft Word or RTF document file format.
3. All URL addresses in the text (e.g., http://pkp.sfu.ca/) are activated and ready to click.
4. The text is single-spaced; uses a 10-point font; employs italics, rather than underlining (except with URL addresses); and all tables and figures are placed within the text at the appropriate points, rather than at the end.
5. The text adheres to the stylistic and bibliographic requirements outlined in the NJFP Authors guide final.doc Guidelines, which is found in About the Journal.
6. Electronic images are saved as either jpeg or gif files. All photographs were scanned at a high resolution (300dpi, print optimised) and saved/numbered appropriately corresponding with the text.
7. All tracking changes in the document must have been accepted before sending to NJFP.
8. Have you asked a colleague or language expert to proofread your final manuscript?
9. In the case of a research paper, prior approval has been obtained from a research ethics committee, and this fact
