Author Guidelines
Material submitted for publication in the O & G Forum is accepted on condition that it meets the requirements of the editors.
The management reserves the copyright of the material published.
All authors must give consent to publication, and the O & G Forum does not hold itself responsible for statements made by contributors.
The Journals primary aim is the publication of review and CME papers, aimed at both primary care practitioners and specialist mental health care professionals. Original research will be accepted for review; as will Case Reports and letters to the Editor. All material will be sent for peer review.
Manuscript preparation
1. Copies should be neatly typewritten, with double spacing and wide margins. The manuscript should be submitted either on disk or by email, photocopies alone are not acceptable. A further copy of the manuscript should be retained by the author.
2. All abbreviations should be spelt out when first used in the text and thereafter used consistently.
3. Scientific measurements should be expressed in SI units throughout, with two exceptions: blood pressure should be given in mmHg and haemoglobin values in g/dl.
4. If in doubt, refer to “Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals (Br Med J 1991; 302:338- 341).
5. Authors initials & surname, qualifications (e.g. MBBCH), position, affiliation & correspondence address to be set out in full on title page of article.
6. All articles (review, original research etc) are to have an abstract , giving a brief succinct overview of the article. The abstract should reflect the essence of the paper and be not more than 150 words. For Original Research articles, the abstract should be structured as follows:-
Objectives, Design, Setting, Subjects, Outcome measures, Results and Conclusions.
7. Original research papers should be structured as follows:-
Abstract (as per point 6), Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion and References (see References)
Illustrations
1. Figures consist of all material which cannot be set in type, such as photographs and line drawings. (Tables are not included in this classification and should not be submitted as photographs.) Photographs should be glossy, unmounted prints. In no circumstances should original X-ray films be forwarded; glossy prints must be submitted.
2. Tables and legends for illustrations should be typed on separate sheets and should be clearly identified. Tables should carry Roman numerals, thus I, II, III, etc, and illustrations Arabic numerals, thus: 1, 2, 3, etc.
3. Figure numbers should be clearly marked on the back of prints, and the top of the illustration should be indicated.
4. Where identification of a patient is possible from a photograph the author must submit a consent to publication signed by the patient, or by the parent or guardian in the case of a minor.
5. If any tables or illustrations submitted have been published elsewhere, written consent to republication should be obtained by the author from the copyright holder and the author(s).
References
1. References should be inserted at the end of the sentence, outside the full stop, as superior numbers, and should be listed at the end of the article in numerical order. Do not list them alphabetically .
2. It is the author's responsibility to verify references from the original sources.
3. References should be set out in the Vancouver style , and only approved abbreviations of journal titles should be used; consult the List of Journals Indexed in Index Medicus for these details. Names and initials of all authors should be given unless there are more than six, in which case the six names should be given followed by “et al”. First and last page numbers should be given.
Journal references should appear as follows: a. Peter S. Acute hamstring injuries. Am J Sports Med 1994; 12(7):395-400.
Book references should be set out as follows: a. Williams G. Textbook of Sports Medicine. 2nd Edition: Butterworth, 1989: 101-104. b. Vandermere P, Russel P. Biomechanics of the hip joint. In:Nordien PE. Jeffcoat A, eds, Clinical Biomechanics. Philadelphia: WB Saunders, 1990:472-479. 4. “Unpublished observations” and “personal communications” may be cited in the text, but not in the reference list. Manuscripts accepted but not yet published can be included as references followed by “(in press)”.
All manuscripts and correspondence should be emailed to: Professor Greta Dreyer, e-mail: gretadreyer@mweb.co.za
