Dubai Medical Journal

Submission Guidelines

Before you start – is this journal right for you? Please check the journal’s scope, and if you have any questions, contact publishing@knowledgee.

Author Responsibilities

We want to provide you with an easy and professional experience at every stage of your publishing journey. 

To help us achieve this goal, you, as the author, also have some responsibilities. These include:

• Responding quickly to queries during the review and publication process
• Taking responsibility for all aspects of your work, including ensuring copyright is not violated and permissions are obtained, and swiftly resolving any issues relating to the integrity and accuracy of your research, should any arise.
• Familiarize yourself with our ethical policies for authors and comply with all of our guidelines, including acknowledging everyone who has made a substantial and meaningful contribution to the submitted manuscript.
  

Corresponding Author

The corresponding (submitting) author is solely responsible for managing all communication between the journal and all co-authors and acts on behalf of all listed authors. This ensures that all correspondence reaches a unique contact and thereby secures swift communication in particular throughout the submission, peer review and production process. Articles can be published with more than one corresponding author (usually limited to three), but only the submitting author can be accommodated during the submission, peer review and production process.

The corresponding (submitting) author’s specific responsibilities include:

• Ensuring all the listed authors have approved the manuscript submission to the journal and agreed to all of the content including the author list, including the Submission Declaration
• Handling the revision(s) and re-submission(s) of the manuscript until acceptance
• After acceptance, manuscript proofreading and approval the final proof
• Acting as the point of contact for queries about the published article. It is their responsibility to inform all co-authors of any matters arising in relation to the published article, including questions relating to publication ethics, availability of data, materials, etc.
  

Copyright Permissions

Before submitting a manuscript, you must ensure that you have applied for and received written permission to use any third-party materials included in your manuscript that are under copyright.

Permissions we require:

• Non-exclusive rights to reproduce the third-party material in the article
• Print and electronic rights
• The right to use the material for the life of the published work (ie. no time restrictions on the permission granted)

By submitting an article to use for consideration, you are confirming that you have obtained all the necessary copyright permissions required to publish your article.

Preparing Your Submission

We offer a full array of manuscript preparation services to help improve the quality of your manuscript, save time, and maximize the impact of your research. Our easy-to-use platform connects authors with relevant experts in language support, translation, editing, statistical review and more. More details are available here.

Please note that this is an optional service and does not guarantee acceptance.

Manuscript Requirements

Dubai Med J accepts the following types of manuscripts: Original Research Articles, Review Articles, Case Reports, Systematic Review, Book Review, Brief Report, Commentary, Methods Article, Letters

All manuscripts should be organized as follows:

Title Page
Abstract
Body
Acknowledgments (if applicable)
References
Figures and Tables
Online Supplementary Materials

Manuscript Preparation

• The preferred word processing program for manuscripts is Microsoft Word. Page and line numbering should be activated, and the level of subheadings should be indicated clearly.
• Footnotes should be avoided. When essential, they should be numbered consecutively and appear at the foot of the appropriate page.
• Abbreviations (with the exception of those clearly well established in the field) should be explained when they are first used both in the abstract and in the main text.
• Units of measurement should be expressed in SI units wherever possible.
• Generic names of drugs (first letter: lowercase) should be used whenever possible. Registered trade names (first letter: uppercase) should be marked with the superscript registration symbol ® or ™ when they are first mentioned.
• The manuscript text, tables and figures must be submitted in separate files. Figure and table legends should be included at the end of manuscript text, not in the figure or table file.

Cover Letter

In your cover letter, please describe the gap in knowledge that this manuscript addresses, and discuss the implications, significance and novelty of your research for the Editor. Furthermore, please emphasize the unique and important contributions that your manuscript makes to our understanding of the field. If your submission is part of a special issue of the journal, please refer to the specific name of the special issue in your cover letter and specify who invited the submission where appropriate.

Title Page

The first page should contain a short and concise title plus a running head of no more than 80 characters. Abbreviations should be avoided.

Below the title, list all the authors’ names as outlined in the article sample, which can be downloaded under Article Types. Each listed author must have an affiliation, which comprises the department, university, or organization and its location, city, state/province (if applicable), and country.

Place the full postal address of the corresponding author at the bottom of the first page, including at least one telephone number and e-mail address.

Keywords relevant to the article should be listed below the corresponding author information.

Abstract

The abstract should provide a brief summary of the manuscript, including the research objective, methods, key findings, and conclusions. It should be around 250 words.

Body

Please refer to the Article Types section of the Guidelines for Authors for information on the relevant article structure, including maximum word counts and downloadable samples.

Declaration Section

This section includes the following:

• Acknowledgements: contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should not be listed as authors but should be acknowledged under this section.
• Ethical considerations: for human or animal research, the consent to participate or have their information published in a case report should be taken and reported in this section. Approval from an Ethical Committee should also be obtained and reported in this section.
• Competing interests: all conflicts of interest (including financial, personal, academic and/or ideological) must be declared upon submission. It should be noted that editors and reviewers are likewise responsible for disclosing any conflicts of interest.
• Availability of data and material
• Funding
• Abbreviations and symbols: it is recommended only to use standard abbreviations; nonstandard abbreviations can confuse readers. Avoid abbreviations in the title of the manuscript. The spelt-out abbreviation followed by the abbreviation in parentheses should be used on the first mention unless the abbreviation is a standard unit of measurement.
  

References

In-Text Citation

References in the text should be identified sequentially using Arabic numerals [in square brackets].

References List

The reference list should include only those publications which are cited in the text, arranged numerically in the order in which they are cited. Please number the reference list as shown below (i.e., without using full stops, brackets, etc.). The authors’ surnames should be followed by their initials with no punctuation other than a comma to separate individual authors. A maximum of 6 authors should be listed (followed by “et al.” if there are more than 6 authors). Material submitted for publication but not yet accepted should be referred to as “unpublished data” and should not be included in the reference list. Other pre-published or related materials with a DOI, e.g. preprint manuscripts, datasets, and code, may be included. More information on good referencing practice, as well as further examples, can be found in National Library of Medicine Style Guide for Authors.

Examples

Articles published in journals: 1 Sawant KV, Xu R, Cox R, Hawkins H, Sbrana E, Kolli D, et al. Chemokine CXCL1-mediated neutrophil trafficking in the lung: role of CXCR2 activation. J Innate Immun. 2015;6(7):647–58. (Journal names should be abbreviated according to the Index Medicus.)

Articles published only with DOI number: 2 Chen C, Hu Z. ApoE polymorphisms and the risk of different subtypes of stroke in the Chinese population: a comprehensive meta-analysis. Cerebrovasc Dis. DOI: 10.1159/000442678.

Monographs: 3 Matthews DE, Farewell VT. Using and understanding medical statistics. 5th ed, revised. Basel: Karger; 2015.

Edited Books: 4 Cohen SR, Gardner TW. Diabetic retinopathy and diabetic macular edema. In: Nguyen QD, Rodrigues EB, Farah ME, Mieler WF, Do DV, editors. Retinal pharmacotherapeutics. Dev Ophthalmol. Basel: Karger; 2016. Vol. 55; p. 137–46.
 

Tables and Figures

The figure legend should be placed at the end of the article, after the reference list. The figure legend should not be part of the figure file. Tables require a heading above or below the table in the table file. For more details please download the relevant article template from the section “Article Types”.

Online Supplementary Material

Online Supplementary Material may be used to enhance a publication and increase its visibility on the Web. Supplementary files (directly relevant but not essential to the conclusions of the paper) will undergo editorial review and should be submitted in a separate file with the original manuscript and with all subsequent submissions. The Editor(s) reserve(s) the right to limit the scope and length of supplementary material. Supplementary material must meet production quality standards for publication without the need for any modification or editing. For ease of reader access, we strongly recommend that files be less than 10 MB. Authors wishing to associate larger amounts of supplementary material with their article should deposit their data in an appropriate public data repository. Figures must have legends and tables require headings. All files must be named clearly. Acceptable files and formats are Word or PDF files, Excel spreadsheets (if the data cannot be converted properly into a PDF file), and multimedia files (MPEG, AVI, or QuickTime formats). All supplementary material should be referred to in the main text.

Details About Types of Manuscripts and Guidelines

Original Research Article

Research Articles report on primary research. They must describe significant and original observations. Consideration for publication is based on the article’s originality, novelty, and scientific soundness, and the appropriateness of its analysis.

Research Articles are reports of original work. Authors are asked to follow the EQUATOR Network for Research Articles.

Prior approval from an Institutional Review Board (IRB) or an Ethics Review Committee is required for all investigations involving human subjects.

Research Articles should not exceed 3,000 words, excluding up to 6 tables or figures and up to 40 references.

A downloadable template is available below.

A plain language summary may be submitted for Research Articles. The summary should not exceed 250 words and be written in plain English avoiding the use of technical language. If a technical term must be used, then authors must explain it the first time that it is used. The summary must be distinct from the abstract and provide readers with an easy-to-understand description of the manuscript. Authors should avoid the use of personal opinions and/or speculation on the results of the manuscript. No page charges will be incurred by the inclusion of the plain language summary. Use neither bibliographic references nor references to figures or tables in the summary.

Reviews

Review Articles are considered reviews of research or summary articles. They are state-of-the-art papers covering a current topic by experts in the field. They should give evidence on and provide answers to a well-defined aspect or question in a particular area. Review Articles must include a critical discussion of the reported data and give a clear conclusion with potential impacts on the standard of care.

Review Articles should not exceed 3,500 words, excluding up to 6 tables or figures and up to 60 references.

A downloadable template is available below.

A plain language summary may be submitted for Review Articles. The summary should not exceed 250 words and be written in plain English avoiding the use of technical language. If a technical term must be used, then authors must explain it the first time that it is used. The summary must be distinct from the abstract and provide readers with an easy-to-understand description of the manuscript. Authors should avoid the use of personal opinions and/or speculation on the results of the manuscript. No page charges will be incurred by the inclusion of the plain language summary. Use neither bibliographic references nor references to figures or tables in the summary.

Systematic Reviews

Systematic Reviews are literature reviews focused on a research question that synthesizes all high-quality research evidence relevant to that question. Systematic Reviews should be presented in the Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion format. The subject must be clearly defined. The objective of a Systematic Review should be to arrive at an evidence-based conclusion. The Methods section should give a clear indication of the literature search strategy, data extraction procedure, grading of evidence, and kind of analysis used. We strongly encourage authors to comply with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines.

A downloadable template is available below.

Case Report

Case Reports can present a case study, case report, or other description of a case. Case Reports present significant new insights or cases with an unusual and noteworthy course. Submissions can be based on a case or a number of similar cases. The most important aspect of the presentation is that it should provide a new perspective on a recognized clinical scenario or may represent an entirely new clinical condition. The novelty of the case(s) may lie in the phenotype, the presentation, the investigation, and/or the management. We strongly encourage authors to comply with the CARE guidelines. The manuscript must include a statement detailing that written informed consent for publication was obtained and from whom (e.g. “Written informed consent was obtained from the patient for publication of this case report and any accompanying images.”). If the patient has died, consent for publication must be obtained from their next of kin. If the patient described in the case report is a minor or vulnerable, then consent for publication must be obtained from the parent/legal guardian. The completed consent form must be made available to the Editor if requested, and will be treated confidentially.

Case Reports should not be more than 1,000 words, with approx. 10 references, and 2 figures and/or tables.

A downloadable template is available below.

Commentary

Commentaries draw attention to a jointly published article, discussing the context or implications of the article and highlighting points of wider relevance to the field. Commentaries are presented from the author’s perspective and do not include original data. Commentaries are invited by the Editors and relate to an article in the same issue.

A downloadable template is available below.

Meta-Analysis

A meta-analysis is a statistical method used to synthesize and integrate the results of multiple independent studies on a particular topic, with the aim of providing a more comprehensive and precise estimate of the overall effect size or outcome. Authors undertaking a meta-analysis should adhere to specific guidelines to ensure the methodological rigor and transparency of their work. The key elements that authors should consider when preparing a meta-analysis are: a) Define the Research Question b) Conduct a Comprehensive Literature Search c) Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria d) Data Extraction e) Assess Study Quality and Risk of Bias f) Statistical Analysis h) Address Heterogeneity i) Publication Bias j) Transparent Reporting k) Conclusion. Adhering to these guidelines will contribute to the credibility and reliability of the meta-analysis, allowing readers to better understand the synthesis of evidence and the robustness of the conclusions drawn from the collective data.

Clinical Trial

Clinical trial articles play a pivotal role in advancing medical knowledge by presenting rigorously conducted studies that assess the safety, efficacy, and outcomes of interventions. Authors are encouraged to follow these comprehensive guidelines to conduct and report clinical trials with the highest standards of rigor and ethical consideration, contributing to evidence-based medicine and improved patient care. The key elements that authors should consider when preparing a Clinical Trial are: a) Study Design and Protocol Development b) Ethical Considerations and Regulatory Approval f) Participant Recruitment and Informed Consent g) Randomization and Blinding h) Intervention and Data Collection j) Monitoring and Safety Reporting h) Statistical Analysis k) Results Reporting l) Discussion and Generalizability m) Conclusion

Editorial

An editorial is an opinion piece written by an editor or expert in a specific field. It aims to spark discussion, offer critical insights, and provide a unique perspective on current issues or emerging trends within the field. The key elements for editors/ authors to consider are a compelling topic that is relevant, timely, and of interest to the journal’s readership.

Submission Checklist

Submitting your manuscript is simple with our online submission system. But to make sure the process is as easy as possible, read through the below checklist to ensure you have everything you need ready.

• Always double-check your manuscript before submitting it, as it is your responsibility to ensure that it is complete and meets the journal’s criteria, and has no spelling or typographical errors.
• Have a final read of the journal’s scope and aims, and make sure your article is a good fit and that your research is presented in a suitable way to match the scope.
• Does the manuscript comply with all of the stated ethics policies?
• Have you acquired all the necessary copyright permissions?
• Make sure you have removed all information that would allow the peer reviewers to identify you and thereby compromise the blind peer review process. (Also, if quoting your previous work, do not state it explicitly as ‘my / our’)
  

Submission Process

Manuscripts should be submitted online via the Dubai Medical Journal submission and peer review system by the manuscript’s corresponding author. The corresponding (submitting) author will automatically be the contact person for the manuscript for the peer review and production process. For fee payment and license signing, the contact author will be the first listed corresponding author.

Workflow and What Happens Next

• The author receives an automated email noting receipt of the submission
• The editor reads and decides whether to send the manuscript to peer review or to reject it if it is not fit with the journal’s aims and scope or if the quality is not high enough for the journal
• If the editor thinks it is suitable for publication, the manuscript is sent to two independent reviewers for a double-blind peer review
• The reviewer reports are returned to the editor
• The editor decides whether to reject, return with minor or major suggestions for improvements and resubmission, or accept
• If the editor decides that improvements are needed, the paper is sent back to the authors
• The authors make the suggested corrections
• The authors should receive a decision within about acceptance within x days, revisions within x days and rejection within x If you have not received an answer after this point, please email publishing@knowledgee.com or the Editor at x to request an update.

If accepted, the manuscript will then undergo the following steps:

Proofing and typesetting
Author checks
Editor checks
Galley proof preparation
Final checks
Publishing online

How to Share and Promote Your Paper

This journal is listed with a range of indexes and bibliometric databases. We also promote published papers through social media and content alert emails.

KnE Publishing also partners with Kudos, a free service we offer all our authors to help them increase the accessibility and visibility of their work, to reach a wider audience.