Submissions

Author Guidelines

Information for Authors

The Dalhousie Medical Journal will consider manuscripts in English which deal with any aspect of medicine including basic science, clinical medicine, surgery, medical education, medicolegal affairs, medical humanities and public health. The Journal will also consider for publication a limited number of creative writing pieces for which there are no specific criteria, but which are more likely to be accepted if relevant to health or medical sciences. An accompanying cover letter signed by all authors should state that the manuscript has not been published by another journal, nor is it under consideration by another journal.

There are no author fees or author processing charges required for publication in the Dalhousie Medical Journal.

Submissions must be electronic copies. Text must be in MS Word format. All figures and graphs must be electronic copies and provided in a separate TIFF file. References should be listed at the end of the paper in the required format. Failure to conform to these guidelines will lead to significant delay in publication of submitted manuscripts. Potential authors are encouraged to examine past issues of DMJ for examples of acceptable formats.  Submissions should be 3000 words (approximately 15 pages double spaced) or less. This word limit does not include references or figures. Longer submissions may be considered with prior permission from the Editor of Reviews and the Editor-in-Chief. Pages should be numbered consecutively in the lower center of each page. The entire submission must be typed double spaced in a 12-point Times font. After a manuscript has been submitted to the DMJ, the publication status can be obtained by email correspondence with the Editor assigned to the submission.

Please ensure a current email address is included in your application, for communication and editing.

For meta-analyses or systematic reviews, we ask authors to use the PRISMA checklist and flow diagram (found here: http://www.prisma-statement.org/statement.htm).

Title page:
The title page must include the following information: 1) authors‘ full names, degrees and affiliations 2) mailing address 3) email address 4) phone number (home and work). The following information should be included if applicable: 1) pager number 2) Tupper Box # 3) fax number 4) year in educational program. To facilitate the anonymous peer review process, the title page should be the only page containing the authors‘ names.

Abstract:
The abstract should appear on the second page and should be no longer than 250 words. It should state the purpose of the paper, basic procedures, main findings and the principal conclusions.

In-text Citations: In-text citations, or references, are to be numbered, in superscript format, ordered sequentially as they appear in the test, tables, boxes, and figure legends, after the punctuation mark.

References:
References are to be numbered sequentially in the order they appear in the text. The reference section should be located following acknowledgements at the end of the text, following the sample formats given below. Complete information should be given for each reference, including titles of journal articles, names of all authors and editors, and inclusive pagination. All authors should be included in reference lists unless there are more than five, in which case only the first author should be given, followed by ‘et al.‘. Authors should be listed surname first, followed by a comma and initials of given names. Titles of all cited articles are required. Titles of articles cited in reference lists should be in upright, not italic text; the first word of the title is capitalized, the title written exactly as it appears in the work cited, ending with a full stop. Book titles are italic with all main words capitalized. Journal titles are italic and abbreviated according to common usage. Volume numbers are bold. The publisher and city of publication are required for books cited.

Journal article:
Hofmann, K.J., Paggi, A., Connors, D., Miller, S.L. Complete avulsion of the proximal hamstring insertion: functional outcomes after nonsurgical treatment. J Bone Joint Surg Am 2014;96(12):1022-5. 

Chapter in book:
Hahn JF, Mason L. Low Back Pain in Children. In: Hardy Rw Jr, Ed. Lumbar Disc Disease. New York: Raven Press, 1982:217-28. (Seminars in neurological surgery).

Book:
Katz, J. Common Orthopedic Problems in Pediatric Practice. New York: Raven Press, 1981:125-7.

Website:
1. author's name (if known)
2. document title, in quotes
3. complete title of work (if applicable),italicized or underlined
4. publication date or last revision (if known)
5. WWW address(URL), in angle brackets
6. access date, in parenthesis

Example: Hill, Joe . "Using FirstClass for Intranet and Internet Email." The
Email System of RCPS. <http://www.rockingham.k12.va.u/emailsyst.html> (28 May 1996).

Tables:
Tables should be numbered in the order in which they are referred to in the text. Each should have a brief title. Column headings and descriptive matter in tables should be brief.

Figures:
Each figure should be planned to fit into either one or two columns of text. Photographs and illustrations must be black and white and of good quality. Figures should be numbered in the order in which they are referred to in the text. Labelling should be limited to the essential components of a figure. Figure captions should be typed on a separate page at the end of the manuscript. Electronic copies of photographs and illustrations are preferred in TIFF or PICT format, and in separate files. MS PowerPoint is also acceptable. Attention should be given to be certain the graphics have adequate resolution.

Please note that for all figures or tables that have previously been published elsewhere, it is the author(s) responsibility to obtain premission from the copyright holder.

Drug Names:
Both nonproprietary (generic) and trade names should be given for all drugs mentioned in the text.

Submission:
Manuscripts must be submitted using the online submissions system on the DMJ website.

Case Reports:
Patient consent for publication is required for publication of all Case Reports/Case Series. A statement concerning patient consent should be inserted at the end of the manuscript. If the patient is a minor, or if the patient does not have mental capacity, then written consent from either the legal guardian or power of attorney may be acceptable.