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. Is in agreement with the regulations of their institution(s) and generally accepted guidelines governing such work
2. Contains no violation of any existing copyright or other third party right
3. Is free of any obscene, indecent, libelous, or otherwise unlawful material
Focus and scope:
International Journal of Medical Toxicology and Forensic Medicine (IJMTFM) is aimed to promote scientific communication among medical investigators worldwide. The IJMTFM, which benefits from an international editorial board, was published Quarterly from 2011 to 2019 and from 2020 has been published continously by Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology in collaboration with Toxicological Research Center (TRC), Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences.
Contents include peer-reviewed research papers covering different aspects of clinical toxicology and forensic medicine. IJMTFM is adhering to ICMJE and COPE recommendations.Also it supports the following type of articles:
Original Papers
Meta Analysis
Systematic Review Articles
Case Reports
Letters to the Editor
Peer-review process:
After an initial screening, all submissions will be refereed by three reviewers during maximum two weeks according to specific research reporting guidelines for different study designs; include CONSORT for randomized trials, STROBE for observational studies, PRISMA for systematic reviews and meta-analyses. All authors should send their revised manuscripts within 2 weeks. Reviewers' and authors' identities are kept confidential. The existence of a submitted manuscript is not revealed to anyone other than the reviewers and editorial staff.
Submission process:
Manuscript must be accompanied by a covering letter to the Editor-in-Chief, including title and author(s) name and undertaking that it has not been published or submitted elsewhere. In case the manuscript was earlier submitted to some other journals and was rejected, the authors must provide full information for proper analysis.Title page and manuscript text files should be separately submitted online via the Online Paper Submission system.
Manuscript preparation:
1- Summary
Title page, Including title of article, author’s names , affiliations, and detail information of corresponding authors; Phone, Fax number, Email, and Postal Address should be supplied and submitted as a separate file.
Manuscript text file should be prepared according to specific research reporting guidelines (See table). In addition, Appendix section including acknowledgment, funding, and author’s contribution should be addressed at the end of the manuscript text in all types of above mentioned studies. All clinical trials should be registered in a registry of clinical trials proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO) or the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). As an option, the Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials (IRCT) is a registry suggested by WHO.
Standard Reporting Guidelines
|
Type of study |
Guideline |
Clinical Trials |
|
Observational |
|
Systematic reviews and meta-analysis on clinical trials |
|
Meta-analysis of observational studies |
|
Diagnostic accuracy |
|
Qualitative research |
|
Others |
2- Details
The journal adheres to the conditions stated by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). The main manuscript should carry the title, abstract, main text, acknowledgment, funding, author’s contribution, references, figures, and tables of the paper. The preferred word processing format for the manuscript file is Microsoft Word version 2003 or newer. Manuscripts should be double-spaced, with 2.5 cm margins on all sides. All abbreviations must be spelled out the first time used, followed by the abbreviated form in parentheses. Units of measurement must be complied with the International System of Units (SI). For indexing, three to five key words should be typed at the end of the abstract for each manuscript. These words should be identical to the medical subject headings (MeSH) that appear in the Index Medicus of the National Library of Medicine.
Observational Studies (Original Articles)
Cohort, case control, and cross-sectional studies should be arranged based on Strengthening the Reporting of Observational studies in Epidemiology (STORBE) statement and checklist as: Abstract, Keywords, Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion, Acknowledgements, References, Tables, and Figures. A structured abstract (with the subheadings title, introduction, methods, results, and conclusion) should appear on the first page of the manuscript and should not exceed 350 words. The main text (including the abstract and references) should not exceed 3000 words.
Clinical Trials
Original research papers that report a randomized controlled trial, should comply with the guidelines provided by the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) group. Also, supplying the manuscript with a CONSORT flowchart diagram is highly encouraged. Researchers who would like to publish their clinical trial reports in Emergency are strongly encouraged to register their studies in a registry of clinical trials proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO) or the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). As an option, the Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials (IRCT) is a registry suggested by WHO.
Review Articles and Systematic Review Articles
Should be requested by the editor, but IJMTFM will also accept submitted reviews. The authors of review articles are invited to contact the Editorial Office before preparing a review article. Review articles should be composed of systematic critical assessments of literature and data sources pertaining to clinical topics, emphasizing factors such as cause, diagnosis, prognosis, therapy, or prevention. They should have unstructured abstracts. All articles and data sources should include information about the specific types of study or analysis, population, intervention, exposure, and tests or outcomes. Authors of review articles should be expert and have contributions in the field of the addressed subject. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses on clinical trials and observational studies should be prepared based on Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) and Meta-analysis of observational studies in epidemiology (MOOSE), respectively. This type of articles (including the abstract and references) should be limited to 3000 words.
Case Reports
Case reports should be arranged as follows: Abstract (Structured: background, case report, conclusion, not exceeding 200 words), Introduction, Case Report, Discussion, Conclusion, References, and 1 to 4 Figures. Necessary documentations of the case(s) like pathology and laboratory test reports should be included in the submission package. This type of articles (including the abstract and references) should be limited to 1500 words.
Short Communications
Original research papers can also be published in a Short Communications. Submitted papers that are of interest but not acceptable as a full-length original contribution, are offered by the editor to be published in this section. Also, the authors can primarily submit their papers for consideration of publication in this section. An unstructured abstract no longer than 150 words is required for this section. This type of articles (including the abstract and references) should be limited to 1500 words. Tables and/or figures should be limited to 2 ones and references to 15 in maximum.
Letters to the Editor
All correspondence will be considered for publication if it contains constructive criticism on previously published articles in IJMTFM during the previous six months, the authors of which will have the right of reply. Also, reports of limited research or clinical experiences can be submitted in the form of a letter. The length should not exceed 1000 words. Letters will undergo peer-review processing and will be edited for clarity.
Appendix:
Conflict of Interest
Authors are expected to disclose any commercial associations or sources of support that might pose a conflict of interest in connection with the submitted article. All funding sources supporting the work must be declared in appendix section at the end of manuscript. Whole affiliations with or financial involvement in any organization on entity with a direct financial interest in the subject matters or materials of the research discussed (examples: employment, consultancies, stock ownership or other equity interest, patent-licensing arrangements) should be cited as conflict of interest at the end of manuscript text file.
Authorship
Based on the ICJME recommendations "all those designated as authors should meet all four criteria for authorship, and all who meet the four criteria should be identified as authors. Those who do not meet all four criteria should be acknowledged".
References:
Our reference style requirements are in accordance with the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals by the Vancouver style. You may find a complete guideline on Vancouver reference style here.
Figures and tables:
Figures and tables should be kept to a minimum necessary and their information should not be duplicated in the text. Tables and figures should be typed on separate sheets of the manuscript file, numbered, and have a title. Include double-spaced legends (maximum length, 60 words) on separate pages.
Tables as well as illustrations should be typed and drawn at the end of the manuscript after the references. Do not submit tables as photographs.
The figures should be sent in a format of JPEG or GIF which will produce high quality images in the online edition of the journal.
Responsibility and ethical requirements:
Author(s) should certify that neither the submitted manuscript nor other one with substantially similar content under their authorship has been published in any language or being considered for publication elsewhere. Author(s) takes responsibility for the integrity of the work as a whole, from inception to published article. In the event that an author is added or removed from the list of authors, written acceptance, signed by author(s), must be submitted to the editorial office. Sources of financial support of the project should be acknowledged. If the study involves human beings, the author(s) must include a statement that the study was approved by the local ethical committee and that written informed consent was obtained from the study participants. For those investigators who do not have formal ethics review committees, the principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki should be followed. Also, the maintenance and care of experimental animals complies with National Institutes of Health guidelines for the human use of laboratory animals, should be declared in text. All relevant permissions to cite the unpublished observations of others must be obtained by the manuscript author(s). The names and initials of these persons must be cited in the text, and permission from the original author(s) obtained. Also, permission must be obtained to reproduce or adapt any figures or tables that have been published previously. The Emergency conforms to the international regulations against scientific misconduct including fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, and etc. Any cases of suspected misconduct will be assessed during the peer-review and publication process based on the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
As part of the submission process, authors are required to confirm that their submission complies with all of the following requirements. Submissions that do not comply with these requirements may be returned to the authors for correction before further consideration.
The manuscript has not been previously published, in whole or in part, in any language and has not been submitted simultaneously to another journal for consideration.
The manuscript adheres to the stylistic, formatting, and bibliographic requirements outlined in the Author Guidelines available on the journal's website.
All authors have disclosed any commercial associations, financial relationships, or sources of support that could constitute a potential conflict of interest.
Any potential conflicts of interest have been disclosed in the appropriate section of the manuscript, in accordance with the journal's requirements.
The individual contributions of all authors have been clearly stated in the appropriate section of the manuscript, with each author's specific contribution identified.
All authors confirm that the manuscript is original and that no data fabrication, data falsification, deceptive manipulation of images, plagiarism, or other forms of research misconduct have been committed.
All organizations that provided financial or other support for the research have been acknowledged in the appropriate section of the manuscript, including grant or funding numbers where applicable.
All authors are accountable for all aspects of the work and agree to ensure that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.
All individuals designated as authors meet all four internationally recognized criteria for authorship. Individuals who contributed to the work but do not meet all four authorship criteria should be appropriately acknowledged rather than listed as authors.
As part of the submission process, authors are required to confirm that their manuscript complies with all of the following requirements. Manuscripts that do not comply with these requirements may be returned to the authors for correction before further consideration.
The manuscript has not been published previously, in whole or in part, in any language, and is not currently under consideration by another journal.
The manuscript is original and has been prepared in accordance with the journal's Author Guidelines, including requirements for formatting, structure, references, tables, figures, and supplementary materials.
The manuscript has not been submitted simultaneously to another journal, and the authors agree not to submit it elsewhere while it is under consideration by IJMTFM.
All authors have disclosed any financial, commercial, institutional, personal, or other relationships that could constitute a potential conflict of interest.
All relevant conflicts of interest and sources of financial or material support have been disclosed in the appropriate sections of the manuscript.
All sources of funding and all organizations that provided financial or other support for the research have been acknowledged, including grant or project numbers where applicable.
The manuscript represents original work. All authors confirm that there has been no fabrication or falsification of data, plagiarism, inappropriate image manipulation, duplicate publication, or other form of research misconduct.
All data, results, figures, tables, and other materials presented in the manuscript have been reported accurately and transparently.
The individual contributions of all authors have been clearly stated in the Author Contributions section of the manuscript.
All individuals designated as authors meet all four of the following authorship criteria:
Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data.
Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content.
Final approval of the version to be published.
Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work and to ensure that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.
Individuals who have contributed to the work but do not meet all four authorship criteria should not be listed as authors and should instead be appropriately acknowledged, with their permission.
All authors have reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript and agree to its submission and publication.
Where the manuscript involves human participants, identifiable individuals, patient information, human biological materials, or other ethically sensitive information, the authors have obtained all required ethical approvals and informed consent in accordance with applicable regulations and ethical standards.
Where applicable, the manuscript is accompanied by copies of permissions to reproduce previously published copyrighted material, including text, tables, figures, photographs, illustrations, or other third-party materials.
Where applicable, appropriate consent has been obtained for the publication of identifiable information, photographs, or other materials relating to identifiable individuals.
The corresponding author is responsible for communication with the journal and for confirming, on behalf of all authors, that the information provided during submission is accurate and that all authors have agreed to the submission.
Copyright in all articles published by the International Journal of Medical Toxicology and Forensic Medicine (IJMTFM) is retained by the authors.
By submitting a manuscript to IJMTFM, the authors grant the journal the right of first publication and a non-exclusive, worldwide, irrevocable license to publish, reproduce, distribute, archive, and make the article publicly available in electronic and other appropriate formats.
All articles published by IJMTFM are made available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) License.
Under the CC BY 4.0 License, users may copy, redistribute, remix, transform, and build upon the published work for any purpose, including commercial purposes, provided that appropriate credit is given to the original authors and the journal, a link to the applicable license is provided, and any changes made to the original work are clearly indicated.
Authors may reuse, reproduce, distribute, and communicate their published work in presentations, academic activities, institutional repositories, websites, and subsequent publications, provided that the original publication in IJMTFM is appropriately acknowledged and the terms of the CC BY 4.0 License are respected.
Authors are responsible for obtaining all necessary permissions for third-party material included in their manuscript. Such material may include previously published text, tables, figures, photographs, illustrations, or other copyrighted content. Any material not covered by the article's CC BY 4.0 license should be clearly identified, and the necessary permissions must be obtained before publication.
Where a manuscript contains information concerning identifiable individuals, the authors are responsible for obtaining appropriate consent for publication in accordance with applicable ethical standards and regulations.
All authors must approve the final version of the manuscript and agree to its submission and publication. The corresponding author is responsible for confirming, on behalf of all authors, that these requirements have been fulfilled.
Upon receipt of the manuscript and accompanying documentation, the Editorial Board of IJMTFM reserves the right to evaluate the manuscript and to accept or reject it at any stage of the editorial process.
The Editorial Board may request revisions, clarification, additional documentation, ethical approvals, consent forms, or other information when deemed necessary.
The journal reserves the right to make reasonable editorial, linguistic, formatting, and technical modifications to accepted manuscripts. Where necessary to maintain scientific, ethical, technical, or editorial standards, the journal may request the modification or removal of portions of the text, tables, figures, or other elements of the manuscript.
Acceptance of a manuscript for publication remains subject to the completion of all required editorial, ethical, and publication procedures.
License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided that the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given to the authors and IJMTFM, a link to the license is provided, and any changes are indicated.