Author Guidelines

The Faslnamah-i akhlaq-i pizishki has been ranked as a scientific research journal by the Commission of Medical Sciences Journals and its concessionaire and publisher are Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences (https://journals.research.ac.ir). This journal is published in Persian and English abstract, electronically, continuously, and with open access.

PDF

Publication Fee

      Publishing an article is free and there are no fees payable to submit or publish in this journal

Notes before submitting the article

• The article should be written in line with the goals of the journal; otherwise, it will not be sent for review.


• The article should be written according to the format of the journal. Therefore, read the article writing guide


• Pay attention to copyright principles.


• The article should not be submitted simultaneously to other journals and published in other journals (even in English, etc.). Pre-print articles and abstracts of articles published in congresses are an exception to this rule and can be published with the policies of the journal.


• All authors need to sign the commitment form and upload it to the relevant section of the website.


• All authors are responsible for all stages of the research and the results that they provide. Therefore, they must fulfill the authorship requirements.


• The right to make written and literary corrections is reserved for the editorial board.


• Authors' opinions and the policies they follow are not necessarily representative of the editorial board's views.


• The editorial board of the journal is free to accept, reject or revise the article (with the approval of the author).


• Pay attention to the principles of the national publication ethics guidelines.


• All responsibility for the published material, including the accuracy and validity of all its contents and observance of ethical aspects in research, rests with the authors of the article.


• If the type of research is a clinical trial, the study registration code should be mentioned in the Iranian Clinical Trial Registration Center (irct.ir). According to the circular of the Iranian Medical Sciences Publications Commission, journals are not allowed to publish clinical trial articles without a registration code; therefore, if you do not have this code, the article cannot be sent for arbitration.


• Ethical considerations and confidentiality of information must be observed in the presented articles.

Article review requirements

• All articles must be registered through the journal's website (http://journals.sbmu.ac.ir/me).


• Resources must be written using EndNote software and be written according to the Vancouver style.


• All sources must be written in English and if the source is in Persian, it must be translated into English. Using the English abstract of the article, the article title and the authors' names must be inserted.


• Pay attention to the deadline for making corrections and proofs. In case of any delay, the article will be archived and removed from the review process. An article must be resubmitted and rescheduled in order to be reviewed again.


• Uploading article corrections and changes made is possible only through the journal website. Only during the page layout stage may limited corrections be emailed to the person in charge of the page layout.


• The email address used for sending correspondence should be ideally from academia (ir) or government organizations, to guarantee the authenticity of the authors' identities.

Types of submitted articles:

• Original Article: A report of the results of a research conducted to answer a research question or test a hypothesis. (3500-3000 words, without abstracts, tables, and resources)


• Review Article: Presenting the latest findings on the review of previously published studies on a particular topic that can be presented in the form of systematic review articles and narrative review articles. (Up to 5000 words, without abstracts, tables, and resources)


• Case Report: Provides the results of a detailed study of a particular subject, such as a person, group, place, event, organization, or phenomenon, to describe, compare, evaluate, and understand various aspects of things that are rarely seen. (1000-2500 words, without abstracts, tables, and resources)


• Brief Report: A brief report of small and often pilot studies, describing unexpected observations that can be described in a short report with several images. (1000-2500 words without abstract, tables, and resources)


• Letter to the Editor: Includes topics such as reviews of articles published in the journal, elaboration of an idea, or clarification of the aspects of a complex topic. (1000-2500 words).


• It is important to mention that original articles are of a higher priority for the editorial board.

Writing guide

• Persian writing etiquette should be observed and the use of foreign words should be avoided as much as possible.


• Use B Nazanin 12 font for typing Persian letters (B Nazanin font for Persian abstract) and Times New Roman 11 font for English abstract.


• English scientific words and terms that are abbreviated in the text for the first time should be cited in full and their abbreviations should be given in parentheses.


• Use standard abbreviations and avoid using them in the title and abstract.


• The insertion of a dot, colon, comma, and semicolon is immediately after the word. After them, put a space and write the next word.


• A space is required between parentheses and the word before and after, but no space is required inside the parentheses.


• "می" and "ها" are separated from their previous word by half a space, such as "می‌گردد".


• To write the range of two numbers, it is not necessary to put a space like 5-1;


• It is better not to start the sentence with a number. If necessary, the number can be written in letters, like fifty-four patients participated in the study.


• The names of English people and methods cannot be written in Persian font. If there is no accepted Persian equivalent, it should be written in English in the text.


• Avoid writing subtitles/footnotes.


• Avoid sending tables and graphs as photos (JPG).


• Avoid writing abbreviations in the table.


• Write the numbers in the table in Persian.

Article arrangement

First page (Title)

• The title of the article should be concise and comprehensive. (As much as possible it should not be more than 15 words and avoid using acronyms in the title)


• Enter the name and surname of the authors, academic rank and exact address of all authors (respectively: name of the department, faculty/research center, university, city, country in Persian and e-mail in English).


• The corresponding author of the article should be identified by inserting the phrase "corresponding author" in parentheses.


• It is necessary to enter the affiliation of the corresponding author by mentioning the ORCID code, contact number, postal code, preferably the place of service in Persian and e-mail address in English (below the English abstract).

Second and third page (summary and keywords in Persian and English)

• The abstract should be concise and comprehensive so that readers can have a good understanding of the full text. An abstract is often presented separately from the article, so it must be able to stand alone.


• The English abstract should be adjusted by the Persian abstract.


• Non-standard abbreviations should be avoided, but if essential they must be defined at their first mention in the abstract.


• Immediately after the abstract, provide keywords.


• Write keywords using Mesh Terms (minimum 3 and maximum 7 words).


• The abstract should be structured and include the following:


• Background and Aim


• Materials and Methods


• Ethical Considerations


• Findings


• Conclusion


• Keywords

Introduction

Consider the notation of the following:

• Provide basic and background information on the subject


• Express the importance of the subject of the study


• Definition of specialized terms or scientific abbreviations


• Mention the studies conducted in the field to explain the existing knowledge gap in the field


• The necessity of conducting research


• Express the purpose of the research clearly

 Materials and Methods

  It should be written in such a way that any reader can repeat the experience of the author of the article. This section includes an explanation of the following:

• The type of research and the reason for choosing it


• Time (month and year) and place of research and follow-up period


• Research community


• Research sample


• Inclusion and exclusion criteria of sampling


• Sample size logic


• Sampling method/s


• Data collection tool/s


• The method of determining the validity and reliability of the tool/s


• Details of how you performed interventions, duration of implementation, and follow-up


• Data collection method/s


• Data analyzation method/s


• Statistical tests


• Statistical software (mentioning the version used).

Ethical considerations

 According to the requirement of journals to mention the specific code of the ethics committee, all research articles must have the code of the ethics committee. It is necessary to mention the code of the ethics committee in all articles; Unless provided by the Ethics Secretariat of the Ministry of Health and Medical Education. (Such as review articles, etc.)

• From 2018 onwards, all dissertations and research articles must have the code of the ethics committee. These codes are available in the National Ethics System for Biomedical Research. The code of ethics must be inserted correctly in the article.


• If you have a human subject, ethical considerations should be observed based on the general guideline of ethics in biomedical research with a human subject in the Islamic Republic of Iran.


• All articles should have an ethical considerations section.

  Results

In writing this section, pay attention to the following points:

• Present the main, important findings related to the goals and questions of the research.


• The results section should include only the findings of your study and should not mention the findings of others.


• Findings should be presented without the author/authors' bias.


• Refrain from interpreting and analyzing the findings in this section.


• Avoid mentioning all the findings.


• Report the findings in the past tense.


• Data can be presented in the form of tables, graphs, and figures.


• Use tables, graphs, and figures with the least possible number.


• The title of the table should be above it and in the chart and figure below it (mentioning the number).


• Do not send tables, figures, and charts as photos.


• Avoid repeating the contents of the text in the tables and vice versa.


• Avoid repeating the contents in tables, diagrams, figures, etc. at the same time.


• The numbers used in the tables and graphs should be Persian.


• Photos, diagrams, and tables and their descriptions should be provided separately and in the sequel to the main text of the article.


• The quality of the submitted images should be high and should be loaded in the relevant section with a volume of 250 dpi.


• Photos must be in "jpeg"


• Use a hyphen to indicate a decimal point: Example 45/90

 Discussion

The following should be considered in this section:

• The first paragraph should start with answering the main research question and express the most important findings of the study.


• The main findings of the study should be compared, discussed, and interpreted with the results of other national and foreign researches and studies.


• Use the studies of others to support the analysis and claims made.


• Comment on the expected and unexpected results and try to do a deeper analysis of the unexpected results.


• Analyze any unusual or unforeseen trends in the results.


• Avoid repetition and exaggeration.


• Avoid using unscientific terms.


• Follow a logical flow in writing the discussion.


• Practical cases and the generalizability of the results should be explained.


• Mention the strengths and limitations of the research.


• Suggest to remove the limitations in future research.


• In general, what has been added to science as a result of this research should be briefly described.


• Explain the hypothesis or possible outcome of the results that may be proven or disproved in future research.

Conclusion

• With proper writing of the conclusion, the authors have the opportunity to show the reader their general understanding of the research topic.


• Wrap up the article by saying one final word about the issues raised.


• Just as the introduction gives the reader a first impression, the conclusion provides an opportunity for lasting impact. For example, this is done by highlighting key points in the analysis of findings.


• Summarize the ideas and thoughts raised.


• Express the importance of the author's ideas. Conclusions provide an opportunity for authors to explain the importance of their findings.


• The application of the study findings should be mentioned.


• The conclusion should be expressed in simple and clear literature.


• Do not repeat the results or discussion of the study in the conclusion section.


• Summarize the details in the study in a general way.

Conflict of interest

• Any personal or financial relationships that the author/authors, institute, judges, or editor may have that may affect the results of the study should be mentioned in this section.


• To avoid conflicts of interest in studies supported by private companies, mention the items of the agreement paper.


• A conflict of interest report does not disprove the article, but we would like to be aware of it.

Acknowledgment

• In this section, the authors can thank and appreciate the sponsors and providers of research facilities or other people who have helped or participated in the research.


• In case of financial support for the research, it is necessary to mention the name of the institution or supporting organization and the number of the project/dissertation at the end of the text. It is not necessary to include detailed descriptions on the program or type of grants and awards.


• If the article is the result of a student dissertation, the details and number of the dissertation should be mentioned.

Contribution of authors

The contribution of each author in conducting the research and writing the article should be clearly mentioned.

 Intellectual Property Rights

The journal's content is protected by international intellectual property rights. This journal is for your non-commercial use. (This sentence is mentioned on all pages of the article).

References

• Mentioning sources in the text should be through the Vancouver style.


• Resources must be written using EndNote


• The number of sources should be entered in the order of entry in the text and starting from the number one and added in order.


• In the resource list, all resources must be written in English.


• To translate articles into English, you must act based on the English abstract of the published articles.


• Try your best to use new sources related to the last 5 years.

The resources writing method is given in the following examples:

Article resources

• The surname of the author(s) and the first letter of the author(s), full title of the article, and name of the journal (abbreviation and in italics), year of publication, journal number: start and end page of the article. Example:


• If the number of authors of the article is 6 or less, the last name and the first letter of the first name of all authors are mentioned as bellow:
  
  
  
  • Mohammadi S, Roshanzadeh M. Moral distress in students: A cross-sectional study in educational environment. J of Med Ethics 2015; 9 (31): 29-47.
  
  
  
  


• If the number of authors of the article is more than 6, the following is how you should perform:
  
  
  
  • Abbasi M, Nejadsarvari N,  Kiani M, et al. Moral Distress in Physicians Practicing in Hospitals Affiliated to Medical Sciences Universities. Iran Red Crescent Med J 2014; 16 (10): 1-8.
  
  
  
  

B- English sources in book form

Name and surname of the author or authors, full title of the book, publication number, chapter number, name of the publisher, place or city of publication of the book, year of publication, start and end pages of the article. Example:

Beauchamp TL, Childress J. Principles of Biomedical Ethics. 7th Ed. Chapter7, USA: Oxford University Press; 2013:310-45.

If you use an English book with several chapters, that each chapter has a separate author or authors and the article refers only to one of the chapters of the book, the following is done:

Surname and first letter of the name of the author of the relevant chapter, the title of the chapter, surname and first letter of the name of the main author of the book, full title of the book, publish number, name of the publisher, the place of publication of the book, year of publication, first and last pages of the article. An example is:

Meltzer PS, Kallioniemi A, Trent JM. Chromosome alterations in human solid tumors. In: Vogelstein B, Kinzler KW. The genetic basis of human cancer. th edition, New York: McGraw-Hill; 2002:93-113.
Read JL. The new era of quality of life assessment.  In: Walker SR, Rosser RM. Quality of Life Assessment. Key issues in the 1990s, th edition, Kluwer Academic Publishers: The Netherland, 1993:3-10.

Translated book

An example of a book that has been translated into Persian and its Persian version has been used in the article:

 Bagherloo S. End of Traditional Marketing Area. (Translation). Zimen S, ed. 2nd ed. Tehran: Mobaleghan Publication; 2004: 49-50.[in Persian]

Newspaper article

Wolf W.State’s mail-order drug plan launched. Minneapolis Star Tribune. May 14, 2004:1B. 

Article published in an online newspaper

Pollack A. FDA approves new cystic fibrosis drug. New York Times. January 31, 2012. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/01/business/fda-approves-cystic-fibrosis-drug.html?ref=health. Accessed February 1, 2012.

Contents originated from a website

Outbreak notice: Cholera in Haiti. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web site. http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices/outbreak-notice/haiti-cholera.htm. Updated January 9, 2012. Accessed February 1, 2012.

Thesis

Weisbaum LD. Human sexuality of children and adolescents: a comprehensive training guide for social work professionals [master's thesis]. Long Beach (CA): California State University; 2005.

Conference

Chu H, Rosenthal M. Search engines for the World Wide Web: a comparative study and evaluation methodology. Paper presented at: American Society for Information Science 1996 Annual Conference; October 19 24, 1996; Baltimore, MD. http://www.asis.org/annual-96/electronicproceedings/chu.html. Accessed February 26, 200.

Other electronic resources

World Health Organization. Tuberculosis Facts 2008/WHO Fact Sheets on Tuberculosis and Stop TB Partnership [Internet]. 2008 Apr [cited 2011 Mar 1].

Available from: http://www.who.int/tb/publications/2008/factsheet_april08.pdf

Institute of Medicine. Meeting 2: Impact of Pregnancy Weight on Maternal and Child Health [Internet]. 2006 May 15 [cited 2011 Mar 1].

Available from: http://www.iom.edu/Activities/SelectPops/pregweightwrkshp/2006-MAY-30.aspx

Review process

All articles submitted to the Faslnamah-i akhlaq-i pizishki are reviewed first by the Editor and then by at least two members of the editorial board at his discretion. If the article does not have basic standards (e.x. includes scientific or ethical flaws) or is outside the scope of the journal, it will not be accepted. Papers with primary qualifications will be sent to two or more independent referees who specialize in the subject matter. If the article includes statistical calculations, it will be sent to a statistics expert. The judges evaluate the manuscript in terms of authenticity, validity and importance to assist the Editor in making the final decision. All manuscripts are considered confidential documents.

Authors whose papers are not accepted at this stage will be notified within two weeks of receiving the paper.

Type of peer review

The Faslnamah-i akhlaq-i pizishki uses Double-blind Peer Review method, in which the referees remain anonymous to the author during and after the refereeing, and the author(s) will also be unknown to the referee(s) during the refereeing process. In the refereeing process, logical measures are taken to keep the authors anonymous. Authors should be careful not to mention anything in the body of the article that indicates their identity. For example, they should not mention their name and organizational affiliation in the text or attachments of the article. If necessary, they can write their acknowledgement, authors’ contributions and the order of the authors’ names in the cover letter and should avoid mentioning it in the body of the article. This information will be inserted in the relevant part after refereeing.

Duration of reviewing

The time required for the reviewing process depends on the reviewers’ opinions. The usual duration for the first round of reviewing is approximately six weeks, or two months maximum. If the report provided by the reviewers contradict with each other or is delayed for no good reason, the opinions of other reviewers may be sought. Obviously, this duration will become longer.

The opinion of the reviewers will be sent to the corresponding author along with the recommendations (if any) by the executive director of the Journal.

The corresponding author is assigned to highlight the corrections made to the article along with other authors within a specified period of time, usually 14 days, and send them along with a separate letter in response to the reviewer’s comments. The revised version will then be sent to one of the reviewers for comparison. If approved, the article will be sent to the Deputy Editor for review of English and Persian abstracts, to the statistical scientific secretary for control of statistical data (if any) and to the scientific secretary for scientific editing control.

Making the final decision regarding the acceptance or rejection of the article is the responsibility of the Editor and the recommendations of the referees may assist the Editor in this regard. If accepted, the article will be sent for page layout. In order to fix possible problems, a galley proof will be sent to the corresponding author. Defects must be reported to the Journal secretariat within 48 hours.

Any delay in any stage will cause the article to be removed from the reviewing agenda, publishing and indexing. No changes will be made to the article after its publication, and the author(s) are responsible for any mistakes, especially regarding organizational affiliation

Proofreading 

  To fix any problems before printing and publishing, a copy of the galley proof is sent to the responsible author. Article errors should be reported to the journal office as soon as possible within the specified time (within 48 hours). No changes will be made to the article after the journal has been indexed, and the corresponding author is responsible for any possible errors.

Preprint Article

A ‘preprint’ is a version of an article that is made publicly available via a recognized preprint server prior to (or simultaneous with) submission or accepted for publication in a journal.

 The Faslnamah-i akhlaq-i pizishki allows authors to submit preprint articles to this journal but it does not guarantee that submitted article will be sent for review .In other words, the availability of an article on preprint servers dose not disqualify the article from being submitted to this journal. However, corresponding author must inform the medical ethics journal at the time of submitting the article if it is sent or published in the form of preprint article previously.

 The Faslnamah-i akhlaq-i pizishki will send for review articles already available as preprint if they meet the initial requirements. Authors can also send manuscript submitted to this journal to a pre-print server at any time. If the article is accepted for publication in the Faslnamah-i akhlaq-i pizishki, the corresponding author is requested to update any preprinted versions to the final published article via the link.

If the preprinted article has a DOI code, the Faslnamah-i akhlaq-i pizishki assigns a new DOI code to the accepted article and link this code to the pre-printed code.

Review Articles

Regarding the writing of review articles, it is necessary to pay attention to the following points:

1. These articles are designed to present the latest scientific findings on a specific topic.


2. Include sections of introduction, method, findings or arguments, discussion, and conclusion.


3. The author should be able to express his/her opinion on the subject of the article and ideally having written at least three articles.


4. Cite the author's articles in the present article. (At least 3 items).

Open Access

 The Faslnamah-i akhlaq-i pizishki is an open access journal publishing original peer-reviewed research articles. All articles published by Majale "akhlāq-i pizishk are made freely and permanently accessible online immediately upon publication, without subscription charges or registration barriers. The (Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial License 4.0) formalizes terms and conditions of publishing articles and all articles in this journal distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial License 4.0 (CC BY-NC 4.0).

 

Publication fee

Publication in Faslnamah-i akhlaq-i pizishki is free for authors.