Author guidelines

KCMJ is listed as an ICMJE member, we adopt ICMJE recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals.

KCMJ supports guidance from the ICMJE that requires all authors to identify and declare any personal circumstances or interests that may be perceived as inappropriately influencing the representation or interpretation of the reported research results.
Declarations may include but are not limited to:
• All forms of financial support received for this research by any institution, organization or private company.
• Any personal commercial or financial interest in the findings of the research.
• Any relationship with institutions, organizations or private companies, and other activities or relationships that may be perceived as unduly influencing the findings of the research.

 

Manuscript must be submitted through online submission by registered users. You can easily register in the journal system. 

We accept five types of articles: (1) original articles: basic medical research, clinical research, or community research; (2) case report; (3) review article; (4) brief communication; (5) correspondence.  

 Manuscript Instructions:

For research articles (original article): The journal follows the so-called “IMRAD” structure (Introduction, Methods, Results, And Discussion). Manuscripts should be divided into:

Title page: In separate lines, the title page should contain: The title of the manuscript; the title must be specific, informative, and concise (maximum of 150 characters including letters and spaces).  Each author's highest academic degree and affiliation (department/institute/organization) should be listed. Land mailing address, telephone, and e-mail address of the corresponding author are mandatory.

Abstract: manuscript submission should contain an abstract of up to 250 words in a structured form, consisting of:

• Background: provide the drive for the study.
• Objective: mention the study’s aim.
• Subjects and Methods: basic procedures including study setting, selection of participants, settings, measurements, and analytical methods.
• Results: address the main findings, giving specific effect sizes and their statistical and clinical significance (if possible).
• Conclusion: emphasize only the new and important aspects of the study and not overinterpret findings.

Keywords: 3-5 Keywords  

Introduction

Summarize the motivation and provide a concise research background, but not a meticulous review.  States in a single paragraph the aim of the study, and specify the study’s main and secondary objectives (usually identified as primary and secondary outcomes).Please do not include any results or conclusions from the work being reported.

Subjects and Methods

Provide a detailed protocol of the study involving; study design, setting, and duration of the study, sample group definition (eligibility, inclusion and exclusion criteria) interventions, and investigations performed throughout the study (however, methodological details previously published are not needed).  Ethical approval (from the relevant ethics committees) associated in the research work must be specified. Specifications (including the manufacturer, city, and country) should be given for the used drugs, chemicals, and instruments.  The statistical methods used in analyzing study results should be specified and statistical significance should be identified. In addition, define statistical terms, abbreviations, symbols, and specify the statistical software package and version used.  Questionnaires should not be added to the manuscript; however, the source reference should be cited in the article. Clinical trials: the CONSORT flow diagram should be added as a figure. RCTs should be registered and their registration number should be mentioned on the title page.

Results

 Should be presented in a logical sequence to reveal the main or most important findings first. To diminish the length of the text, comprise your data in tables, and use graphs only as an alternative to tables (do not duplicate data in graphs and tables). The data presented in tables or figures should not be all repeated in the text. The text should emphasize or summarize only the most important observations (preferably those already identified as the major outcomes in the introduction section). When possible, quantify your findings and give numeric results not only as derivatives (for example, percentage) but also as the absolute numbers from which the derivatives were calculated. Identify your results using appropriate statistical measures of variations (such as standard deviation and standard error of the mean), as well as indicators of measurement of error or uncertainty (such as confidence intervals), and specify the statistical significance attached to them, if any. If you present tables and figures, up to 4 tables and 4 figures are allowed.

Discussion

Do not repeat in detail data or other information given in other parts of the manuscript, such as in the introduction or the results sections. It is useful to begin the discussion by briefly summarizing the main new and important outcomes, and then explore possible mechanisms or explanations for these findings. Compare and contrast the results with other relevant studies, in the context of the entirely of the best available evidence. State the limitations of the study, and explore the implications of the findings for future research and clinical practice.

Conclusion

 Link the conclusions with the goals of the study but avoid unqualified statements and conclusions not adequately supported by the data (in particular, distinguish between clinical and statistical significance, and avoid making statements on economic benefits and costs unless the manuscript includes the appropriate economic data and analysis). Avoid claiming priority or mentioning work that has not been completed. Whenever warranted, state new suggestions and recommendations, but make them as simple and clear as possible.

Acknowledgment:  If present should be placed in a separate section after the conclusion.

References:20 - 40 references should be stated for original articles. At least 60% of references should not be older than five years from the date submitted. References should be listed at the end of the article in numbered order according to Vancouver style. References should be numbered consecutively (by Arabic numerals in parentheses) in the order in which they are first mentioned in the text, and should not be placed at the end of a sentence before the punctuation. Please use cross-referencing if the same reference is used more than once. References to journal articles should include, in order(1) author(s) name (2) Title, (3) Journal name ( as abbreviated in MEDLINE), (4) Year of publication, (5) Volume and Issue number, (6) Page numbers. For the references credited to more than 6 authors please provide the name of the first six authors and represent the remaining authors by the phrase “et al.”An example of correct reference form is given as follows;

• Journal: Hassan S. Haider, Faez A. Mahdi. The combination effect of lidocaine, ketamine and atracurium in intravenous regional anesthesia. KCMJ 2013: 2( ); 61-63.
• Book chapter: Herring JA. Limb Deficiencies. In: Herring JA, Tachdjian’s Pediatric Orthopeidatrics, 4th ed. Philadelphia (PA): Saunders Elsevier; 2008, p.1983-2023.

II- Case study: For articles reporting case study, manuscripts should be divided into:

1. Title page: the same as for research study (see above with 3-5 keywords).
2. Non structured abstract: should contain abstract of up to 200 words in a structured form, consisting of: Background, Case presentation, investigations, Treatment, Outcome and Follow - up, Conclusion and Keywords
3. Introduction: Provide the impetus for reporting the study.
4. Case presentation: consist of a full description and information about the case that was available only at presentation.
5. Comprise in a logical sequence all the tests performed as part of the management.
6. Treatment: comprise in a logical sequence all the interventional performed as part of the management.
7. Outcome and Follow-up:  emphasize primary outcomes of the management and the long-term Follow - up if possible.
8. Compare and contrast the results with other relevant studies.
9. Discussion, conclusion, acknowledgment (if applicable), and references, 5-10 references should be stated.
10. Case reports should optimally be accompanied by relevant figures to document findings.

III- Review articles:

   Narrative reviews should contain the critical assessment of the current knowledge of the field. It should contain up-to-date information, comprehensively cover relevant literature, and preferably be written by scientists who have in-depth knowledge on the topic. All format requirements are the same as those applicable to full papers. Review articles need not be divided into sections such as Materials and Methods, Results and discussion, but should have an abstract and introduction, if necessary. It should contain at least 60 references

VI- Letters to the Editor: Letters should be less than 750 words. Letters discussing articles published in the KCMJ should be submitted at most within 4 months after the publication of the main article. The letter will undergo peer review and will be edited for clarity. Up to 5 references should be stated.

Ethical Considerations:

The journal applied to be a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). COPE’s flowcharts and guidelines are approached in facing any ethical misbehavior. The Journal also follows the guidelines mentioned in the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals issued by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE)

Human and Animal Rights: The research that involves human beings (or animals) must adhere to the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki.

Informed consent: All patients and participants of the research should be thoroughly informed about the aims of the study and any possible side effects of the drugs and intervention. Written informed consent from the participants or their legal guardians is necessary for any such studies. The Journal reserves the right to request the related documents.

Conflict of Interest:

We request all the authors to inform us about any kind of “Conflict of Interest” (such as financial, personal, political, or academic) that would potentially affect their judgment.

Plagiarism:

The authors are not allowed to utilize verbatim text of previously published papers or manuscripts submitted elsewhere. COPE’s flowcharts and guidelines are approached in cases where plagiarism is detected.

Data Fabrication/ Falsification:

 Falsification is the practice of omitting or altering research materials, data, or processes so that the results of the research are no longer accurately reflected. Fabrication is the practice of inventing data or results and reporting them in the research. Both of these misconducts are fraudulent and seriously alter the integrity of research. Therefore, articles must be written based on original data and the use of falsified or fabricated data is strongly prohibited.

Image Manipulation:

The KCMJ encourages authors to send their original images. All digital images in manuscripts accepted for publication will be checked for inappropriate manipulation. No specific feature within an image may be enhanced, obscured, moved, removed, or introduced. Adjustments of brightness, contrast, or color balance are acceptable as long as they are applied to the entire image and do not misrepresent any information present in the original, including the background. The editors will request the original data from the authors to compare the manipulated figures in cases suspected of inappropriate manipulation.

Copyright:

If a manuscript contains any previous published image or text, it is the responsibility of the author to obtain authorization from copyright holders. The author is required to obtain and submit the written original permission letters for all copyrighted material used in his/her manuscripts.

Requirements for Different Types of Articles

1) The cover letter should contain a statement that you will not resubmit your article to another journal until the reviewing process will be completed. Also please indicate whether the authors have published or submitted any related papers from the same study.

2) Title Page of the article should include 1) Title of the article; 2) Authors’ names; 3) Name of the institution where the work was done; 4) Running title (short form of the main title presented on the top of pages); and 5) Complete mailing address, telephone/fax numbers, and email address of the corresponding author. This page is unnumbered.

3) Photo Clinics: Figures that contain a significant medical point can also be accepted. Photo clinics should contain one or two high-quality figures and a description of the figures no more than 500 words. Up to 5 references should be stated.

4) Tables and illustrations must be cited in order in which they appear in the text; using Arabic numerals. Tables should be simple and should not duplicate information in the text of the paper. Figures should be provided only if they improve the article. For radiographic films, scans, and other diagnostic images, as well as pictures of pathology specimens or photomicrographs, send the high-resolution figures in jpeg or bitmap format. Color photographs, if found to improve the article, would be published at no extra charge at the print version of the journal. Type or print out legends for illustrations on a separate page, and explain the internal scale, and identify the method of staining in photomicrographs.

5) Supplementary Materials such as movie clips, questionnaires, etc may be published on the online version of the journal.

6) Acknowledgments involve any technical help, general, financial, and material support or contributions that need acknowledging but do not justify authorship, can be cited at the end of the text as 

Language and Style:

Contributions should be in either American or British English language. The text must be clear and concise, conforming to accepted standards of English style and usage. Non-native English speakers may be advised to seek professional help with the language.

All materials should be typed in double line spacing numbered pages. Abbreviations should be standard and used just in necessary cases, after full explanations in the first usage. The editorial office reserves the right to edit the submitted manuscripts in order to comply with the journal’s style. In any case, the authors are responsible for the published material.

Copyright Notice

If a manuscript contains any previous published image or text, it is the responsibility of the author to get authorization from copyright holders. The author is required to obtain and submit the written original permission letters for all copyrighted material used in his  manuscripts.

Privacy Statement

 The names and email addresses entered in this journal site will be used exclusively for the stated purposes of this journal and will not be made available for any other purpose or to any other party.

Copyright and licensing

The journal applies the license of CC BY (a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license). This license allows authors to keep ownership of the copyright of their papers. But this license permits any user to download, print out, extract, reuse, archive, and distribute the article, so long as appropriate credit is given to the authors and the source of the work. The license ensures that the article will be available as widely as possible and that the article can be included in any scientific archive.