Author Guidelines

Preparing the manuscript for submission to Kerala Medical Journal (KMJ) is a process that requires meticulous planning, diligent writing and attention to details.

The following word processor file formats are acceptable for the main manuscript document typed in unjustified format, using Arial font size 11 and 1.5 line spacing.

1. Microsoft Word (DOC, DOCX)
2. Rich Text Format (RTF)
3. Open Document Format (ODT)

General Guidelines for Manuscript Preparation

1. The title page should be a separate document that contains the title of the paper, the category of submission, detailed author information, and full contact details of corresponding author. Full names of authors must be used with initials expanded. Any one author can be corresponding author. The title page should be uploaded as a supplementary file while submitting the manuscript (see submission guidelines).
2. The first page of the main document should contain the title, abstract and keywords followed by the full text of the article. The full text should incorporate everything including images, tables and references in appropriate places. This helps to provide our reviewers with a single file and avoiding them the trouble of searching through multiple documents.
3. Plagiarism is a very common pitfall while writing scientific papers, and it often happens inadvertently. We use a robust and highly accurate plagiarism checking engine. Please make sure to avoid all kinds of plagiarism including auto-plagiarism before submitting.
4. Authors should try their best to use a professional writing style and avoid lay language.
5. Figures and tables should be sequentially numbered and pasted in appropriate locations in the document and should be resized to fit inside the page.
6. Graphs and Charts should use simple, two dimensional styles without any designer effects.
7. Tables should use simple wireframe styles without any colours or effects and should be editable. Best created in the word processor programme itself.
8. Original full resolution jpeg versions of photographs (if any) should be uploaded as supplementary files while submitting the manuscript.
9. Endnotes section should contain List of abbreviations with expansions, Explanations of terminologies as required, Conflicts of Interest statement, Acknowledgements and Financial Support.

(A conflict of interest or competing interest exists when your interpretation of data or presentation of information may be influenced by your personal or financial relationship with other people or organizations. Authors must disclose any financial competing interests; they should also reveal any non-financial competing interests that may cause them embarrassment were they to become public after the publication of the article.)

10. References should be created in the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) format also known as the Vancouver style. Up-to-date information on this style of referencing can be found on the official ICMJE page. We recommend using the free reference management programme Zotero for creating references.
11. Format used for data collection should be uploaded as supplementary file while submitting the manuscript.

Additional Guidelines for Research Articles (download model template for research article)

1. Word limit is 6000 for Original Research and 2500 for Brief Communication.
2. Title should be descriptive and should contain enough information for readers to understand what the study is about.
3. Abstract should not be of more than 600 words and should be structured, containing background, objectives, methods, results and conclusions.
4. Keywords – four to eight comma separated keywords representing the topic of the article.
5. Full text should contain Background and Rationale, Objectives, Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusions, End Notes and References.
6. Background – elaborating the existing knowledge scenario with regard to the research question and how this study would add to it.
7. Objectives of the Study – Numbered output indicators that the study tries to look into (aims of the study).
8. Methods – includes study design, study subjects, inclusion and exclusion criteria, sample size and sampling methods, materials used, duration, data collection, data analysis and ethical considerations.
9. Results – the findings of the study presented in the form of statistical indicators, figures and tables.
10. Discussion – Evaluation of the results in the light of existing evidence.
11. Conclusions – Final deductions arrived at and new knowledge obtained at the end of the study.
12. Limitations – describes the limitations of the study.
13. Endnotes section should contain List of abbreviations with expansions, Explanations of terminologies as required, Conflicts of Interest statement, Acknowledgements and Financial Support.
14. References should be in Vancouver style.