Guidelines for Authors

Introduction

Articles are expected to be high quality contributions representing innovation, of value and practical use to the healthcare student.

Please ensure that submissions conform to the uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals, drawn up by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).

The ICMJE requirements are long and comprehensive, below is an adaptation for the LSJM with our specific requirements for different types of articles; we urge you to look at it as primarily a student-run journal. Therefore in order to minimise work-load all articles* must be submitted electronically via email or uploaded to our manuscript submission system found on our website.

Hardcopies, unless specifically requested by the editors, will not be accepted. If authors encounter any difficulties in submitting their work, please contact the administrator on administrator@thelsjm.co.uk

Covering Letter

All submitted articles must have a covering letter containing the following:

  1. A brief summary of the content of the article to a maximum of 300 words. Technical or highly specialised submissions may reasonably expand the summary by a further 100 words. Please note that any covering letters exceeding the word-limit may be immediately disregarded by the receiving section.
  2. Full names of the author(s), with their qualifications or academic year and representative institution. Named authors must be those that have contributed significantly to the creation of the article. One key correspondent must be identified where multiple authors exist and an email address provided. The key correspondent will be responsible for liaising with the LSJM. The key correspondent must be a named author of the submitted article and be responsible for coordinating changes to the article if be accepted. He/She must ensure that all co-authors approve of the article's submission and any effected changes.
  3. Authorship and Copyright: The manuscript cover letter must state that all persons listed as authors have contributed to preparing the manuscript, and that no person(s) other than the authors listed have contributed significantly to its preparation. The LSJM does not condone gift authorship or “ghost writers” and any attempt at this could result in current and future submissions from the author(s) being automatically rejected. Details of which other Journals or publishing media the article has been or will be submitted to. This will not influence acceptance or refusal of articles but will help editors and administrators correspond with all stakeholders appropriately.
  4. When appropriate, the cover letter should contain disclosures of any potential conflict of interest arising from associations with commercial or corporate interest in connection with the work submitted.
  5. Authors should specify the section for which their submission is intended (e.g. Medicine, surgery, Careers etc).

Where Possible please present the main manuscript devoid of any items that may identify the person of the authors e.g. NAMES, EMAIL or UNIVERSITY

Sample Covering/Submission Letter

Dear (name of editor):

On behalf of my co-authors, I am submitting the enclosed material for possible publication in (name of journal). I attest to the fact that all authors listed on the title page have read the manuscript, attest to the validity and legitimacy of the data and its interpretation, and agree to its submission to (name of journal).

Possible conflicts of interest, sources of financial support, corporate involvement, patent holdings, etc. for each author are disclosed on the attached Checklist or in an accompanying letter.

I have disclosed details of previous/ on-going submission for publication either in whole or in part elsewhere

Copyright transfer and the signatures of all authors will be requested prior to publication of accepted manuscripts.

Names(s) Date

Structure of Articles

Papers are usually organised using an Abstract, Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion (AIMRAD) structure although the editorial team is pleased to work with authors on more appropriate structures in certain cases. The abstract or summary should be structured in relation to the organisation of the paper and not exceed 300 words. The context of the research and the conceptual framework and choice of methods used for analysis must be made clear in the text.

Numbers, Units & References

House style requires that numbers be stated without punctuation e.g. 1303 not 1,303.

All values must be in SI units (except blood pressure in mm Hg)

References must be set out in Vancouver style (see Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals, (ICMJE)).

E.g.: Author's surname Initials, Author's surname Initials. Title of article. Title of Journal. [Abbreviated] Year of publication Month date; Volume Number (Issue number): page numbers. All references must also include DOI numbers, as the LSJM is a member of Publishers International Linking Association, Inc. (PILA). These may be found by copying and pasting your text onto the Cross Referencing site http://www.crossref.org/SimpleTextQuery/

Authors are requested NOT to use the footnoting feature when referencing

Formats and Lengths of Papers

Articles must be submitted in one of the following standard word processing formats: Microsoft Word, WordPerfect.

Font must be Arial size 12 with no line spacing or “journal-style” columns. Word Limits must be adhered to or else submissions will be returned

Type of ManuscriptWord Limit
Editorial800
Letter to the Editor500
News300
Original Research3000
Perspective/Reflective Piece1300
Review2500

Consent

Having verbal consent to interview or examine a patient or to read his or her clinical notes is not enough: we require every patient's written consent to having information about them published in the LSJM.

We also need patients' written consent to the publication of all pictures, including radiographs, scans, and clinical photos of any part of the body when accompanied by text that could reveal the identity of the patient. It is insufficient to remove some or all identifying details or disguise their identity using black bands across the eyes (we will not publish such images). Do not change the personal details of patients to try to disguise them: this is bad scientific practice because it could mislead readers.

To obtain consent, please ask all patients to sign the LSJM's form. This is available for downloading and printing at the ///. Please print out the form, fill in the details about the article, asks the patient to sign the form, and then scan it and send it as a supplemental file to your article.

This policy reflects the UK General Medical Council's rules on publishing confidential clinical material.

Criteria for Acceptance

The LSJM is a student journal and therefore mainly accepts articles written with a student as the (or one of the) primary author(s). Editors may commission or occasionally accept articles from professionals if deemed essential to the issue's theme or message.

Only articles in concordance with one or more of the aims and objectives of the journal will be considered. The LSJM appreciates that many authors will submit work that meet the criteria of the journal, however special attention will be given to papers that represents a novel approach to a topic; illuminating whilst educational. Subject areas that are of both immediate and far-reaching relevance to the student populace will also receive special consideration. Articles shedding light on the competencies required of either a junior doctor or other healthcare professional will also receive special consideration.

Upon acceptance each manuscript will go through the editorial process cited in our publishing policy.

Submission Checklist

  1. This manuscript is my original work (and that of my co-authors)
  2. My co-authors are aware of this manuscript, agree with and have approved of its content and its submission to The London Student Journal of Medicine on their behalf
  3. This manuscript has not previously been published.
  4. This manuscript has been referenced in Vancouver style
  5. I have clearly stated on the manuscript that this article is being submitted for publication in The London Student Journal of Medicine website and/or print and for a named section of the journal where possible
  6. Permissions to use any material reproduced from another source have been obtained for publication in all languages and all publishing media, including print and digital/electronic formats. They have also been appropriately referenced.
  7. I have attached signed patient consent forms where appropriate.
  8. Where necessary, I have submitted my article in separate files, for instance abstract/summary; main article without authors names, institutions or emails; and tables/figures/images.
  9. I have not exceeded the word limit for my type of submission.
  10. I have kept a copy of the final version of my manuscript(s).