Submissions
We will like to encourage your participation in medical research and journalism. With this in view you may submit the following articles to be considered for publication with the LSJM.
Articles are expected to be high quality contributions representing innovation, of value and practical use to the healthcare student.
Original Research
These articles should report original research studies that are relevant to medical practice, policy, education, or research and will be understandable by undergraduate healthcare readers. There are no word limits to such articles. You are advised to produce abridged version of no more than 3000 words of research articles in the printed LSJM while publishing their full versions online.
Review Articles
Review articles aim to evaluate publications in a given subject area.
The article:
- Should summarize the progress in the particular area or topic citing relevant original publications and seminal work.
- Should be written for the healthcare student, not specialists. Consequently, they may include basic material that might be considered elementary for experts in the field being covered.
- Must be a maximum of 2500 words, a small number of figures and tables and no more than 30 references.
- Do not include an abstract
Examples include the following:
Educational Topics - these articles elaborate on topics encountered by the undergraduate student in studies, lectures, on the ward and exams. The aim is not to publish material easily available to students in text books, but to enlighten readers on novel ways of addressing some commonly encountered topics. Special attention will be given to articles endorsed by a lecturer or co-authored with an expert in the area.
Drug articles explore the actions of drugs in healthcare. Authors are encouraged to approach a topic with a clinical vignette describing a patient with a specified condition for whom the treatment under discussion has been recommended. This may be followed by a definition of the clinical problem, a brief description of the aetiology and how the therapy works, clinical evidence, clinical use, adverse effects, areas of uncertainty, guidelines, and recommendations. The Pharmacy can also include articles on prescription policies, current research and more.
Mechanisms of Disease articles discuss the cellular and molecular mechanisms of diseases or categories of diseases.
Case reports and short essays
Short Reports are reports on research in progress or recently completed ones that would not be appropriate for submission as an original research. They may be reports of papers presented at conferences or at scientific meetings. Concise articles, such as reports of novel cases may also be considered.
Problem-Solving articles consider the step-by-step course of clinical decision making. These articles are concise descriptions of a case exploring the key topics at each stage that led to the undertaken actions. We advise you to structure such reports in four parts; patient, intervention, comparison, and outcome. You should summarise appropriate studies of relevance with a suitable design and quality, and should state which bibliographic databases used. Finally, the report should answer the research question or state that there is no answer available.
Case Records of local Hospitals are solicited by the section editors. Contact the editor’s office if you wish to help compile such reports.
All Case reports and Short essays are limited to 1500 words, a maximum of 3 tables and figures (total), and up to 20 references. The use of clinical illustrative materials, such as x-ray films, is encouraged.
Informed consent is required before publication of a case-report. Please read the journal’s policy on consent.
Perspective Articles
These articles may cover a wide variety of topics of current interest in healthcare, medicine, and the intersection between healthcare providers and society. Here, students may also present opinions on health policy issues or miscellaneous articles of special interest to the medical community.
Articles may also focus on clinical topics, including those in specialty areas but of wide interest. Authors should share information about new developments in the field and encourage innovation amongst healthcare students.
Perspective articles are limited to 1200 words and may include one figure. There is a maximum of 10 references. We welcome submissions and proposals.
Other Submissions
Audits - articles should assess existing practices making comparisons to the Gold standard recommended by an authoritative board where one exists.
Clinical Practice provides healthcare students with operative knowledge in the form of communication and examination skills pertinent to the execution of their role as a healthcare professional. We welcome submissions that highlight the differences in the method of clinical examination and the rationale for such differences. Students are encouraged to present the evidence-base for clinical practice. Articles are limited to 800 words with 6 references. Students may also submit video material to this section.
Dear Editor provides a forum for readers to comment about articles recently published in the Journal. Letters to the Editor are considered for publication (subject to editing and abridgment) provided they do not contain material that has been submitted or published elsewhere. These may include updates on the subject matter, news and clarifications. The text, not including references, must not exceed 300 words once edited. They may however be up to 500 if elaboration is requested by the Editor. A letter must have no more than five references and one figure or table. It may not be signed by more than three authors. Letters referring to a recent Journal article must be received within three weeks after its publication.
Editorials usually provide commentary and analysis concerning article(s) in the Journal’s current issue. They may include 1 figure or table. They are nearly always solicited, although unsolicited editorials may occasionally be considered. Editorials are limited to 800 words, with up to 10 references.
Interviews - these are commissioned profiles of healthcare professionals or students. Please contact the section editor if you interview someone.
Medical Images are classic images of common medical conditions, equipment and practices. Images are an important part of how we learn in medicine. This part of the Journal encourages creativity in the realm of visual discovery. Please contact the editorial office for more information.
News must always be commissioned by the editor.
Student Life details accounts of personal experiences outside the usual areas of clinical practice and medical research. Articles may also be of a student's experience of an illness or the health system. Articles must be of relevance to at least healthcare disciplines.
Book reviews - these may occasionally be commissioned by editors.
Book/Website Reviews are generally welcome. Please contact the editor if you wish to be notified of a book review or if to propose one. You must declare any conflicts of interests that exist.
Authors must declare Conflicts of Interest when they exist.