Submissions

Author Guidelines

Guidelines for submitting contributions to the Journal of the Faculty of Medical Sciences (Quito)

The Journal of the Faculty of Medical Sciences (Quito) is published triannually starting in 2024. It consists of the following sections: editorials, original articles (products of primary and secondary research), case reports, articles of reflection or philosophical, ethical, or social analysis related to health, epidemiological statistics with analysis and discussion, qualitative studies, and systematic reviews. In special occasions, articles related to medical education, medical opinion, university chronicles, and the history of medicine will be published, which will be considered when the editorial committee determines their publication.

Articles published in the Journal of the Faculty of Medical Sciences (Quito) are indexed in:

• LILACS - BVS
• LATINDEX directory

1. Manuscript Submission

Manuscripts must be submitted through the Journal of the Faculty of Medical Sciences (Quito) website: [website link], where you must register with a username and password.

After the manuscript is received, the corresponding author will automatically receive confirmation of the manuscript submission and registration for subsequent follow-up.

The evaluation process involves three stages: a primary review by the editor, a second review by the section editor(s), and a third double-blind peer review. During these stages, the manuscript may be classified as:

• Subject to changes, which implies that, for final acceptance, the author(s) must make modifications in accordance with suggestions and/or recommendations made by the editors/reviewers.
• Not accepted, the manuscript with this classification may restart the approval process in the Journal of the Faculty of Medical Sciences (Quito), as long as the observed deficiencies are corrected. The Journal of the Faculty of Medical Sciences (Quito) and its Editorial Committee (Director, Executive Editor, and Committee members) reserve the right to NOT accept articles that are deemed inappropriate, during any stage of the review process, as well as based on observations and recommendations issued by the editorial board.

Accepted, the manuscript qualified with this classification is considered valid for publication, and may begin the layout and digital printing process. Each accepted manuscript will be handled directly by the journal staff (editors and layout designers), who may make style and format modifications, as well as modify and/or shorten the texts when deemed appropriate, respecting the main and most relevant aspects of the original document.

Previously published or simultaneously submitted works to other scientific journals will not be accepted.

2. Guidelines for each type of manuscript eligible for publication

2.1 General format

The manuscripts presented must be fully written in Spanish, English, or Portuguese, in a single column, with an A4 page size, double-spaced, and 2 cm margins on each side, in Microsoft Word format (.doc or .docx). All manuscripts must have the enumerated sections in the final section.

All pages must be numbered consecutively in the lower right corner. Likewise, the lines of each page must be numbered consecutively using the automatic tool of the text editor.

The font type must be Arial with a font size of 12 points. Subheadings corresponding to each section will be written in bold.

Decimal numbers will ideally be in a single decimal place and separated by a comma, in the case of manuscripts written in Spanish and Portuguese, or by a period in articles in English.

No page of the article should have characteristics of a typesetting process for printing.

The use of footnotes or endnotes is not allowed. Abbreviations will be introduced in the body of the article after the complete term has been written for the first time.

2.2 Editorials

Unless otherwise specified, they will be written by the Editorial Committee on a current topic. They will usually have a length of 800-1,500 words, with 5 to 10 bibliographic citations suggested.

2.3 Original Articles

Original articles are considered observational (cohort, case-control, and cross-sectional studies), experimental (clinical trials), and systematic reviews, which must follow international standards:

• STROBE for observational studies.
• PRISMA for systematic reviews (it can also be used for literature or bibliographic reviews). In addition, systematic reviews must be registered in the PROSPERO database (International Prospective Registry of Systematic Reviews) ideally before the start of the eligibility criteria application procedures. The registration number must appear at the end of the article abstract and in the methods section.
• CONSORT for clinical trials. In Ecuador, it must have the approval of the Agency for Regulation, Control and Sanitary Surveillance (ARCSA) and must be registered in the ARCSA clinical trial registration form. The process can be consulted on the Health Intelligence Directorate website.

In addition, original articles must have a structured abstract in Spanish and English, differentiating the segments: introduction, objective, material and methods, results, discussion, and conclusions. Its length will be a maximum of 250 words. After the abstract, the author must include 3 to 5 keywords, which must be within the MeSH-DeCS terms.

The body of the manuscript must have sections: introduction, material and methods, results, discussion, and conclusions, with a maximum length of 5,000 words and up to 6 tables and 4 figures accepted, unless a greater number is justified.

2.4 Review Articles

The maximum text length will be 5000 words excluding abstract and references. Up to 4 tables and 4 figures will be accepted, unless a greater number is justified. The body of the article may contain titles and subtitles as appropriate to facilitate reading. It is essential to include the abstract in narrative style, in Spanish and English, with a maximum length of 250 words. After the abstract, the author must include 3 to 5 keywords, which must be within the MeSH-DeCS terms.

2.5 Case Reports

Special priority will be given to those cases in which the presentation and/or resolution of the case is infrequent or novel. The structure of the manuscript is carried out according to CARE guidelines. The maximum length will be 3500 words. Up to 4 tables and 2 figures will be accepted. The body of the manuscript must have sections: introduction, case presentation, discussion, and conclusions. It is essential to include the abstract in Spanish and English, written in a structured format, differentiating the segments: introduction, objective, case presentation, discussion, and conclusions. Its length will be a maximum of 250 words. After the abstract, the author must include 3 to 5 keywords, which must be within the MeSH-DeCS terms.

2.6 Medical Opinion Article

The text length will be a maximum of 1500 words, including bibliographic references; up to 2 tables and 1 figure are accepted.

The body of the manuscript must have sections: introduction, conflict or problem, and conclusion. It is essential to include the abstract in Spanish and English, written in narrative format, with a maximum length of 100 words. After the abstract, the author must include 3 to 5 keywords, which must be within the MeSH-DeCS terms.

2.7 Letters to the Editor

It should contain interesting ideas and comments supported by data and bibliographic references. All letters will be reviewed by the Editorial Committee and, if accepted, will be published. They must have a title and author details. The content will be a maximum of 1000 words, including references. Only 1 table or figure will be accepted. It is essential to include the abstract in Spanish and English, written in narrative format, with a maximum length of 50 words. After the abstract, the author must include 3 to 5 keywords, which must be within the MeSH-DeCS terms.

3. Manuscript Preparation

The submission must contain the following essential requirements:

• Cover letter.
• Informed consent or approval letter from a Research Ethics Committee on Human Research (CEISH) as applicable.
• The manuscript must have the different sections in the indicated format.
• The manuscript must contain the paragraphs corresponding to the final section.

3.1 Cover Letter

Write a cover letter with a responsibility statement.

Send your cover letter in a Word document separate from the manuscript.

The cover letter contains the type of article you are submitting, the complete author information, funding sources and conflicts of interest, in addition, the author contribution must be declared in the corresponding section according to CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) . The required format can be found here.

3.2 Approval and Informed Consent

It is essential to attach the CEISH acceptance letter or the informed consent obtained, as applicable, in PDF format, with readable dates and signatures.

Additionally, the statement of approval or consent obtained will be included in the materials and methods section and in the corresponding section of the final section.

3.3 Title

The title must be specific, understandable, and descriptive for readers. It must contain a maximum of 12 to 15 words. It is recommended to choose a title that is attractive. It should be in Spanish or Portuguese and English, or in English and Spanish, according to the original language of the article.

3.4 Abstract

This section should have a maximum length of 250 words or 100 in the case of medical opinion articles, the format will be structured or narrative as appropriate to the type of article.

It must be written clearly with the most relevant information from the manuscript. It should not include abbreviations, tables, figures, references, or trade names.

After the abstract, include 3 to 5 keywords that must be within the MeSH-DeCS terms.

All manuscripts must include the abstract and keywords in Spanish and English.

3.5 Introduction

It should offer the appropriate context to familiarize the reader, allowing them to understand the problem being addressed, as well as explaining the justification for the study conducted. It should be supported by well-selected bibliographic references.

Finally, the introduction should name, directly or implicitly, the main objective of the study, and the research hypothesis if applicable.

3.6 Materials and Methods

The initial paragraph of this section will include the type and design of the study conducted, start date, and place and/or participating centers.

It should detail the materials, subjects, and methods used, such as study population, formation of study groups, selection criteria (inclusion, exclusion, elimination), informed consent for subject participation, sampling method used, number of subjects and assumptions used in the calculation, intervention assignment (for experimental studies), study development and procedures for capturing information, main evaluation variables, measurements and outcomes, analysis strategy (approaches, estimators, statistical tests, association measures, impact measures, etc.) and if the study requires it, mention should be made of the sample handling, equipment, laboratory tests, and quality control. When referring to drugs or chemicals, it will be necessary to identify the generic name, dosage, and route of administration.

It will also explicitly include the approval obtained from an Ethics Committee and/or the documents authorizing its execution.

This section should provide sufficient details for the reader to understand the methodology used and judge the possible validity of the results, as well as for other researchers to reproduce the same work.

3.7 Results

This section is intended to report findings and different results of the analyses, but not to interpret them. It will be written following an organized presentation of the findings, in a narrative style with the support of relevant tables and/or figures (to condense the information and not duplicate it). It is important to present basic data, study flowchart, and/or baseline comparisons of study groups. Confidence intervals for the main estimators, levels of statistical significance, information on responses and dropouts (in experimental studies), and adverse events (in experimental studies) should be provided according to the stated objective. No new variables should be mentioned in this section.

3.8 Discussion

This section is intended for the authors' interpretation of the main results and not to repeat findings. Among other points, it will also contain information on comparing the study's findings with previous reports, interpreting negative findings, discussing possible limitations and potential biases, points for and/or against the study, discussing implications for clinical practice, potential aspects for future research, identifying new ideas and gaps in knowledge, detailing any unexpected results.

This section should not contain new results or data that have not been previously included, unjustified speculations, or tangential data.

3.9 Conclusions

They will be drafted clearly and concisely in reference to the findings.

4. Final Section

All manuscripts must include the following sections after the conclusions:

4.1 Approval and Informed Consent

Following the Regulation governing the Committees of Ethics for Research in Human Beings published in the Official Registry of Ecuador, Agreement No. 00005-2022 in August/2022:

• Observational and intervention studies must present a letter of approval from the Research Ethics Committee on Human Research (CEISH), in the case of having an exemption letter issued by the President of the CEISH, it must be attached.
• Clinical cases must include the Informed Consent.

For the authorization of clinical trials, refer to the National Agency for Regulation, Control and Sanitary Surveillance-ARCSA.

4.2 Authorship Contribution

Authors must declare their participation in the manuscript, including their names after each role according to their article. This section will be sent within the cover letter and will be included in the article during the editorial process to maintain anonymity during the review process.

4.3 Conflict of Interests

To prevent ambiguity, authors must explicitly declare whether or not there are conflicts of interest, providing additional details if necessary in a letter.

Since conflicts of interest can be frequent and almost unavoidable at times, this declaration guides editors, but is not a condition for acceptance or non-acceptance of a manuscript.

4.4 Acknowledgments

When necessary, mention persons, centers, or entities that collaborated in the realization and execution of the study and/or preparation of the manuscript, but whose degree of participation does not imply authorship.

4.5 Funding

Authors must declare the institutions, programs, scholarships, or grants, directly or indirectly financially supporting the study or work carried out. In the absence of these sources, they must declare if the work was done with the authors' own funds.

5. References

The Vancouver style should be used for referencing. Journal names should be abbreviated according to the style used in the Index Medicus of the National Library of Medicine They should be presented, in the order of appearance in the text, using consecutive numbering. In the text, the numbering of the various references should be presented in bold and superscript format. The use of references such as "unpublished observations" and "personal communication" is not accepted, nor are citations such as "op cit" or "ibid". References in footnotes are prohibited. Bibliographic references must be checked by comparison with the original documents, always indicating the initial and final page of the quotation. A detailed explanation of the citation format for different types of references can be found at the following website: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_requirements.html

5.1 Reference Style

The format of bibliographic references should follow the standards adopted by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). The ordering of bibliographic elements and the use of punctuation marks

5.1.1 Article published in journals with consecutive pagination in the different issues of the volume:

Author's Initial of the Name, Author's Initial of the Name. Title. Journal Name. Year; volume: initial page-final page.

Halpen SD, Ubel PA, Caplan AL. Solid organ transplantation in HIV infected patients. N Engl J Med. 2002; 347:284-87

5.1.2 Article published in journals without consecutive pagination in the different issues of the volume:

Author's Initial of the Name, Author's Initial of the Name. Title. Journal Name. year; volume (number): initial page-final page.

Ríos Yuil JM, Ríos Castro M. El virus del papiloma humano y su relación con el cáncer cutáneo no melanoma. Rev Med Cient. 2010; 23(2):33-44

5.1.3 Articles with more than six authors:

Similar to the previous citation, with mention of the first six authors, followed by the terms "et al."

Rose ME, Huerbin MB, Melick J, Marion DW, Palmer AM, Schiding JK, et al. Regulation of interstitial excitatory amino acid concentrations after cortical contusion injury. Brain Res. 2002; 935:40-46

5.1.4 Organization as author:

Organization Name. Title. Journal Name. year; volume (number): initial page-final page.

Diabetes Prevention Program Research Group. Hypertension, insulin and proinsulin in participants with impaired glucose tolerance. Hypertension. 2002; 40:679-86

5.1.5 Book and book chapters:

Book author(s): Murray PR, Rosenthal KS, Kobayashi GS, Pfaller MA. Medical microbiology. 4th ed. St Louis: Mosby; 2002.2.

Author(s) of a chapter in a particular book: Meltzer PS, Kallioniemi A, Trent JM. Chromosome alterations in human solid tumors. En: Vogelstein B, Kinzler KW, eds. The genetic basis of human cancer. New York: McGraw-Hill; 2002: 93-113

5.1.6 Thesis:

Borkowski MM. Infant sleep and feeding: a telephone survey of Hispanic Americans [thesis]. Mount Pleasant (MI): Central Michigan University; 2002. 2. CD-ROM: Anderson SC, Paulsen KB. Anderson’s electronic atlas of hematology [CD-ROM]. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams &Wilkins; 2002

5.1.7 Journal article published on the Internet

Abood S. Quality improvement initiative in nursing homes: the ANA acts in an advisory role. Am J Nurs [serial on Internet]. 2002 Jun [cited 2002 Aug 12]; 102(6): [about 3 p.). Available from: http://www.nursingworld.org/AJN/2002/june/Wawatch.htm 4. Web site: Cancer-Pain.org [homepage on internet]. New York: Association of Cancer Online Resources, Inc.; C2000-01 [updated 2002 May 16; cited 2002 Jul 9]. Available from: http://www.cancer-pain.org/6.

6. Tables

Tables condense information by organizing data into columns and rows, facilitating its description and reading. The format they must follow is:

1. They must be presented immediately after the paragraph where they are cited.

2. They must be between two horizontal lines, one at the top and one at the bottom; vertical and horizontal lines separating cells are not allowed.

3. Each table is identified with a self-explanatory title indicating what information it provides, approximately 10 words at the top and consecutive numbering.

4. If abbreviations are included, their meaning must be detailed at the bottom of the table.

7. Figures and Photographs

Any illustrative material such as photographs, data graphics, and diagrams is considered as such.

They must be presented immediately after the paragraph where they are cited. Each one will be in a separate file in JPG format with a resolution of 300 dpi. Regarding graphics, these should be sent with their original table in Excel format. Each figure/photograph should have a title of approximately 10 words, located at the bottom of the figure, and consecutive numbering. Only when necessary, a brief explanation of the content and/or details of abbreviations or marks used may follow the title. In the case of patient photographs, they must be correctly anonymized and a statement from the authors indicating that the patient's consent was obtained for publication must be provided. If illustrations or tables from another publication are used in a manuscript, the authors must have the corresponding authorization and attach it to the submitted manuscript.

We suggest following:

Equator Network Guidelines: http://www.equator-network.org ICMJE Recommendations: https://www.icmje.org/recommendations/

Last updated: January 2024