​​​ About the Journal 

The Indian Journal of Social Psychiatry (IJSP) is the official publication of Indian Association for Social Psychiatry. The journal is peer-reviewed, is published four times a year, and accepts high-quality work or writings in the broad fields of social and community psychiatry and related topics.

Manuscripts are accepted for consideration for publication by the IJSP with the understanding that they represent original material, have not been published previously, are not being considered for publication elsewhere, and have been approved by each author.

Currently, article submissions are made online only, through the link https://review.jow.medknow.com/ijsp where an initial sign-up as an author will be needed, followed by step-by-step guided submission process. No other form of submission (e.g., by e-mail or hard copy) will be accepted.

Scope of the journal 

The journal will cover technical and clinical studies related to health, ethical and social issues in field of social and community psychiatry and related areas. Articles with clinical interest and implications will be given preference. 

The Editorial Process

A manuscript will be reviewed for possible publication with the understanding that it is being submitted to this journal alone at that point in time and has not been published anywhere, simultaneously submitted, or already accepted for publication elsewhere. The journal expects that authors would authorize one of them to correspond with the Journal for all matters related to the manuscript.

All manuscripts (but see the exceptions below) are reviewed by two or more independent (“blind") assessors. There are three sequential steps in the review process. 

First, an initial quick review of the submitted manuscript is made by the Editor or his nominated representative (generally the Editor-in-Chief) and decision made regarding the necessity and appropriateness for the detailed peer review process. If found unsuitable for the Journal, the authors are usually intimated about this within one week of submission with a brief note on the grounds for non-suitability of the submission, so that they may not lose time in the review process and start seeking a more suitable home for their work.  

Second, once the submission has been found suitable 'in principle' for detailed evaluation, it is passed through a Checklist for format and style. This checklist helps to spot areas where corrections or improvements are required before the article can be submitted for detailed evaluation. This process is also usually completed within a week. The authors are advised to rectify and re-submit in case of substantive deficiencies in formatting and style. 

Finally, following the successful completion of the two previous steps, the article is sent to two (occasionally three, in case of a 'tie') independent assessors (after anonymizing the article to the fullest extent possible) for a detailed content-focused peer review process. We aim to typically complete this process in 4-6 weeks, though it might take longer. All in all, our aim is to conclude the entire review process in 2-3 months' time. This detailed review process as mentioned above is not applicable for certain types of submissions that include “Invited Matter" (Commentaries, Perspectives/Viewpoints, Debates, etc. but not invited reviews which are reviewed as above), “Letters to the Editor", “Book Reviews" and “Film Reviews." In these cases, the Editor can take a quick decision and provide a feedback directly. However, even if accepted, all submissions are screened for formatting and style by using the Checklist mentioned above.

Manuscripts received from Editorial Board members will be screened by the Editor in Chief and sent to external peer reviewers. The editorial board members who are authors will be excluded from publication decisions. Articles, wherein the Editor-in-Chief is an author, are handled by one of the Deputy Editors, who initiate and coordinate the peer review process, and reach a decision. Articles by members or office bearers of the Indian Association of Social Psychiatry also undergo peer review in the process as mentioned above.

Peer review process: The reviewers should not be affiliated with the same institutes as the contributor/s. However, the selection of these reviewers is at the sole discretion of the editor. The journal follows a double-blind review process, wherein the reviewers and authors are unaware of each other's identity. Every manuscript is also assigned to a member of the editorial team, who based on the comments from the reviewers takes a final decision on the manuscript. The comments and suggestions (acceptance/ rejection/ amendments in manuscript) received from reviewers are conveyed to the corresponding author. If required, the author is requested to provide a point by point response to reviewers' comments and submit a revised version of the manuscript. This process is repeated till reviewers and editors are satisfied with the manuscript. The final decision is provided by the Editor-in-Chief of the journal with inputs from the editorial board members and the reviewers

Manuscripts accepted for publication are copy edited for grammar, punctuation, print style, and format. Page proofs are sent to the corresponding author. The corresponding author is expected to return the corrected proofs within three days. It may not be possible to incorporate corrections received after that period. The whole process of submission of the manuscript to final decision and sending and receiving proofs is completed online.

Processes for appeals

The authors do have the right to appeal if they have a genuine cause to believe that the editorial board has wrongly rejected the paper. If the authors wish to appeal the decision, they should email the editorial office (email: [email protected]) explaining in detail the reason for the appeal. The appeals will be acknowledged by the editorial office and will be investigated in an unbiased manner. The processing of appeals will be done within 6 – 8 weeks. While under appeal, the said manuscript should not be submitted to other journals. The final decision rests with the Editor in Chief of the journal. Second appeals are not considered.

 Anti-plagiarism policy 

Plagiarism includes duplicate publication of the author's own work, in whole or in part without proper citation or mispresenting other's ideas, words, and other's creative expression as one's own. The Journal follows a strict anti-plagiarism policy. All manuscripts submitted to journal undergoes plagiarism check with commercially available software iThenticate. Based on the extent of plagiarism, authors may be asked to address any minor duplication, or similarity with the previously published work. If plagiarism is detected after publication, the Journal will investigate. If plagiarism is established, the journal will notify the authors' institution and funding bodies and will retract the plagiarised article. To report plagiarism, contact the journal office (email: [email protected])

Clinical trial registry  

Indian Journal of Social Psychiatry favors registration of clinical trials and is a signatory to the Statement on publishing clinical trials in Indian biomedical journals. Indian Journal of Social Psychiatry would publish clinical trials that have been registered with a clinical trial registry that allows free online access to public. Registration in any online accessible trial registry is acceptable, like http://www.ctri.nic.in/ andhttp://www.clinicaltrials.gov/. This is applicable to clinical trials that have begun enrollment of subjects in or after June 2018. Clinical trials that have commenced enrollment of subjects prior to June 2018 would be considered for publication in Indian Journal of Social Psychiatry only if they have been registered with a clinical trial registry that allows unhindered online access to public without charging any fees.

Authorship Criteria

The ICMJE recommends that authorship be based on the following 4 criteria:

1.      Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; AND

2.      Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content; AND

3.      Final approval of the version to be published; AND

4.      Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Participation solely in the acquisition of funding or the collection of data does not justify authorship. General supervision of the research group is not sufficient for authorship. Each contributor should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for appropriate portions of the content of the manuscript. The order of naming the contributors should be based on the relative contribution of the contributor towards the study and writing the manuscript. Once submitted the order cannot be changed without written consent of all the contributors.

Contributors who meet fewer than all 4 of the above criteria for authorship should not be listed as authors, but they should be acknowledged. The corresponding author should obtain written permission to be acknowledged from all acknowledged individuals.

 Contribution Details

Contributors should provide a description of contributions made by each of them towards the manuscript. Description should be divided in following categories, as applicable: concept, design, definition of intellectual content, literature search, clinical studies, experimental studies, data acquisition, data analysis, statistical analysis, manuscript preparation, manuscript editing and manuscript review. Authors' contributions will be printed along with the article. One or more author should take responsibility for the integrity of the work as a whole from inception to published article and should be designated as 'guarantor'.

Conflicts of Interest/ Competing Interests

Authors should disclose at the time of submission any financial arrangements they might have with a company or any organization. It should be clearly mentioned in the cover note which should accompany manuscripts during submission. Such information will be held in confidence while the paper is under review and will not influence the editorial decision but, if the article is accepted for publication, the Editor will usually discuss with the authors the manner in which such information is to be communicated to the reader.

Submission of Manuscripts

All manuscripts must be submitted on-line through the website https://review.jow.medknow.com/ijsp. First time users will have to register at this site. Registration is free but mandatory. Registered authors can keep track of their articles after logging into the site using their username and password. Authors do not have to pay for submission, processing or publication of articles. If you experience any problems, please contact the editorial office by e-mail at [email protected]

The manuscript should be processed electronically using a standard word processor (e.g., Microsoft Word). All parts of the manuscript should be double-spaced throughout with a minimum margin of 1 inch on all sides. Number pages consecutively on the Article File (see later). The spellings should be American English.

The submitted manuscripts that are not as per the “Instructions to Authors" would be returned to the authors for technical correction, before they undergo editorial/ peer-review. Generally, the manuscript should be submitted in the form of two separate files:

[1] Title Page/First Page File/covering letter

This file should provide

1.     The type of manuscript (original article, case report, review article, Letter to editor, Images, etc.) title of the manuscript, running title, names of all authors/ contributors (with their highest academic degrees, designation and affiliations) and name(s) of department(s) and/ or institution(s) to which the work should be credited. All information which can reveal your institute affiliation should be here. Use text/rtf/doc files. Do not zip the files;

2.     The total number of pages, total number of photographs and word counts separately for abstract and for the text (excluding the references, tables and abstract), word counts for introduction + discussion in case of an original article;

3.     If the manuscript was presented as part at a meeting, the organization, place, and exact date on which it was read. A full statement to the editor about all submissions and previous reports that might be regarded as redundant publication of the same or very similar work. Any such work should be referred to specifically and referenced in the new paper. Copies of such material should be included with the submitted paper, to help the editor decide how to handle the matter.

4.     Registration number in case of a clinical trial and where it is registered (name of the registry and its URL)

5.     Source(s) of support in the form of grants, equipment and/or drugs. Manuscripts should include details about the funding agency/ sponsors, grant number and the role of funders. If the funders have no role to play or the study did not receive funding, a statement declaring the same should be mentioned. 

6.     A statement confirming appropriate patient consent for publication has been obtained should be mentioned for case reports/ case series, and articles that include patient images.

7.     Acknowledgement, if any. One or more statements should specify 1) contributions that need acknowledging but do not justify authorship, such as general support by a departmental chair; 2) acknowledgments of technical help; and 3) acknowledgments of financial and material support, which should specify the nature of the support.

8.     Conflicts of Interest of each author/ contributor: All manuscripts for articles, original research reports, editorials, comments, reviews, book reviews, and letters submitted to the journal must include a conflict-of-interest disclosure statement or a declaration by the authors that they do not have any conflicts of interest to declare. A statement of financial or other relationships that might lead to a conflict of interest, if that information is not included in the manuscript itself or in an authors' form.

9.     Data Availability statement: All manuscripts should include a statement about where data supporting the results reported in a published article can be found.

10.   Data sharing statement: Clinical trials must contain a data sharing statement such as whether individual deidentified participant data (including data dictionaries) will be shared (“undecided" is not an acceptable answer); what data in particular will be shared; whether additional, related documents will be available (e.g., study protocol, statistical analysis plan, etc.); when the data will become available and for how long; by what access criteria data will be shared (including with whom, for what types of analyses, and by what mechanism).

11.   Clinical trials articles should include a statement about Where the full trial protocol can be accessed, if available

12.   Criteria for inclusion in the authors'/ contributors' list (CRediT taxonomy)

13.   A statement that the manuscript has been read and approved by all the authors, that the requirements for authorship as stated earlier in this document have been met, and that each author believes that the manuscript represents honest work, if that information is not provided in another form (see below); and

14.   The name, address, e-mail, and telephone number of the corresponding author, who is responsible for communicating with the other authors about revisions and final approval of the proofs, if that information is not included on the manuscript itself.

15.   If a manuscript is submitted on behalf of a consortium or group, include its name in the manuscript byline. Do not add it to the author list in the submission system. You may include the full list of members in the Acknowledgments or in a supporting information file.

[2] Blinded Article file: The main text of the article, beginning from Abstract till References (including tables) should be in this file. The file must not contain any mention of the authors' names or initials or the institution at which the study was done or acknowledgements. Page headers/running title can include the title but not the authors' names. Manuscripts not in compliance with the Journal's blinding policy will be returned to the corresponding author. Use rtf/doc files. Do not zip the files. Limit the file size to 1 MB. Do not incorporate images in the file. If file size is large, graphs can be submitted as images separately without incorporating them in the article file to reduce the size of the file. The pages should be numbered consecutively, beginning with the first page of the blinded article file.

[3] Images: Submit good quality colour images. Each image should be less than 2 MB in size. Size of the image can be reduced by decreasing the actual height and width of the images. Images can be submitted as jpeg files. Do not zip the files. Legends for the figures/images should be included at the end of the article file. 

[4] The contributors' / copyright transfer form has to be submitted electronically during the submission. The Journal requires approval of manuscript submission by all authors in addition to transfer of copyright to the Indian Association for Social Psychiatry so that the author(s) and the Association are protected from misuse of copyrighted material.

Accepted manuscripts will not be scheduled for publication until a completed form has been received in the editorial office from each of the authors, electronically (during the submission process a link is sent to each of the authors for filling up the contributors' form/ copyright transfer to the email address as mentioned by the corresponding author). It is the corresponding author's responsibility to obtain the approval of individuals before acknowledging their assistance in the paper.

Contributors' form/copyright transfer form can be submitted online from the authors' area on https://review.jow.medknow.com/ijsp

 Preparation of Manuscripts

Manuscripts must be prepared in accordance with "Uniform requirements for Manuscripts submitted to Biomedical Journals" developed by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (October 2008). The uniform requirements and specific requirements of Indian Journal of Social Psychiatry are summarized below. Before submitting a manuscript, contributors are requested to check for the latest instructions available. Instructions are also available from the website of the journal (http://www.indjsp.org) and from the manuscript submission site (https://review.jow.medknow.com/ijsp).

Indian Journal of Social Psychiatry accepts manuscripts written in American English.

Copies of any permission(s)

It is the responsibility of authors/ contributors to obtain permissions for reproducing any copyrighted material. A copy of the permission obtained must accompany the manuscript. Copies of any and all published articles or other manuscripts in preparation or submitted elsewhere that are related to the manuscript must also accompany the manuscript.  

 Types of Manuscripts

The authors are required to use the downloadable word document templates provided at the end of this page to prepare the manuscripts. The reporting guidelines checklist is provided in these templates which must be duly followed. The authors can also choose the reporting guidelines for the specific study design from the web links provided in the table below and upload it along with the manuscript.

The second page should carry the full title of the manuscript and an abstract (of no more than 150 words for case reports, brief reports, and 250 words for original articles). The abstract should be structured and state the Context (Background), Aims, Settings and Design, Methods and Material, Statistical analysis used, Results, and Conclusions. Below the abstract should provide 3 to 10 keywords.

Original articles:

Original quantitative, as well as qualitative research papers, are published under this section. The maximum word limit for research articles is 3000 words (excluding abstract and references). Abstract has to be structured (Background/Objectives; Methods; Results; Conclusions) and should not exceed 250 words. A few (3 to 6) keywords should be provided.

Introduction: State the purpose and summarize the rationale for the study or observation. 

Materials and Methods: It should include and describe the following aspects:

Ethics: When reporting studies on human beings, indicate whether the procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional or regional) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as amended in 2013 (available at https://www.wma.net/policies-post/wma-declaration-of-helsinki-ethical-principles-for-medical-research-involving-human-subjects/). For prospective studies involving human participants, authors are expected to:

1.      mention about approval of regional/ national/ institutional or independent Ethics Committee or Review Board.

2.      obtaining written informed consent from adult research participants and obtaining assent for children aged over 7 years participating in the study. The age beyond which assent would be required could vary as per regional and/ or national guidelines.

3.      mention conduct of the study in accordance to the World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki on Ethical Principles for Medical Research Involving Humans.

The 'Materials and Methods' section should mention about the above three ethical aspects of the study, as applicable to the design of the study. The authors should mention name of the ethics committee, date of approval and reference number of approval. In case waiver of written consent from ethics committee had been obtained, then ethics committee giving waiver of written informed consent should be mentioned. Ensure confidentiality of subjects by desisting from mentioning participants' names, initials or hospital numbers, especially in illustrative material. When reporting experiments on animals, indicate whether the institution's or a national research council's guide for, or any national law on the care and use of laboratory animals was followed. Evidence for approval by a local Ethics Committee (for both human as well as animal studies) must be supplied by the authors on demand. Animal experimental procedures should be as humane as possible, and the details of anaesthetics and analgesics used should be clearly stated. The ethical standards of experiments must be in accordance with the guidelines provided by the CPCSEA and World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki on Ethical Principles for Medical Research Involving Humans for studies involving experimental animals and human beings, respectively. The journal will not consider any paper which is ethically unacceptable.

Study design:

Selection and Description of Participants: Describe your selection of the observational or experimental participants (patients or laboratory animals, including controls) clearly, including eligibility and exclusion criteria and a description of the source population. Technical information: Identify the methods, apparatus (give the manufacturer's name and address in parentheses), and procedures in sufficient detail to allow other workers to reproduce the results. Give references to established methods, including statistical methods (see below); provide references and brief descriptions for methods that have been published but are not well known; describe new or substantially modified methods, give reasons for using them, and evaluate their limitations. Identify precisely all drugs and chemicals used, including generic name(s), dose(s), and route(s) of administration.

Reports of randomized clinical trials should present information on all major study elements, including the protocol, assignment of interventions (methods of randomization, concealment of allocation to treatment groups), and the method of masking (blinding), based on the CONSORT Statement (http://www.consort-statement.org).

The authors are required to use the downloadable word document templates provided at the end of this page to prepare the manuscripts. The reporting guidelines checklist is provided in these templates which must be duly followed. The authors can also choose the reporting guidelines for the specific study design from the web links provided in the table below and upload it along with the manuscript. Manuscripts with the incomplete checklist will be sent back to the authors.

Reporting Guidelines for Specific Study Designs

The reporting guidelines for other type of studies can be found at https://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/.

Statistics: Whenever possible quantify findings and present them with appropriate indicators of measurement error or uncertainty (such as confidence intervals). Authors should report losses to observation (such as, dropouts from a clinical trial). When data are summarized in the Results section, specify the statistical methods used to analyse them. Avoid non-technical uses of technical terms in statistics, such as 'random' (which implies a randomizing device), 'normal', 'significant', 'correlations', and 'sample'. Define statistical terms, abbreviations, and most symbols. Specify the computer software used. Use upper italics (P 0.048). For all P values include the exact value and not less than 0.05 or 0.001. Mean differences in continuous variables, proportions in categorical variables and relative risks including odds ratios and hazard ratios should be accompanied by their confidence intervals.

Results: Present your results in a logical sequence in the text, tables, and illustrations, giving the main or most important findings first. Do not repeat in the text all the data in the tables or illustrations; emphasize or summarize only important observations. Extra- or supplementary materials and technical detail can be placed in an appendix where it will be accessible but will not interrupt the flow of the text.

When data are summarized in the Results section, give numeric results not only as derivatives (for example, percentages) but also as the absolute numbers from which the derivatives were calculated, and specify the statistical methods used to analyze them. Restrict tables and figures to those needed to explain the argument of the paper and to assess its support. Use graphs as an alternative to tables with many entries; do not duplicate data in graphs and tables. Where scientifically appropriate, analyses of the data by variables such as age and sex should be included.

Discussion: Include a summary of key findings (primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, results as they relate to a prior hypothesis); Strengths and limitations of the study (study question, study design, data collection, analysis, and interpretation); Interpretation and implications in the context of the totality of evidence (is there a systematic review to refer to, if not, could one be reasonably done here and now?, what this study adds to the available evidence, effects on patient care and health policy, possible mechanisms); Controversies raised by this study; and Future research directions (for this particular research collaboration, underlying mechanisms, clinical research). 

Do not repeat in detail data or other material given in the Introduction or the Results section. In particular, contributors should avoid making statements on economic benefits and costs unless their manuscript includes economic data and analyses. Avoid claiming priority and alluding to work that has not been completed. New hypotheses may be stated if needed, however they should be clearly labelled as such. About 30 references can be included.

Review Articles:

Reviews are usually invited by the Editor but the journal also accepts unsolicited reviews. The maximum length of reviews is 5000 words (excluding abstract and references). Abstract has to be structured (Background/Objectives; Methods; Results; Conclusions) and should not exceed 250 words. A few (3 to 6) keywords should be provided.

Headings may include: Research Question, Research Protocol, Literature Search, Data Extraction, Quality Appraisal, Data Analysis and Results, and Interpretations of Results. Authors submitting narrative review article should include a section describing the methods used for locating, selecting, extracting, and synthesizing data. These methods should also be summarized in the abstract.

It is expected that these articles would be written by individuals who have done substantial work on the subject or are considered experts in the field. A short summary of the work done by the contributor(s) in the field of review should accompany the manuscript.

The journal expects the contributors to give post-publication updates on the subject of review. The update should be brief, covering the advances in the field after the publication of the article and should be sent as a letter to editor, as and when major development occurs in the field.

The Journal prefers systematic reviews that have been registered in PROSPERO https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/. The PROSPERO registry number should be provided in the review article under the “methodology" section.

Brief Communication:

Under this section data from preliminary studies, studies done with smaller sample size, worthwhile replication studies, or negative studies of important topics are published. Single case reports do not meet the criteria for this section but can be submitted as Letter to Editor. Brief Communications should not exceed 1500 words (excluding abstract and references). Abstract has to be structured (Background/Objectives; Methods; Results; Conclusions) and should not exceed 250 words. No more than one table or one figure can be included.

Letter to the Editor:

Brief letters (maximum of 500 words, including up to 5 references; no tables or figures) will be considered if they include the notation “For publication". Interesting cases or any other uncontrolled observations should ordinarily be submitted as Letters to the Editor, though the journal has a separate submission type of case reports/case series. Letters critical of an article published in the Journal are highly encouraged but must be received within three months of the article's publication. Such letters must cite the original article. Letters that do not meet these specifications will be returned immediately.

Book Review and Media Review:

The IJSP also publishes critical reviews written on recently published books or films pertinent to social psychiatry. Usually, such reviews are invited by the Editor. However, authors can submit their reviews for publication. The Editor takes the final decision as to which review is suitable for publication. In no circumstances should reviews exceed 1500 words. Abstract and references are not required but relevant references (maximum 5) may be cited.

Commentary, Debate, Perspective, Viewpoint:

These are usually (but not necessarily) invited articles, either commenting/debating on an article to be published in the same issue or fresh submissions on topics of broad relevance to social psychiatry. The views and perspectives are of the authors, not necessarily of the Journal. They are purported to raise awareness, generate meaningful dialogue, and create an atmosphere of healthy debate and controversies. There is no mandatory length of such articles but in general, they should not exceed 4000 words (excluding references, which should be kept to a minimum). Commentaries may be briefer (up to 1500 words) and more focused. An abstract is not required for Commentaries but an unstructured abstract will be required for the “Debate / Perspective / Viewpoint" articles (maximum 250 words).  

Case reports/ case series:

New, interesting, and rare cases can be reported. They should be unique, describing a great diagnostic or therapeutic challenge and providing a learning point for the readers. Cases with clinical significance or implications will be given priority. These communications could be of up to 1000 words (excluding Abstract and references) and should have the following headings: Abstract (unstructured), Key-words, Introduction, Case report, Discussion, Reference, Tables, and Legends in that order. The case report can have up to 10 references.

References
References should be numbered consecutively in the order in which they are first mentioned in the text (not in alphabetic order). Identify references in text, tables, and legends by Arabic numerals in superscript with a square bracket after the punctuation marks. References cited only in tables or figure legends should be numbered in accordance with the sequence established by the first identification in the text of the particular table or figure. Use the style of the examples below, which are based on the formats used by the NLM in Index Medicus. The titles of journals should be abbreviated according to the style used in Index Medicus. Use the complete name of the journal for non-indexed journals. Avoid using abstracts as references. Information from manuscripts submitted but not accepted should be cited in the text as "unpublished observations" with written permission from the source. Avoid citing a "personal communication" unless it provides essential information not available from a public source, in which case the name of the person and date of communication should be cited in parentheses in the text. 
The commonly cited types of references are shown here, for other types of references such as newspaper items please refer to ICMJE Guidelines (http://www.icmje.org or http://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_requirements.html).

Articles in Journals

1.     Standard journal article (for up to six authors): Parija S C, Ravinder PT, Shariff M. Detection of hydatid antigen in the fluid samples from hydatid cysts by co-agglutination. Trans. R.Soc. Trop. Med. Hyg.1996; 90:255–256.

2.     Standard journal article (for more than six authors): List the first six contributors followed by et al.  

Roddy P, Goiri J, Flevaud L, Palma PP, Morote S, Lima N. et al., Field Evaluation of a Rapid Immunochromatographic Assay for Detection of Trypanosoma cruzi Infection by Use of Whole Blood. J. Clin. Microbiol. 2008; 46: 2022-2027.

3.     Volume with supplement: Otranto D, Capelli G, Genchi C: Changing distribution patterns of canine vector borne diseases in Italy: leishmaniosis vs. dirofilariosis.Parasites & Vectors 2009; Suppl 1:S2.  

Books and Other Monographs

1.     Personal author(s): Parija SC. Textbook of Medical Parasitology. 3rd ed. All India Publishers and Distributors. 2008.

2.     Editor(s), compiler(s) as author: Garcia LS, Filarial Nematodes In: Garcia LS (editor) Diagnostic Medical Parasitology ASM press Washington DC 2007: pp 319-356.

3.     Chapter in a book: Nesheim M C. Ascariasis and human nutrition. In Ascariasis and its prevention and control, D. W. T. Crompton, M. C. Nesbemi, and Z. S. Pawlowski (eds.). Taylor and Francis,London, U.K.1989, pp. 87–100.

Electronic Sources as reference

Journal article on the Internet: Parija SC, Khairnar K. Detection of excretory Entamoeba histolytica DNA in the urine, and detection of E. histolytica DNA and lectin antigen in the liver abscess pus for the diagnosis of amoebic liver abscess BMC Microbiology 2007, 7:41.doi:10.1186/1471-2180-7-41. http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2180/7/41

Tables

• Tables should be self-explanatory and should not duplicate textual material.
• Tables with more than 10 columns and 25 rows are not acceptable.
• Number tables, in Arabic numerals, consecutively in the order of their first citation in the text and supply a brief title for each.
• Place explanatory matter in footnotes, not in the heading.
• Explain in footnotes all non-standard abbreviations that are used in each table.
• Obtain permission for all fully borrowed, adapted, and modified tables and provide a credit line in the footnote.
• For footnotes use the following symbols, in this sequence: *, †, ‡, §, ||,¶ , **, ††, ‡‡
• Tables with their legends should be provided at the end of the text after the references. The tables along with their number should be cited at the relevant place in the text

Illustrations (Figures)

• Upload the images in JPEG format. The file size should be within 1024 kb in size while uploading.
• Figures should be numbered consecutively according to the order in which they have been first cited in the text.
• Labels, numbers, and symbols should be clear and of uniform size. The lettering for figures should be large enough to be legible after reduction to fit the width of a printed column.
• Symbols, arrows, or letters used in photomicrographs should contrast with the background and should be marked neatly with transfer type or by tissue overlay and not by pen.
• Titles and detailed explanations belong in the legends for illustrations not on the illustrations themselves.
• When graphs, scatter-grams or histograms are submitted the numerical data on which they are based should also be supplied.
• The photographs and figures should be trimmed to remove all the unwanted areas.
• If photographs of individuals are used, their pictures must be accompanied by written permission to use the photograph.
• If a figure has been published elsewhere, acknowledge the original source and submit written permission from the copyright holder to reproduce the material. A credit line should appear in the legend for such figures.
• Legends for illustrations: Type or print out legends (maximum 40 words, excluding the credit line) for illustrations using double spacing, with Arabic numerals corresponding to the illustrations. When symbols, arrows, numbers, or letters are used to identify parts of the illustrations, identify and explain each one in the legend. Explain the internal scale (magnification) and identify the method of staining in photomicrographs.
• Final figures for print production: Upload print-quality digital images during the journal submission process.
• The Journal reserves the right to crop, rotate, reduce, or enlarge the photographs to an acceptable size. 

List of Abbreviations: Include a list of abbreviations along with its description used in the manuscript.

Formatting instructions:

1. The submission should utilize a commonly used word processor such as MS Word.

2. The font should be TIMES NEW ROMAN, font size 12, color black (do not use other colours other than in exceptional circumstances).

3. The language is American (USA) English, and is to be used consistently throughout your article (other than references and direct quotations). For example please use the spellings “anemia", “color", “behavior", and “organize" (all examples of American English), stick to these spellings throughout your article and do not use “anaemia", “colour", “behaviour" or “organise" (all U.K. English spellings).

4. Major (first-level) headings such as Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, etc. should be Bold. Second-level headings such as Sample, Statistics, and next-level headings in Introduction or Discussion etc. should be in Bold italics. Further, third-level sub-headings, if used, (Inclusion and Exclusion criteria, Specific assessment instruments, etc.) should be in plain italics (not bold) followed by a fresh paragraph.

5. Do NOT indent the beginning of a fresh paragraph (in other words, do not use the “Tab": just leave it on the left-hand margin).

6. Leave one space (not more!) in between two paragraphs and after major headings. 

Protection of Patients' Rights to Privacy 
Identifying information should not be published in written descriptions, photographs, sonograms, CT scans, etc., and pedigrees unless the information is essential for scientific purposes and the patient (or parent or guardian, wherever applicable) gives informed consent for publication. Authors should remove patients' names from figures even if they have obtained informed consent from the patients in order to protect patient privacy. The journal abides by ICMJE guidelines:

1.     Authors, not the journals nor the publisher, need to obtain the patient consent form before the publication and have the form properly archived. The consent forms are not to be uploaded with the cover letter or sent through email to editorial or publisher offices.

2.     If the manuscript contains patient images that preclude anonymity, or a description that has obvious indication to the identity of the patient, a statement about obtaining informed patient consent should be indicated in the manuscript.

3.     In order to protect the patient's identity, the recognizable facial features not related to the study should be digitally blurred

4.     Written informed consent is the preferred method for obtaining consent. If verbal consent is obtained, the authors must ensure that the verbal consent is recorded in the medical case record of the patient and duly signed by witness.

Sending a revised manuscript 
 

The revised version of the manuscript should be submitted online in a manner similar to that used for submission of the manuscript for the first time. However, there is no need to submit the “First Page" or “Covering Letter" file while submitting a revised version. When submitting a revised manuscript, contributors are requested to include, the 'referees' remarks along with point to point clarification at the beginning in the revised file itself. In addition, they are expected to mark the changes as underlined or colored text in the article.

Reprints and proofs 

Journal provides no free printed reprints. Authors can purchase reprints, payment for which should be done at the time of submitting the proofs.

Publication Schedule
 

The journal publishes four times a year (quarterly publication). Articles are compiled for 'print on demand' semiannual issues.

Manuscript submission, processing and publication charges 

The journal does not charge for submission and processing of the manuscripts.

Copyrights  
The entire contents of the Indian Journal of Social Psychiatry are protected under Indian and international copyrights. The Journal, however, grants to all users a free, irrevocable, worldwide, perpetual right of access to, and a license to copy, use, distribute, perform and display the work publicly and to make and distribute derivative works in any digital medium for any reasonable non-commercial purpose, subject to proper attribution of authorship and ownership of the rights. The journal also grants the right to make small numbers of printed copies for their personal non-commercial use under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International Public License.

Checklist  
Covering letter

• Names of all the authors mentioned
• Previous publication / presentations mentioned
• Source of funding mentioned
• Conflicts of interest disclosed

Authors

• Last name and given name provided along with Middle name initials (where applicable)
• Author for correspondence, with e-mail address provided
• Number of contributors restricted as per the instructions
• Identity not revealed in paper except title page (e.g. name of the institute in Methods, citing previous study as 'our study', names on figure labels, name of institute in photographs, etc.)

Presentation and format

• Double spacing
• Margins 2.5 cm from all four sides
• Page numbers included at bottom
• Title page contains all the desired information
• Running title provided (not more than 50 characters)
• Abstract page contains the full title of the manuscript
• Abstract provided (structured abstract of 250 words for original articles, structured or unstructured abstracts of 250 words for review articles and unstructured abstracts of about 150 words for all other manuscripts excluding commentary and letters to the Editor)
• Key words provided (three or more)
• Introduction of 75-100 words
• Headings in title case (not ALL CAPITALS)
• The references cited in the text should be after punctuation marks, in superscript with square bracket.
• References according to the journal's instructions, punctuation marks checked
• Send the article file without 'Track Changes'

Language and grammar

• American English
• Write the full term for each abbreviation at its first use in the title, abstract, keywords and text separately unless it is a standard unit of measure. Numerals from 1 to 10 spelt out
• Numerals at the beginning of the sentence spelt out
• Check the manuscript for spelling, grammar and punctuation errors
• If a brand name is cited, supply the manufacturer's name and address (city and state/country).
• Species names should be in italics

Tables and figures

• No repetition of data in tables and graphs and in text
• Actual numbers from which graphs drawn, provided
• Figures of good quality (colour)
• Table and figure numbers in Arabic letters (not Roman)
• Figure legends provided
• Patients' privacy maintained (if not ethics permission taken)
• Credit note for borrowed figures/tables provided
• Write the full term for each abbreviation used in the table as a footnote

Click here to download instructions

These ready to use templates are made to help the contributors write as per the requirements of the Journal.

Save the templates on your computer and use them with a word processor program. 
Click open the file and save as the manuscript file.

In the program keep 'Document Map' and 'Comments' on from 'View' menu to navigate through the file. 


Download Template for Original Articles/ABSTRACT Reports. (.DOT file)

Download Template for Case Reports.  (.DOT file)

Download Template for Review Articles.  (.DOT file)

Download Template for Letter to the Editor.  (.DOT file)

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