​​​About the Journal 

Journal of Dr. NTR University of Health sciences is a quarterly peer-reviewed open access journal that publishes articles in the field of modernmedicine,dental, ,nursing , physiotherapy and allied Indian medicine. All manuscripts should be submitted online. The journal charges no fees for submission, publication and processing. All submitted manuscripts would be subjected to screening and any evidence of unattributed "cutting and pasting" also called as plagiarism is not accepted. Articles are accepted in the following sections.

Scope of the journal 

The journal will cover technical and clinical studies related to health, ethical and social issues in field of All medical disciplines, including alternative medicine and dental. 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 Journal of Dr. NTR University of Health Sciences 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 received are duly acknowledged. On submission, editors review all submitted manuscripts initially for suitability for formal review. Manuscripts with insufficient originality, serious scientific or technical flaws, or lack of a significant message are rejected before proceeding for formal peer-review. Manuscripts that are unlikely to be of interest to the Journal of Dr. NTR University of Health Sciences readers are also liable to be rejected at this stage itself.

Manuscripts that are found suitable for publication in Journal of Dr. NTR University of Health Sciences are sent to two or more expert reviewers. During submission, the contributor is requested to provide names of two or three qualified reviewers who have had experience in the subject of the submitted manuscript, but this is not mandatory. 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.

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. To achieve faster and greater dissemination of knowledge and information, the journal publishes articles online as 'Ahead of Print' immediately on acceptance.

Clinical trial registry  

Journal of Dr. NTR University of Health Sciences favors registration of clinical trials and is a signatory to the Statement on publishing clinical trials in Indian biomedical journals. Journal of Dr. NTR University of Health Sciences would publish clinical trials that have been registered with a clinical trial registry that allows free online access to public. Registration in the following trial registers is acceptable: https://ctri.nic.in/Clinicaltrials/login.php, http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/, http://isrctn.org/ and http://www.umin.ac.jp/ctr. This is applicable to clinical trials that have begun enrollment of subjects in or after June 2008. Clinical trials that have commenced enrollment of subjects prior to June 2008 would be considered for publication in Journal of Dr. NTR University of Health Sciences only if they have been registered retrospectively with clinical trial registry that allows unhindered online access to public without charging any fees.

Authorship Criteria

Authorship credit should be based only on substantial contributions to each of the three components mentioned below: 

1.      Concept and design of study or acquisition of data or analysis and interpretation of data;

2.      Drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content; and

3.      Final approval of the version to be published.

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. The journal prescribes a maximum number of authors for manuscripts depending upon the type of manuscript, its scope and number of institutions involved (vide infra). The authors should provide a justification, if the number of authors exceeds these limits.

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. 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

All authors of must disclose any and all conflicts of interest they may have with publication of the manuscript or an institution or product that is mentioned in the manuscript and/or is important to the outcome of the study presented. Authors should also disclose conflict of interest with products that compete with those mentioned in their manuscript.

Submission of Manuscripts

All manuscripts must be submitted on-line through the website http://www.journalonweb.com/jdrntruhs. 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 user name 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 editor [AT] jdrntruhs . org

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 identity 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.      Source(s) of support in the form of grants, equipment, drugs, or all of these;

4.      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. This should be included in the title page of the manuscript and not in the main article file.

5.      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.

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

7.      Conflicts of Interest of each author/ contributor. 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

8.      Criteria for inclusion in the authors'/ contributors' list

9.      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

10.   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.

[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 color 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 (keep up to 1600 x 1200 pixels or 5-6 inches). 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 (template provided below) has to be submitted in original with the signatures of all the contributors within two weeks of submission via courier, fax or email as a scanned image. Print ready hard copies of the images (one set) or digital images should be sent to the journal office at the time of submitting revised manuscript. High resolution images (up to 5 MB each) can be sent by email.

Contributors' form / copyright transfer form can be submitted online from the authors' area on http://www.journalonweb.com/jdrntruhs.

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 requirement of Journal of Dr. NTR University of Health Sciences 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.jdrntruhs.org) and from the manuscript submission site http://www.journalonweb.com/jdrntruhs).

Journal of Dr. NTR University of Health Sciences accepts manuscripts written in British 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. The material should be sent to Dr K A Seetharam, C/o Director, Publications & research, NTRMEDNET consortium&Digital Library office,Dr NTR University of Health Sciences,Vijayawada-520008,AP,India.

Types of Manuscripts

Reviews:

Review articles are only by editorial board invitation.Systematic critical assessments of literature and data sources of about 3000 words should be submitted. Add an unstructured abstract of 250 words, with key words. Please add 10 multiple choice questions (MCQs) with four options based on the review article.

Original articles:

This includes reports of trials, studies of diagnostic tests or surveys that are up to 2500 words in length (excluding references and abstract). Please write a structured abstract (including 5 headings: Background, Aims, Methods, Results, Conclusion) of not more than 250 words and add key words (3-5 words). The article should include an introduction, methods, results, discussion, acknowledgement if any, and references. Double blind controlled trials must conform to the revised CONSORT statement and this is available from editorial office or at the website http://www.consort-statement.org. Registration of clinical trials is desirable. Permission from ethics committee/ Institutional Review Board (IRB), statement of sources of support and conflict of interest is mandatory. IRB approval must be mentioned in the “methods" section of all manuscripts. Short reports of preliminary studies may be submitted for the category of Brief reports.

Case reports:

Reports of an unusual manifestation of a disease or a new disease (1000 words and up to 10 references) should be submitted with photographs. An unstructured abstract of not more than 200 words should be submitted along with 3-5 key words. The article should include introduction, case report(s), discussion and references.

Letters to the Editor:

These should normally be no more than 750 words in length, may have up to 5 references and a maximum of three photographs. There are no sub-headings within the letter.

Focus:

Short reviews (up to 1500 words) on instruments or equipment or drugs or procedure of current interest may be submitted after consulting the Editor on the selection of subject. No abstract is required.

Announcements:

Announcements of conferences, meetings, courses, awards, and other items that are likely to be of interest to readers should be submitted with the name and address of the person from whom additional information can be obtained (up to 100 words).

Tables:
Authors should exercise particular care in the preparation, notation and description of tables and figures. Tables should be included in the article file document. Make self-explanatory tables that do not duplicate the text. 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. 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: *, †, ‡, §, ||, **, ††, ‡‡

Illustrations:
Sketches/flow diagrams should be included in the article file document (MS Word). Clinical and histopathology photographs should be uploaded online simultaneously at the time of submission of the manuscript (after scanning if printed) as JPEG files preferably of a size less than 4MB each. Please follow necessary instructions on the journal website. Type legends (maximum 20 words) for illustrations/figures using double line spacing. Use Arabic numerals for numbering illustrations and should be referred to in the text as "Figure". For histopathology photographs, please mention the magnification scale and the method of staining. Legends should also be incorporated in the article file after the references. Illustrations must be cited in the text and numbered in the order of mention. For print photographs, indicate the number of the figure, the first contributor's surname and the top of the figure on a label pasted (avoid the use of liquid gum) on the back of each print or mount of a slide. The JDRNTRUHS reserves the right to crop, rotate, reduce, or enlarge the photographs to an acceptable size. For clinical photographs, either the subjects must not be identifiable or their pictures must be accompanied by written permission to use the photograph. If a figure or table has been published before, 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.

References
In citing other work, only references consulted in the original should be included. Use the sequential numbering system. Personal communications should not be cited in the reference list but may appear parenthetically in the text. Arrange the reference list in the sequence in which the references are first cited. In the text, references cited should be superscripted and should appear on top of the line after the punctuation. Check all references for accuracy and completeness. The journal follows the Vancouver system of references.

Format for references:

List the first six authors followed by et al. List the Surname, followed by the initials, for each author; the title of the paper; journal title (abbreviated according to the style of Index Medicus [ www.nlm.nih.gov ]; in case the journal is not listed in the Index Medicus, the full journal title should be given); year of publication; volume number; first and last page numbers. Please observe the interpunctuation most carefully.

Examples of references:

For journal articles:

Sehgal VN, Srivastava G, Dogra S. Adult onset pityriasis rubra pilaris. Indian J Dermatol Venereol Leprol 2008;74:311-21.

For books:

Personal author(s): Ringsven MK, Bond D. Gerontology and leadership skills for nurses. 2nd ed. Albany (NY): Delmar Publishers; 1996.p 134-8.

For chapters in books:
Lever WF, Schaumberg Lever G. Pityriasis rubra pilaris. In: Lever WF, Schaumberg Lever G, editors. Histopathology of the skin. 7th ed. Philadelphia: JB Lippincott; 1996. p. 176-8.

For electronic media:
Bhatia A, Prakash S. Topical phenytoin for wound healing.Dermatology Online Journal. Available at: http://dermatology.cdlib.org. Accessed November 3, 2004.

Abbreviations:
Abbreviations should be avoided in the title and abstract. A term or a disease must be spelt out at first mention, with the abbreviation following in parentheses in the text file.
N.B. In case of any doubt, please refer to 'Uniform requirement for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals' at the web page www.icmje.org or in the Annals of Internal Medicine (Ann Intern Med 1997; 126:36-47) for more detailed guidelines

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 unless they have obtained informed consent from the patients. 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.

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 articles on its website immediately on acceptance and follows a 'continuous publication' schedule. Articles are compiled for 'print on demand' quarterly issues.

Manuscript submission, processing and publication charges 

Journal does not charge the authors or authors' institutions for the submission, processing and/or publications of manuscripts.

Copyrights

The entire contents of the Journal of Dr. NTR University of Health Sciences 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 Unported License.

Checklist  

Covering letter

• Signed by all contributors
• 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, unstructured abstracts of about 150 words for all other manuscripts excluding 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

• Uniformly 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 necessary and of good quality (colour)
• Table and figure numbers in Arabic letters (not Roman)
• Labels pasted on back of the photographs (no names written)
• Figure legends provided (not more than 40 words)
• Patients' privacy maintained (if not permission taken)
• Credit note for borrowed figures/tables provided
• Write the full term for each abbreviation used in the table as a footnote​
  
  

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)​​