Submissions

Author Guidelines

NJPNC shall be published quarterly by Nigerian Society of Neonatal Medicine (NISONM). Manuscripts submission is online. All manuscripts shall be written clearly and concisely in English with a cover letter. The cover letter should highlight the significance and strength of the research. It should also indicate that the manuscript has not been and is not intended to be submitted to another journal in part or in full for the purpose of publication. A previous publication in an abstract form is however acceptable but authors will be expected to disclose this fully referenced at the time of manuscript submission.

Submission process

Manuscripts are to be submitted online at the Journal Website. Please note that the journal website is currently being developed so authors should also send relevant copies (see below) of their manuscript as an email attachment to the following address: drauduli@yahoo.com. All sections of the Manuscripts should be clearly typed with double spacing on a good quality A4 paper (30 x 21 cm), using 2.5 cm margins. Pages should be well numbered consecutively, in the top right-hand corner. Manuscripts will be submitted in two copies; blinded and unblinded copies. The blinded copy should not contain any information that will reveal the identity of either the authors or the institution where the study was conducted. This is to ensure elimination of bias in the peer review process. The unblinded copy will carry all information about the authors (names and affiliations) as well as the institution(s) where research was conducted. One of the authors shall be designated the corresponding author who shall be responsible for submission and all subsequent communications regarding the submitted manuscript. However all the authors shall be expected to indicate consent and support for submission of the manuscript. A statement of declaration of conflict of interest and any source of research funding must be made. Manuscripts received shall be officially acknowledged from the Editorial office and the date of acknowledgement shall be the official date of receipt.

Authors’ contribution:

Where multiple authors are involved, statements indicating individual author’s specific contribution to the preparation of manuscript should accompany the manuscript. To merit authorship, an individual should have contributed significantly to the research work as well as to the preparation of the manuscript. All authors are expected to endorse the final copy of the manuscript to be submitted to the Journal. Significant areas of contribution should include: 1. Research concept and design, 2. data collection and analysis, 3. preparation of manuscript draft, 4. manuscript revision/editing for intellectual content.

Changes in authorship

A need to make changes in the authorship of a manuscript or published articles may arise. Such changes will be made based on SCOPE specification. Only corresponding authors can make request for a change in authorship. Request should be made to the editor using the Changes in Authorship Form.

Manuscript submission Check list for Authors

• Cover letter
• Title page
  • Type of manuscript
  • Title of article
  • Running title
  • Name (s), academic degrees, and affiliations of author (s)
  • Name, address, telephone and e-mail address of corresponding author
• Abstract including key words (except for Letter or Correspondence to the Editor)
• Full manuscript
• References (double spaced), on a separate sheet, paged with the Manuscript text
• Tables (double spaced), on separate unpaged sheet(s)
• Figure legends (double spaced), on separate unpaged sheet(s)
• Figures properly labelled (three sets of glossy prints), on separate unpaged sheet(s)
• Informed consent or certificate of ethical committee if indicated.

Types of Manuscripts

Original articles

These shall include Clinical research, Laboratory investigations on human subjects and clinical reviews which should be written in the following format:

Structured summary (Introduction/background, subjects and methods, Results and Conclusion/Recommendations)
The main body of the manuscript should be broken down into the following sections:

Introduction. This is a brief and clear description of the subject matter, its relevance to clinical practice, the rational for study and the aim of study. It should include a review of existing literature related to the research study.

Materials and Methods. This should include study design, subject selection, unambiguous description of data gathering and statistical methods applied for data analysis. Evidence of compliance with appropriate ethical requirement must be stated; approval from relevant institutional ethics committee and where human subjects are involved, consent/assent for participation in study.

Results. Presented in texts, tables graphs or illustrations to address the objectives sequentially and logically. Tables should be appropriately labelled and the content easily comprehensible such that explanatory texts will simply highlight the main contents of the table.

Discussion. This should be limited to interpretation and discussion of the implications of research findings in relation to existing literature.

Limitations. Authors would be expected to outline the shortcomings of their study. This should however not warrant an elaborate discussion.

Conclusion. The concluding statement briefly encapsulates the most significant findings of the study. It should be consistent with the evidence presented in the manuscript and address the main research questions.

Recommendation. It is expected that recommendations made by authors should derive directly from study findings.

Acknowledgement. All forms of contribution outside the categories stipulated for authorship should be acknowledged.

References and referencing style. Cited references should be indicated in the text in Arabic numerals as superscripts and numbered sequentially as they appear in the text. (Vancouver style). The references should be listed in the same sequence at the end of the manuscript. Journal names should be abbreviated in accordance with the style used in the Index Medicus. Author’s name (Surname followed by initials) is followed by the title of article, journal name, year of publication, volume (number) and the first and last page. The names and initials of all authors should be written except where the number of authors exceed six in which case the first 6 are written and the remaining represented by ‘et al’.

Tables and Figures should be clearly labelled and their location within the manuscript pointed out clearly. Tables that do not enhance understanding of the study should be excluded. Photographs should be glossy black and white.

Short reports/communications:
These could be short papers, brief laboratory investigations and preliminary communications, which report new and exciting results requiring rapid publication.

Case Reports:
These should have a short summary followed by a more detailed case description, discussion and conclusion. Acceptance preference will be based on the relevance of case to contemporary neonatal practice. While there may be no strict restriction to word count, the authorship will usually be limited to 4.

Editorials:
These will usually be solicited and will represent the opinions of leaders in perinatal and Neonatal Care and Research on contemporary issues.

Letters or Correspondences.
A letter or correspondence submitted in response to an article published in a previous edition of the journal would be evaluated and accepted for publication if it merits that editorial decision. Letters should not carry an abstract.

Summary of meetings:
NJPNC will consider for publication summaries of scientific publications at the annual conference of the Nigerian Society for Neonatal Medicine.

Referencing System

Referencing System: References must be listed in line with the Vancouver style, with examples as shown below :

Standard journal articles:

• 1. 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(1-2):40-46.
• 2. Ugege MO, Airede KI and Jiya NM. Thyroid function profile in cord blood and postnatal changes at 24 and 72hours in healthy term Nigerian neonates. Niger J Paediatr 2014; 41:209 –214.

Books:

• 3. Murray PR, Rosenthal KS, Kobayashi GS, Pfaller MA. Medical microbiology. 4th ed. St. Louis: Mosby; 2002.
• 4. Berkow R, Fletcher AJ, editors. The Merck manual of diagnosis and therapy. 16th ed. Rahway (NJ): Merck Research Laboratories; 1992.

Editorial Process

Acknowledgement and editorial screening.
All manuscripts received shall be promptly acknowledged. The manuscript will thereafter be subjected to editorial screening to ascertain compliance with journal submission policies, standards and scope of publications. Any manuscript with a subject matter outside the scope of the NJPNC or which is sufficiently low in quality (originality, scientific information and style), has clear evidence of plagiarism or duplication of previous publication or that may not be of interest to our readership will be returned without further processing. (Desk reject/administrative reject). Manuscripts that do not comply fully with instructions for submission shall be returned to the authors who would be required to carry out relevant amendments to meet the manuscript submission requirements of the journal.

Peer Review.
Manuscripts found suitable shall be sent to at least 2 selected expert reviewers upon their positive response to editor’s request for participation in the peer-review process for the manuscripts. The journal’s policy is that of non-disclosure of authors’ identity to reviewers and vice vasa (double blind process). Reviewers will be expected to submit their report to the Editor within 2-3 weeks of receiving the full manuscript and their decision (accepted, amendment required, or rejected) will be communicated to the corresponding author. Where required, authors will be expected to respond clearly to all comments raised by reviewers and to effect necessary changes on the manuscript and resubmit for reviewers to confirm adequacy of response. This process will be repeated until a verdict of ‘accepted’ is obtained from the reviewers.

Communication of decision on manuscript to authors.
Where reviewers unanimously reject a manuscript, this decision will be communicated to authors and no further action would be taken on the manuscript. Final decision on accepted manuscript will be communicated to the authors who will then the expected to pay the article processing/publication fee. The article processing fees will allow immediate online publication of article.

Publication of accepted manuscript
Prior to the publication of the article, a galley-proof of the accepted manuscript will be sent to the authors for correction of spelling or printer errors only and to return same within 48-72hours. Any other changes to the manuscript will not be accepted at this stage.

Reprint Request. This will be entertained but at an additional cost.