You can find a User Guide to help you throuh the submission process here: User Guide

How to Submit

You must submit your paper via our web-based submission system, which may be found on the Make a Submission page. To submit, registration to the MSJ platform is required.

Questions about submitting can be sent to the editorial office at [email protected]

Formatting guidelines for specific article types can be found below.

 

File formats

The file formats acceptable for the main manuscript document are Microsoft word (DOC, DOCX) and Portable Document Format (PDF, preferred).

MSJ article types

MANUSCRIPT CONTENT 

Title Page

The title page should contain:

1. the title;
2. first name, middle initial, and last name of each author;
3. institutional affiliation for each author;
4. the address for correspondence;
5. financial support used for the study, including any institutional departmental funds;
6. five key words for indexing, using terms from the Medical Subject Headings list of Index Medicus.

 

Abstracts

Structured abstracts are required for all manuscripts (except editorials, letters/commentaries, and Pro-Contra Debate) submitted to MSJ.

Abstracts for Original Articles, Meta-analysis and Systematic Review should be no more than 300 words in length (200 for Brief article) and must have the following headings: Background, Methods, Results and Conclusions.

Abstract for Expert Opinion, Case Reports, Study Protocol, Consensus on Clinical Practice should be no than 200 words and it is not necessary to follow a specific format.

 

Main Body Structure

The text should be written in standard scientific English. Authors should carefully proofread their text prior to submission.

Text that is poorly written will lead to summary rejection. The text should be organized into the following sections: Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion Conclusions followed by Conflict of interest, Acknowledgments, References, Figure Legends, Figures and Tables.

 

Introduction

The Introduction section should explain the background of the study, its aims, a summary of the existing literature and why this study was necessary.

 

Methods

The methods section should include:

• the aim, design and setting of the study;
• the characteristics of participants or description of materials;
• a clear description of all processes, interventions, and comparisons. Generic names should generally be used. When proprietary brands are used in research, include the brand names in parentheses;
• the type of statistical analysis used, including a power calculation if appropriate.

 Results

This should report the findings of the study including, if appropriate, results of statistical analysis which must be stated either in the text or as tables and figures.

Discussion

For research articles this section should discuss the implications of the findings in the context of existing research and highlight the limitations of the study. For study protocols and methodology manuscripts, this section should include a discussion of any practical or operational issues involved in performing the study and any issues not covered in other sections.

Conclusions

This should clearly state the main conclusions and provide an explanation of the importance and relevance of the study for the field. 

Abbreviations

Abbreviation should be minimized and avoided wherever possible. The full term for which an abbreviation stands should be used at its first occurrence in the text unless it is a standard unit of measure.

The abbreviation should appear in parentheses after the full term. Abbreviations should not be in the title, figure legends, or table titles.

 

SUPPLEMENTATY INFO (SI)

Any data that is integral to the main body of the article. Supplementary Information may be included in the main manuscript file or submitted as a separate file. The supported formats are Microsoft word (DOC, DOCX) and Portable Document Format (PDF, preferred).

References

References must be placed where cited and numbered in order of appearance in the text (including table captions and figure legends) and listed individually at the end of the manuscript. In the text, reference numbers should be placed in square brackets [ ], before the punctuation (e.g. [1], [1–3] or [1,3].).

A separate reference list should be provided for the Supplementary Information file.

 

References should be described as follows, depending on the type of work:

• Journal Articles:  Author 1 surname name initials, Author 2 surname name initials, etc. Title of the article (full title, in italics). Journal Name (also abbreviated), Year, Issue (Volume): page range. (e.g.   Pignataro M, Lenzoni G, Laudano A. Submitting to MSJ. XX,2022, 1 (1): 1-12)
• Books and Book Chapters: Author 1 A. Author 2 B. Book Title (full title, in italics), 3rd ed.; Publisher: Publisher Location, Country, Year; pp. 154–196.
• Conference Proceedings: Author 1 AB, Author 2 CD, Author 3 EF. Title of Presentation (full title, in italics). In Title of the Collected Work (if available), Proceedings of the Name of the Conference, Location of Conference, Country, Date of Conference; Editor 1, Editor 2, Eds. (if available); Publisher: City, Country, Year (if available); Abstract Number (optional), Pagination (optional).
• Thesis: Author 1 AB. Title of Thesis (full title, in italics). Level of Thesis, Degree-Granting University, Location of University, Date of Completion.
• Websites: Title of Site. Available online: URL (accessed on Day Month Year).

Unlike published works, websites may change over time or disappear, so we encourage you create an archive of the cited website using a service such as WebCite. Archived websites should be cited using the link provided as follows: Title of Site. URL (archived on Day Month Year).

 

Figures and tables

 Tables

These must be self-explanatory, and each presented on a separate page after the main text, but as part of the same document. Following a concise (single sentence) informative heading, each table should be fully understandable either through column headings or, if these are insufficient in themselves, through a footnote. 

Figures 

Refer to all diagrams, graphs and photographs as 'Figures'.

Cite figures consecutively in your manuscript. Number figures in the figure legend in the order in which they are discussed in the main text.

Ensure that, after reduction, they will be compatible with the double-column format of the journal.

Subdivisions of figures should be labelled with lower case, bold letters (e.g. (a), (b)) and referred to in the text in the form (Fig. 1a), (Fig. 1a,b). Avoid including explanatory material in the figure itself – this should be in the legend. Supplementary figures should be labelled according to their appearance in the main manuscript, and include the labelling Fig. S (e.g., Fig. S1a).

Figure file types

We accept the following file formats for figures:

• EPS (suitable for diagrams and/or images)
• PDF (suitable for diagrams and/or images)
• Microsoft Word (suitable for diagrams and/or images, figures must be a single page)
• PowerPoint (suitable for diagrams and/or images, figures must be a single page)
• TIFF (suitable for images)
• JPEG (suitable for photographic images, less suitable for graphical images)
• PNG (suitable for images)
• BMP (suitable for images)
• CDX (ChemDraw - suitable for molecular structures)

The figure resolution should be at least 300 dpi.

With photographs, include any scale bars on the picture. Where a figure is made up of several photographs, these should be abutted unless this affects the clarity.

Figure legends should be included with the main text of the paper, after the References. Key information describing each figure should be in the first sentence; the legend should be a self-contained, full explanation of the figure, with the species under investigation and all abbreviations defined.

In general, figures should be kept to a minimum consistent with scientific necessity.

 

Color

There are no color charges and we welcome color figures, which will be published in full color. Figures submitted in black-and-white will be published as such in the online article. Please ensure that when color figures are submitted, appropriate color references are stated in the figure legend. To ensure optimal reproduction of your color figure, please ensure that the file is provided in RGB format.

Video and Audio

MSJ encourages authors to include video and audio files if they support the main findings. Video or audio/video files should be provided as Supplementary Information in the supported format (MP4, AVI). The maximum file size is 30 Mb.

Permissions 

Any submitted materials that are to be reproduced (or adapted) from copyrighted publications must be accompanied by a written letter of permission from the copyright holder. Accepted manuscripts will be delayed, when necessary, if permissions are not filed.