Guidelines for reporting of research studies

AJST supports the EQUATOR Network initiative. The EQUATOR Network is an international initiative that seeks to improve reliability and value of medical research literature by promoting transparent and accurate reporting of research studies.

We expect papers submitted to AJOST to meet standards of research reporting to international standards. 

Sections of the manuscript

Title page should include the full title, the surname and initials of each author, plus their main department, institution, city with postal code and country. Addresses may also be given as numbered affiliations. **Please include the position/designation of each author. This should be included between the author name and the affiliation**. The corresponding author should be indicated, and their e-mail address provided. We do not include details of academic awards but we do include Honorary titles.

Abstract - The second page of the manuscript must contain only the Abstract. The abstract should be structured under the following headings: Background; Methods; Results; Conclusions. Reference citations should be avoided. The abstract should be no longer than 200 words.

Discussion - We ask all authors to structure the Discussion section with sub-headings as follows: Main finding of this study What is already known on this topic What this study adds Limitations of this study

Acknowledgments - Should be included at the end of the text and not in footnotes. Personal acknowledgements should precede those of institutions or agencies; include any grant numbers where appropriate.

References - Authors are responsible for the accuracy of the references. In the text references should be numbered consecutively in Arabic numerals. References cited only in tables or figures should be numbered in sequence according to the first mention of the table or figure in the text. All references cited should be listed according to the form of reference adopted by Index Medicus. Up to six authors can be listed; if the number exceeds six, quote the first three followed by et al. The sequence for a standard article is: author(s); title; journal; year; volume; first and last page numbers. The sequence for a book or other publication is: author(s), editor(s) or compiler(s); title; edition number; place of publication; publisher's name; year; first and last pages of reference (if relevant).

Figure Legends - should be typed on a separate sheet. Define all symbols and abbreviations used in the figure. Common abbreviations and others in the preceding text should not be redefined in the legend.

Tables - should be in table format, not inserted as graphics, on separate sheets and numbered consecutively with Roman numerals. They should be self-explanatory, with a brief descriptive title. Footnotes to tables indicated by lower case letters are acceptable, but they should not include extensive experimental detail.

Illustrations - All illustrations (line drawings and photographs) should be referred to in the text as Figure 1, etc., which should be abbreviated to 'Fig. 1.' only in the figure legend. Illustrations should be submitted in Adobe Photoshop compatible formats, preferably .tif, or alternatively .eps or .jpg, and saved as separate files, not embedded in the text file. If submitting line drawings which require reduction, please check that the lettering will be clearly legible after the drawing has been reduced to the size at which it will be printed. After reduction, letters should not be smaller than 1.5 mm in height.

Third-Party Content in Open Access papers:

If you will be publishing your paper under an Open Access license but it contains material for which you do not have Open Access re-use permissions, please state this clearly by supplying the following credit line alongside the material:

Title of content

Author, Original publication, year of original publication, by permission of [rights holder]

This image/content is not covered by the terms of the Creative Commons license of this publication. For permission to reuse, please contact the rights holder.

Authorship

All persons designated as authors should qualify for authorship. The order of authorship should be a joint decision of the co-authors. Each author should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for the content. Authorship credit should be based on substantial contribution to conception and design, execution, or analysis and interpretation of data. All authors should be involved in drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content, and must have read and approved the final version of the manuscript. Assurance that all authors of the paper have fulfilled these criteria for authorship should be given in the covering letter.

Conflict of interest

At the point of submission, AJOST's policy requires that each author reveal any financial interests or connections, direct or indirect, or other situations that might raise the question of bias in the work reported or the conclusions, implications, or opinions stated - including pertinent commercial or other sources of funding for the individual author(s) or for the associated department(s) or organization(s), personal relationships, or direct academic competition. When considering whether you should declare a conflicting interest or connection please consider the conflict of interest test: Is there any arrangement that would embarrass you or any of your co-authors if it was to emerge after publication and you had not declared it?

As an integral part of the online submission process, Corresponding authors are required to confirm whether they or their co-authors have any conflicts of interest to declare, and to provide details of these. If the Corresponding author is unable to confirm this information on behalf of all co-authors, the authors in question will then be required to submit a completed Conflict of Interest form to the Editorial Office. It is the Corresponding author’s responsibility to ensure that all authors adhere to this policy.

If the manuscript is published, Conflict of Interest information will be communicated in a statement in the published paper.

Language editing

Please note that the article will not undergo extensive editing by the journal before publication. Particularly if English is not your first language, and before submitting your manuscript, you may wish to have it edited for language. This is not a mandatory step, but may help to ensure that the academic content of your paper is fully understood by journal editors and reviewers. Language editing does not guarantee that your manuscript will be accepted for publication. Authors are liable for all costs associated with such services.

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Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work

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