Medical Journal of Malaysia

Notice to Contributors

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Conclusion:

Link the conclusions with the goals of the study but avoid unqualified statements and conclusions not completely supported by your data. Avoid claiming priority and alluding to work that has not been completed. State new hypotheses when warranted, but clearly label them as such.

Recommendations, when appropriate, may be included.

Acknowledgements:

Acknowledge grants awarded in aid of the study (state the number of the grant, name and location of the institution or organisation), as well as persons who have contributed significantly to the study.

Authors are responsible for obtaining written permission from everyone acknowledged by name, as readers may infer their endorsement of the data.

References:

Number references consecutively in the order in which they are first mentioned in the text. Identify references in text, tables and legends by Arabic numerals (in parenthesis). References cited only in tables or legends to figures should be numbered in accordance with a sequence established by the first identification in the text of the particular table or illustration.

Use the form of references adopted by the US National Library of Medicine and used in the Index Medicus. Use the style of the examples cited at the end of this section, which have been approved by the National Library of Medicine.

The titles of journals should be abbreviated according to the style used in the Index Medicus.

Try to avoid using abstracts as references; “unpublished observations” and “personal communications” may not be used as references, although references to written, not verbal, communication may be inserted (in parenthesis) in the text. Include among the references manuscripts accepted but not yet published; designate the journal followed by “in press” (in parenthesis). Information from manuscripts should be cited in the text as “unpublished observations” (in parenthesis).

The references must be verified by the author(s) against the original documents. List all authors when six or less; when seven or more list only three and add et al. Examples of correct forms of references are given below:

Journals:

1. Standard Journal Article
   Soter NA, Wasserman SI, Austen KF et al. Cold uticaria: release into the circulation of histamine and eosinophil chemotaxic factor of anaphylaxis during cold challenge. New Engl J Med 1976; 294 : 687 - 90.
2. Corporate Author
   The Committee on Enzymes of the Scandinavian Society of Clinical Chemistry and Clinical Physiology. Recommended method for the determination of gammaglutamyltransferase in blood. Scand J Clin Lab Invest 1976; 36: 119 -25.

Books and Other Monographs:

3. Personal Author(s)
   Osler AG. Complement: mechanisms and functions. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1976.
4. Corporate Author
   American Medical Association Department of Drugs. AMA drug evaluation (3rd ed.) Littleton: Publishing Sciences Group, 1977.
5. Editor, Compiler, Chairman as Author
   Rhodes AJ, Van Rooyen CE (comps). Textbook of virology: For students and practitioners of medicine and the other health sciences (5th ed). Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins, 1968.
6. Chapter in Book
   Weinstein L, Swartz MN. Pathogenic properties of invading microorganisms. In: Sodeman WAJr, Sodeman WA (eds). Pathologic physiology: mechanisms of disease. Philadelphia: WB Saunders, 1974; 457 - 72.
7. Agency Publication
   National Care for Health Statistics. Acute conditions: incidence and associated disability, United States, July1968 - June 1969. Rockville, Me: National Centre for Health Statistics, 1972. (Vital and health statistics). Series 10: data from the National Health Survey, No 69). (DHEW Publication No (HSM) 72 - 1036).

Other Articles:

8. Newspaper Article
   Shaffer RA. Advances in chemistry are starting to unlock mysteries of the brain: discoveries could help cure alcoholism and insomnia, explain mental illness. However, the messengers work. Wall Street Journal 1977; Aug 12: 1(col 1), 10 (col 1).
9. Magazine Article
   Roucehe B. Annals of medicine: the Santa Claus culture. The New Yorker 1971; Sep 4: 66 - 81).

Tables and illustrations:

Roman numerals should be used for numbering tables. Arabic numerals should be used when numbering illustrations and diagrams. Illustrations and tables should be kept to a minimum.

All tables, illustrations and diagrams should be fully labelled so that each is comprehensible without reference to the text. All measurements should be reported using the metric system.

Each table should be typed on a separate sheet of paper, double-spaced and numbered consecutively. Omit the internal horizontal and vertical rules. The contents of all tables should be carefully checked to ensure that all totals and subtotals tally.

Photographs of Patients:

Proof of permission and/or consent from the patient must be submitted with the manuscript. A statement on this must be included as a foot note to the relevant photograph.

Colour reproduction:

Illustrations and diagrams are normally reproduced in black and white only. Colour reproductions can be included if so required and upon request. However, a nominal charge must be paid by the authors for this additional service; the charges to be determined as and when on a per article basis.

Abbreviations:

Use only standard abbreviations. The full term for which an abbreviation stands should precede its first use in the text, unless it is a standard unit of measurement.

Best Paper Award:

All original papers which are accepted for publication by the Medical Journal of Malaysia, will be considered for the ‘Best Paper Award’ for the year of publication.  No award will be made for any particular year if none of the submitted papers are judged to be of suitable quality.