Author Guidelines
- Aim and Scope
- Submission Process
- Assignment of Authorship Responsibilities
- Article Processing
- Scientific and Initial Screening
- Peer-Review Process
- Editorial Independence
- Ethical Independence
- Copyright
- Open Access Policy
- Requirements for Different Types of Articles
- Paper Preparations
- Language and Style
- For further information, please contact the Editorial Office
Aim and Scope
The Dijlah Journal of Medical Sciences (DJMS) is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal published by Dijlah University (DU), dedicated to publishing high-quality research that advances all aspects of medical sciences and techniques. Serving as a scientific medium for researchers worldwide, the journal places particular emphasis on original clinical studies, basic science investigations, and analyses of prevalent diseases and regional health challenges. We welcome manuscript submissions in the form of original articles, review articles, case reports, and letters to the editor.
Submission Process
Manuscripts should be sent through the online submission system: (https://journal.duc.edu.iq/index.php/djms/about/submissions )
Assignment of Authorship Responsibilities
Your article will not be published unless you warrant that: “This article is an original work, has not been published before, and is not being considered for publication elsewhere in its final form, either in print or electronically.” The DJMS Assignment Form (available in the Forms tab of the website) must be signed and dated by all authors and submitted along with the manuscript.
Article Processing Fee
The payment of a fee is mandatory for all types of manuscripts submitted to the Dijlah Journal of Medical Sciences (DJMS). Please note that manuscripts will only be processed for review when this condition is met. All authors are required to pay their share of the processing and publication fees upon acceptance.
Article processing fee of 100,000 ID applies to all the accepted articles. The author can do direct payment in cash to the Department of Account Office, Dijlah University, Dorah City, Al-Masafi Street, Baghdad, Iraq.
Scientific and Initial Screening
DJMS staff would review each manuscript’s structure and content, checking whether it matched the standard format for its study type, fell within the Journal’s scope, followed established guidelines, met quality and novelty expectations, and addressed ethical requirements. Articles would be screened and triaged as quickly as possible at this stage. This process would help the editor make fair final decisions and improve the quality of the published articles.
Peer-Review Process
Our statisticians first assess submitted articles for methodological flaws, formatting, and compliance with the Journal’s instructions. A submission code is then assigned, and all subsequent correspondence should refer to that code. Each article undergoes a single anonymized review by at least two external (peer) reviewers. Their comments are sent to the authors, who submit responses; the Editor-in-Chief and a final reviewer, who may be a member of the Editorial Board, then evaluate both the responses and the reviewers’ comments. The final review is discussed during regular editorial board sessions. Taking those discussions, the comments, and the Journal’s standards into account, the Editors-in-Chief decide which articles will be published. Articles submitted by DJMS staff and editors will also undergo peer review. The editor has no role in the review or decision.
Editorial Independence
Although Dijlah University provides financial sponsorship for the DJMS, the journal retains editorial independence. Articles are evaluated and accepted solely on the basis of their significance, originality, validity, and fit with the Journal’s aims and scope. This policy follows the principles of editorial independence set out by the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME).
Ethical Considerations
The Journal also follows the guidelines mentioned in the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals issued by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).
- Human & Animal Rights Statement:
Research involving human subjects, human material, or human data must comply with the Declaration of Helsinki and receive approval from an independent local, regional, or national review body, such as an ethics committee or institutional review board. Documentation must be available to editors upon request.
Manuscripts reporting experimental research on animals should state that the institute’s Ethical Committee approved the work and that the study followed the legal requirements of the relevant local or national authority. Before the Dijlah Journal of Medical Sciences accepts a paper involving animals, the authors must satisfy the editors that the research met appropriate ethical standards. Experimental animals must be cared for and used in accordance with accepted international animal-welfare guidelines and policies.
- Informed Consent:
Patients and research participants must receive clear, thorough information about a study’s aims, along with any possible side effects associated with its drugs or interventions. For these studies, written informed consent must be obtained from the participants or their legal guardians. The Journal may request the relevant documentation. When informed consent is required, the article should include a corresponding statement in the “Methods” section.
- Authorship:
According to the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals, an "Author" is defined as an individual who simultaneously fulfills all four core criteria: making substantial contributions to the conception, design, acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of the work; actively participating in either drafting the manuscript or critically revising it for significant intellectual content; providing final approval of the version intended for publication; and agreeing to be fully accountable for every aspect of the work, thereby ensuring that any questions regarding the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are properly investigated and resolved.
Manuscripts submitted to DJMS with co-first authors will be processed only if the manuscript is original, all contributing authors qualify for authorship with sufficient participation and meet authorship credit standards, and the scope of the work necessitates multiple authors from different specialties who provide equal or identical contributions to the research; additionally, with respect to the corresponding author, DJMS strictly permits only one corresponding author, who assumes full responsibility for all correspondence with the journal both prior to and following publication.
- Plagiarism:
Authors may not use verbatim text from previously published papers or manuscripts submitted elsewhere. Every submitted manuscript will be checked with the Turnitin plagiarism checker for possible similarities in any part of the work. Depending on the amount of plagiarism identified, the manuscript will be returned to the authors, who will be asked to rephrase the copied wording or present it as a direct quotation with references. When plagiarism is detected, the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) flowcharts and guidelines will be followed.
- Image Manipulation:
The DJMS encourages authors to submit their original images. Every digital image in a manuscript accepted for publication will be examined for inappropriate manipulation. Authors must not enhance, obscure, move, remove, or introduce any specific feature within an image. Brightness, contrast, and color-balance adjustments are allowed only when applied to the entire image and when they do not misrepresent information in the original, including its background. If a figure is suspected of inappropriate manipulation, the editors will ask the authors for the original data so it can be compared with the submitted image.
- Copyright:
It is the author's sole responsibility to obtain authorization from the relevant copyright holders for any previously published images or text included in the manuscript. The author must secure and submit the original written permission letters for all copyrighted material used.
- Open Access Policy:
This journal provides immediate gold open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.
Requirements for Different Types of Articles
Original articles: Should contain a non-structured abstract, 3-5 keywords, introduction, materials (patients) and methods, results and discussion, conclusion, acknowledgement (if applicable), and references sections, and maximum 5 tables and 5 figures. The length should not exceed 3000-3500 words excluding the references, abstract, figures and tables. 15-40 references should be stated for original articles.
Brief reports: Should contain a non-structured abstract, 3-5 keywords, introduction, materials and methods, results and discussion, conclusion, acknowledgement (if applicable), and references sections, and maximum 2 tables and figures. However, the word count should not exceed 2000 words. 10-15 references should be stated.
Case reports: Should contain a non-structured abstract, 3-5 keywords, introduction, case presentation, discussion, conclusion, acknowledgment (if applicable), and references sections, and maximum 1 table and 3 figures. 5-10 references should be stated. Case reports should optimally be accompanied by relevant figures to document findings. Informed consents should be obtained from the patients to report their cases. The Journal keeps the right to ask for original signed informed consents.
Review articles:
-Narrative reviews- Should contain at least 60 references. Abstract should be non-structured. The word count should not exceed 4500 words. Narrative reviews should critically assess the current knowledge of the field.
-Systematic reviews- Systematic reviews of Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) or Observational Studies will be accepted by the Journal. The protocol of the study should adhere to PRISMA or MOOSE guidelines for systematic reviews of RCTs or Observational studies, respectively. Up to 40 references can be stated. Abstracts should be structured.
Letters to the Editor: Letters should be less than 750 words. Letters discussing articles published in the DJMS should be submitted at most within 4 months after the publication of the main article. Letters will undergo peer review and will be edited for clarity. Up to 5 references should be stated.
Paper Preparations
Cover letter should contain the rationale of performing the research and selecting the DJMS as well as a statement that you will not resubmit your article to another journal until the reviewing process will be completed. Also please indicate whether the authors have published or submitted any related papers from the same study.
According to the ICMJE recommendations, authors are required to disclose, at the time of submission, any use of artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted technologies including large language models, chatbots, or image generators in the preparation of their submitted work. When such tools are employed, the authors must provide a clear description of their usage, both in the cover letter and within the manuscript itself, in the relevant section. For instance, if AI is utilized for writing assistance, this should be acknowledged appropriately. If the technology is involved in data collection, analysis, or figure creation, such details should be included in the Methods section.
It is important to note that chatbots like ChatGPT cannot be credited as authors, as they are unable to assume responsibility for the accuracy, integrity, or originality of the work. Authors are also responsible for thoroughly reviewing and editing any AI-generated content, as these tools may produce outputs that appear authoritative but are potentially incorrect, incomplete, or biased. Furthermore, AI and AI-assisted technologies must not be listed as co-authors, nor should they be cited as authors in the references. Authors must ensure that their work is free from plagiarism, including any text or images produced by AI, and that all quoted materials are properly attributed with full citations. Ultimately, the authors bear full accountability for the final content and its compliance with ethical and academic standards.
Title page of the article should include 1) the title of the article; 2) authors’ names; 3) name of the institution where the work was done; 4) running title (short form of the main title presented on the top of published pages); and 5) complete mailing address, telephone number, and email address of the corresponding author. This page is not numbered.
Abstract should be non-structured for original articles providing the background/objective of the study, methods, results, and conclusion. It should be about 250-300 words altogether. Number this page as page 1.
Abstracts of other types of contributions should be non-structured providing the essential information. When abstracting a review article, a concise summary of the salient points should be addressed. Preferably, abbreviations should not be mentioned in the abstract.
Keywords are used for indexing purposes; each article should provide three to five keywords.
Introduction should contain a short background of previous studies and possible gaps in the literature, and specify the purpose and objective of the study or observation.
Methods section must indicate clearly the steps taken to acquire the data. Be sure that it includes only information that was available at the time the plan or protocol for the study was written. It should be detailed (including: controls, inclusion and exclusion criteria, etc) and may be separated into subsections. Repeating the details of standard techniques is best avoided. Authors who used AI technology to conduct the study should describe its use in the methods section in sufficient detail to enable replication of the approach, including the tool used, version, and prompts where applicable.
For reports of randomized controlled trials, authors should refer to the CONSORT statement (http://www.consort-statement .org/). The software used for statistical analyses and description of the actual method should be mentioned.
Results should be presented in a chronological sequence in the text, table, and illustration. Organize the results according to their importance. They should be based on your own findings.
Tables and illustrations must be cited in order which they appear in the text, using Arabic numerals. Tables should be simple and should not duplicate information in the text of the paper. Figures should be provided only if they add further information. For radiographic films, scans, and other diagnostic images, as well as pictures of pathology specimens or photomicrographs, send high resolution figures in JPEG or Bitmap format. Type legends for illustrations on a separate page, and explain the internal scale and identify the method of staining in photomicrographs. Arrows should be put in place for specific sections of the pathology figures and radiographs.
Discussion should challenge the findings of the study with other available evidence in the format of arguments and counterarguments. It should emphasize the new and important aspects of the study and the conclusions that follow them. Possible mechanisms or explanations for these findings should be explored. The limitations of the study and the implications of the findings for future research or clinical practice should be explored.
Conclusion should state the final result and recommendation that the author(s) has (have) reached. Such results and recommendations should be derived from the researcher’s own study and the results of other studies should not be stated in this section.
Supplementary materials such as movie clips, questionnaires, etc may be published on the online version of the Journal.
Any technical, general, financial, and material support or contributions that need acknowledging but do not justify authorship, can be cited at the end of the text as Acknowledgment. Use of AI for writing assistance should be reported in the acknowledgment section.
References should be compiled alphabetically according to the surname of the first author in APA style. The number of references should preferably not exceed 40 for original articles, 15 for brief reports, and 10 for case reports. References should optimally be prepared with EndNote software.
For references credited to more than 20 authors, please provide the name of the first 19 authors and represent the remaining authors by an ellipsis (…) followed by the final author’s name.
For various references, please refer to the “Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association” (7th ed.).
Listed below are sample references. Moreover, DJMS has its own EndNote style. Authors are advised to prepare their references based on this style. This style is available at this link.
Journal Article:
- Gaydess, A., Duysen, E., Li, Y., Gilman, V., Kabanov, A., & Lockridge, O. (2010). Visualization of exogenous delivery of nanoformulated butyrylcholinesterase to the central nervous system. Chemico-Biological Interactions, 187(1–3), 295–298.
- Javan, S., & Tabesh, M. (2005). Action of carbon dioxide on pulmonary vasoconstriction. Journal of Applied Physiology. Advance online publication.
Complete Book:
- Guyton, A. C. (2000). Textbook of medical physiology (8th ed.). Saunders.
Chapter in Book:
- Jong, F. M. (1980). The role of blood elements in the regulation of protein metabolism. In K. M. Mykol (Ed.), Mammalian protein metabolism (Vol. 4, pp. 585–674). Academic Press.
Note: Referencing AI-generated material as the primary source is not acceptable.
References should be made to published articles rather than to abstracts whenever possible.
Language and Style
All submitted manuscripts must undergo spell-checking and grammar-checking. They must also be written in proper English; either American or British usage is acceptable. If the Journal finds major grammatical or spelling errors in a submission, the Editor may ask the author or authors to improve the English and reduce potential errors while maintaining accurate scientific English. To proceed with the article process, the authors should use the English Language Editing service and provide a valid certificate. For manuscripts still undergoing acceptance, the Editor may ask the author(s) to use a professional translation and editing service when the English falls below publication standards and needs substantial improvement.
For further information, please contact the Editorial Office
Address: Dijlah University, Dorah City/ Al-Masafi Street, Baghdad, Iraq.
Tel: 009647775139593
