Guide for Authors

Unsolicited manuscripts will be reviewed for publication with the following understanding:

  1. The paper must represent an original work.
  2. The paper has neither been published already nor is being under review elsewhere.
  3. In case of acceptance, the paper may not be published elsewhere without the permission of the International Journal of Travel Medicine and Global Health (IJTMGH).
  4. A published paper is actually the sole property of the IJTMGH and may be edited before publication.

IJTMGH follows ICMJE's Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals and Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), as well as, World Association of Medical Editors (WAME) for manuscripts submitted to Journal. IJTMGH is one of the publications of the Travel Medicine Center of Iran.

Main Considerations

  • Manuscripts must be electronically submitted through Online Submission System (http://ijtmgh.com/contacts?_action=login)
  • A covering letter should be included when submitting a manuscript and must state the novelty of the paper.

 Cover Letter Order

The corresponding author should indicate the following in a cover letter:

  1. An introduction stating the title of the manuscript and the journal to which you are submitting.
  2. The reason why your study is important and relevant to the journal’s readership or field.
  3. The question which your research answers.
  4. Your major experimental results and overall findings.
  5. The most important conclusions that can be drawn from your research.
  6. A statement declaring that the study complies with current ethical considerations.
  7. A statement which proves that the manuscript has not been published and is not under consideration for publication in any other journal.
  8. A statement which proves that all authors approved the manuscript and its submission to the journal.
  9. Any other details or information that will encourage the editor to send your manuscript for review.

 International Journal of Travel Medicine and Global Health (IJTMGH) publication benefits:

  • Free of charge either in submission, review or publishing phase
  • Free access to all articles
  • Time from submission to publication: 15 weeks
  • Easy and quick online submission
  • Rapid publication
  • Indexed in valuable databases

Structure and Preparation of Manuscripts

IJTMGH publishes various categories of articles. All types of articles are subject to peer-review. The journal publishes the following types of contributions:

  • Editorial:

Editorials are messages of the IJTMGH which are written in-house by the journal's Editorial Board members. Editorials are preferably no more than 2000 words. These provide state of the art discussions on the IJTMGH main scopes. An unstructured abstract is required for these types of articles. 

  • Perspective:

These articles present views or discussions (with a clear message) concerning an issue in the field of travel medicine and global health with no more than 2000 words. An unstructured abstract is also requiredAlthough these articles are mainly invited from eminent scholars in the field. Any suggestions for contributions are welcomed via ijtmghbmsu@gmail.com

  • Hypothesis:

Any theories and ideas having a great deal of empirical and observational support are always welcome. These articles should not exceed 3000 words and should include a structured abstract.

  • Narrative Review Articles:

Only invited review articles will be accepted. These manuscripts must no exceed 5000 words, containing; Title, Keywords, Addresses and which author addresses for correspondence, Unstructured abstract (Max 250 words), Introduction, Authors comments and Evidences, Conclusion, Recommendations for Future, References (above 50), Legends for displaying items (Figures and Tables). In line with the Knowledge Translation movements, IJTMGH has adopted an initiative by which all Review articles are required to have Review Highlight under two separate headings namely: What Is Already Known? and What This Study Adds?.

  • Systematic Review or Meta-Analysis:

These reviews are between 4000-5000 words, containing; Title, Keywords, Addresses and which author address for correspondence, Structured abstract (Max 250 words), Introduction, Materials (search strategy and selection criteria, data extraction, quality assessment, and data analysis), Results, Discussion, Conclusion, References, Legends for displaying items (Figures and Tables).
Authors are asked to report systematic reviews and meta-analyses according to the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) statement. In line with the Knowledge Translation movements, IJTMGH has adopted an initiative by which all Review articles are required to have Review Highlight under two separate headings namely: What Is Already Known? and What This Study Adds?.

  • Mini Reviews:

Mini Reviews are generally sharply focused, well-focused, well-documented examinations of timely related issues (up to ~2000 words, including tables, figures and references). The issues of these manuscripts may be of a controversial nature, or may reveal a more narrowly focused area than those typically covered in a review. To maintain brevity, these articles do not need review highlight.

  • Original Articles:

These articles are primary researches, are methodologically accurate, and must be relevant to international travel medicine and global health. They should contain no more than 5000 words excluding a structured abstract (max 250 words), tables, and references. The main text of these articles contain; Introduction (Background and Objectives), Materials/Patients and Methods (including study setting, patients or participants, inclusion and exclusion criteria, sampling size, sampling method, data source, data tools, data measurements, data analysis and interpretations), Results, Discussion, Conclusion, References, Legends for displaying items (Figures and Tables). In line with the Knowledge Translation movements, IJTMGH has adopted an initiative by which all Research articles are required to have Research Highlight under two separate headings namely: What Is Already Known? and What This Study Adds?.

  • Short Communication

Short communications are short articles (mini original articles) that present original and important preliminary findings that do not warrant publication as a full-length article but are still valuable for publication. Short communications should have an unstructured abstract and should not be more than 3000 words including references and up to three tables or figures. The main text should be sub-divided into Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion and conclusion but should be written as concisely as possible. To maintain brevity, these articles do not need research highlight.

  • Brief Report:

Reports must not exceed 3000 words and should contain a structured abstract (max 250 words).  The structure of short reports is similar to original articles but with some limitations; concise introduction, methods, results, discussion and conclusion, and up to 2 tables or figures. To maintain brevity, these articles do not need research highlights.

  • Debate:

These articles aim to discuss and challenge current and past travel medicine issues. They should not exceed 3000 words including an unstructured abstract, up to 2 figures or tables and references. 

  • Commentary:

The views and comments of readers are of high importance in the IJTMGH’s editorial policies. The IJTMGH welcomes comments on its published articles to provide a forum for varying perspectives. Usually, these articles are invited from prominent scholars in related field. However, suggestions for contributions are welcomed via ijtmghbmsu@gmail.com. These types of articles should not be more than 2000 words including maximum 2 figures or tables with an unstructured abstract.

  • Case Presentation:

Only interesting and unique case reports with the following characteristics will be accepted;
word count up to 1500, structured abstract (max 250 words), introduction (the most important issue that the author(s) should talk about is the reason of the novelty of case(s) report at first and then case presentation followed by discussion and conclusion, references, up to 2 figures or tables.

  • Correspondence:

These articles are generally written in response to published commentaries by authors whose articles have been subject to commentaries. These articles should not exceed 1000 words including maximum 1 table or figure, references and the main text. No abstract is required for these articles. 

  • Letters to Editor:

Letters to the Editor can be either about or not about a recent journal article (as a commentary article). Also, some special limitations may be considered; Up to 500 words, without figure or table, and up to 5-7 references. There is no need for abstracts in these articles. 

Note: Authors should write Authors’ Contributions, Conflict of Interest Disclosures, Funding/Support and Ethical Approval Code at the end of any type of article.

General Considerations

  • Structure Abstract: Abstracts should have a structure (Introduction, Methods, Results, Conclusion) of no more than 250 words for original article, short communication, brief report, systematic review, meta-analysis and Hypothesis. For case presentation abstract should have a structure (Introduction, Case Presentation, Conclusion).
  • Unstructured Abstract: Abstracts should unstructured and no more than 250 words for narrative review, mini review, perspective, debate and commentary.
  • Running Title: This title must be a shorter version of the title (Max; 40 characters). 
  • Author's Affiliation: All affiliations should be written as; [name of department], [name of school/faculty], [name of university], [city], [country] 
  • Corresponding Author: Is one of the authors who submits the manuscript. In addition to the mentioned academic affiliation, corresponding author’s address, telephone, fax number and email address must be written.
  • No submitted manuscripts can exceed 7000 words.
  • 3-6 keywords must be provided for the key words section at the bottom of the abstract. It is better to use MeSH terms at: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/MBrowser.html.
  • All manuscripts must be typed double spaced, single column, in size 12 font and adequate margins should be left.
  • Manuscript file should be sent as a Word Document (Microsoft Word 97, 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013), well-written in American/British English. Manuscript should be re-checked for spelling, structure and format mistakes.
  • References Style, Arrange references as a simple list at the end of your manuscript based on IJTMGH Endnote style.
  • Conflict of Interest and Author Agreement Form should be fill and send it during the submission (Download).
  • Standard units, symbols, and abbreviations should be used. 
  • Title Page (or Cover Letter) containing title, running title, authors name and affiliation, financial support, conflict of interest, and request for reviewing the manuscript.
  • Authors’ Names: Full names (First, Middle and Last) for all the authors of an article should be given and specified with superscript number(s) for the affiliation(s) [e.g., Scott Paul Sloane1]. The name of the corresponding author(s) should be specified with an asterisk after name (e.g., Scott Paul Sloane*). Where the family name may be ambiguous (e.g., a double name), please indicate this clearly. 
  • It is possible that IJTMGH asks for data set (as an Excel or SPSS file) of the study of the submitted article.
  • Tables should be created with a word processor and saved in either DOC or RTF format. Do not embed tables in your text. Tables should be presented on separate pages at the end of the manuscript and saved DOC format.
  • Figures: For highest print qualities, the figures must be submitted in either TIF or EPS format according to the following minimum resolutions:
  1. 1200 dpi (dots per inch) for black and white line art (simple bar graphs, charts, etc.)
  2. 300 dpi for halftones (black and white photographs)
  3. 600 dpi for combination halftones (photographs that also contain line art such as labeling or thin lines), figures should be saved as individual files. Vector-based figures (e.g. figures created in Adobe Illustrator) should be submitted in EPS format.
  4. Color figures must be submitted in a CMYK color.

References

  • Authors are responsible for the accuracy of cited references and these should be checked before the manuscript is submitted.
  • In each number, only one publication can be listed.
  • Any published conference abstracts, numbered patents and preprints on recognized servers may be listed in the references, but text, grant details and acknowledgements may not be cited in the text.
  • References in the text, tables, or figures must be cited in consecutively numerical order by means of superscript Arabic numerals. It is acceptable for a reference to be cited only in a table or a figure legend and not in the text if it is in sequence with the references cited in text.
  • Use Arabic superscript numerals outside periods and commas, inside colons and semicolons.
  • Two references must be cited with a comma and no space. Three or more consecutive references are cited in a range with dashes.
  • References in tables, figures, and panels should be in numerical order according to where the item is cited in the text.
  • It is necessary to mention that if references are not cited in order, the manuscript may be returned for amendment before it is passed on to the editor for assessment.
  • Only published or in press articles should be included in the reference list. Personal communications or unpublished data must be cited in parentheses in the text with the name(s) of the source(s) and the year. In case of citing unpublished data, authors must request permission from the related source.  

In reference list:

List the surnames and initials of the first names of all the authors if there are 6 or fewer; otherwise list the first 3 and add ‘et al.’ Use only one space between words up to the year and then no spaces. The journal title should be in italic and abbreviated according to the style of PubMed. If the journal is not listed in PubMed, then it should be fully written out. Check journal abbreviations using PubMed.

General rules from the 10th edition of AMA

  • Items are numerically listed in the order they are cited in the text.
  • Include up to 6 authors.
  • For more than six authors, write the names of the first three authors and then add et al.
  • If there is no author, start with the title.

Examples of IJTMGH EndNote Style: (Download)

  • Journal Article (1-6 authors)

Flaherty GT, Browne DP. Citation analysis of the most influential publications in travel medicine. Int J Travel Med Glob Health. 2016;4(4):122-131. doi:10.21859/ijtmgh-040407.

  • Journal Article (more than 6 authors)

Bias T, Allen C, Buckley A, et al. Travelers’ reported preventive health behavior in Jinja, Uganda. Int J Travel Med Glob Health. 2016;4(4):107- 110. doi:10.21859/ijtmgh-040403.

  • Book

Izadi M, Jazayeri SB. Travel medicine: a country-to-country guide. New York: Nova Science Publication; 2013.

  • Book Section

Meltzer PS, Kallioniemi A, Trent JM. Chromosome alterations in human solid tumors. In: Vogelstein B, Kinzler KW, eds. The genetic basis of human cancer. New York: McGraw-Hill; 2002:93-113.

  • Newspaper Article (in print)

Wolf W. State’s mail-order drug plan launched. Minneapolis Star Tribune. May 14, 2004:1B. 

  • Newspaper Article (online)

Pollack A. FDA approves new cystic fibrosis drug. New York Times. January 31, 2012. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/01/business/fda-approves-cystic-fibrosis-drug.html?ref=health. Accessed February 1, 2012.

  • Websites

Government of Ireland. Irish Statute Book. Sexual Offences (Jurisdiction) Act, 1996. http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1996/act/38/enacted/en/html. Accessed 23 January 2018.

  •  Thesis

Weisbaum LD. Human sexuality of children and adolescents: a comprehensive training guide for social work professionals [master's thesis]. Long Beach (CA): California State University; 2005.

  •  Conference Proceedings 

Chu H, Rosenthal M. Search engines for the World Wide Web: a comparative study and evaluation methodology. Paper presented at: American Society for Information Science 1996 Annual Conference; October 19 24, 1996; Baltimore, MD. http://www.asis.org/annual-96/electronicproceedings/chu.html. Accessed February 26, 200

Statistics

For reporting statistical analyses the following points must be considered:

  • Focus on the statistical analysis in the research question.
  • At first, report simple analyses, then more sophisticated results.
  • Provide information about participation and missing data.
  • As much as possible, describe results using meaningful phrases (E.g., do not say "beta" or "regression coefficient", but "mean change in Y per unit of X"). Provide 95% confidence intervals for estimations.
  • Report the proportions as N (%), not just %.
  • Maintain the consistency of reporting all decimal places across the manuscript (either one decimal or two decimal places).
  • Report p values with 2 digits after the decimal. e.g. 0.54, 0.03.
  • Always include a leading zero before the decimal point (e.g. 0.32 not .32).

Abbreviations and Symbols

Use only standard abbreviations. The use of nonstandard abbreviations may lead to confusions in readers. Avoid abbreviations in the title of the manuscript. The spelled-out abbreviation followed by the abbreviation in parenthesis should be used when mentioned at first unless the abbreviation is a standard unit of measurement (For further information please visit ICMJE Recommendation).

English Editor 

All manuscripts of the International Journal of Travel Medicine and Global Health (IJTMGH) will be edited for proper English language, grammar, punctuation, spelling, and overall style.

Authorship

All authors contributing in manuscript should qualify for authorship. The order of authorship should be a joint decision of the co-authors. Sufficient participation in the research is extremely important. Authorship credit should be based on substantial contribution to conception and design, execution, or analysis and interpretation of data. All the mentioned authors should be involved in drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content, must have read and approved the final version of the manuscript and approve of its submission to this journal. Any changes in authorship after initial submissions would have to be agreed by all the authors as would any change in the order of authors (For further information please visit ICMJE).

Submission

Authors should make sure that manuscripts conform to the scientific and style instructions given above. In order to speed up the publication process, the Journal requires that manuscripts be submitted online using online submission facility of the journal.

The IJTMGH offers a completely digital submission, review, and production process. While submitting a manuscript, it is advised to prepare production-quality files beforehand to accelerate the process. It is advised that authors should follow the above mentioned guidelines, unless otherwise the submission will be returned to the authors for additional revision which may decelerate the manuscript evaluation process and hence delay publication.  

Authors are required to register in order to create an account for submission at the online submission site. Authors can also follow on-screen instructions and the system will provide the essential guide through the submission process.

After creating an account, authors are able to exit/re-enter in the account at any stage.  

All submissions are kept strictly confidential.

Copyright Assignment

During the submission, the corresponding author should study and accept the copyright statement which is available on the journal website (Download).

Acknowledgements

Any scientific, technical, statistical and financial supports should acknowledged by the authors Contributors other than co-authors may be briefly acknowledged in a separate paragraph at the end of the paper. Any sources of funding should be declared.

Complaint Process

International Journal of Travel Medicine and Global Health (IJTMGH) is committed to publication ethics as well as all journal contributing authors, reviewers and readers. In case of any problems, contributors can send their complaints to journal’s official Email address (available at “Contact us” page). IJTMGH will make every effort to put matters right as soon as possible in the most appropriate way, offering right of reply where necessary. As far as possible, we will investigate complaints in a blame-free manner, looking to see how systems can be improved to prevent mistakes occurring.

 

Data Sharing Policy 

Are authors allowed to archive their submitted article in an open access repository?
No. The authors submitting articles to IJTMGH are prohibited from publishing the submitted material in an open repository before peer-review and publication.

However, the source data of the submitted work that has been mandatorily made public in a website such as registries required for clinical trials are exempt from this prohibition and present an acceptable form of publicized data from the article before its publication.

Are authors allowed to archive their accepted article in an open access repository? 
Yes. The authors are allowed to deposit their corrected manuscript in open repositories after acceptance in the journal.

Are authors allowed to archive the final published article (PDF) in an open access repository?
Yes. The authors are encouraged to archive the final PDF version of their article in open repositories, such as those of their universities.