SUBMITTING THE MANUSCRIPT

Previous publication

No substantial part of the manuscript may have or may be published elsewhere. This restriction does not apply to abstracts or press reports published in connection with scientific meetings.

Ethics

For clinical trials, details of ethical committee approval and the type of informed consent should be stated. Patients and volunteers names, initials and hospital numbers should not be used.

PREPARATION OF THE MANUSCRIPT

Papers should be in UK English. The manuscript should contain a first page file, manuscript file.
On the FIRST PAGE FILE, the following should be included

• A concise but informative title up to 50 characters/spaces.
• The author(s') name (s)
• The department / institution.
• An address for each author, with a number to link authors with their address.
• The name, address, fax and telephone numbers and e-mail address, of the corresponding author.
• Details of sources of support in the form of grants, equipment and drugs.

The MANUSCRIPT FILE should contain the following:

An abstract that does not exceed 200 words, which should be written in a style that conveys the essential purpose and message of the paper in an abbreviated form.

Up to 10 key words from the Medical Subject Headings from Index Medicus.

The NEXT PAGE should contain the Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, and Discussion.

INTRODUCTION: Should be legible and clearly state the aims and objectives and should be brief. It should include hypothesis of the underlying study and/or the aims.

MATERIALS (or patients / subjects) and METHODS: That have been published in detail elsewhere should not be described in full but an outline of the essential steps should be given. SI units should be used throughout. A clear statement of the statistical method employed is essential.

RESULTS: Should be presented succinctly in the same order as the experiments are described in Materials and Methods. Tables and especially graphics are encouraged for quantitative information.

DISCUSSION: Should comment critically on the probity of the results obtained, their relationship to the existing knowledge and significance for improved understanding of oral diseases. Speculation and new hypotheses are encouraged, provided they are firmly rooted in the data presented. CONCLUSIONs should be drawn.

REFERENCES: In the text should be cited by a number in parenthesis [For e.g.: (17)] and the citations should be presented at the end of the manuscript in "as and when they appear in the text" order (Vancouver system).

Basic Rules For Citations At End Of Manuscript

• Author names are inverted: surname first followed by initials.
• All authors should be quoted up to a maximum of six followed by et al.
• Where there are two authors use '&' (For e.g: Jones & Smith).
• Capitalize only the first letter of a title or subtitle of a work.
• Title of medical periodicals should he abbreviated according to Index Medicus.
• Edition of the book within paranthesis For e.g.: (3 Ed.)
• The volume number and first and last page numbers for each reference should be provided
• For book references, list the name of the publishing company and the place of publication
• Papers in press may be simply referred to in the text. Authors must obtain permission from the individual concerned to quote his or her unpublished work

Samples of References

Journal Article: single author

Waldron. Fibro-osseous lesions of the jaws. J Oral Maxillofac Surg 1993;51:828-835.

Journal Article: more than one author

Bowden JR, Scully C, Eveson JW, Flint S, Herman R, Janus SK. Multiple myeloma and bullous lichenoid lesions: an unusual association. Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol 1990;70: 587-589.

Book: single author

Tencate AR. Oral histology: Development, Structure and Function. (5th ed.). Mosby-Year Rook Inc., Missouri, 1996.

Book: more than one author

Cawson RA, Binnie WH, Speight PM, Barrett AW, Wright JM. Lucas' Pathology of Tumours of the Oral Tissues. (5th ed.). Churchill Livingstone, London, 1998.

Book: edited collections

Jones JH and Mason DK (Eds.). Oral Manifestations of systemic disease, WB Saunders Company Ltd. London, 1980.

Book: article or chapter in an edited book

Scully C and Lehner T. Disorders of Immunity. In Jones JH & Mason DK (Eds.). Oral Manifestations of Systemic Disease, WB Saunders Company Ltd. London, pages: 102-174, 1980.

Book or article: with no author or editor named

Merriam-Webster's collegiate dictionary. (l0th ed.). Merriam Webster, Springtield, MA, 1993.

Dissertation or thesis

Wade WG. The effects of local antimicrobial and mechanical therapy on the subgingival microflora in chronic periodontitis, PhD Thesis, University of Wales, 1969.

Editorials or unpublished letters

Oliver R. Misunderstanding of MIRI, (Letter to the editor). Oral Oncol 1998;34,75.

Download a PowerPoint presentation on common reference styles and using the reference checking facility on the manuscript submission site.

TABLES

Should be numbered consecutively with an Arabic numeral (Eg. Table 1,2, etc.). Each should have a separate caption or title. Methods not described in the text and abbreviations should be explained at the foot of the table. Tables should be referred to specifically in the text of the paper but must be typed on separate sheets of paper at the end of the manuscript.

FIGURES/ ILLUSTRATIONS

Should be in numerical order with Arabic numerals. Each figure should have a title and a detailed legend as appropriate, listed consecutively on a separate sheet of paper headed ‘Titles and legends of figure’.

Figures should be referred to specifically in the text of the paper. Figures, including photographs, line drawings or graphs should be submitted as JPEG, TIFF or BMP format. Figures drawn by computer graphics are acceptable for publication provided the figure has appropriate resolution for printing purpose.

Photomicrographs MUST carry a magnification scale.

Abbreviations should be avoided in general, especially in the "Title" except of DNA, RNA, AIDS, HIV and likewise. Otherwise all abbreviations should be explained at first mention in the abstract and text.

Drug names should be mentioned only using generic names. Commercial names may be included in parentheses at first mention in the text.

SUBMISSION OF MANUSCRIPTS

All manuscripts should be submitted online through the journal’s online submission portal.

The manuscript should contain a first page file and a manuscript file prepared in MS Word and Figures in TIFF, JPEG or BMP formats.

A COPYRIGHT FORM downloaded from the website should be duly filled and signed by all the authors and has to be sent to the editorial office through mail or courier.

Dr. B. Sivapathasundharam MDS
Professor and Head, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology
Meenakshi Ammal Dental College and Hospital,
Chennai 600 095, Tamil Nadu, India
Ph: 9 1-044-2378 2566 / 2378 2552 (Direct)
drsivapatham @ yahoo . co . in

The editorial office of the Journal of Forensic Dental Sciences is not responsible for the loss of manuscripts. All manuscripts submitted are a property of Journal of Forensic Dental Sciences and the journal does not return rejected manuscripts.