AUTHOR GUIDELINES
Nigerian Journal of Medical and Dental Education publishes peer-reviewed, scientific articles relevant to medical and dental education in Nigeria and globally. Please read the instructions below carefully for details on the submission of manuscripts, the journal’s requirements and standards as well as information concerning the procedure after a manuscript has been accepted for publication in Nigerian Journal of Medical and Dental Education.
Avoiding allegations of plagiarism
Nigerian Journal of Medical and Dental Education to which you are submitting your manuscript employs a plagiarism detection system (turnitin). By submitting your manuscript to this journal, you accept that your manuscript has been screened for plagiarism against published work. Authors would be well-advised to consider whether their manuscript may raise concerns via turnitin, which will signal whether a paper is likely in any way to be plagiarized in a formal sense.
1. ETHICAL GUIDELINES
Nigerian Journal of Medical and Dental Education adheres to the below ethical guidelines for publication and research.
1.1. Authorship and Acknowledgements
Authors submitting a paper do so on the understanding that the manuscript have been read and approved by all authors and that all authors agree to the submission of the manuscript to the Journal. ALL named authors must have made an active contribution to the conception and design and/or analysis and interpretation of the data and/or the drafting of the paper and ALL must have critically reviewed its content and have approved the final version submitted for publication. Participation solely in the acquisition of funding or the collection of data does not justify authorship.
Nigerian Journal of Medical and Dental Education adheres to the definition of authorship set up by The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). According to the ICMJE authorship criteria should be based on 1) substantial contributions to conception and design of, or acquisition of data or analysis and interpretation of data, 2) drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content and 3) final approval of the version to be published. Authors should meet conditions 1, 2 and 3.
Up to 6 authors are accepted without need for justification. In the case of a specific and detailed justification of the role of every author, up to 8 authors may be mentioned. It is a requirement that all authors have been accredited as appropriate upon submission of the manuscript. Contributors who do not qualify as authors should be mentioned under Acknowledgements.
Acknowledgements: Under acknowledgements please specify contributors to the article other than the authors accredited. Acknowledge only persons who have made substantive contributions to the study. Authors are responsible for obtaining written permission from everyone acknowledged by name because readers may infer their endorsement of the data and conclusions.
1.2. Ethical Approvals
Experimentation involving human subjects will only be published if such research has been conducted in full accordance with ethical principles, including the World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki (version, 2008) and the additional requirements, if any, of the country where the research has been carried out. Manuscripts must be accompanied by a statement that the experiments were undertaken with the understanding and written consent of each subject and according to the above mentioned principles. A statement regarding the fact that the study has been independently reviewed and approved by an ethical board should also be included. Editor reserve the right to reject papers if there are doubts as to whether appropriate procedures have been used.
When experimental animals are used the methods section must clearly indicate that adequate measures were taken to minimize pain or discomfort. Experiments should be carried out in accordance with the Guidelines laid down by the National Institute of Health (NIH) in the USA regarding the care and use of animals for experimental procedures or with the European Communities Council Directive of 24 November 1986 (86/609/EEC) and in accordance with local laws and regulations.
1.3 Clinical Trials
Clinical trials should be reported using the CONSORT guidelines available at www.consort-statement.org. A CONSORT checklist should also be included in the submission material.
Nigerian Journal of Medical and Dental Education encourages authors submitting manuscripts reporting from a clinical trial to register the trials in any of the following free, public clinical trials registries: www.clinicaltrials.gov, http://clinicaltrials.ifpma.org/clinicaltrials, http://isrctn.org/. The clinical trial registration number and name of the trial register will then be published with the paper.
1.4 Conflict of Interest and Source of Funding
Nigerian Journal of Medical and Dental Education requires that sources of institutional, private and corporate financial support for the work within the manuscript be fully acknowledged, and any potential conflicts of interest noted. Suppliers of materials should be named and their location (town, state/county, country) included. Information concerning conflict of interest and sources of funding should be included under Acknowledgements.
1.5 Appeal of Decision
The decision on a paper is final and cannot be appealed.
1.6 Permissions
If all or parts of previously published illustrations are used, permission must be obtained from the copyright holder concerned. It is the author’s responsibility to obtain these in writing and provide copies to the Publishers.
1.7 Photographs of People
Nigerian Journal of Medical and Dental Education follows current HIPAA guidelines for the protection of patient/subject privacy. If an individual pictured in a digital image or photograph can be identified, his or her permission is required to publish the image. The corresponding author may submit a letter signed by the patient authorizing the Nigerian Journal of Medical and Dental Education to publish the image/photo. Or, a form provided by the Nigerian Journal of Medical and Dental Education (on request). The approval must be received by the Editorial Office prior to final acceptance of the manuscript for publication. Otherwise, the image/photo must be altered such that the individual cannot be identified (black bars over eyes, tattoos, scars, etc.). Nigerian Journal of Medical and Dental Education will not publish patient photographs that will in any way allow the patient to be identified, unless the patient has given their express consent.
1.8 Copyright Assignment
If your paper is accepted, the author identified as the formal corresponding author for the paper will receive an email.
Copyright
- Copyright on any open access article in a journal published by Nigerian Journal of Medical and Dental Education is retained by the author(s).
- Authors grant Nigerian Journal of Medical and Dental Education a license to publish the article and identify itself as the original publisher.
- Authors also grant any third party the right to use the article freely as long as its integrity is maintained and its original authors, citation details and publisher are identified.
- The Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 formalizes these and other terms and conditions of publishing articles.
2. MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION PROCEDURE
Nigerian Journal of Medical and Dental Education only accepts online submission of manuscripts. Manuscripts should be submitted as Microsoft word (.doc) attachment plus separate figure files. GIF, JPEG, PICT or Bitmap files are acceptable for submission, but only high-resolution TIF or EPS files are suitable for printing. The text file must contain the entire manuscript including title page, abstract, text, references, tables, and figure legends, but no embedded figures. In the text file, please reference figures as for instance ‘Figure 1’, ‘Figure 2’ etc to match the tag name you choose for the individual figure files. Manuscripts should be formatted as described in the Author Guidelines below. Please note that manuscripts should be saved as Word document and uploaded in the website https://nomiot.com.ng/submission/ or sent as attachment to editornjmde@nomiot.com.ng. Complete instructions for submitting a manuscript are available at the website.
Upon successful submission, the editor will check that all parts of the submission have been completed correctly. If any necessary part is missing or if the manuscript does not fulfil the requirements as specified in these guidelines, the corresponding author will be asked either to adjust the submission according to specified instructions or to submit their paper to another journal. If the submission fulfils the criteria, it is processed, anonymised and sent out for review.
Nigerian Journal of Medical and Dental Education employs a three-stage review process – editorial office, external review and editors’ decision. The first stage of the review process takes place in the editorial office. On submission, a manuscript is reviewed to ensure that it meets the minimum requirements of the journal before it is sent to external reviewers. At this stage, the manuscript is reviewed based on instruction to authors format.
Once a manuscript successfully completes the editorial office review process, it proceeds to the second stage. The second stage of the review process employs the double-blind review system. A minimum of two external reviewers are selected from our database, editorial board of the journal or other sources. These reviewers have expert knowledge of the subject area of the manuscript. The reviewers are invited to review the manuscript by sending them the abstract of the manuscript. Upon acceptance to review the manuscript, the full text of the manuscript is sent to the reviewers after the author(s) have been concealed.
Reviewers are required to evaluate the manuscripts and provide useful comments to enable the author(s) to improve the quality of the manuscript using the journal’s review. Reviewers also score the manuscript in terms of originality, contribution to the field, technical quality, clarity of presentation and depth of research. Finally, reviewers make one of the following suggestions about the manuscript: (A) Requires minor corrections (B) Requires moderate revision (C) Requires major revision or (D) Not suitable for further processing. In this case, the reviewer provides specific reason(s) why the manuscript not be further processed.
Upon receipt of the reviewers’ comments, the editorial office reviews the comment. If the two reviewers’ comment have significantly different/or contradictory opinions about the same manuscripts, the manuscript is re-sent to a third reviewer. All reviewers’ comments (including the third reviewers’ comment where necessary) are thereafter sent to the author(s). The reviewers’ identities are concealed from the author(s). The total time taken to complete the second stage of the manuscript review is dependent on the availability of the reviewers.
Using the reviewers’ comments, author(s) make corrections to the manuscript and submits a revised manuscript. Upon receipt of the revised submission, the manuscript undergoes the third and final stage of the review process. The original manuscript, the revised manuscript and all the reviewers’ comments are sent to an editor of the journal. The editor reviews the manuscript and makes one the following decisions: (A) Accept as it is (B) Accept with minor correction (C) Requires major corrections, (D) Send revised manuscript for review again (E) or Reject. Decision is final, no appeal is possible. Manuscripts devoid of correction will progress to be full accepted and after publication fee payment, it will move to proofread state, The turn around time is 6-8weeks from submission to decision.
2.2. Suggest a Reviewer
Nigerian Journal Medical and Dental Education attempts to keep the review process as short as possible to enable rapid publication. In order to facilitate this process, please suggest the names and current e-mail addresses of three potential reviewer whom you consider capable of reviewing your manuscript.
2.3. E-mail Confirmation of Submission
After submission you will receive an e-mail to confirm receipt of your manuscript within 48 hours.
2.4. Manuscript Status
The Journal will inform you by e-mail once a decision has been made.
2.5. Submission of Revised Manuscripts
To submit a revised Manuscript, include revised to the name of the submitted document.
2.6. Data Protection
By submitting a manuscript to or reviewing for this publication, your name, email address, and affiliation, and other contact details the publication might require, will be used for the regular operations of the publication, including, when necessary, sharing with the publisher (and partners for production and publication. The publication and the publisher recognize the importance of protecting the personal information collected from users in the operation of these services, and have practices in place to ensure that steps are taken to maintain the security, integrity, and privacy of the personal data collected and processed.
3. MANUSCRIPT TYPES ACCEPTED
Nigerian Journal of Medical and Dental Education publishes peer-reviewed, scientific articles relevant to medical and dental education in Nigeria and globally. The Journal will publish following types of articles: original articles, Review articles, Cross-cutting edge, Research Approaches, Medical/Dental Education Mythology, short communications, editorials, commentaries and conference report/proceedings.
Nigerian Journal of Medical and Dental Education will publish:
Original Research reports
The subject matter in the following categories: Undergraduate Medical and Dental Education, Postgraduate Medical and Dental Education, Allied Medical and Dental Education, Interprofessional Education, Community-Based Medical and Dental Education, Global Medical and Dental Education, Use of Technology in Medical and Dental Education, Assessment, Faculty Issues/Development and Continuing Education.
Original Articles should report the results of hypothesis-based research studies and may be either qualitative, quantitative or of a mixed methods nature. Manuscripts must address how the findings advance our understanding of the questions asked in the study and make a novel contribution to the literature.
Reviews
These are written by authors who are recognized experts in their field. These reviews synthesize the state of the science for a particular topic of importance to Dental/Medical educators and other Journal audience. The topics are of practical use to the readership.
Conference proceedings
Dental and allied dental professional Associations conference proceeding and conference on Oral health related issues by any Association or organization.
Editorials
These are written by members of the editorial board or by invited authors, and provide commentary on an article in that issue of the Nigerian Journal of Medical and Dental Education, or other topic of importance to the dental profession.
4. MANUSCRIPT FORMAT AND STRUCTURE
4.1. Format
Language: The language of publication is English.
Abbreviations, Symbols and Nomenclature: This journal follows the recommendations of:
- Council of Biology Editors Style Manual, 5th ed., Council of Biology Inc., Bethesda, MD, 1983: and
- Instructions to Authors (January issue of each year)
- Generally accepted abbreviations and symbols may be used provided that the terms appear in full together with the abbreviation when first used in the text e.g. fluoride (F), decayed, missing and filled surfaces (DMFS), and thereafter F, DMFS. The two digit tooth notation system of the FDI must be used.
Scientific Names: Scientific names of bacteria should be binomials, only the generic name with an initial capital, and should be italicized (or underlined) in the typescript. A name should be given in full upon first mention in a paper; the generic name may be abbreviated thereafter, but the abbreviation must be unambiguous. With regard to drugs, generic names should be used instead of proprietary names. If proprietary names are used, they should be attached when the term is first used, and should be followed by a superscript ®. Units used must conform to the Système International d’Unités (SI).
4.2. Structure
All manuscripts submitted to Nigerian Journal of Medical and Dental Education should include Title Page, abstract, Main Text, Acknowledgements, References, Tables, Figure Legends and Figures as appropriate.
Title Page: should contain the following information in the order given: 1) the article title; 2) authors’ full names (without degrees or titles); 3) authors’ institutional affiliations including city and country; 4) a running title, not exceeding 40 letters and spaces; 5) 4-6 keywords; 6) name, address, telephone, and e-mail address of the author responsible for correspondence. Article title should be informative, concise and limited to 15 words with no more than 150 characters.
Abstract: A separate abstract should not exceed 250 words.
The Main Text of Original Research Article should include Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion and References.
Introduction: Clearly state the purpose of the article. Summarize the rationale for the study or observation. Give only strictly pertinent references, and do not review the subject extensively.
Methods: The objective of writing the Methods is that there is sufficient information presented for a reader to be able to repeat the work. As the author, you will be very familiar with what has been done, but the challenge is to present information clearly for others.
Results: Present your results in logical sequence in the text, tables, and illustrations. Do not repeat in the text all the data in the tables, illustrations, or both: emphasize or summarize only important observations.
Discussion: Emphasize the new and important aspects of the study and conclusions that follow from them. Do not repeat in detail data given in the Results section. Include in the Discussion the implications of the findings and their limitations and relate the observations to other relevant studies.
Conclusion: should be in line with the objectives. It may include recommendations.
4.3. References
The Havard style should be used. References should be author, date in the order in which they appear in the text, and these should be inserted each time the author is cited (e.g. Okeke (2004) reported similar findings., if there are more than one in same year, the year will bear Alphabet in addition, Okeke et al., 2004a and Okeke et al., 2004b ). At the end of the manuscript the full list of references should give the names and initials of all authors unless there are more than six, when only the first six should be given followed by et al. The authors’ names are followed by year of publication in bracket: the title of the article: the title of the journal abbreviated according to the style of the Index Medicus and Index to Dental Literature: the volume number: and the first and last page numbers in full. Titles of books should be followed by the place of publication, the publisher, and the year should also come after the authors’ name
Reference to an article: Odai ED, Azodo CC, Chhabra KG (2019). Disaster management: Knowledge, attitude, behavior, willingness, and preparedness among Nigerian dentists. Prehosp Disaster Med.;34(2):132-136.
References to a book: Mason RA (1988). A Guide to Dental Radiography. 3rd ed, pp 34–37. London: John Wright, 1988.
Reference to a book chapter: Avery B (1989). Diseases of the maxillary antrum. In Scully C (ed) The Mouth and Perioral Tissues. 1st ed. pp 108-125. Oxford: Heinemann.
Reference to a report: World Health Organisation (1988). Guidelines for self care in oral health. Copenhagen: World Health Organisation, publication no. ICP/ORH 113.
Reference Manager: We recommend the use of a tool such as Zotero or Mendeley Reference Manager for reference management and formatting.
4.4. Tables, Figures and Figure Legends
Tables: Tables should be numbered consecutively with Arabic numerals.
Figures: All figures should clarify the text and their number be kept to a minimum. Details must be large enough to retain their clarity after reduction in size. Illustrations should preferably fill single column width (54 mm) after reduction, although in some cases 113 mm (double column) and 171 mm (full page) widths will be accepted. Micrographs should be designed to be reproduced without reduction, and a linear size scale incorporated. Line drawings should be professionally drawn; half-tones should exhibit high contrast.
Figure Legends: should be numbered and listed after the Tables.
Permissions: If all or parts of previously published illustrations are used, permission must be obtained from the copyright holder concerned. It is the author’s responsibility to obtain these in writing and provide copies to the Publishers.
4.5 Data
Nigerian Journal of Medical and Dental Education encourages authors to share the data and other artefacts supporting the results in the paper by archiving it in an appropriate public repository. Authors should include a data accessibility statement, including a link to the repository they have used, in order that this statement can be published alongside their paper.
5. AFTER ACCEPTANCE
Upon acceptance of a paper for publication, the author will pay a publication fee of 40,000naira only After which, the manuscript will be forwarded to the Editor who is responsible for the production of the journal. It is a condition of acceptance of a manuscript for publication that the Editor shall have the right to edit the text to improve its clarity and style and to bring its length within the available space.
5.1 Proof Corrections
The corresponding author will receive an email attachment of the galley. A working email address must therefore be provided for the corresponding author. The proof can be downloaded as a PDF.
Acrobat Reader will be required in order to read this file. This will enable the file to be opened, read on screen, and for corrections to be electronically annotated using a “Add a Sticky note”. Further instructions will be sent with the proof. Proofs must be returned to the Editor within three days of receipt.
As changes to proofs are costly, we ask that you only correct typesetting errors. Excessive changes made by the author in the proofs, excluding typesetting errors, will be charged separately. Other than in exceptional circumstances, all illustrations are retained by the publisher. Please note that the author is responsible for all statements made in his work, including changes made by the copy editor.
Should you wish to purchase additional copies of your article, please send request to editornjmde@nomiot.com.ng