General instructions for submissions

The following instructions apply to all scholarly journals published by TUOMS PRESS.

These instructions provide information on how to prepare a submission for a journal published by Tabriz University of Medical Sciences (TUOMS). Please note that these instructions pertain to formatting and style only. Authors should first consult the individual journal’s Submission Guidelines for the requirements of specific submission type they are preparing. Submissions may be returned to the authors if they do not comply with these instructions.

•  Preparing the manuscript
•  Preparing references
•  Preparing formulas or equations
•  Preparing figures
•  Preparing tables
•  Preparing additional files

• When preparing the manuscript, please follow the formatting and style instructions below.
• The acceptable word processor file format for the manuscript document is Microsoft word 97, 2003, 2007, 2010 or 2013 (DOC, DOCX).
• Write the manuscript in concise American English.
• Set paper size to A4, as some people may still print manuscripts to read.
• Use a suitable font face and size such as Times New Roman 12.
• Use double line spacing.
• Use headings as necessary.
• Do not include line and page numbering (this will be added automatically during conversion to PDF).
• Use SI units: Please ensure that all special characters used are embedded in the text, otherwise they will be lost during conversion to PDF.
• Do not use page breaks in your manuscript.

Please see our Editorial policies for guidance on good citation practice. Any in-press articles cited within the references and necessary for the reviewers' assessment of the manuscript should be made available if requested by the editorial office. All web links and URLs should be given a reference number and included in the reference list rather than within the text of the manuscript. Published conference abstracts, numbered patents and preprints on recognized servers may be included in reference lists, but text, grant details and acknowledgements may not. Authors are responsible for obtaining permission to quote personal communications and unpublished data from the cited colleagues. Authors are responsible for the accuracy of cited references and these should be checked before submitting.

When citing references in the submission, the authors are required to follow the formatting and style instructions below.

• Cite references in the text in the Vancouver style, with sequential superscript numbering after nearest punctuation mark (with no space between the punctuation and the reference number).

• Reference numbers should not be cited in parentheses or brackets.
• Two references are cited with a comma and no space. Three or more consecutive references are cited in a range with dashes.
• If referring to the author of a previous work in text, write the surname followed by the superscripted citation number. For a citation with two authors, list surnames of both using “&” and for those with three or more authors, write the first author’s surname followed by “et al”.
• References in tables and figures should be in numerical order according to where the item is first cited in the text.
• Sample text with correct citation style: “... The best treatment results can be obtained in the primary,^1-3 and early mixed dentition.^2,4-6 ... Contrary to the findings of Hurtado & Gardea-Torresday,⁷ Smith et al⁸ showed...”

• Arrange references as a numbered list at the end of the manuscript.
• Only one publication can be listed for each number.
• EndNote software can be used to arrange references as a numbered list at the end of the manuscript, using our Endnote style. To do so, please first download our EndNote style (ZIP file) , and then unzip and copy the EndNote style (ENS) file into EndNote "Styles" folder on your computer, which should be accessible at Program Files [folder] > Endnote [folder] > Styles [folder].
• Do not use linked fields (produced by EndNote and similar programs). Please use the one-click button provided by EndNote to remove EndNote codes before saving your submission file.
• For the author names in the references, list the surnames and initials of all authors if there are 6 or fewer; otherwise list the first 6 and add ‘, et al.’
• Use one space only between words up to the year and then no spaces.
• The journal title should be abbreviated according to the Index Medicus/MEDLINE journal abbreviations. Check journal abbreviations using PubMed. If the journal is not listed in PubMed, then it should be written out in full.
• Add Digital Object Identifier (DOI) of the reference at the end whenever available.
• Example for standard journal article: Serper A, Ozbak M, Calt S. Accidental sodium hypochlorite-induced skin injury during endodontic treatment. J Endod. 2004;30(3):180-1. doi: 10.1097/00004770-200403000-00013
• Example for book reference: Fletcher RW, Fletcher SW. Clinical epidemiology: the essentials. 4th ed. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2005. p. 193-4.
• Example for chapter in a book: Werb Z. Proteinases and matrix degradation. In: Kelly WN, Harris FD Jr, Ruddy S, Sledge CB, editors. Textbook of rheumatology. 3rd ed. Philadelphia: Saunders; 1989. p. 300-21.
• Example for Web links and URLs: The Mouse Tumor Biology Database. http://tumor.informatics.jax.org/mtbwi/index.do. Accessed 20 May 2013.
• Other types of references: For further reference styles not covered here, please consult the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals, for which the Sample References page can be accessed at https://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_requirements.html.
• Example for Preprint:Fujii T, Toyoura K, Uda, T, Kasamatsu, S. Theoretical Study on Proton Diffusivity in Y-Doped BaZrO3 with Realistic Dopant Configurations. ChemRxiv [Preprint]. June 11, 2020 [Cited 2020 August 14]. Available from: https://chemrxiv.org/engage/chemrxiv/article-details/60c7559e567dfeeab7ec62e2
  Fujii T, Toyoura K, Uda, T, Kasamatsu, S. Theoretical Study on Proton Diffusivity in Y-Doped BaZrO3 with Realistic Dopant Configurations. ChemRxiv [Preprint]. June 11, 2020 [Cited 2020 August 14]. doi: https://doi.org/10.26434/chemrxiv.13193858.v2

When the submission contains formulas or equations, please follow the instructions below.

• Equations should be typed in MathType (Download the software from http://www.dessci.com/en/products/mathtype/).
• Graphical objects should not be used as formulas.
• Make sure that your equations are editable.
• If you have already composed your paper in Microsoft Word and used its built-in equation editing tool, the equations will become unusable during the layout and galley production. The production editor may ask you to re-key your equations using MathType after the editorial acceptance.
• Long equations should be set off from the text and numbered sequentially. You may refer to the equations in next references in the text by their number (e.g., "Equation 1" or "Equations 2 and 3").
• If using many equations or schemes is unavoidable, they can be collected in a table of equations and be shot as a framed figure to avoid typesetting errors.

When the submission includes figures, please follow the instructions below.

• Figures must be cited within the main text in numerical order (for example “Figure 1” or “Figures 2 and 3”).
• Figures must be submitted as separate files, and NOT embedded in the main manuscript file.
• A legend for each figure should be provided during submission. The figures and the legends will be appended to the automatically generated submission PDF proof at the end of the submission process.
• Multi-panel figures (with labeled parts as a, b, c, d, etc.) must be combined and uploaded as one file.
• Lettering in figures (for example, labeling of axes) should be in lower-case type, with the first letter capitalized and no full stop. All text should be in a sans-serif typeface, preferably Arial with suitable font size to be easily legible.
• Histograms should be prepared in a simple, two-dimensional format, with no background grid.
• Make sure that any specific patient/hospital details are removed or blacked out (for example, X-rays, MRI scans, etc.).
• If photographs of patients are used, they should not be identifiable.
• Original data from which the images were prepared should be available, as the editors may request to see these data (for example, Office, SPSS and other line art images).
• Avoid using the touch-up tools, such as cloning and healing tools in Photoshop, or any feature that deliberately obscures manipulations.
• In order to publish all figures as open access, authors must have permission from the rights holder if they wish to include images that have been published elsewhere in non-open-access journals. Graphics downloaded from Web pages should not be used unless the author has a right to re-publish those as open access. The original source and the permission should be indicated in the figure legend, and a citation should be included in the reference list.

All submitted figures must be of high quality; that is, resolutions of at least 300 dpi for color figures, 600 dpi for greyscales, and 1200 dpi for line arts. The following file types are acceptable for figures:

• EPS (suitable for diagrams and/or images)
• TIFF (suitable for images)
• JPEG (suitable for photographic images, less suitable for graphical images)

To ensure maximum quality of figures during production and publication of the article, please consider the instructions below.

• When exporting graphs, diagrams, or line art from any software that you use, EPS and PDF are preferred over TIFF. If possible, PDF files should be preferred, as they are usually more compact than EPS files.
• Please remember that vector drawing data is absent from JPEG, PNG, TIFF, or BMP file formats; subsequently, resaving any of these files as a PDF or EPS will not produce a vector drawing in these files. Please supply the original EPS or PDF file versions of artwork.
• Graphs, diagrams, or line arts prepared in Microsoft Word or PowerPoint may be submitted as a figure. The submitted file may only contain a single page or slide, with dimensions of the page or slide set to the intended figure dimensions, with no extra blank space all around.
• Photographs, histological slides, radiographs, etc. should be submitted as JPEG or TIFF files.
• Microsoft Word or PowerPoint should NOT be used to insert labels, arrows, and other marks on photographs, histological slides, radiographs, etc. as the quality of the figures may deteriorate in the process. Instead, use specialized software for image editing such as Adobe Photoshop to produce a high-quality JPEG or TIFF file.
• TIFF files should be saved with LZW compression, which is lossless (decreases file size without decreasing quality) in order to minimize upload time.
• JPEG files should be saved at maximum quality.

When the submission includes tables, please follow the formatting instructions below.

• Tables must be cited within the main text in numerical order (for example, “Table 1” or “Tables 2 and 3”).
• Tables should be cell-based and created in Microsoft Word with the Tables tool with real rows and columns and not aligned with tabs, returns, or spaces.
• Tables exported from other software as non-editable images are not acceptable.
• Please make sure the table direction is set “left-to-right.” Tables with direction set inversely as right-to-left are not acceptable and should be re-drawn. Right-to-left tables are often mistakenly drawn when middle-eastern languages such as Persian or Arabic are installed on Microsoft Word.
• Tables should be presented in vertical orientation, and upright on the page.
• A concise title should be provided and inserted before each table.
• All columns should carry concise headings describing the data therein.
• Tables should be plain with no colors, shading, or graphics.
• Tables should not contain inserted text boxes, tables within tables, or cells within cells.
• Multi-part tables with varying numbers of columns or multiple footnotes should be organized as separate tables.
• Commas should not be used to indicate numerical values.
• Symbols and abbreviations should be defined immediately below the table, followed by essential brief description.
• If a table or any data therein have been previously published, the footnote to the table must give full credit to the original source.
• Larger datasets or tables too wide for A4 or Letter landscape page can be uploaded as additional files. Tabular data provided as additional files can be uploaded as an Excel spreadsheet (XLS) or comma separated values (CSV). Please use the standard file extensions.

When guidelines of the submission allow for the inclusion of additional files, please follow the instructions below.

• Additional files must be cited within the main text in numerical order (for example, “Additional file 1” or “Additional files 2 and 3”).

• Datasets, large tables, movies, or other information can be submitted as additional files. Results that would otherwise be indicated as “data not shown” should also be included as additional files. Please make sure not to include any individual participant details.
• Each additional file must be submitted separately. A short title for each file should be provided during submission.
• Please remember that additional files are not edited or modified for formatting or style during production of the article. For further guidance on how to present particular types of data or information, please contact the editorial office of the journal.
• Do not submit other files intended for evaluation but not publication, such as certificates of language editing or patient consent forms, as additional files. These should be sent, only upon request by the editor, to the journal’s editorial email address quoting the submission ID.