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Bangladesh Journal of Medical Microbiology
(Bangladesh J Med Microbiology)
ISSN 2072-3105 (online)
ISSN 2070-1810(print)
BMDC recognized
EDITORIAL POLICY:
1.
Name
of the Journal: Bangladesh Journal of Medical Microbiology
2.
Abbreviated (as in ISSN register): Bangladesh J Med Microbiol
3.
Published by: the Bangladesh Society of Medical Microbiologists (BSMM)
4.
Started publication: since January, 2007
5.
Frequency: biennially (January & July each year)
6.
Language: English (British)
7.
Subject biasness: Medical Microbiology or allied subjects
8.
Types
of articles accepted: The BJMM considers for publication
manuscripts reporting original clinical and/ or laboratory studies
(original articles), brief communications, case reports, reviews
(review article) and letters to the editor related to Medical
Microbiology or allied subjects, having following criteria:
8.1:
Original article: a full length paper reporting original clinical
and/or laboratory research, having sections like IMRAD as mentioned in
the “Information for the Contributors”.
The manuscript has been
prepared for a wide readership.
There is no need for a separate
section entitled “Conclusions”, usually last paragraph of the
Discussion is considered as the conclusion of the paper.
Manuscripts no longer than 2700
words excluding the abstract and references.
8.2:
Brief communication: for brief observations that do not warrant a
full length paper. It should not be divided into sections as for the
full length paper, and must not exceeding 1500 words. References
should be as few as possible and not more than 13. Illustrations and
tables when included should be limited to one each. It should have an
abstract and key words.
8.3:
Case report: for description of uncommon infections. It should be
divided into a short introduction stating the reasons for reporting
the case, the case report including history, investigations and
treatment, and discussion referring to the relevant references as few
as possible. Should be limited to 800 words with 1-2 tables or
Illustrations. Should have an abstract and key words.
8.4:
Review article: should contain subheadings within the text to
highlight the content of different sections. A summary should be
provided. The text is limited to 4000 words with a maximum of total 6
tables and illustrations and up to 120 references.
Reviews summarizing present
state of knowledge of a particular aspect of Medical Microbiology
having a maximum of 1500 words and a maximum of 6 tables or
illustrations, and up to 30 references are published as “Mini
Reviews”.
Review articles are usually
solicited by the editors, but the BJMM considers unsolicited
interesting materials in Medical Microbiology.
All review articles undergo
same editorial/ peer review process as for original research reports.
8.5:
Letter to the Editor: can be related to previously published
articles or for presentation of preliminary results. It should be
limited in length to 250 words.
9. Authorship: As stated in the
“Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical
journals” by the ICMJE, credit for authorship requires substantial
contribution to: (a) conception and design, or analysis and
interpretation of data, (b) drafting of the article or critical
revision for important intellectual content, and (c) final approval of
the submitted version of the manuscript .
If more than 12 authors are listed
for a multicentre trial, or more than 8 for a study from a single
institution, each author must sign a statement attesting that he or
she fulfils the authorship criteria of the Uniform requirements. No
more that 12 authors should listed in the author’s byline under the
title; other names will appear in a footnote.
10. Manuscript preparation:
Please follow “Information for Contributors”.
11.
Originality in Publication:
11.1 BJMM does not accept any
manuscript that has been subjected to, accepted for publication, or
published in any biomedical journal, in any form, print or electronic,
elsewhere;
11.2 Manuscripts published in print or
electronic media in home or abroad in other languages or in other
forms (conference proceedings, abstracts for free paper presentations,
etc) are considered for publication in BJMM, provided a full statement
and a copy of previous report or publication, along with the reason
for doing so, to be included.
12. Copyright: The BJMM holds by
its nature the transferred copyright of all accepted manuscripts if
not otherwise stated.
13. Page charge: is made for the
authors. Presently, the principal author is charged for taka 1000/-
and the co-authors for taka 500/- each.
14. Format: The BJMM Editorial
board currently following recommendations of the BMDC (Bangladesh
Medical and Dental Council), the ICMJE (International Committee of
Medical Journal Editors), the WAME (World Association of Medical
Editors), the ISSN (International Standard Serial Number)
International Center, the NLM (National Library of Medicine)-MEDLINE,
and the ASM (American Society for Microbiology) Journals.
15.
Editorial board: restrict number of members as
few as possible
15.1: Structure: Currently
8-member body (Editor-in-Chief: 01, Executive Editors: 02, Editors:
05)
15.2: Editors: all members
of Editorial board
15.3: Co-option of members:
as that of Executive Committee and Constitution
15.4: Newer proposal:
any
proposal for a refreshed board or a member of
the board
to be
recommended by the EC
15.5: Role of Editors:
15.5.a: Editors have full
authority for determining contents for an issue (of BJMM) to be
published
15.5.b: Each of the Editors is
responsible for all contents of a published issue of BJMM
15.6: Responsibilities of Editors:
15.6.a: Respect BJMM constituents
(readers, authors, reviewers & human subjects of research) by making
BJMM processes TRANSPARENT, thanking REVIEWERS for their work, and
protecting confidentiality of human subjects;
15.6.b: Promote self-correction by publishing corrections, retractions, &
critiques of published articles;
15.6.c: Assure honesty & integrity of BJMM contents and minimize bias by
managing conflicts of interests and maintaining confidentiality of
information;
15.6.d: Improve quality of BJMM by becoming familiar with best practice in
editing, peer review, research ethics, methods of investigation,
establishing appropriate programs to monitor BJMM’s performance, and
soliciting external evaluations of BJMM effectiveness.
15.7: Termination of Editorship:
15.7.a: Any member of the Editorial board
being absent from three consecutive meetings or refusing three
consecutive requests of editorial action will have to defend notice of
termination;
15.7.b: Any member on the Editorial board
found involved in any activity subversive to the reputation of the
society (BSMM) or the journal (BJMM);
15.7.c: For effective termination of an
Editor on the board, the concerned member to be noticed jointly by the
Editor-in-Chief and either of the members of Executive Editors/
Editors, and to be recommended by the EC.
16.
Editorial action on Manuscripts:
16.1: Step I: Acceptance of
Manuscripts
16.1.a: Assigned Editor checks a manuscript immediately after submission,
registers it into ‘Receive Register’, & recommend either internal
review by Editorial board (EB) members, OR “Peer Review” by the
External reviewers;
16.1.b: Internal Review mechanism:
At least TWO EB members
review each submitted manuscript for either of the decisions: (a)
Accepted, send to Printer; (b) Accepted, send to Peer Reviewer, (c)
NOT acceptable, send to Peer Reviewer;
16.1.c: Issuing of ‘Acceptance letter’: ‘Acceptance letter’ is issued to the
corresponding author on demand if accepted by TWO EB members. The
Acceptance letter is to be issued by an assigned EB member containing
the following information: Receive ID no., Receive Date, Title of the
manuscript, Probable Date of publication, and name and sequence of all
Co-authors.
16.2: Step II: Sent to Printer (in
TWO ways):
16.2.a: After
primary EB review internally and if found okay by at least TWO EB
members;
16.2.b: After
peer review, if ‘review response’ found adequate, and if Reviewer
satisfies with the response.
16.3: Step III: Post-Peer Review
16.3.a: Checked for Reviewer’s categorization as follows: Categorization by
the Reviewer: (i) Category I: Publishable without modification, (ii)
Category II: Publishable with suggested modification, and (iii)
Category III: NOT publishable;
16.3.b: Sent
to Corresponding author (CA) for ‘review response’ within a set
timeline;
16.3.c: After
getting back from CA, checked again for appropriateness of response
and if found okay, sent to Printer, and if response appears
inadequate, sent to Reviewer again & follow same tracks of peer
review.
16.4: Step IV: Manuscript Rejection:
16.4.a: Any
manuscript appearing NOT PUBLISHABLE by Internal Reviewers by at least
two EB members, it is sent to External Reviewer & follow ‘Peer Review’
track;
16.4.b: If
NOT PUBLISHABLE by External Reviewer, sent to 2nd External Reviewer &
follow ‘peer Review’ track;
16.4.c: If
still NOT PUBLISHABLE by 2nd External Reviewer, the
manuscript is Outright rejected & informed the CA, or Sent to
the CA if requested with stamped envelope;
16.4.d: If a
submitted manuscript is not published in the BJMM within one year of
submission should be considered to be rejected.
17.
Review
mechanism: review of the submitted manuscripts done in TWO
ways: Internal Review by Editors & Peer Review.
17.1: Internal Review by the Editors:
17.1a. At
least TWO EB members review each submitted manuscript for decisions,
whether (a) Accepted, send to Printer, or (b) Accepted, send to Peer
Reviewer, or (c) NOT acceptable, send to Peer Reviewer.
17.2: Peer
Review
17.2.a: Peer
Review definition: critical assessment of manuscripts submitted to BJMM by experts who are NOT part of the BJMM EB;
17.2.b: Terms
& Conditions, and Guidelines for peer review
17.2.b.i:
Information to be included in ‘Guidelines’ for peer Review: sections
of a manuscript & check-lists for BJMM, categorization check-list, and
must include submitted manuscript ensuring masked review, copy of
‘Information for Contributors’ to BJMM , and a sample of the
guidelines;
17.2.c: Messages to be included in ‘Terms & Conditions’ for peer Review are
Reviewer’s right, Reviewer’s responsibility, Review mechanism,
Electronic Review, name, telephone number & E-mail address of an EB
member for urgent correspondence;
17.3: Panel
of Reviewers for peer review: several panels of the peer reviewers to
be prepared by recommendation of the majority EB members on proposals
by any BSMM member;
17.3.a: The
assigned Editor selects Reviewer from the panel.
17.4:
Currently, about 60% of submitted manuscripts are sent for ‘Peer
Review’.
17.4.a: A
manuscript is NOT sent to a Reviewer who is affiliated with same
institution as any of the Authors;
17.4.b:
Authors may list individuals who they do not want to be a Reviewer but
must justify the request in Cover letter.
18. Submission materials:
18.1:
Covering letter;
18.2: TWO
Hard copies;
18.3: ONE
Soft copy;
18.4:
Permissions & previous publications, if any;
18.5:
Others (Photos etc, if any).
19. Reproduction:
19.1: Materials copied from other published sources MUST be accompanied by
permissions from editor and/or publisher;
19.1a. Letter
of permission to be addressed towards BJMM for reproduction.
20.
Conflicts of interest:
20.1: Authors are responsible for disclosing all financial & personal
relationships that might bias scientific works;
20.1.a:
Authors MUST state whether potential conflicts do OR do not exist;
20.1.b:
Conflict of interest notification page follows title page;
20.1.c: If
necessary, additional detail should be provided in cover letter ;
20.2: Athors should describe role of study sponsor(s) in study design, if
any;
20.2.a: The BJMM authority protects the
right NOT to consider an article if a sponsor has asserted control
over authors’ right to publish;
20.3: All participants in ‘Peer Review’ &
publication process MUST disclose all
relationships
that could be a potential conflict of interest;
20.4: Selection of external ‘Peer reviewers’ are avoided having obvious
potential conflicts of interest;
20.5:
Reviewers are requested to disclose any conflicts of interest that
could bias opinions & should disqualify themselves from reviewing;
20.6:
Reviewers MUST not use knowledge of the work before publication;
20.7:
Editors MUST have no personal, professional or financial involvement
in any of the related issues;
20.8:
Editorial staff MUST not use information gained through working with
manuscript.
21:
Privacy and
Confidentiality:
21.1:
Patients’ right to privacy are NOT infringed without informed consent;
21.1.a:
Identifying details are omitted if NOT essential;
21.2:
Manuscripts are reviewed with due respect for authors’
confidentiality;
21.3:
Editors MUST not disclose information to anyone other than authors and
reviewers;
21.4:
Reviewers comments are NOT published OR made public without permission
of the reviewer, or the concerned author.
22: Corrigenda:
22.1: Any mistake inadvertently printed
out in any of the published issues is sincerely published with
required correction whenever
noticed. 23:
Electronic version:
23.1: Publication of any electronic version either in a CD-ROM or
on-line must be a joint
decision of the Editorial board in majority;
23.2: The On-line version of the BJMM must contain in its issues the
replica of the materials
published in the corresponding issues of
print version.
[Last
updated
on 15.12.2008]
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