Instruction to Authors
The Medical Journal of Malaysia (MJM) welcomes articles of interest on all aspects of medicine in the form of original papers, review articles, short communications, continuing medical education, case reports, commentaries and letter to Editor. Articles are accepted for publication on condition that they are contributed solely to The Medical Journal of Malaysia.
NOTE: MJM is published bimonthly ie. January, March, May, July, September and November.
Requirements for ALL manuscripts
Please ensure that your submission to MJM conforms to the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals.
Neither the Editorial Board nor the Publishers accept responsibility for the views and statements of authors expressed in their contributions.
The Editorial Board further reserves the right to reject papers read before a society. To avoid delays in publication, authors are advised to adhere closely to the instructions given below.
Manuscripts:
Manuscripts should be submitted in English (British English). Manuscripts should be submitted online through MJM Editorial Manager:https://www.editorialmanager.com/mjm
Instructions for registration and submission are found on the website. Authors will be able to monitor the progress of their manuscript at all times via the MJM Editorial Manager. For authors and reviewers encountering problems with the system, an online Users’ Guide and FAQs can be accessed via the “Help” option on the taskbar of the login screen.
MJM charges a one-time, non-refundable Article Processing Charge (APC) upon submission. Waiver of the APC applies only to members of the editorial board, and authors whose articles are invited by the editor. In addition, recipients of the MJM Reviewer Recognition Award from the previous year may enjoy a waiver of the APC for the next calendar year (e.g. recipients of MJM Reviewer Recognition Award 2022 will enjoy waiver of APC for articles submitted between January and December 2023).
The MJM processing fee is based on the categories stated below:
MJM
- MMA Member – RM 500.00
- Local Non-Member – RM 800.00
- Overseas – USD 200.00
MJM Case Reports:
- MMA Member – RM 400.00
- Non-Member/ Overseas – RM 500.00
The MJM Article Processing Charge is a non-refundable administrative fee. Payment of the APC does not guarantee acceptance of the manuscript. Submitted articles will only be sent for reviews once the MJM APC has been successful completed.
All submissions must be accompanied by a completed Copyright Assignment Form, Copyright Transfer Form and Conflict of Interest Form duly signed by all authors. (Forms can be download from MMA website at www.e-mjm.org/forms.html)
Manuscript text should be submitted as Microsoft Word documents. Tables and flow-charts should be submitted as Microsoft Word documents. Images should be submitted as separate JPEG files (minimum resolution of 300 dpi).
Peer Review Process
All submissions must include at least two (2) names of individuals who are especially qualified to review the work. All manuscripts submitted will be reviewed by the Editor in-charge before they are sent for peer review. Manuscripts that are submitted to MJM undergo a double-blinded peer review and are managed online. Proposed reviewers must not be involved in the work presented, nor affiliated with the same institution(s) as any of the authors or have any potential conflicts of interests in reviewing the manuscript. The selection of reviewers is the prerogative of the Editors of MJM.
Eligibility as an Author
MJM follows the recommendation of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) for eligibility to be consider as an author for submitted papers. The ICMJE recommends that authorship be based on the following four (4) criteria:
- Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; AND
- Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content; AND
- Final approval of the version to be published; AND
- Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.
TYPES OF PAPERS
Original Articles:
Original Articles are reports on findings from original unpublished research. Preference for publications will be given to high quality original research that make significant contribution to medicine. The word count for the structured abstract should not exceed 500 words. The articles should not exceed 4000 words, tables/illustrations up to five (5) and references up to 40. Manuscript describing original research should conform to the IMRAD format, more details are given below.
Original articles of cross-sectional and cohort design should follow the corresponding STROBE check-lists; clinical trials should follow the CONSORT check-list.
Review Articles:
Review Articles are solicited articles or systematic reviews. MJM solicits review articles from Malaysian experts to provide a clear, up-to-date account of a topic of interest to medical practice in Malaysia or on topics related to their area of expertise. Unsolicited reviews will also be considered, however, authors are encouraged to submit systematic reviews rather than narrative reviews. Review articles shall consist of a structured Abstract and the Main Text. The word count for the structured abstract should not exceed 500 words. Systematic Review are papers that presents exhaustive, critical assessments of the published literature on relevant topics in medicine. Systematic reviews should be prepared in strict compliance with MOOSE or PRISMA guidelines, or other relevant guidelines for systematic reviews.
Short Communications:
Shorts communication are short research articles of important preliminary observations, findings that extends previously published research, data that does not warrant publication as a full paper, small-scale clinical studies, and clinical audits. Short communications should not exceed 1,000 words and shall consist of a Summary and the Main Text. The summary should be limited to 100 words and provided immediately after the title page. The number of figures and tables should be limited to three (3) and the number of references to ten (10).
Continuing Medical Education (CME) Articles:
A CME article is a critical analysis of a topic of current medical interest. The article should include the clinical question or issue and its importance for general medical practice, specialty practice, or public health. It shall consist of a Summary and the Main Text. The summary should be limited to 500 words and provided immediately after the title page. Upon acceptance of selected articles, the authors will be requested to provide five multiplechoice questions, each with five true/false responses, based on the article.
Case Reports:
Papers on case reports (one to five cases) must follow these rules: Case reports should not exceed 2,000 words; with a maximum of two (2) tables; three (3) photographs; and up to ten (10) references. It shall consist of a Summary and the Main Text. The summary should be limited to 250 words and provided immediately after the title page. Having a unique lesson in the diagnosis, pathology or management of the case is more valuable than mere finding of a rare entity. Being able to report the outcome and length of survival of a rare problem is more valuable than merely describing what treatment was rendered at the time of diagnosis. There should be no more than seven (7) authors.
Please note that all Case Reports will be published in the new MJM Case Reports Journal (www.mjmcasereports.org).
Commentaries:
Commentaries will usually be invited articles that comment on articles published in the same issue of the MJM. However, unsolicited commentaries on issues relevant to medicine in Malaysia are welcomed. They should not exceed 1,200 words. They maybe unstructured but should be concise. When presenting a point of view it should be supported with the relevant references where necessary.
Letters to Editor:
Letters to Editors are responses to items published in MJM or to communicate a very important message that is time sensitive and cannot wait for the full process of peer review. Letters that include statements of statistics, facts, research, or theories should include only up to three (3) references. Letters that are personal attacks on an author will not be considered for publication. Such correspondence must not exceed 1,500 words.
Editorials:
These are articles written by the editor or editorial team concerning the MJM or about issues relevant to the journal.
STRUCTURE OF PAPERS
Title Page:
The title page should state the brief title of the paper, full name(s) of the author(s) (with the surname or last name bolded), degrees (limited to one degree or diploma), affiliations and corresponding author’s address. All the authors’ affiliations shall be provided after the authors’ names. Indicate the affiliations with a superscript number at the end of the author’s degrees and at the start of the name of the affiliation. If the author is affiliated to more than one (1) institution, a comma should be used to separate the number for the said affiliation.
Do provide preferred abbreviated author names for indexing purpose, e.g.L Rampal (for Lekhraj Rampal), BS Liew (for Liew Boon Seng), B Abdullah (for Baharudin Abdullah), Hoe VC (for Victor Hoe Chee Wai).
Please indicate the corresponding author and provide the affiliation, full postal address and email.
Articles describing Original Research should consist of the following sections (IMRAD format): Abstract, Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, Acknowledgment and References. Each section should begin on a fresh page.
Scientific names, foreign words and Greek symbols should be in italic.
Abstract and Key Words:
A structured abstract is required for Original and Review Articles. It should be limited to 500 words and provided immediately after the title page. Below the abstract provide and identify three (3) to 10 key words or short phrases that will assist indexers in cross-indexing your article. Use terms from the medical subject headings (MeSH) list from Index Medicus for the key words where possible. Key words are not required for Short Communications, CME articles, Case Reports, Commentaries and Letter to Editors.
Introduction:
Clearly state the purpose of the article. Summarise the rationale for the study or observation. Give only strictly pertinent references, and do not review the subject extensively.
Materials and Methods:
Describe your selection of the observational or experimental subjects (patients or experimental animals, including controls) clearly, identify the methods, apparatus (manufacturer's name and address in parenthesis), and procedures in sufficient detail to allow other workers to reproduce the results. Give references to established methods, including statistical methods; provide references and brief descriptions of methods that have been published but are not well-known; describe new or substantially modified methods, give reasons for using them and evaluate their limitations.
Identify precisely all drugs and chemicals used, including generic name(s), dosage(s) and route(s) of administration. Do not use patients' names, initials or hospital numbers. Include numbers of observation and the statistical significance of the findings when appropriate.
When appropriate, particularly in the case of clinical trials, state clearly that the experimental design has received the approval of the relevant ethical committee.
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 or illustrations, or both: emphasise or summarise only important observations in the text.
Discussion:
Emphasise 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:
Link the conclusions with the goals of the study but avoid unqualified statements and conclusions not completely supported by your data. Avoid claiming priority and alluding to work that has not been completed. State new hypotheses when warranted, but clearly label them as such. Recommendations, when appropriate, may be included.
