Author Instructions
JHRR welcomes submissions of original research articles, reviews, case reports, short communications, and letters to the editor. Please ensure that the manuscript is original and has not been submitted or published elsewhere.
Manuscripts should be submitted online through our website. The corresponding author must create an account or log in to an existing account to complete the five-step submission process. The manuscript must be blinded, with no indication of the authors' names, designations, departments, institutions, or towns. Author information should be included in metadata. If required, supplemental files such as data files, fee submission documents, and so on can be included.
JHRR is published in English, and the use of British or American English is accepted. Please use Times New Roman, size 12, justified, with a line spacing of 1.0. Tables and illustrations (figure/chart/image) should be placed where specified, not at the conclusion of the document.
The submission format depends on the type of manuscript:
- Review article: Maximum 3500 words excluding references.
- Original article: Maximum 2500 words excluding a structured abstract of 250 words and 20 references (minimum).
- Case Report: Abstract; Introduction; Case Report; Discussion and Conclusion.
- Short Report: Abstract; Introduction; Patients Methods and Result; and Conclusion.
- Special Communication: Abstract; Introduction; Methods and Result; and Conclusion.
- Short Reports / Short Communications / Special Communications / Case reports: Maximum 1250 words excluding title page and an unstructured abstract of 150 words with no more than two tables or figures and 10 references. It should not be signed by more than six authors.
- Letters to the Editor: Maximum 250 words if it is in reference to a recent journal article, or 400 words in all other cases. It must have no more than five references and one figure or table. It must not be signed by any more than three authors. Letters referring to a recent journal article must be received within four weeks of its publication.
The title of the manuscript should include the study's design, objectives, and variables. It should also include information about the characteristics and geographical location of the population of interest. The use of abbreviations should be avoided in the title. Each manuscript should include five to ten keywords, which should be included in the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) of the United States National Library of Medicine, found at: https://meshb.nlm.nih.gov/.
Only standard abbreviations should be used, and for each abbreviation, the full term should be presented first, followed by the abbreviation in parentheses. A well-known and widely used abbreviation may be used in this capacity.
Tables and illustrations are important tools for conveying information in scientific publications. Here are some guidelines to follow when including tables and illustrations in your manuscript for JHRR:
- There is no limit to the number of tables and illustrations (graphs/charts/images) that can be included. These should be included as needed to support the manuscript's content.
- Each table and illustration should stand alone, displaying all of its contents/meanings without referring to the text.
- Each table and illustration must have a legend below it. The title of the table and picture should be a summary of the manuscript's tile.
- Illustrations must be of high quality. Graphs and charts should be editable.
- Where applicable, a legend should be included with the table or illustration.
- If a table or illustration is taken from a published work, the source must be cited.
- To reproduce a previously published illustration, the author must obtain permission from the author/publisher.
References are an essential part of any scientific publication. Please follow these guidelines when citing references in your manuscript:
- The Vancouver style must be followed.
- References should be numbered serially and given in digits within the text, as in standard medical journals.
- Add authors. Give last/family/surname in full, then the first letter of the 1st and 2nd names as capital with no gap. Add six authors. In case of more than six authors, et al. should be added after six authors.
- Journal titles should be abbreviated as in Index Medicus/Medline/PubMed/NLM Catalogue. If not in Index Medicus, then it should be abbreviated as by the journal itself.
- Add DOI where available.
Please use Systems International (SI) units where possible when reporting measurements in your manuscript. Generic names of drugs are preferred. Where essential, the brand names can be given in parentheses.
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Abstract:
The abstract should be concise and informative, with a word count within 250. In exceptional cases, it may be up to 350 words. The abstract should have the following sub-headings: Background, Material & Methods, Results, and Conclusion. The Background section should include 1-3 sentences introducing the problem/s of interest and objectives. The Material & Methods section should include study design, duration, setting, population & sampling, data collection (variables and their attributes and types), and analysis plans (descriptive, estimation of parameters and hypotheses testing). The Conclusion section should provide a summary of the results in simple words.
Text:
The main part of the original research article should follow the IMRAD structure, with the following sub-headings: Introduction, Material and Methods, Results, and Discussion & Conclusion.
Introduction:
This section should include the following components:
Data in quantities (numbers & figures) regarding all variables of interest as per the objectives.
Prevalence and/or incidence of the disease of interest/ under investigation, its distribution by socio-demographic factors, its various determinants, or its treatment.
Level/concentration/score of some anthropometric measure/ biochemical parameter.
Research problem, knowledge gap, research question, research objective, hypothesis, and significance of the study.
Materials and Methods:
This section should include the following components:
Design, setting & duration: Mention the study design (cross-sectional/case-control/cohort/trial) with the name of the academic/professional department and the name of the academic/professional institution with city and country. Add the duration of the study with day, month, and year.
Technical approval from the institutional research board and ethical approval from the institutional ethical committee & patients’ consent.
Population & sampling: Specify/define the population by count, geographic location, socio-demographic and disease factors. Then, explain how you calculated the sample size as required by the design of your study with a formula/calculation or online calculator/software with reference/link. Then give the sampling technique. Finally, provide inclusion and exclusion criteria for one group or separately for each group in case of two or more groups.
Equipment, procedure, intervention, and follow-up: Narrate all the steps taken from enrollment of a subject to its discharge from the study, including history, general & systemic examination, investigations, and any intervention (health education, food, exercise, vaccine, drug, device, laser, or surgery). Provide details of different equipment, instruments, appliances, and tools used, giving the name, model, version, company name, and its manufacturing city name in parentheses.
We look forward to receiving your high-quality original research article submissions. Thank you for considering JHRR as a platform for your research.
Statistical Software and Tests
Please mention the statistical software used for data analysis, such as SPSS, STATA, R, or SAS. Also, specify the statistical tests used, such as t-test, chi-square test, ANOVA, regression analysis, or others, with the significance level set at 0.05. Provide a clear description of the statistical tests used, including assumptions and limitations, and report the results of the analysis in a clear and concise manner, including effect size and confidence intervals, as appropriate.
Ethical Considerations
Authors must provide a statement in the manuscript that the study was conducted in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. If the study involves human or animal subjects, authors must provide a statement that informed consent was obtained from all participants and that the study was approved by an appropriate ethics committee. If any identifying information about the subjects is presented in the manuscript, authors must provide a statement that informed consent was obtained from the subjects for the publication of their information.
Funding Sources
Authors must disclose all sources of funding for the research and any potential conflicts of interest related to the research or the authors. If the research was not funded, authors must declare that the research had no funding source.
In conclusion, authors must summarize the key findings of the study, discuss the implications of the results, and provide recommendations for future research. The conclusion should be based on the data presented in the manuscript and should not go beyond the scope of the study. The limitations of the study should also be acknowledged, and the strengths and weaknesses of the study design should be discussed. Finally, the authors should restate the significance of the study and its relevance to the field of healthcare and medical research.
Results
When reporting the results of a study, it is important to provide information on the sample size and characteristics of the participants. This includes the total number of participants, as well as any group-wise breakdowns of participants by relevant characteristics (e.g. treatment group vs control group). If a questionnaire-based survey was used, it is important to report the frequency and percentage of responses from participants.
Additionally, it is important to report any adverse events that occurred during the study, including any participant deaths. It is also necessary to report the number of participants who dropped out of the study and the reasons why they dropped out. This includes providing information on the different causes of dropouts (e.g. complications from treatment), as well as the number of participants who were lost to follow-up.
After providing information on the sample and participant characteristics, authors should present their descriptive analysis of the data. This should include any relevant statistics or measures of central tendency and variability.
Next, authors should provide an estimation of parameters based on the data analysis plan. This may involve calculating prevalence or incidence rates, or estimating mean values for certain variables.
Finally, authors should report the results of any hypotheses testing conducted during the study. This may involve reporting p-values or confidence intervals for relevant statistical tests.
When discussing the results, authors should compare their findings to previous studies from the local, national, regional, and global levels. It is important to cite these studies and provide relevant information on their sample sizes and data for comparison. The conclusion should be based on the objective and principal findings, and should avoid any false or ambiguous conclusions or speculations.
Authors should also provide recommendations based on their findings, either as a separate heading or as the last paragraph of the conclusion. Finally, authors should adhere to any relevant author guidelines or policies regarding data sharing, privacy, and copyright.
Discussion
The discussion section should begin by presenting the findings related to the first objective or variable of the study. It is important to then compare these findings with similar studies from local, national, regional, and global populations, starting with those that have similar or lower prevalence/proportion/mean and progressing to those with higher values. These comparisons should be based on estimation of parameters from populations, rather than sample statistics. Hypotheses testing should also be considered, although many studies lack this analysis.
When comparing studies, it is crucial to use numbers/indices (counts, percentages, and means) from populations, and not rely solely on theoretical or philosophical arguments. Each study brought for comparison should include the author's name, city & country, duration of the study, sample size, and relevant data for comparison. It is recommended to bring studies that are already cited in the introduction section.
It is important to only include relevant data that matches the objectives/variables of the study, even if other studies have data for many more objectives/variables. The conclusion of the discussion should be a non-statistical summary of the observed and analyzed findings, without including conclusions from other authors. Recommendations may be added as a separate heading or included in the last paragraph of the conclusion, allowing authors to go beyond their own findings.
Conclusion
In the conclusion section, it is important to summarize the main objective and principal findings of the study. It is essential to avoid making false or ambiguous conclusions or speculations that are not supported by the data presented in the study. The conclusion should provide a clear and concise summary of the study's results and their implications, and it should be presented in a straightforward and understandable manner.
JHRR is an open-access journal, and all published articles are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. This license allows for unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction of the article in any medium, provided that the original author and source are properly credited. Any comments or inquiries can be directed to the editor at submit@jhrlmc.com.
Furthermore, JHRR is committed to maintaining the privacy of its users. Any names or email addresses collected by the journal will be used solely for the stated purposes of the journal and will not be shared with any other parties.
Article Processing & Publication Fee
Article Processing Fee: NONE.
Standard Article Publication Fee (National): 25000 PKR.
Standard Article Publication Fee (International): 120USD.
Additionally, we offer a fast track publication option for your convenience.
Subscription Charges
Good news! Subscriptions to our journal are completely free.
Waiver Policy
If an author has no funds to pay such charges, he may request for full or partial waiver of publication fees. The decision may however vary from case to case.
We do not want charges to prevent the publication of worthy material.
Source of Funding
Funding is a critical component in the life cycle of scientific research, facilitating everything from the formulation of research questions to the dissemination of results. Recognizing the source of funding for research is important for several reasons.
The Journal of Health and Rehabilitation Research (JHRR) requires all authors to declare their sources of funding. This not only includes the organization that provided the funds but also the grant number, if applicable. It is necessary to understand the role that various funding bodies play in the research process, as this can often shape the direction and focus of the study.
The source of funding can also impact the interpretation of results and the perceived credibility of the research. It is essential for the sake of transparency and reproducibility to clearly state who funded the work. It allows readers to be aware of any potential conflicts of interest, and it ensures the proper acknowledgment of the financial support that made the research possible.
Furthermore, understanding the source of funding is crucial in the broader context of research development and planning. It helps identify which institutions and organizations are supporting research in health and rehabilitation, and to what extent. This knowledge can influence future funding strategies and highlight areas where investment may be needed.
JHRR believes that acknowledging the sources of funding contributes to the integrity of scholarly research. In this vein, the journal is committed to maintaining a transparent and open dialogue about the funding of studies published within its pages.