Instructions:
Contributions in the following categories will be considered: reviews (maximum length 3500 words), original research articles (maximum length 3000 words); case/audit reports (maximum length 800 words) and letters. Allow 250 words for each table, figure or group of eight references. References in Vancouver format. Materials must not be submitted if it has been published previously in any printed or electronic media. All papers will be peer-reviewed at least by three independent referees. Title page should contain full title of the page, the names and up to 2 degrees of all authors; the department(s) and institution(s) and five key words and the name, email and postal address of the corresponding author. All original article contributions should contain an abstract not exceeding 300 words.
Abstract: The abstract should be structured as follows: Background, Objectives, Methods, Results and Conclusion.
Pagination: Pages should be numbered and word count provided for the article and the complete paper excluding references, tables and legends. Font size 12, Times New Roman should be used throughout the manuscript using Microsoft Word compliant application in a single column and double spaced.
Covering letter: The manuscript should be accompanied by a covering letter that identifies the corresponding author and signed by all the co-authors. Only those who have contributed significantly should be included as authors. All authors should sign the declaration and copyright form when the manuscript is finally accepted for publication. The corresponding author should provide an explanation for any of the authors unable to sign.
Email your manuscript to the Editor-in-Chief: editor@ndmjournal.org
Our peer-review time frame is 14 days. The manuscripts are anonymized including comments from peer-reviewers. We aim to publish online 4-6 weeks after submission.
Criteria used in peer-review:
Title: Does the title reflect the contents of the article
Abstract: To what extent does the abstract reflect aspects of the study: background, objectives, methods, results and conclusions?
Introduction: Is the study rationale adequately described?
Objectives: Are the study objectives clearly stated and defined?
Methodology:
To what extent is the study design appropriate and adequate for the objectives?
Is the sample size appropriate and adequately justified?
Is the sampling technique appropriate and adequately described?
How well are the methods and instruments of data collection described?
How well are techniques to minimize bias/errors documented?
Ethical Consideration: If there are issues related to ethics, are they adequately described? (For human studies, has ethical approval been obtained and documented in the manuscript?)
Analysis and results: Are the methods of data analysis appropriate?
Do the results answer the research questions?
Are the results credible?
Is statistical significance well documented (e.g. as confidence intervals or P-value)?
Are the findings presented logically with appropriate displays and explanations?
Discussion: How well are the key findings stated?
To what extent have differences or similarities with other studies been discussed and reasons for these given?
Are the findings discussed in the light of previous evidence?
Are the implications of these findings clearly explained?
Is the interpretation warranted by and sufficiently derived from and focused on the data and results?
Conclusion(s): Do the results justify the conclusion(s)?
References: Are the references appropriate and relevant?
Are they up to date?
Are there any obvious, important references that should have been included and have not been?
Do the references follow the recommended style(Vancouver) ?
Are there any errors?
Writing: Is the paper clearly written?
Is the paper presented logically (e.g. correct information in each section, logical flow of arguments)?
Are there problems with the grammar / spelling / punctuation / language?
Authorship:
Criteria of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE):
- 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.
Conflicts of Interest:
Is there any financial conflicts of interest? If so this must be declared.
Publication Fee:
NDMJ provide free, unrestricted online access to its scholarly articles to everyone across the world. Readers have the right to use, distribute, and reproduce in any medium, provided the source is properly cited. Permitted reuse is defined by the following Creative Commons user license:
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND): for non-commercial purposes, lets others distribute and copy the article, and to include in a collective work (such as an anthology), as long as they credit the author(s) and provided they do not alter or modify the article.
Publishing involves proof reading, typesetting, file format change, web maintenance, locating peer reviewers to check for quality and plagiarism etc and storage of published articles.
These tasks involve costs which are compensated by the article publication fee, paid by the authors.
NDMJ offers an open access business model (author-pay), where manuscripts that are accepted for publication following peer review incur a publication fee.
On acceptance the corresponding author will pay the publication fee of US $100.00 to the Medical & Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria (MDCAN), Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital (NDUTH)Chapter. The publication costs is subsidised from subscription levies of members of the MDCAN, NDUTH Chapter.
ORCID Support:
As part of our commitment to ensuring an ethical, transparent and fair peer review process NDMJ is a supporting member of ORCID, the Open Researcher and Contributor ID. See link
We encourage all authors and co-authors to use ORCID iDs during the peer review process. If you already have an ORCID iD you can add this to your manuscript.
Copyright:
The NDMJ retains copyright of all its published work. All materials used from the journal must have proper attribution. When citing the NDMJ use the Vancouver format as Nig Del Med J 2017; 2: 1-5.
Plagiarism & Research Fraud:
This should be reported to the Editor-in-Chief
ISSN:
Print 2672-4588 Online 2672-4596
