Author Guidelines

General Guidelines

1. We truly understand the extra challenges faced by authors whose native language is other than English. We do however remind you that all manuscripts submitted to BJOA must be written in a clear and concise English. Only material that has not been published previously (either in print or electronically) and is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, with the exception of an abstract published in conference proceedings, will be considered for publication.
2. Both American and UK spelling is accepted. All acronyms must be spelled out in the first instance in the abstract and body of the manuscript.
3. Word counts are not mandatory. However, we recommend that a research article should not exceed 7,500 words and case reports should not exceed 4,000 words.
4. Using International Systems of Units (SI) measurement and its abbreviation are mandatory throughout the manuscript.
5. Generic drug names must be used throughout the manuscript.
6. The preferred format for the manuscript is Microsoft Word (.doc, .docx) format, with a double spaced 12-pts, Times New Roman font (including abstract and reference section) in 3 cm margins (all direction), with no page numbers or line numbers, and in a single-column format.
7. Do ensure that all tables and figures are cited in the manuscript.
8. Cite references in the order they appear in the manuscript. It should be typed in superscript numerals with no parentheses (e.g. ¹). For sequential references of three or more, use a hyphen between the first and the last reference (e.g. ^2-4). Numbers should be placed after punctuation marks. (e.g. This is a sample.⁵) For the detail of the references guide, please refer to the reference section below.

Authorship

According to the International Committee Medical of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) guidelines, authorship credit should be based on:

1. Substantial contributions to conception and design, data acquisition, or data analysis and interpretation;
2. Drafting the article or critically revising it for important intellectual content;
3. Final approval of the version to be published; and
4. Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

The complete statement can be find at http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/roles-and-responsibilities/defining-the-role-of-authors-and-contributors.html

The journal does not permit the changing/adding/deleting of authors after the submission of the paper. Changing the author sequence after the manuscript is submitted also prohibited. So write down the author sequence wisely. Those who made the greatest contribution are generally listed first, and if all co-authors contribute similarly in the manuscript alphabetical order may also be used.

Peer review

This journal operates a double-blind review process. All contributions will be initially assessed by the editor for suitability for the journal. Papers deemed suitable are then typically sent to a minimum of two independent expert reviewers to assess the scientific quality of the paper. The Editor is responsible for the final decision regarding acceptance or rejection of articles. The Editor's decision is final.

Double-blind review

This journal uses a double-blind review, which means the identities of the authors are concealed from the reviewers, and vice versa. To facilitate this, please include the following separately:

Title page (with author details): The title page must be made in a separate file, only contains the manuscript title, the names of the author(s) and affiliation(s). Please find the detailed description of the title page to the title page section below.

Blinded manuscript (no author details): The main body of the paper (including the references, figures, tables, and any acknowledgments) should not include any identifying information, such as the authors' names or affiliations.

Title page

A title page should contain:

1. Title of the manuscript. Concise and informative. Titles are often used in information-retrieval systems. Avoid abbreviations and formulae where possible. Redundant words such as “case reports” or “review of the literature” should be omitted, and ostentatious words such as “unique case” or “first report of” should be avoided.
2. Author names and affiliations. Please clearly indicate the given name(s) and family name(s) of each author and check that all names are accurately spelled. You are advised to write the name completely with a good arrangement without turning it back. Present the authors' affiliation addresses (where the actual work was done) below the names. Indicate all affiliations with a lower-case superscript letter immediately after the author's name and in front of the appropriate address. Provide the complete address of each affiliation, including the country name and, if available, the e-mail address of each author.
3. Corresponding author: name, affiliations, physical address, and an e-mail address. This will indicate who will handle correspondence at all stages of refereeing and publication, also post-publication. This responsibility includes answering any future queries about Methodology and Materials. Ensure that the e-mail address is given and that contact details are kept up to date by the corresponding author.
4. A SCOPUS ID(s) and/or ORCID ID(s) for all listed authors whenever available

Abstract

Abstracts should not exceed 300 words. For original research scripts, we require a structured abstract, which includes: Background (including the aim of the study), Methods, Results, Discussion, and Conclusion. For the case report article, the abstract should be unstructured. An abstract must be able to stand alone. For this reason, References should be avoided, but if essential, then cite the author(s) and year(s). Also, non-standard or uncommon abbreviations should be avoided, but if essential they must be defined at their first mention in the abstract itself.

Keywords

We required 3–6 keywords. For your paper to be found more easily when it goes online, we recommend that the keywords should not contain the words that are already presented in the title.

Introduction

State the objectives of the work and provide an adequate background, while avoiding a detailed literature survey or a summary of the results.

Patients and Methods (Material and Methods)

For studies involving human, please type as Patients and Methods. For studies not involving human, like laboratory or animal study, please type as Material and Methods. 

Manuscripts reporting studies on human subjects, human data or tissue, or animals must include a statement on ethics approval. Please include the name of the committee that approved the study.

For studies reporting for human subjects, we also require a clear statement that all subjects involved in the study had provided written and informed consent to be included in the study.

In a case where details or images relating to the subject participants are included, authors must obtain written informed consent to publish the details from the subjects. If this is not possible, written informed consent must be taken from the subject’s parent or legal guardian. Authors must explicitly state this here. Authors should be able to provide the journal with the signed consents should the Editor require the author to do so.

Results

For results involving tables and figures, we recommend that the maximum number for each table and figures are four. Figures and tables that are reproduced from any other publications must include a written permit from both its author and publisher to be re-published in our journal should your manuscript be accepted.

Discussion

This section should present the theoretical, empirical, and applied implications of the results, not simply repeat the findings. The study's limitations should be explicitly recognized. A combined Results and Discussion section may be appropriate.

Conclusions

The main conclusions of the study may be presented in a short Conclusions section, which may stand alone or form a subsection of a Discussion or Results and Discussion section.

Disclosure

Any funding and/or grants received by one of the authors in relation to this study must be declared here. Please describe the role of the sponsor(s), if any, in any of the stages from study design to submission of the paper for publication. Please state if the sponsor(s) had no such involvement.

Your relationship with other people or organizations may influence the way you interpret data or present the information your study demonstrated. This is known as a competing interest.

If the author(s) has nothing to declare, please type in this section: The authors report nothing to declare.