Information to Author

Information to Author

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ABOUT THE JOURNAL
The Bangladesh Journal of Nuclear Medicine (BJNM) serves as the official publication of Society of Nuclear Medicine, Bangladesh (SNMB). This peer-reviewed journal is published in the English language, biannually with contents of interest to the physicians and scientists working in the fields of nuclear medicine and allied sciences. The electronic version of BJNM is available as an open access journal through the Bangladesh Journals Online (BanglaJOL, https://www.banglajol.info/). The print versions of this journal are made available solely by the SNMB (https://snm-bd.org/) in the months of January and July of each year.

MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION
All manuscripts should be submitted to snmb.publicationsecretary@gmail.com
Please follow the recommendations in this documents before your submission.

EDITORIAL POLICIES
Fees and Funding
There is no article-processing charge payable by the authors according to the current policies of the SNMB and the BanglaJOL.

Permissions issues
If manuscript contains figures, tables, or texts that have already been published elsewhere, the authors are required to include documents of permissions from the copyright owner(s) for both the print and online format. Any material received without such evidence will be assumed to originate from the authors. The authors are required to make a declaration if such permission is not applicable to their manuscript.

Competing interests
All authors are required to disclose their interests that includes but not limited to non-financial interest (position in an organization), funding information (please provide particulars of the funder and the grant number including financial aid in any other form), employment (by an organization that may face financial gain or lose through the publication) or financial benefit (stock or share in the industry, including remuneration in any form offered to the author or a family member). Use of one blanket statement may be sufficient when all authors have the same (or no) conflicts and/or funding. The BJNM accepts disclosure of interest through the form available on the webpage (https://www.icmje.org/disclosure-of-interest/) of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).

Ethics in clinical research
A study that entails data in the form of response, anthropological or clinical data or biological material from human participant requires the authors to provide information regarding approval or exemption of the study by a competent institutional, regional or national research ethics committee. The particulars of the committee and the reference number should be stated in the methods section. Statement regarding compliance with the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its 2013 revisions is required if pertinent. A statement about acquirement of informed written consent from human participant or a legal representative is necessary except in retrospective cases. Anonymized use of all types clinical data and ethical considerations in medical photography should be strictly maintained.

Implementation of bioethics
A manuscript that reports animal studies should contain information regarding approval of the study protocol by a competent institutional review board and compliance of the study to the requirement of a reputed Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee.

Transfer of copyright
The copyright of all the published and supplementary content are transferred to the BJNM through an agreement made with all the authors. The agreement is conducted by the publication secretary after confirmation of acceptance of the manuscript. This allows the author(s) to post a copy of the published article on their own website, social networking site or institutional webpage providing a full citation of the journal and a link to the electronic version of paper. There is no restriction for the authors(s) to use their published content as educational materials, or republication of the entire paper in a book written or edited by himself/herself with proper citation and acknowledgment of the first publisher. The readers of BJNM are allowed to copy, transform or redistribute the material in any medium or format for academic and commercial use, providing the original author is credited through proper citation.

Disclaimer of the BJNM editorial board
The respective authors are held accountable on the scientific, and legal grounds for accuracy of their published results, bibliographic information as well as their statements, and opinions. A published material does not represent the views of BJNM or of SNMB. The BJNM editorial panel accepts a peer reviewed manuscript in good faith, with the understanding that the manuscript contains nothing that is libelous, illegal, or an infringement of anyone’s copyright or other rights. Neither the BJNM editorial panel nor the SNMB guarantee, or endorse any products or services advertised in the journal, nor guarantee any claim made by a manufacturer about a product or service.

Publication ethics
The BJNM editorial panel is has a consensus to adhere to the guidelines from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE, https://publicationethics.org/). Authors are highly encouraged to check their manuscripts with plagiarism detection software before the submission. The BJNM editorial panel reserves the right to present to the author’s institution or any other agency in case there is an allegation of plagiarism, scientific misconduct, copyright infringement or fraud. The BJNM editorial panel also reserves the right to reject, retract or remove any publication if necessary. 

Peer review process
The journal follows a single-blind review process. All manuscripts are reviewed by national experts in the pertinent domain prior to publication. The selection of reviewers is at the discretion of the BJNM editorial panel. The BJNM envisages to establish a double-blind peer review process in near future. The authors are therefore requested to comply with the currently modified instruction to facilitate anonymization of their prospective submissions.

Submission requisites
Submission of a manuscript to BJNM implies that the manuscript, besides being original, was neither under consideration by another journal nor it was published anywhere before, except as a congress abstract. A submission is also considered as a testimony by the corresponding author that all the co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the manuscript, and all the authors complies with the editorial policy of the BJNM.

Standard of reporting
The BJNM editorial panel strongly recommends to the prospective authors to adhere to the reporting guideline hosted by the Enhancing the Quality and Transparency of health research (EQUATOR) network (https://www.equator-network.org/) and provides a list of resources (table 1) for their convenience.

Table 1. Recommended resources according to type of study

Type of Study	Guideline	URL
Case reports	CARE	https://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/care/
Observational studies	STROBE	https://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/strobe/
Qualitative research	SRQR COREQ	https://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/srqr/ https://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/coreq/
Diagnostic/prognostic studies	STARD TRIPOD	https://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/stard/ https://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/tripod-statement/
Systematic review and meta-analysis	PRISMA PRISMA-P	https://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/prisma/ https://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/prisma-protocols/
Clinical Practice Guideline	AGREE RIGHT	https://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/the-agree-reporting-checklist-a-tool-to-improve-reporting-of-clinical-practice-guidelines/ https://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/right-statement/
Randomized Trial	CONSORT	https://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/consort/
Study protocol for clinical trial	SPIRIT	https://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/spirit-2013-statement-defining-standard-protocol-items-for-clinical-trials/
Quality improvement studies	SQUIRE	https://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/squire/
Economic evaluation	CHEERS	https://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/cheers/
Animal pre-clinical studies	ARRIVE	https://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/improving-bioscience-research-reporting-the-arrive-guidelines-for-reporting-animal-research/

Article types and contents
Several categories of manuscripts are accepted by the BJNM under the two classes of calls. The journal recommends some structural limits for each of those categories (table 2) in order to promote the specificity of the content and lower the carbon footprint. The manuscripts under the regular call for an issue are received over a period of five months starting immediately after publication of the previous issue. The manuscripts under the call of invitation are received from eminent experts at home and abroad. An overview regarding the contents for each of the category of manuscript is outlined here for the convenience of the authors.

1. An original article may present important new results from clinical or preclinical research, as well as from innovative technology in the fields of medical physics and radiochemistry.
2. A review article may contain critical and scholarly appraisal of reported facts either limited to a particular topic or may cover a set of related topics, while the presentation complies with the EQUATOR-network guidelines (table 1). The BJNM editorial panel has a consensus to accept a review paper from associate professor/principal medical officer/principal scientific officer having at least 15 years of experience on the subject and a minimum of two published original papers under the relevant topic.
3. A meta-analysis should precisely follow the PRISMA guidelines (table 1) for the research and reporting standards.
4. A case report should be drafted in compliance with the CARE guidelines (table 1) and may include clinical cases where molecular imaging and nuclear theranostics has contributed significantly to solve a clinical dilemma. If the report includes more than 2 cases, it can be considered a case series.
5. An interesting image is a scope to showcase rare presentation of a disease interesting in to clinical or medico-legal ground. This category requires atlas type text contents instead of a manuscript style of presentation.
6. A short communication is a scope for the researchers for rapid dissemination of new and broadly important findings in a focused manner.
7. A manuscript submitted under technical notes may comprise short report on new technical or procedural audit as well as innovation or modification of established techniques, protocols or procedures in nuclear medicine and allied sciences.
8. A letter to the editor or reply/rebuttal typically encompasses evidence based objective and constructive criticism of controversial issues in a published paper, in the previous issues within 12 months.
9. The continuing education papers are in fact invited reviews that serves as educational materials particularly for the practitioners and researchers who are members of SNMB. Although the selection of topics is at the discretion of the authors, the BJNM editorial panel highly appreciates summarized discussion in the rapidly expanding body of literature, particularly the recent updates of appropriate use criteria, interpretation criteria of molecular imaging, gray zones in the protocols for imaging and therapy and so on.
10. The editorials and perspectives are also invited papers from eminent experts in order to introduce the readers with their personal judgement on topic that includes but not limited to burning or controversial issue in the clinical, research or academic realm, emerging trend, book reviews, upcoming events, meeting reports, history and news items.

Table 2. Recommended structural limits for each of the categories of manuscript

Recommended quantities

Manuscript preparation
All submitted manuscript to BJNM are required to be divided into the: (1) title page, (2) Blinded manuscript containing the abstract, main text, references, figure legends and tables (3) figures. The major format recommendation for each of the section are discussed for the kind information of the authors. Authors are encouraged to find additional elaborate guidance from the ICMJE available at (https://www.icmje.org/icmje-recommendations.pdf).

(1) Title Pages
The Title pages should comprise possible information about all the authors and all the institutes related to the study. No such information should be present in any other sections of the manuscript. Title pages should not be numbered. The components should be included according to the following order and specifications:
(a) The title of the article:
This is required to be concise (comprised of no more than 30 words or 150 characters) but informative

(b) Name of the authors:
Full first name, middle initial(s) and last name of each authors.
A limit of five authors is recommended for manuscript containing 2000 words or less. The recommended limit for other manuscripts is 10 authors. The specific contribution of each author is required to be elaborated in a cover letter if there are more than 10 authors.

(c) Indication of authors’ affiliation:
The complete institutional affiliations of the authors are to be listed and numbered according to the chronological order of authors.
That number with superscripted font and no intervening space has to be placed in front of the first name of the respective author.

(d) Particulars of the corresponding author (s):
Full name, postal address, e-mail address, telephone and Fax number(s) are required.
It is encouraged to include ORCID number.

(e) Particulars of the all authors:
This has to be placed in the same order as in the ‘name of the authors’. However, the full name, highest academic degree(s), complete institutional affiliation(s), e-mail and postal address(es) of each author are required under this sections.

(f) Disclosure of fees and funding:
(g) Consent for use of published material:
(h) Declaration of competing interest
(i) Information regarding ethical approval
(j) Statement of authors contribution
(k) Acknowledgement for collaboration and technical asistance
(l) Running title: This is required to comprise of fewer than 40 characters.
 
(2) Abstract:
The abstract page begins with ‘the title of the article’. There should be no identifying information e.g. author(s) name, affiliation or name of participating institute in this section. The recommended structural limits are specified in (table 2). The abstract should be divided into four sections: Background, Methods (‘Material and Methods’ or ‘Patients and Methods’), Results, and Conclusions. An abstract of case report can be divided into three sections: Purpose, Case summary and Conclusions. An unstructured abstract may be accepted for a review articles.

(3) Keywords:
Three to five keywords or short phrases should be provided which should be sufficient to describe the content of the text. It is encouraged to use the terms from the Medical Subject Headings list of the Index Medicus, NLM, USA.

(4) Word count:
The word count for abstract and main text should appear separately at the bottom of the abstract.

(5) Main text:
(a) There should be no identifying information e.g. author(s) name, affiliation or name of participating institute in any part of this section.
(b) The main text is required to comprise of the sections according to the so-called IMRAD structure which are: Introduction, Methods (‘Material and Methods’ or ‘Patients and Methods’), Results, and discussion sections.
(c) This IMRAD structure is applicable to original articles. Meta-analyses, short communications and technical notes.
(d) For case reports, three sections of Introduction, case report, discussion and conclusions are required.
(e) The division of a review article for easy readability is at the discretion of the authors.
(f) More information about the recommended structure can be found through the resources listed in table 1 and table 2.

(6) Formatting:
(a) Word processor: The latest version of MS word or any other open source word processor compatible with the Windows interface.
(b) Margin: 3 cm or 1 inch, on each side of the page.
(c) Font: Times New Roman, style ‘Regular’, size 12 point, color ‘black’
(d) Spacing between lines: Double space formatting throughout the document including abstract, manuscript, and references.
(e) Numbering of pages: Exclude the title pages. Begin from the Abstract. The page numbers should be positioned in the right upper corner of the page.
(f) Do not use the field function, do not use the space bar, instead use tab stops.
(g) In-text citation: Vancouver style (parenthesis), in the order they appear in the text. It is encouraged to use the most updated version of Endnote.
(h) Paragraphs should begin with an indentation (one tab in length).
(i) Use the equation editor or MathType for inserting equations.
 
(7) Units of measurement and chemical formulae:
All measurements should be used according to Système Internationale (SI) nomenclature and units i.e., Bq, Gy, Sv, etc. Non-SI units may be used after the SI units but should be placed in parentheses i.e. 37 MBq (1 mCi).
Chemical formulae should be written according to the recommendations of the American Chemical Society.

(8) Abbreviations and symbols:
All the abbreviations except for the units of measurements should be spelled out in full form at the first instance of mention within the manuscript with the abbreviation placed in parenthesis next to the full form.

(9) Figure legends:
(a) Figure legends should be placed the ‘References’.
(b) The word ‘Figure’ should be followed by a single space and then the corresponding number should appear followed by a full stop, all in bold style.
(c) The description should appear in regular style and should not repeat the text. If a figure has more than one part, describe each part clearly. Any letter designations or arrows appearing on the figures should be identified and described fully. Abbreviations used in each figure should be defined in the legend in alphabetical order.
(d) Besides being submitted as a separate file, each figure should be inserted before its respective legend in the figure legends section of the manuscript file.
(e) The legend should not be included in the figure file.
(f) All figures must be cited in the manuscript and numbered consecutively using Arabic numerals.
(g) All figure must be anonymized. Accompany fusion images (SPECT/CT, PET/CT, PET/MR) by corresponding stand-alone SPECT or PET images

(10) Tables:
(a) Tables should appear after the figure legends
(b) The word ‘Table’ should be followed by a single space and then the corresponding number should appear followed by a full stop, all in bold style.
(c) The caption (title) should also appear in bold style
(d) Each table should appear on a separate page.
(e) There should be no vertical lines but horizontal lines at the top of the table, below column headings, and at the bottom of the table.
(f) Tables are required to be self-explanatory, should supplement and not duplicate the text, and numbered consecutively in the order of appearance in the text and using Arabic numerals.
(g) Explanatory matter should be placed in footnotes rather than in the title. Footnotes should be indicated by superscript letters.
(h) Symbols can be used in this sequence: *, †, ‡, §, ||, ¶, #, **
(i) All the abbreviations should be defined in alphabetical order in a footnote with identification of statistical measures of variations, such as standard deviation and standard error of the mean.
(j) It is mandatory to obtain written permission from the publisher, cite the original source in the references, and include the following credit line in a footnote: “Reprinted with permission of Ref X.” if data from another published source are used
(k) If data from an unpublished source are used, obtain permission from the principal investigator and acknowledge fully.

(11) References:
(a) Vancouver style is accepted for references list entries. Some common examples are shown in Table 3. A complete example can be found at https://libguides.murdoch.edu.au/Vancouver/all
(b) It is encouraged to use the most updated version of Endnote.
(c) The references are required to be listed consecutively in the order that the material was cited citation within the manuscript.
(d) References can be cited either within text, tables, or within figure legend.
(e) The BJNM editorial panel highly discourages the citation of unpublished data and personal communications.
 
Table 3. Common examples for reference list entries in Vancouver style

Material Type	Reference list entry
Chapter or articles in edited book	Bogoni M, Masukawa M, Cerci JJ. FDG-PET/CT in Assessment of Treatment Response in Pediatric Lymphoma. In: Fanti S, Gnanasegaran G, Carrió I editors. Atlas of Clinical PET-CT in Treatment Response Evaluation in Oncology. Cham: Springer; 2021. p. 419-38.
Epub Article by DOI	Daliri M, Shafiei S, Zakavi SR, Dabbagh Kakhki VR, Sadeghi R. Application of (99m)Tc-denatured red blood cells scintigraphy in the evaluation of post-traumatic spleen auto-transplantation. Rev Esp Med Nucl Imagen Mol. 2012 Nov 12. doi:10.1016/j.remn.2012.09.004
Journal article with fewer than six authors	Minarik D, Enqvist O, Trägårdh E. Denoising of Scintillation Camera Images Using a Deep Convolutional Neural Network: A Monte Carlo Simulation Approach. J Nucl Med. 2020;61(2):298-303.
Journal article with more than six authors	Intenzo C, Jabbour S, Miller JL, Ahmed I, Furlong K, Kushen M, et al. Subclinical hyperthyroidism: Current concepts and scintigraphic imaging. Clin Nucl Med. 2011;36(9):e107-e113.
Online document	RCT critical appraisal sheet In: Critical Appraisal Sheets, Center for Evidence Based Medicine 2012. http://www.cebm.net/index.aspx?o=1157. Accessed 3 Dec 2012.

(12) Figures and artworks:
(a) Figures and artworks should be submitted as separate files
(b) Accepted format JPG or TIFF
(c) Minimum resolution: Halftone art 300 dpi, combination art 600 dpi and line art 1200 dpi
(d) Vector graphics containing fonts must have the fonts embedded in the files.
(e) Lettering within the figures: Font Helvetica or Arial (Sans Serif Fonts), size 8-12 point. Avoid effects such as shading, outline letters, etc.
(f) If there is a figure from a previous publication, it is mandatory to provide permission from the copyright owner(s) for both the print and online format.

(13) Supplementary materials:
All data that are needed to support the central conclusions of the article must be presented in the manuscript itself. Other data that are integral to the manuscript can be submitted for online only publication as supplemental data. The supplemental data may include images with legends, largescale tabulations, video clips, animations, appendices, glossaries, sound records, excel or SPSS files etc. Authors have the option of presenting the full version of the Materials and Methods section in the supplemental data and a condensed version in the manuscript itself. However, supplemental
Results and Discussion are not permitted. Each item of supplemental data should be given a brief descriptive title and should be directly referred to in the manuscript (e.g., Supplemental Table 1). If a supplemental item has references, they must also be cited in the manuscript (at the location where the manuscript first mentions the supplemental item). Because supplemental data files are placed online unedited, as submitted by the author, the uploaded files need to be final and ready for publication. other supplementary materials could be sent for electronic linking to the manuscript on the website. MPEG-1 format (.mpg) with aspect ratio 16:9 or 4:3, having maximum size of 25 GB and minimum duration of 1 sec should be used for video clips.

 
(10) English language editing:
BJNM editorial panel expects that the submitted manuscripts should have sufficient accuracy in English language. Therefore, the authors are directed to use updated software to check their manuscripts before submission.

(11) Cover letter:
(a) A manuscript should be accompanied by a cover letter.
(b) In the cover letter signed by the corresponding author on behalf of all authors, it must be mentioned that the article is not submitted simultaneously to any other journal.