Original Research

These are submissions in which the author(s) has/have written about their original research. This includes manuscripts that present research not previously reported in other publications. Manuscripts on translational research directed at determining clinical outcomes are preferred.

Manuscript Format

TEXT

  • All text, including table and figure legends, should be in Times New Roman font.

  • Spacing throughout the manuscript should be 1.5-spacing

  • Should be in a .doc or .docx file

  • Should have a word limit of 1500-4000 words, excluding references.

  • Make sure to use past tense. The author(s) did not complete these experiments while writing their research article.

TITLE PAGE

  1. Article title: The title should be succinct (no more than 10 words) and capture the purpose of the complete article.
  1. Author names: Author names should be listed below the article title followed by a superscript that corresponds to author’s information.
  2. Author information: Authors’ institutional affiliation should be listed. For authors who have changed affiliation since the time of involvement in the research, a second line (with superscript symbol) should indicate their current institutional affiliation.
  3. Corresponding author contact information: Should include author’s name, email, and phone number.
  4. Conflict of Interest declaration: Conflicts of interest should be described as per the ICMJE disclosure rules. If none, state: “The authors do not have conflicts of interest to disclose.”
  5. Word count: A word count for the main body of the article (excluding abstract, acknowledgments, tables, figures, legends, and references), as well as a complete count of all words in the manuscript.
  6. Number of figures and tables.
  7. Acknowledgments should include conflicts of interest, non-author contributors, grants, and other forms of support provided during the research process. 
  8. Keywords: Indicate 5 words that best represent the article, which readers can use to search for the published article. If one of the keywords is jargon, provide a brief description
  9. Funding: List all sources

SUBJECT MATTER

  1. Abstract tells the story of the author’s research manuscript in 200 words.  Within this section, please include a small summary of the following: 
  1. Context and background to the author’s research.
  2. Outline of the structure of the author’s research.
  3. Research results and their implications in the medical world. 
  1. Learning Points (optional): Authors are encouraged to provide a sidebar of particularly “high-yield” points related to this topic of research, which may be appropriate for board examinations and/or clinical rotations. These should be presented as succinct bullet points. Mnemonics, brief algorithms, and other memory aids are appropriate here.

Each section heading should be in 12-point font and bolded with its text in 12-point and regular Times New Roman. They should be organized in the following order:

  1. Introduction provides a comprehensive overview of the article, which includes an exploration of the research’s background (see above), rationale, and relevance to the current medical environment [Note: please provide in-text citations to build context for the author’s research]. This section should answer the following questions:
    1. What was the context of the research? 
    2. What were the goals? 
    3. What was/were the hypothesis or hypotheses?
  2. Methods outline the structure and completion of the author’s research. It should give enough information so that the audience could repeat the experiment themselves. Be very specific about instrument models or computer programs.  It should answer the following questions:
    1. Who were the participants in the research?
    2. What were the parameters? What instruments were used?
    3. What were the assumptions and limitations of these experiments or parameters? What confirmed experimental validity and reliability? 
  3. Results document the central findings of the author’s research. It should include the results from all the experiments mentioned in the manuscript. If using subheadings in this section, please refer to figures and tables with similar titles as the subheadings.  
  4. Discussion interprets the results. Authors reflect on their data and its significance, their limitations, and anything else the author(s) deem relevant and important to include in this section. It SHOULD NOT be an extension of the results section. For more advice on how to write a discussion section, please refer to this 2006 paper: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/7048342_How_to_read_understand_and_write_%27Discussion%27_sections_in_medical_articles_An_exercise_in_critical_thinking .
  5. Conclusion applies the author’s research to the broader medical environment. The author(s) can also propose a future trajectory for their research or contemplate the implications for their research in the future.
  6. References: Articles must contain a minimum of 15 references. Authors should be aware that SJM holds a greater weight towards references that are from peer-reviewed, published journals and books. 
    1. Each citation should be structured using the American Medical Association’s Manual of Style, 10th edition. 
    2. References should be cited in the text by sequential numbers in superscript. 
    3. In the references section, references should be numbered in the order they appear in the text.

TABLES AND FIGURES: NEW requirements regarding figures and tables (February 5th, 2023):

  • Figure and table legends should be less than 100 words and use 10-point, italicized Times New Roman font. A legend should be able to stand on its own, like a legend. 

  • Placement of figures and tables should be indicated throughout the manuscript. If a previously published table or figure is included in the author’s manuscript, the author must provide written permission from the figure’s main author.

  • Figures are cited sequentially in the text using Arabic numerals (for example, Figure 7).

  • Tables and Figures will be uploaded as a Word document titled “Article Name Tables and Figures,” separate from the original article document.
  • Each page will contain at most 1 figure or table, and include an underlined descriptor (i.e. Figure 1: Picture of a table or Table 2: Descriptions of figures) at the top of the page.
  • Tables should be set to a simple format, similar to the following example:

Table Column 1

Table Column 2
Text Text
Text Text
Text Text
  • Screenshots of tables are no longer accepted

Submission Format

Create a labeled folder using the following format: LAST NAME, FIRST NAME_Full Article Title_SJM Ori Sub.” Within this folder please put:

  1. Your title page and acknowledgment section in a word document labeled “LAST NAME, FIRST INITIAL – Title_Acknowledgements”
  2. Formatted manuscript (excluding the title page and acknowledgments), with its file name and the document itself, labeled with full manuscript title. Please make sure that ALL personal information from this particular document is removed.
  3. Tables and Figures as separate images that have been labeled as “Table or Figure X – Title”. The legends for the tables and figures should be put in a separate word document and labeled to their corresponding figure.