Information for Authors
About the Journal
International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Physiology (IJCEP), is a peer-reviewed online and print journal with quarterly (March, June, September, December) print on demand, a compilation of issues published. The journal’s full text is available online at http://www.ijcep.org. The journal allows free access (Open Access) to its contents and permits authors to self-archive final accepted version of the articles on any OAI-compliant institutional / subject-based repository. The journal does not charge for submission, processing or publication of manuscripts and even for color reproduction of photographs. IJCEP follows double-blind peer-review process.
The first issue of International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Physiology, (March, 2014) has been released in first week of March, 2014.
Aim and Scopes of Journal
The aim of International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Physiology (IJCEP) is to publish quality research papers in Physiology that have clinical application in medicine or the papers with experimental evidences having future perspective of application in medicine. As Physiology is the mother-subject of all branches of medicine, the 'Clinical Physiology' component will include in addition to the research data in 'Clinical Physiology', the research papers from all branches of clinical medicine such as diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, endocrine disorders, neurological dysfunctions, pulmonary diseases, gastrointestinal disorders etc., explaining the pathophysiological basis of the diseases and the physiological basis of management and prevention of the diseases. The 'Experimental Physiology' component will include reports on all experimental physiology research and the experimental models of diseases that facilitate understanding the pathophysiologic processes and management of diseases. However, the works in 'Applied Physiology' or the works in 'Basic Research in Physiology' intending to have application in clinical physiology and medicine will be considered for publication in IJCEP. Also, 'Preventive Physiology' such as role of nutrition, relaxation therapy, yoga, exercises etc. in health promotion will be published in this journal.
Subjects covered in this journal
Physiology (Basic, Experimental, Applied and Clinical), Clinical Medicine, Endocrinology, Neurophysiology, Cardiovascular Physiology and Medicine, Gastrointestinal Physiology and Medicine, Pulmonary Physiology and Medicine, Clinical Biochemistry, Molecular and Genomic Physiology, Exercise Physiology, Nutrition, Sports Physiology and Medicine, Aviation Physiology and Medicine, Behavioural Physiology and Medicine, Reproductive Physiology and Medicine, Ophthalmic Physiology and Medicine, Physiology and Medicine related to ear, nose and throat, Orthopedic Physiology and Medicine, Pathophysiology of Lifestyle and Stress Disorders, Clinical Pharmacology, Physiology of Metabolism and Metabolic disorders and Physiology of Yoga.
Readership of the journal
Readership of IJCEP includes physiologists, physicians of all streams of medicine, scientists working in the fields of clinical physiology, experimental physiology and medicine, clinical pharmacologists, clinical biochemist and yoga researchers.
Editorial Policy
Manuscripts are accepted with the understanding that the authors have not violated any ethical practice followed in preparation and publication of biomedical manuscripts. The list practices that are considered unethical are given in the journal website (http://www.ijcep.org). Author/s is/are responsible for all the statements made in their work and should be willing to defend them publicly, if challenged. Authors should prepare their manuscripts submitted to the journal exactly according to the instructions given. Manuscripts which do not follow the format and style of the journal may be returned to the authors for revision or rejected. The journal reserves the right to make any further formal changes and language corrections necessary in a manuscript accepted for publication. Manuscripts and figures are not returned to the authors, not even upon rejection of the paper. IJCEP follows double blind peer review process.
Article Types
- Editorial
- Review Article
- Original Article
- Short Communication
- Case Report
- Research Letter / Letter to Editor
- News and Views
- Commentaries
Submission Requirements
Covering Letter
Disclose all possible conflicts of interest (e.g. funding sources for consultancies or studies of products). Full contact details with postal address (es), phone numbers (mobile & landline) and email IDs (primary & secondary) of the corresponding author must be clearly mentioned. The importance of the paper may be briefly indicated. A list of potential reviewers (minimum two) with their academic qualifications, designation, corresponding address, phone numbers and email IDs should be included. The suggested reviewers must be working in the same area dealt with in the manuscript and should not be from the same institute of the author. Whether to use their services or not is the discretion of the chief editor.
Title Page
Title page should give the title, author's names, their affiliations and their email IDs, corresponding author's name, email IDs, postal address, phone numbers (landline & mobile) and acknowledgements if any.
Preparation of Manuscripts
The manuscript should be typed, double-spaced on standard-sized - paper (8.5" x 11") with 1" margins on all sides. Arial font 12 pt should be used. The fonts used in the text as well as graphics should be restricted to Arial, Symbol and Zapf Dingbats.
An original article (full length research paper) typically should include the following, in the order given below:
- Title
- Abstract (structured)
- Keywords
- Introduction
- Materials and Methods
- Results
- Discussion
- Conclusion
- Acknowledgements (if any)
- References
- Tables and/or Figures
- Appendixes (if necessary)
Title
Title of the manuscript should be in sentence case and should be very precise. No abbreviations should be given in the title.
Abstract
The abstract should start in a separate page (next to the title page). Abstract should be structured (Background and Aim, Methods, Results and Conclusion), for original article and should be limited to 250 Words. Abstract should be given under the four subheadings 'Background and Aim', 'Methods', 'Results', and 'Conclusion'. Use of abbreviations should be restricted in the abstract. The 'Conclusion' of the abstract should be very precise based on the findings of the study, and should not be speculative. For Review Article, abstract is unstructured and should be limited to 250 words. For Short Communication, abstract is unstructured and should be limited to 200 words. For Case Report, abstract is unstructured and should be limited to 150 words. There will be no abstract for Editorial, Research Letters, Commentaries and News and Views.
Key words
Not more than six keywords are needed. They should be written left aligned, arranged alphabetically in 12pt Arial. Key words should be written below the abstract.
Introduction
Description of the research area, pertinent background information, and the hypotheses tested in the study should be included under this section. The introduction should provide sufficient background information such that a scientifically literate reader can understand and appreciate the work to be described. A detailed review of literature is not at all required under this section. The specific aims of the project should be identified along with rationale for the specific experiments and other work performed. The introduction MUST include in-text citations including a few references pertinent to the background and justification for the study.
Materials and Methods
Materials and/or subjects utilized in the study as well as the procedures undertaken to complete the work. The place of work and the name of the laboratory of the work should be mentioned. All procedures involving experimental animals or human subjects must accompany a statement on ethical approval from appropriate ethics committee. In human studies, written informed consent of the participants must be mentioned. The methods should be described in sufficient detail such that they could be repeated by a competent researcher. The sources of all major instruments and reagents used (kits, drugs, etc) must be given with parentheses. Illustrations and/or tables may be helpful in describing complex equipment or elaborate procedures. The statistical tool used to analyze the data should be mentioned, under the subheading 'Statistical analysis' that should appear at the end of the methods section.
Results
Data acquired from the research with appropriate statistical analysis described in the methods section should be included in this section. The results section should highlight the important results obtained. The significance level between the groups with the P values should be mentioned. Data should be organized into figures and tables. Qualitative as well as quantitative results should be included if applicable. Data given in the Tables should not be repeated in the figures or bar diagrams. This 'Results' section should contain only the text/description of the results. The Tables/Figures should be given after the 'Reference' section.
Discussion
This section should relate the results section to current understanding of the scientific problems being investigated in the field. Description of relevant references to other work/s in the field should be included here. This section also allows the author to discuss the significance of the results - i.e. does the data support the hypotheses you set out to test? Discussion should be very relevant and pertinent, pertaining to the results of the present study, newness of the study and how the findings of the present study differ from other studies. Authors should avoid speculative discussion. Too much of speculative discussion usually subject the manuscript for rejection. Hence, speculative discussion must be avoided. All important findings (even if a result is negative) must be discussed. This section should end with new answers/questions that arise as a result of the author's work and the potential application of the work. And the limitations of the study (this is a must for 'Original article') should be mentioned, under the subheading 'Limitations of the study' at the end of 'Discussion' section.
Conclusion
Conclusion should be very precise highlighting the major findings, novelty and main application of the work. A sentence mentioning future perspective of the work may be given. It should be given at the end of 'Discussion'. In fact, 'Conclusion' is a subheading of 'Discussion'. It should not be more than a paragraph (about 150 words).
Acknowledgements
Those who have helped the authors carry out the study and/or prepare the manuscript but have not made significant intellectual contribution to deserve authorship must be acknowledged. Mention all applicable grants and other funding that supported the work.
Conflict of Interest
Authors should reveal all conflict of interest they have pertaining to the article. Otherwise, they can state 'Authors declare they have no conflict of interest'. This should be subheading of 'Acknowledgement'.
References
In-text citation
References should cited in the text of the manuscript from "Introduction' onwards. References must not be cited in the abstract. References should be cited consecutively as they appear in the text of the manuscript, as superscripted numbers in the squared bracket. For example,... Natural products have proven to be a great source of new biologically active compounds.[1-3] Thus, in an effort to discover new lead anti-malarial compounds, several research groups screen plant extracts to detect secondary metabolites with relevant biological activities that could serve as templates for the development of new drugs. Flavonoids have been isolated and characterized from many medicinal plants used in malaria-endemic areas.[4-7] However, controversial data have been obtained regarding their antiplasmodial activity, probably because of their structural diversity.[3,5,8-10] More recently, several flavonoids have been isolated from Artemisia afra,[11-13] and Artemisia indica,[14-16] two plants related to Artemisia annua,[12] the famous traditional Chinese medicinal plant from which artemisinin is isolated.
Total number of references:
The number of references should not be more than 50 in Original Article, 150 in Review Article, 20 in Short Communication, 10 in Case Report, 7 in Research Letters and 5 in News and Views.
Reference List: Author/Authors
Journal References
- Single/Multiple Authors
Halpern SD, Ubel PA, Caplan AL. Solid-organ transplantation in HIV-infected patients. N Engl J Med 2002;347:284-7. - More than six authors
Rose ME, Huerbin MB, Melick J, Marion DW, Palmer AM, Schiding JK, et al. Regulation of interstitial excitatory amino acid concentrations after cortical contusion injury. Brain Res 2002;935:40-6. - Organization as Author
Diabetes Prevention Program Research Group. Hypertension, insulin, and proinsulin in participants with impaired glucose tolerance. Hypertension 2002;40:679-86. - Unknown Author
21st century heart solution may have a sting in the tail. BMJ 1965;325:184-5. - Journal article on the Internet
Abood S. Quality improvement initiative in nursing homes: the ANA acts in an advisory role. Am J Nurs [serial on the Internet]. 2002 Jun [cited 2002 Aug 12]; 102(6): [about 3 p.].
Available from: http://www.nursingworld.org/AJN/2002/june/Wawatch.htm
Note: Plant/Micro organisms, in-vivo, in-vitro should be in italics. - Chapter in a book
Meltzer PS, Kallioniemi A, Trent JM. Chromosome alterations in human solid tumors. In: Vogelstein B, Kinzler KW, editors. The genetic basis of human cancer. 3rd Ed. New York: McGraw-Hill. 2002. p. 93-113. - Website
Cancer-Pain.org [homepage on the Internet]. New York: Association of Cancer Online Resources, Inc.; c2000-01 [updated 2002 May 16; cited 2002 Jul 9]. Available from: http://www.cancer-pain.org/
Tables and Figures
Tables
Tables should be numbered with Roman numerals according to their sequence in the text. All tables should have a short self-explanatory heading or title. Use SI units. Tables should not have vertical rules, but horizontal rules should separate title/heading of the table from the content of the table. Authors should keep in mind the page layout of the journal when designing tables. Tables that fit onto one printed page or one column of the page are preferred. Detailed explanations of symbols, units, and abbreviations should be given below the table in the footnote of the table.
Illustrations
Figures for final production should be submitted as electronic files and hard copy so that the editorial office can ensure that the output of electronic files matches the hardcopy. Please pay particular attention to the guidelines below. The editorial office cannot undertake preparation of manuscripts and illustrations not conforming to journal style. Manuscripts of insufficient quality will be returned immediately without refereeing. A high standard of illustration (both line and photo) is an editorial priority. All illustrations should be prepared for printing to fit 80 x 240 mm (column width) or 169 mm by up to 240 mm (full page) size. The authors should keep in mind that the full-page length is not used and the caption will be placed underneath the figure. In the event that full-page length is necessary for plates, captions will have to appear on adjacent pages. Figure(s) must be numbered consecutively in the text. Compound figures with more than one micrograph or photo should be referred by a single figure reference (e.g. Figure 1), and individual parts should be labeled with capitalized letters in the lower left-hand corner. Lettering should be of a sans-serif type (i.e. fonts without serifs such as Arial) with a minimum published size of 4.2 mm (12 pt). Descriptive labeling in the figures should be clearly readable, and all lettering should have a minimum published size of 6 pt (2.1 mm) for labeling items on photographs or in line art is recommended and a maximum size of 10 pt is suggested. Use a scale bar to indicate magnifications and place in the lower right corner if possible. Computer prepared photographic images must be at a minimum of 350 dpi at the final publication size. Lower resolution will result in pixilation and poor quality images. These should be submitted as JPEG or TIFF, but encapsulated postscript (EPS) format is also acceptable. Computer drawn figures are accepted provided they are of high quality. Please note that graphs produced by many statistical packages are rarely adequate. In particular, letter quality on axes and captions are often poor. Such figures should be exported into an accepted graphics package and lettering rendered using a text function. Authors should note that .dot, .bmp, and .pat fills should be avoided. Do not use postscripts fill patterns as these are often based on bit map patterns that result in screening patterns during final reproduction. When filling illustrations, use fills such as lines, tints or solids. Line width minimum is 0.25 pt (0.09 mm). Also avoid the use of bitmap scans to render text and detail. Text should be saved as text at a minimum text size of 6 pt (2.1 mm). Submit line art as Corel Draw, Adobe Illustrator, or EPS files. These must be at a minimum resolution of 800 DPI at publication size. High resolution may be necessary where fine line detail is present. For graphs, Excel graphs are also acceptable. Note that vertical axes must all be at the same scale especially when the paper compares them. Otherwise they should be produced as separate figures. Avoid 3D plots when presenting 2D data. All tables and figures must be placed in appropriate places in the manuscript and when this is not possible, appropriate place must be indicated in the manuscript. Please note good quality figures must be submitted as separate files as said above apart from presenting a copy of the same at appropriate places in the manuscript. This will make job of the reviewer easy.
Figure captions
Figure captions/legends should include a statement at the end of each caption/legend about reproduction size (e.g. at full page width, at column width). They should be single spaced and typed in the journal format. Explanations should be brief and authors should keep in mind that captions/legends will be placed below figures.
Page layout & styles
Page size : Letter Portrait : 8 ½ X 11
Margins : All Margins, 1cm
Page number : Numbered at bottom right
Footer / Headers : None
Title : 14 pt Arial, bold, centered.
Author and co-authors : 12 pt Arial centered, bold - author and all co-authors names in one line. The corresponding author should include an asterisk*.
Authors address
12 pt Arial centered - giving each authors' affiliation (i.e. Department/Organization/Address/Place/Country/email). Followed by single line spacing. Author for Correspondence: 10pt Arial centered - giving a valid e-mail of the corresponding (main) author is a must. It should be indicated as* followed by two line spacing.
Abstract : 12 pt Arial, full justification Normal - maximum 250 words Text 12 pt Arial, full justification – 1.5 line spacing between paragraphs. No indentation
Headings of the Manuscript
All major headings (ABSTRACT, INTRODUCTION, MATERIALS AND METHODS, RESULTS, DISCUSSION, ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS and REFERENCES) should be written in upper case left-justified, 12 pt bold. All intermediate headings should be written in sentence case bold, left justified, 12 pt.
Tables
Correct, “Table 1 : Serum enzyme levels ......."
Incorrect, “Table No. 1 : Serum enzyme levels ......"
Figures/Graphs
Figures may be embedded in your word document but they should be created with a program that allows you to save them as gif, jpg or tiff format. Figures, tables or other materials copied verbatim or adopted from previously published materials, the author must have written permission from the the copyright holder of that material (publisher and/or authors) for reproduction in your article. A copy of the permission release must be submitted with the manuscript. It is the author's responsibility to obtain permission. To be incorporated at the end of the manuscript with proper labelling Correct, “Figure 1 : Serum enzyme levels ......"
Incorrect, “Figure No. 1 : Serum enzyme levels…....."
Graphs
To be included from excel and it should be editable.Non–editable graphs will not be accepted. All text should be fully justified. Please put all primary section titles in UPPER CASE letters and subheading in both Upper and Lower Case letters. Do not number your titles (for example, 1.0 Introduction; 2.0 Background). Do not use the tab key to indent blocks of text such as paragraphs of quotes or lists because the page layout program overrides the left margin with its own, and the tabs end up in mid-sentence.
Structure of manuscripts other than original article
Review Article: Abstract (unstructured), Introduction, Subject of Review (with various subheadings), Conclusion, Acknowledgements (if any) and References
Short Communication : Abstract (unstructured), Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion, Acknowledgements (if any), References
Case Report: Abstract (unstructured), Introduction, Case Report, Discussion, Acknowledgements (if any), References
Research Letter: No headings, Starts with the address 'Sir' below the title of the letter and describes the content of the letter. Ends with name and address of author(s), and References.
Commentaries: Title of the manuscript, Comments (without heading and subheading) and ends with name and address of author, and References. Commentaries should be the comments on the manuscripts published in the previous issues of IJCEP.
News and Views : Like 'Commentaries'
Length of the Manuscript
The text of the manuscript (excluding title page, abstract, references, tables and figures) should not be more than the word limits as given below.
- Review Article: 5000 words
- Original Article: 3500 words
- Short Communication: 1800 words
- Case Report: 1500 words
- Research Letter: 1200 words
- Commentaries: 1000 words
- News and Views: 800 words
Protection of Patients' Right to Privacy
Identifying information should not be published in written descriptions, photographs, sonograms, CT scans, etc., and pedigrees unless the information is essential for scientific purposes and the patient (or parent or guardian, wherever applicable) gives informed consent for publication. Authors should remove patients' names from figures unless they have obtained informed consent from the patients. The journal abides by ICMJE guidelines:
1) Authors, not the journals nor the publisher, need to obtain the patient consent form before the publication and have the form properly archived. The consent forms are not to be uploaded with the cover letter or sent through email to editorial or publisher offices.
2) If the manuscript contains patient images that preclude anonymity, or a description that has obvious indication to the identity of the patient, a statement about obtaining informed patient consent should be indicated in the manuscript.
Submission Process
Submission of Manuscript
Manuscripts to be submitted via online submission system : (http://www.ijcep.org/index.php/ijcep/about/submissions). On submission, all the manuscripts will undergo a preliminary screening by the editorial office before the manuscripts are considered for peer-review. Hard Copy submissions are not accepted.
Acknowledgements of Manuscripts
All messages and reviews sent electronically will be acknowledged automatically upon receipt.
Note:
Do not send hard copies/CDs, until you receive e-mail request from Editorial office. A timely submission, however, is not a guarantee that your work will be accepted for forthcoming publication. All submissions are peer-reviewed by the members of the editorial board and a select group of reviewers and subject experts. Please make sure that all guidelines are followed carefully. All the accepted articles will be queued for publication and will appear in the future issues based on the priorities set by the editorial board. The manuscript should be submitted through Web-Based Manuscript Submission ONLY. Hard copies are not accepted.
Check List for Submitting a Manuscript
- Covering letter (first page)
- Copyright Forms (Scanned)
- Title page with details of the author and co-authors
- Manuscript (without author identity)
- Illustrations (if any)
Note: e-mails with vicious language, offensive writings to Editors will lead to rejection of the manuscript.
Status of Manuscript
The corresponding author can check the status of the submitted manuscript on the journal website.
Important e-mail IDs and URLs
- Queries: editor@ijcep.org
- Other correspondence:editor@ijcep.org
- Chief Editor: editor@ijcep.org
- Submissions: http://www.ijcep.org/index.php/ijcep/about/submissions
- Journal Site: http://www.ijcep.org
Contact Information
Prof. G. K. Pal, MBBS, MD (Physiology), PhD, DSc, BNYT (Naturopathy and Yoga Therapy), MD (Alternative Medicine), MD (Yoga), MABMS, FABMS, FABAP, FSAB
Dean, JIPMER , Karaikal (Puducherry),
Program Director, Advance Center for Yoga Therapy Education and Research (ACYTER), JIPMER,
Nodal Officer to Ministry of Health & FW, New Delhi
Professor, Department of Physiology, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER), Puducherry - 605 006, India.