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Author Guidelines

The Journal of the Bahrain Medical Society is an international open access, peer reviewed, and quarterly published medical journal. The journal aims to promote communication among clinical researchers worldwide and to disseminate the articles freely for research, teaching and reference purposes.

Editorial and Peer Review Process

A manuscript will be reviewed for possible publication with the understanding that it is being submitted to Journal of the Bahrain Medical Society (JBMS) alone at that point in time and has not been published anywhere, or simultaneously submitted, or already accepted for publication elsewhere. On submission, all manuscripts received undergo a preliminary review at the level of editor/associate editor for suitability for peer review and plagiarism. Manuscripts with insufficient originality, serious scientific or technical flaws, or lack of a significant message will be rejected before proceeding for formal peer-review. Manuscripts that are unlikely to be of interest to the JBMS readers will also be liable to be rejected at this stage itself.
Manuscripts that are found suitable for publication in JBMS are sent to two or more expert reviewers. The journal follows a double-blind review process, where the reviewers and authors are unaware of each other’s identity. Each manuscript is also assigned to a member of the editorial team, who based on the comments from the reviewers takes a final decision on the manuscript. The comments and suggestions (acceptance/rejection/amendments in manuscript) received from reviewers are conveyed to the corresponding author. If required, the author is requested to provide a point by point response to reviewers’ comments and submit a revised version of the manuscript. This process is repeated till reviewers and editors are satisfied with the manuscript.
Within three weeks, the authors will be informed about the reviewers’ comments and acceptance/rejection of their manuscript. Articles accepted would be copy edited for grammar, punctuation, print style, and format. To avoid delay in publication, authors are advised to adhere closely to the instructions given below.

Types of Articles and Word Limits

Original articles: Original articles include randomized controlled trials, intervention studies, studies of screening and diagnostic test, outcome studies, cost-effectiveness analyses, case-control series, and surveys with high response rate. These articles must be written within 3000 words excluding references and abstract. A structured abstract of up to 250 words should be included with the following subheadings: Background, Objective, Methods, Results and Conclusion.

Tables and figures

• The data of tables and graphs should not be repeated in text
• Figures should be of good quality with minimum 300 dpi
• Tables and figures should be numbered in Arabic numbers (not Roman)
• Figure legends necessarily should be provided (not more than 40 words)
• Patients' privacy needs to be maintained (if permission is not taken)
• The full term for each abbreviation used in the table should be mentioned in footnote

Reporting guidelines for specific study designs: Specific study designs should be reported as recommended by International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) (https://www.equator-network.org)

Original articles: The content of the original article should be structured as Title, Authors, Abstract, Keywords, Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion, Acknowledgements, Conflict of interest and References.
Review articles: Review articles include systemic critical assessments of literature and data sources. These articles must be written within 4000 words excluding references and abstract. An unstructured abstract of up to 250 words should be included.
Case reports or case studies: These studies should be short with decisive observation. These should be kept within 2000 words with not more than 15 references and up to 4 tables or figures. An unstructured abstract of up to 200 words should also be included. The content should have the following headings: Abstract, Keywords, Introduction, Case presentation, Discussion, and References.
Short communications/brief reports: These follow a similar format as an Original article; however, the Results and Discussion sections in the main body of the text should be combined. The word count for Brief Reports should be kept within 1500 words in the main body of the text, with up to 15 references and not more than 2 tables or figures.
Letter to the editor/editorials: This can include comments on earlier publications, presenting data or findings in brief, expressing opinions on health-related issues, and communicating interesting case material. These should be of approximately 750-1000 words and not more than 10 references.

Preparation of Manuscript

Manuscripts must be prepared in accordance with uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journal as recommended by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (http://www.icmje.org/icmje-recommendations.pdf) guidelines. The article must be written in adherence with the guidelines to maintain the quality of publication.

General requirements: All files should be in Microsoft Word file format (.doc, .docx). Content should be written in uniform American English. Abbreviations to be spelt out in full for the first time. Page size should be in Letter Portrait, A4 (8.5” × 11”) and spacing between lines should be 1.5. The margin should be normal (2.54 cm on all sides). Font style should be Times New Roman, and keep the font size 12 for all contents in the document except for the title (Title should be 14 Times New Roman, Bold, Capital case, Centre aligned). The corresponding author should include an asterisk. Authors order should be mentioned with Arabic numerals and should corresponds their affiliations.

Cover letter:
Cover letter must state that the material is original research, has not been previously published, and has not been submitted for publication elsewhere while under consideration. If the manuscript has been previously considered for publication in another journal, please include the previous reviewer comments, to help expedite the decision by the Editorial team.

Title:
Title of the article should be short, continuous and yet sufficiently descriptive and informative. It should not be more than 15 words

Author names and affiliations:
Clearly indicate the provided name(s) and surname(s) of each author and check that all names are accurately spelled. Affiliations of all the authors should be provided below the list of authors with appropriate citations in numbers. An affiliation should include department name, institute or university name, city name and country name. Corresponding author’s mailing address, designation, institution and contact details (email, telephone, and fax numbers) should be provided. If authors regard it as essential to indicate that two or more co-authors are equal in status, they may be identified by an asterisk symbol with the caption ‘These authors contributed equally to this work’ immediately under the author affiliation list. If available, provide the 16-digit ORCID of all the author(s).

Abstract:
Abstracts in Original research articles should begin with Background & Objectives, followed by Methods, Results, and Conclusion. An abstract should not be more than 250 words. The abstract should be brief and indicate the scope and significant results of the paper. It should only highlight the principal findings and conclusions.

Keywords:
There should be 4-6 keywords, preferably using Medical Subject Heading (MeSH) (https://meshb.nlm.nih.gov/MeSHonDemand).

Introduction:
Introduction should be brief and state precisely the scope and relevance of the study. Introduction should be within a word limit of 400 words.

Materials & methods:
Describe the selection of the observational or experimental subjects (patients or laboratory animals, and including controls) clearly. Sample size calculation, exclusion and inclusion criteria, and description of the source population should be clear. Methods can be divided into subsections, if required (e.g., study design, participants, sampling, sample size, research instrument, etc.). Details of research methods, procedure, apparatus/tools used for conducting the study should be mentioned clearly. Provide references to established methods, including statistical methods. Provide references and brief descriptions of methods that have been published but are not well known; describe new or substantially modified methods, give reasons for using them, and evaluate their limitations. When mentioning drugs, it should be in generic names (proprietary names can be provided in brackets).
Following the ICMJE recommendations, CTRN should be mentioned in manuscript for clinical trials. When reporting experiments on human subjects, indicate whether the procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional or regional) and with the Helsinki Declaration (https://research.wayne.edu/irb/pdf/2-3-declaration-of-helsinki.pdf) of 1975, as revised in 2000. Do not use patients’ names, initials, or hospital numbers, especially in illustrative material. When reporting experiments on animals, indicate whether the institution’s or a national research council’s guide, or any national law on the care and use of laboratory animals was followed. Authors should provide the details of statistical methods and software used for analyzing the data.

Results:
Present the results in logical sequence in the text, tables, and figures. Tables and figures may be left at the respective location within the text. These should be numbered using Arabic numerals only. Do not repeat the results or data in the text, which are shown in the tables or figures. For qualitative studies, the authors are advised to present the quotations in the text or the boxes. When data are summarized in the results section, give numeric results not only as derivatives (for example, percentages) but also as the absolute numbers from which the derivatives were calculated, and specify the statistical methods used to analyze them. P should always be capitalized and italicized (Examples: P=.038; P< 0.001).

Discussion:
Emphasize the new and important aspects of the study and the conclusions that follow from them. Do not repeat the results or other material given in the Introduction or the Results section. Relate the observations to other relevant studies and include implications of the findings and their limitations, including implications for future research.

Conclusion:
This section should state the implications and how the study adds to existing knowledge. Link the conclusions with the aims of the study but avoid unqualified statements and conclusions not completely supported by the presented research. Recommendations, when appropriate, may be included.

Acknowledgment:
Acknowledgment should be brief and made for specific scientific/technical assistance and financial support only and not for providing routine departmental facilities and encouragement or for help in the preparation of the manuscript (including typing or secretarial assistance).

Source of funding:
The source of funding for the study, if available, must be cited under this section. Authors should list all funding sources. Authors are responsible for the accuracy of their funder designation. If in doubt, please check the Open Funder Registry for the correct nomenclature: https://www.crossref.org/services/funder-registry/

Conflict of interests:
All authors must declare their conflicts of interest. Disclose digital object identifier (DOI) as per ICMJE recommendations if necessary (http://www.icmje.org/disclosure-of-interest/).

References:
All the references must be listed at the end of the manuscript and all the listed references must be cited in the text. JBMS follows the official ICMJE/Medline style, with minor alterations (https://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_requirements.html):

Examples of references Journal:

• Author names, article title, journal name, year of publication, volume number, page range
• Journal title should be abbreviated in Medline style. For journals not in PubMed, use the full journal name or the abbreviated name provided by the journal publisher
• Use condensed page number system
  Malick SM, Hadley J, Davis J, et al. Is evidence-based medicine teaching and learning directed at improving practice? J Royal Soc Med. 2010;103(6):231-8.

Book:

• Author names, book name, volume/edition number, year of publication, publisher name, city of publication
  Bhushan V, Le T, Amin C, et al. First Aid for the USMLE Step 1. New York: McGraw-Hill; 2002.

Book Chapter:

• Author names, chapter title, editor names, book title, volume/edition number, year of publication, city and state of publication, publisher name, and page range:
  Hadd FJ, Buckalew VM. Endogenous digitalis-like factors in hypertension. In: Laragh HJ, Brenner MB, eds. Hypertension: Pathophysiology, Diagnosis, and Management. New York, NY: Raven Press; 1995:1055-67.
  

Website:
University of Illinois at Chicago, Department of Neurology, Founders of Neurology Page. Available at: http://www.uic.edu/depts/mcne/founders/page0102.html. Accessed June 1, 2000.

Report:
Medscape Family Medicine. Conference report- a return to humanism in medical practice. The 34th Annual Spring Conference of the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM). Denver, Colorado; 2001.

Figure and table legends:
These should be brief, specific and appear on a separate manuscript page after the References section.

Figures/Tables/Images:
Figures, tables and images must be cited in the order of their appearance in the manuscript. It should be numbered in chronological order. The title of the tables/figures must be as self- explanatory as possible. Figures and tables should be in an editable format. Pictures must be in high resolution (at least 300 dpi) and in JPEG format. The patient’s identity should be protected by using appropriate eye blinder. By default, table captions should be represented above the table and figure legends should be represented below the figure. For studies like intervention, before-and-after images should be taken with the same intensity, direction, and color of light. The number of figures/tables/images should not exceed six. All additional figures and tables should be incorporated as supplementary material.

Supplementary material:
Supplementary material is peer-reviewed material directly relevant to the article that cannot be included in the printed version owing to space or format constraints. The article is posted on the journal’s website and linked to the main article. This consists of data files, graphics, movies or extensive tables.
Authors should submit supplementary material files in the final format as they are not edited, typeset or changed, and will appear online exactly as submitted. When submitting supplementary data, authors are required to include all the relevant documents with details, and it should be complete and self-explanatory.

• Identify the types of files (file formats) submitted.
• Include the text “Supplementary data is available at (journal name)’s website” at the end of the article and before the references.

How to Submit Manuscript

Pre-submission enquiries:
Pre-submission enquiries should be sent to the editorial office. e-mail: jbms@bhmedsoc.com

Online submission of manuscript:
JBMS accepts articles only through online submission (Link). For online submission, please provide your complete manuscript in the form of a single file (MS Word Format) containing all the material. Please place tables and figures at appropriate places in the text. Before submitting a manuscript, authors are encouraged to read the submission instructions carefully. You will be able to monitor the status of your manuscript online throughout the editorial process.

Article processing fee:
JBMS is an international, peer reviewed, open access and quarterly published journal. The charges are inclusive for submission and processing. The fees paid are:

• Non-refundable
• Not a guarantee of acceptance and publication
• Should be paid before submitting the article

A receipt of payment should be scanned and attached to the application. The charges are as follows:

Article processing fee	Overseas (USD $)
Members	531
Non-members	795

Kindly Note:

• Receipt of payment should be scanned and attached on application
• Payment should be done before the whole process not before publication

Refund policy:

• JBMS will not issue refunds or cancellations of debts of any kind once an article has been accepted for publication.
• If the article is rejected after review for any reason, a 50% refund can be offered but not guaranteed.

Submission checklist :
Please consult the ‘Guide for Authors’ for detailed guidelines. Following is the exhaustive checklist before submission of an article to the journal for review:

• One author should be designated as corresponding author
• E-mail address
• Full postal address
• Telephone and fax numbers
• All necessary files have been uploaded
• Keywords
• All figure and tables are numbered and cited in the text
• All tables include title, description and footnotes
• Manuscript has been "spell-checked" and "grammar-checked"
• References are in ICMJE/Medline style
• All references mentioned in the Reference list are cited in the text, and vice versa
• Permission has been obtained for use of copyrighted material from other sources (including the Web)
• Color figures are clearly marked as being intended for color reproduction on the Web (free of charge) and in print or to be reproduced in color on the Web (free of charge) and in black-and-white in print
• If only color on the Web is required, black and white versions of the figures are also supplied for printing purpose

Submission of revisions:
Authors submitting a revised manuscript after review are asked to include the following:

• A rebuttal letter, indicating point-by-point how you have addressed the comments raised by the reviewers. If you disagree with any of the points raised, please provide adequate justification in your letter.
• Manuscript revisions will be made by using track change or by highlight in response to the reviewers’ comments* / in order to aid the Editors and reviewers.
• A clean file and track change/highlighted manuscript should be submitted with cover letter and rebuttal letter.

On Acceptance and Publication

Once article is accepted for publication after the peer-review process, editorial team will request all the authors to complete and sign a copyright form (hard or scanned copy) and send it back to the editorial office for speedy processing of publication production. Delay in sending the copyright form will result in delay of publication.
Author must return the galley proof of their manuscript within 2-3 working days for fast processing of online publication and printing.

Offprints:
Offprints may be ordered on the form accompanying the proofs and after the publication, charges will be based on number of copies.

Preprint Policy

Preprint Definition and Policy
A preprint is a complete scientific manuscript made publicly available by the authors on a recognized preprint server prior to formal peer review. It reflects the author's original work and may be shared at any point during the peer review process. Posting a preprint does not constitute prior publication and does not affect eligibility for submission to JBMS journals.

Peer Review and Editorial Authority
JBMS follows a double-blind peer review process to ensure fair and objective evaluation of all manuscripts. The Editorial Board reserves the final right to accept or reject any submission, regardless of its preprint status, based on peer review outcomes, ethical compliance, and alignment with the journal's scope. In cases involving disputes, ethical concerns, or suspected misconduct, the Editorial Board's decision is final.

Author Rights and Responsibilities
Authors retain the rights to their preprints unless they are transferred via separate agreements. Once accepted by JBMS, the manuscript will be governed by the journal's standard licensing and copyright policies. Authors are responsible for ensuring that preprint posting does not conflict with subsequent publication terms. During submission or review, authors must disclose all details related to any preprint, including the DOI and licensing terms. After final publication, they are required to update the preprint record with the article's DOI and at direct link to the journal version.

Ethical Compliance
Authors must uphold high ethical standards, which include:

• Transparent research methodology,
• Full disclosure of preprint details (if applicable),
• Declaration of funding sources,
• Disclosure of conflicts of interest, and
• Ethical approvals.

Preprint posting does not compromise originality or submission eligibility, provided the work has not been peer-reviewed and published elsewhere.

Citation and Reader Guidance
Authors must properly cite their preprints and any other preprints referenced in their submissions to maintain academic integrity. Readers should be aware that preprints have not undergone peer review and should interpret them accordingly. JBMS, its editors, reviewers, and affiliated institutions assume no responsibility for the content hosted on external preprint servers or its use.

Preprint Citation Format (Vancouver Style)
Example:
Brown TA, Schaefer KS, Tsang A, Yi HA, Grimm JB, Lemire AL, et al. Direct detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA using high-contrast pH-sensitive dyes [Internet]. medRxiv [Preprint]. 2021 [cited 2021 Jun 29]: 29 p. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.12.26.20248878

AI Policy

Permissible Use of AI in Manuscript Preparation
Authors may use generative AI or AI-assisted tools solely to improve language and clarity during manuscript drafting. However, they must maintain complete control, oversight, and accountability for the final content. Any AI-generated output must be carefully reviewed and edited to ensure it is accurate, unbiased, and complete. Under no circumstances should AI tools be listed as authors or co-authors.

Disclosure Requirement
The use of AI tools must be transparently disclosed at the time of manuscript submission. A disclosure statement will be included in the final published version to ensure transparency.

Restrictions on AI Use for Image Manipulation
Generative AI tools must not be used to create or modify images in submitted manuscripts. Prohibited actions include the enhancement, removal, or introduction of image features. Acceptable modifications are limited to standard adjustments - such as brightness, contrast, or color balance - provided they do not alter or obscure the original data. The journal may use image forensics software to detect any manipulation.

Exceptions for Research Applications
If AI tools are integral to the research methodology (e.g., in biomedical imaging), their use must be fully described in the Methods section. This includes specifying the tool's name, version, developer, and detailed application process to ensure reproducibility. Authors may be asked to submit original, unprocessed, or pre-AI versions of images during editorial review.

Use of AI in Editorial Workflow
Editorial and peer review processes may incorporate AI tools for tasks like grammar checks or plagiarism detection. Nonetheless, all editorial decisions will be made by human editors.

Ethical Compliance
Failure to disclose the use of AI tools or misuse of such technologies will be considered a violation of the journal's publication ethics.