| Published by Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia |
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| :: Guidelines for Authors |
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Please follow these instructions carefully. This would ensure that the review and publication of your paper are as swift and efficient as possible. USM Press reserves the right to reject or return manuscripts that are not prepared in accordance with these instructions, or with linguistic or scientific deficiencies. For further formatting and referencing aid, please consult The Harvard System of Referencing Guide.
This Journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge. All articles in the Journal are published open access under a Creative Commons Attribution license (CC BY 4.0). Authors transfer the copyright to Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia. This copyright transfer enables the Journal to protect the copyrighted material for the authors but does not relinquish the authors’ proprietary rights. The copyright transfer covers the exclusive rights to reproduce and distribute the article, including reprints, photographic reproductions, microfilm or any other reproductions of similar nature and translations. Authors are responsible for obtaining from the copyright holder permission to reproduce any materials for which copyright exists. The works are released under a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0), which provides unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium provided the original work is properly cited. Users have the right to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of articles in this Journal and to use them for any other lawful purpose. Open Access Policy Malaysian Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences published by Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia is an open access journal. All articles are published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY). All articles are freely available to read, share and download. In accordance with publication ethics and best practices of scholarly publishing, authors and journals must be properly credited. All articles are accessible via the Journal's website and selected indexing and abstracting databases. Publication Charges There are no submission charges or article processing charges (APC). Language Policy The journal accepts manuscripts written in English only. Peer-Review This Journal practices a double-blind peer review policy. The Editorial Board may exercise their prerogative to reject a manuscript without peer review if that article is judged to be outside the scope of the Journal, poorly written or formatted or lacking in significance. Original articles are original research work/studies that are previously unpublished. Short communications: report work that are preliminary in nature but merits immediate publication. Small-scale clinical studies, pilot studies as well as negative results would be considered for short communication articles. The format requirements are as full papers but are only up to 5 pages in length, of usually up to 1500 words with a total number of Figures plus Tables of not more than 5. Short communication articles should have no more than 20 references. Review articles: Comprehensive, authoritative description of the subject matter within the scope of the Journal. Manuscripts submitted for publication must be original, previously unpublished (except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture or academic thesis), and not under consideration for publication elsewhere. Its publication must be approved by all Authors and tacitly or explicitly by the responsible authorities where the work was carried out, and that, if accepted, it will not be published elsewhere in the same form, in English or in any other language, without the written consent of the publisher, Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia (PUSM). If excerpts from other copyrighted works are included, the Author(s) must obtain written permission from the copyright owners and credit the source(s) in the article. Authors are responsible for requesting permission to use material (e.g. figures) that has been previously published and is under copyright; permission forms should be included with the manuscript. Papers accepted become the copyright of MJPS. This journal is indexed in MyAIS and DOAJ. Online Submission The manuscript and a cover letter should be submitted through the online submission and refereeing system, ScholarOne ManuscriptsTM. Authors must first register at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/mjps. This online submission system will facilitate the submission of manuscripts and also accelerate the peer review process because reviewers and editors can review the files online wherever they are in the world. Cover letter: The cover letter should include:
Preparation of manuscript: Manuscripts must be prepared using Microsoft Word and must be typed using Arial 12 pt and double-spaced. Manuscripts should be clearly and concisely written in English (UK). Manuscripts may be rejected on the basis of unsatisfactory command of either language or scientific deficiency. All pages should be numbered consecutively in the upper right-hand corner, beginning with the title page. Manuscripts should be organised in the following order: Title, Authors, Affiliations, Abstract, Keywords, Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion, Acknowledgements (optional), References, Appendices (where applicable), Caption(s), Tables, Figures, Schemes. *Tables, Figures or Schemes must be uploaded separately Title page: The first sheet should include (1) title of the paper, (2) names of each author, (3) names of departments and institutions with which each author is affiliated, and (4) name, address, and current e-mail of the corresponding author. The title should be as concise as possible but informative enough to facilitate information retrieval and try to avoid abbreviations. Provide also a suitable running head (within 50 characters) derived from the title. Give authors’ first, middle and last name but omit titles. If current address of an author is different, include it in the footnote on the title page. Abstract: The abstract should be approximately 200–300 words. The abstract should give a clear, concise and informative summary with scope and purpose, significant results and major conclusions as well as an indication of any new findings. Abstract should not contain literature citations that refer to the main list of references attached to the complete article nor allusions to the illustrations. Define all nonstandard symbols, abbreviations and acronyms. The abstract should be written as one paragraph and should not contain displayed mathematical equations or tabular material. Keywords: These are used to facilitate the retrieval of articles by search engines and will be used for indexing purposes, therefore do not use general terms. Provide 3–5 specific and suitable keywords related to the manuscript. Text: The text should have appropriate headings and subheadings. The text should be subdivided into: (1) Introduction, (2) Methods, (3) Results (4) Discussion, and (5) Conclusion. Divide your manuscript into clearly defined sections and subsections. Footnotes to the text should not be used. The full term for which an abbreviation stands should precede its first use in the text unless it is a standard unit of measurement. Acknowledgements: The acknowledgement section gives an opportunity for the author(s) to thank people with the study or preparation of the paper. Examples are people who provided purely technical help or writing assistance. This is also where the author should indicate that the results of this study were presented in another form such as a poster or abstract or at a symposium. All research articles should have a funding acknowledgement in the form of a sentence as follows, with the funding agency written out in full, followed by the grant number. Multiple grant number should be separated by comma and space. Example: This work was supported by World Health Organisation, (grant number xxxxx). This section must be included in the Title Page also. References: The manuscript should be carefully checked to ensure that the information given in the text is exactly the same as that given in the reference list. Authors are responsible for the accuracy and completeness of all references cited and listed in the manuscript. Citation in text Within the text, references to the literature should be made according to the system described below. If several papers from the same authors and from the same year are cited, a, b, c, etc. should be put after the year of publication. Single author – ... referring to Amizul (2009)...OR ...(Amizul 2009)... Two authors – ... referring to Jackson and Brown (2009)...OR ... (Jackson and Brown 2009)... Three authors – ... referring to Chua, Helmi and Ramasamy (2009)...OR ... (Chua, Helmi and Ramasamy 2009)... Multiple authors (4 authors or more) – ... referring to Veer et al. (2009)...OR ... (Veer et al. 2009)... List of references All references made to publications in the text should be presented in a list of reference following alphabetical order. The references should be listed in full at the end of the paper on a separate sheet in the following standard form. Book AUTHOR, A. A., AUTHOR, B. & AUTHOR, C. C. (year) Title of book, nth edition (if applicable), vol. volume number (if applicable), pp. page number(s) (Place of publishing: Publisher). KIRTIKAR, K. R. & BASU, B. D. (1935) Indian medicinal plants, 2nd edition, part III, pp. 1645 (Allahabad: Lolit Mohan Basu). Articles/ chapters in book AUTHOR, A., AUTHOR, B. & AUTHOR, C. (year) Title of article/ chapter, IN: Z. Z. AUTHOR, Y. AUTHOR & X. AUTHOR (Eds.). Title of book, nth edition (if applicable), volume number (if applicable), pp. page number(s) (Place of publishing: Publisher). SONNENBICHLER, J. & ZETL, I. (1986) Biochemical effects of the flavanolignane silibinin on RNA, protein and DNA synthesis in rat livers, IN: V. CODY, E. MIDDLETON & J. B. HARBOURNE (Eds.). Plant flovonoids in biology and medicine: Biochemical, pharmacological and structure-activity relationships, pp. 319–331 (New York: A R Liss Inc.). Journal AUTHOR, A. A., AUTHOR, B., AUTHOR, C. C., AUTHOR, D., & AUTHOR, E. E. (year) Title of article, Name of Journal (in full), volume number: page number(s). ABATE, M. A., STAMATAKIS, M. S. & HAGGETT, R. R. (2003) Excellence in curriculum development and assessment, American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 67: 1–21. BROWN, J. K. F. (1981). The study of water properties in liquid doses of medication. Special issue, Pharmacologica 28(2–3): 1–11. Forthcoming AUTHOR, A. A. & Author, B. B. (forthcoming) Title of article, Name of Journal (in full). PUGANESH, S., AZLINA, N. M. A. & NORMISBAH, W. C. (forthcoming). How to prepare a manuscript for submission in a pharmaceutical science journal. Malaysian Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences. Web references AUTHOR, A. A. (year) Title of article, Name of Journal (in full), volume number: page number(s) (if applicable). url (date month year retrieved). RABBANI, S. I., DEVI, K. and KHANAM, S. (2010) Role of pioglitazone with metformin or glimepiride on oxidative stress-induced nuclear damage and reproductive toxicity in diabetic rats, Malaysian Journal of Medical Sciences, 17: 3–11. http://ernd.usm.my/journal/journal/02- 171OA1pioglitazone.pdf (21 March 2010). AUTHOR, A. A. (year) Title of article, Name of Newspaper (if applicable), date. url (date month year retrieved). ANONYMOUS. (2003). Compulsory service for pharmacists, Daily Express, July 23. http://www.dailyexpress.com.my/news.cfm?NewsID=20400 (20 September 2009). USM Press Malaysian Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences USM Press Malaysian Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences MALAYSIAN QUALIFICATIONS AGENCY. (2009) Public and international affairs unit, http://www.mqa.gov.my (2 September 2009). Conferences AUTHOR, A. A. and AUTHOR, B. (year) Title of paper presented, Name of Proceeding, venue (province/city, country), date(s), page number(s). GOH, E. G., WAN NIK, W. M. N., FADHLI, A. M. & AMRAN, A. (2009) The assessment of rheological model reliability in lubricating behaviour of vegetable oils, National Tribology Conference, Universiti of Malaya, NTC, Kuala Lumpur, 4–5 May 2009, 58–65. Thesis AUTHOR, A. A. A. (year) Title of thesis, Undergraduate/ Masters/ PhD diss., name of university. ABDULLAH, N. (2005) An assessment of pyrolysis for processing empty fruit bunches, PhD diss., Aston University. Others Multiple authors (list all names for 6 authors, if more than 6 authors, list the first 6 authors followed by “et al.”) AUTHOR, A. A., AUTHOR, B., AUTHOR, C. C., AUTHOR, D., AUTHOR, E. E., AUTHOR, F., et al. (year) Title of article, Name of Journal, volume number (issue number), page numbers. KOWALCZYK, E., KOPFF, A., FIJALKOWSKI, P. NIEDWOROK, J., BLASZCZYK, J., KEDZIORA, J. et al. (2003) Effects of anthocyanins on selected biochemical parameters in rats exposed to cadmium, Acta Biochimica Polonica, 50(2): 543–548. Figures and Tables Be sure to cite every figure and table in the text. They should not be inserted in the text but each provided separately Each figure and table must have a caption that is complete and intelligible by itself without references to the text. Number figures and tables in the order in which they appear in text, and each must be provided as a separate file. Please do not combine figure/table and caption in a textbox or frame. Figures/electronic illustration Place the figures in sequence after the collected captions. Label all figure parts with (a), (b), etc. Avoid any large disparity in size of lettering and labels used within one illustration. Ensure that lettering and lines are dark enough, and thick enough, to reproduce clearly, especially if reduction is necessary. Remember that fine lines tend to disappear upon reduction. (TIFF or EPS) and with the correct resolution. The table below shows the image specifications.
Colour figures: When preparing illustrations that will appear in colour in the online journal and in black and white in the printed journal, authors must ensure that: (i) colours chosen will reproduce well when printed in black & white and (ii) descriptions of figures in text and captions will be sufficiently clear for both print and online versions. This is the responsibility of the authors. Tables Column heading for the tables should be clear and concise with appropriate units. Units of measurement should be placed in parentheses on the line below the appropriate heading. Do not use internal horizontal and vertical grids. Place footnotes to table below the table body and indicate them with superscript lowercase letters (a, b ,c , etc., with a new sequence starting with a for each table). Use En-dash (–) to indicate missing values. Be sparing in the use of tables and ensure that the data presented in tables do not duplicate elsewhere in the article. Please do not provide tab-delimited tables. Table should consist of rows and column. Data must be typed inside the table cells using the font and font size as specified below: Font type: Arial Font size: 10 Font style: Non-bold, non-italic (except special and scientific names) Graphs Graphs should be self-explanatory, their purpose evident without reference to the text. Indicate clearly what is being plotted, in both horizontal and vertical directions. Include appropriate units. Orient letters and numbers so that they may be easily read from the bottom or the right hand side of the graph. Relevant nongraphic material, such as the key to the symbolism in the graph, maybe included within the confines of the graph frame if it will fit without crowding; otherwise put the explanatory material in the caption. Font type: Arial Font size: 10 Font style: Non-bold, non-italic (except special and scientific names) The use of units and symbols provided by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) [The International System of Units (SI)] is recommended. Commonly used unit: - g (gram), mL (millilitre), m (meter), mol (mole), min (minute). All similar-looking letters, numbers, and unusual/special symbols whose identity may not be obvious must be identified the first time they appear, and at all subsequent times when confusion might arise [for example, the number ‘one’ (1) and the letter ‘ell’ (l); the Roman letter ‘kay’ (k) and the Greek letter ‘kappa’ (Κ); the ‘proportional to’ symbol (∝) and the Greek ‘alpha’ (α)]. Formula/equations: Subscripts and superscripts should be clearly indicated. Take special care to clearly show the difference between zero (0) and the letter O, and between one (1) and the letter l. Give the meanings of all symbols immediately after the equation in which they are first used. For simple fractions use the solidus (/) instead of a horizontal. Equations should be aligned to bring out their structure, displayed on separate lines set off from the text above and below and sequentially numbered (using Arabic numbers in parentheses flush right to the right margin). In general, only equations explicitly referred to in text need be numbered. Mathematical operation signs indicating continuity of the expression should be placed at the left of the second and succeeding lines. The use of fractional powers instead of root signs is recommended. Also powers of e are often more conveniently denoted by exp. Example: - The direct medical costs were calculated as shown below: TCn = ∑J QSnj x USj + ∑K QDnk x UDk + ∑L QMnl x UMl Nomenclature and Units J=1 K=1 L=1 where, TCn = total direct medical costs for patient n QSnj = is the number of laboratory test j used by patient n USj = is the unit cost of laboratory test j QDnk = is the number of drug k used by patient n UDk = is the unit cost of drug k QMnl = is the number of healthcare practitioner l encountered by patient n UMl = is the cost of the healthcare practitioner l encountered. Do not submit equation as an image. Font type: Arial Font size: 10 Font style: Non-bold, non-italic (except special and scientific names) Early View Manuscripts will be posted on the journal’s website as soon as they are accepted for publication. This will occur in advanced of the cover date of the printed issue. Authors should take this into account when planning their intellectual and patent activities related to a USM Press Malaysian Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciencesmanuscript. The actual date on which a manuscript is published online is recorded in a separate line at the bottom of the first page of the manuscript in the printed issue. Offprint Authors will be provided with the digital offprint of their manuscript once the issue is published online. Authors can also retrieve their published article from the journal’s website. License All articles published in Malaysian Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License which under the following terms:
Contact Information For further information please contact: Editor-in-Chief Malaysian Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences School of Pharmaceutical Sciences Universiti Sains Malaysia 11800 Minden Pulau Pinang Malaysia Email: mjps@usm.my Tel: 604-653 2211 Fax: 604-657 0017 or 604-6575714 (Updated on November 2015) |
