Submissions

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Submission Preparation Checklist

As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission's compliance with all of the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors that do not adhere to these guidelines.
  • The submission has not been previously published, nor is it before another journal for consideration (or an explanation has been provided in Comments to the Editor).
  • The submission file is in OpenOffice, Microsoft Word, RTF, or WordPerfect document file format.
  • Where available, URLs for the references have been provided.
  • The text is single-spaced; uses a 12-point font; employs italics, rather than underlining (except with URL addresses); and all illustrations, figures, and tables are placed within the text at the appropriate points, rather than at the end.
  • The text adheres to the stylistic and bibliographic requirements outlined in the Author Guidelines, which is found in About the Journal.
  • If submitting to a peer-reviewed section of the journal, the instructions in Ensuring a Blind Review have been followed.

Author Guidelines

Introduction
Orthodontic journal of Nepal (OJN)  is a yearly, peer-reviewed, open-access, international Dental journal [ISSN  (2091-1327 Print) and  (2091-1335 Online)]. OJN  is an official journal of Orthodontic and Dentofacial Orthopedic Association of Nepal (ODOAN).

Types of articles
In each issue, we publish articles under certain types/sections. The types of articles we publish are as follows:

  • Original research/studies
  • Case notes
  • Review articles
  • Techno bytes
  • Clinical Innovation
  • Interviews
  • Letters to the editor
  • Book Reviews

Beside the regular types of articles we also sometimes publish articles under Proceedings/ Declaration of Conferences/Congress, Updates,Supplements, etc.

Authorship criteria
To qualify for authorship, the author must have contributed substantially to the intellectual content of the manuscript such as: concept design, data collection,analysis and interpretation of data, manuscript drafting, statistical analysis and supervision.

Manuscript processing
Manuscripts are processed as per standard procedure mentioned in OJN policy for manuscript processing.

Manuscript submission
Authors must submit manuscripts via email in the following address: odoanjournal@gmail.com.  All manuscripts must be addressed to the Chief Editor, OJN.

Language and grammar
The language of the manuscript must be United Kingdom (UK) English and proof-read at least once before submission. It must be sent in Microsoft Word format (.doc or .docx).

Images (photographs, drawings)
If images (photographs/ line drawings) are to be included, clearly scanned images free from technical artefacts should be submitted. Magnifications, areas of key interest should be indicated by an arrow, symbol or abbreviation the details of which should be explained at the bottom of the figures. The scanning resolution should be 300 dpi (dots per inch). Captions for each image must be provided in the last page of the manuscript. Please make sure each figure is cited in order within the text, e.g. (Fig 2).

Image file format: jpeg, tiff
Resolution: 300 dpi (dots per inch)

Tables
Tables should be as few as possible and should present only essential data. Each must be typed on a separate page with a title or caption and clearly numbered. Please make sure each table is cited within the text, e.g. (Table 3).

Permissions
Borrowed and previously published material should be acknowledged in the captions in this style: ‘Reproduced by kind permission of . . . (publishers) . . . from . . .(reference).’ It is the responsibility of the author to obtain all such permissions from the original publishers and authors, and to submit them with the manuscript.

Writing style
In order to make the journal uniform and standard we request that all matters submitted for publication should follow “Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals” as published by International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) www.icmje.org

Units and abbreviations
Avoid abbreviations in the title and abstract. All unusual abbreviations should be fully explained at their first occurrence in the text. All measurements should be expressed in SI units.

Drug names
Generic drug names should be used.

Contractions
Author should not write in contraction. For example, can’t, don’t, &, and so on. Only proper use of language serves the purpose of effective communication.

References
Authors are strictly instructed to follow Vancouver system for citing scientific literature.

Authors can get a comprehensive explanation of the system with
practical examples in the following link: http://www.lib.monash.edu.au/tutorials/citing/vancouver.html

Guidelines on individual article types

Original research articles
We publish all types of research articles, i.e. descriptive, analytical, and experimental. The original research articles should have following headings in its manuscript:

  • Title
  • Abstract
  • Introduction
  • Material and methods
  • Results
  • Discussion
  • Conclusion
  • Limitations
  • Acknowledgements
  • References

Title page
Your title page, numbered as 1, should give the title in bold letters and the authors’ names (as they are to appear and as in the declaration form), affiliations and complete addresses, including postal (zip) codes. Indicate the corresponding author clearly. An e-mail address, an easily reachable phone number and a full postal address are required for the corresponding author.

Title

  • The simpler the title the better.
  • Consider the target readership.
  • Be brief—short titles are clearer and more arresting.
  • Avoid excessive adjectives and noun strings.

Abstracts and keywords
A summary of the content of your manuscript, a maximum of 250-300 words should be provided on a separate page following the title page. The abstract should be structured and should be under the following subheadings:

  • Background
  • Aims and Objectives
  • Design
  • Setting
  • Materials and methods
  • Results
  • Conclusion
  • Keywords (A list of three to six keywords in alphabetical order)

The abstract should contain the essence of the whole paper and should stand alone. It should consist of four basic parts: Why the study was done, what was found, what was concluded? Stick to the maximum limit provided above. Be clear and concise and avoid unnecessary detail.

Introduction
This should introduce the research/ study and give an idea of what is to follow in rest of the paper.

  • Tell readers why you have undertaken the study.
  • Clarify what your work adds.
  • Keep it short.
  • Make sure that you know what studies have gone before.
  • Be sure your readers are convinced of the importance of your question.

Material and methods
This section should clearly state the methodology of the research, including the study design, setting, procedures, materials, data, protocols, and statistical tools used. It must be able to guide any suitably qualified reader to repeat the experiment in the same way; hence this section of the manuscript should include details of how materials and information may be obtained, including any restrictions that may apply. Authors are requested to refer to the reporting guidelines relevant to their study type e.g. CONSORT. The guidelines on reporting sex and gender information (SAGER) should also be considered. These guidelines can be found on the Equator Network

Basically, it should include three questions: How was the study designed? How was the study carried out? And How was the data analysed?

Results

  • Only significant results must be shown under this heading.
  • Use a mixture of text, tables, and figures.
  • Give the actual numbers of results that are plotted.
  • Establish how comparable your groups were.
  • Mention the unexpected results also.
  • Do not give results to a greater degree of accuracy than that of the measurement.
  • Avoid using percentages unless the group have more than 100 subjects.
  • When condensing results give the number of subjects, the range of results, the central tendency (mean ± SD), and the spread (confidence interval for the mean).
  • If you have done an analysis of variance give the estimates with their degrees of freedom and p values.
  • Prepare tables and illustrations according to the instructions mentioned above.
  • No duplication of results is allowed in text and in figure, unless it has its own purpose.
  • Tables and illustrations/ graphs/ charts should not represent the same results. It is only a waste of space and time. Instead, use the space to show some important findings in tables and some in graphical ways.
  • Write all your results under one section referring to appropriate tables, graphs, or illustrations. Do not write results separately under each tables or graphs.

Discussion

  • This is one of the most important headings of the manuscript and should be very carefully constructed.
  • Discuss major findings. It should not merely be a repetition of results section. Only duplicating data from results section into this heading is NOT allowed.
  • Discuss possible problems with the methods used.
  • Compare your results with previous work.
  • Discuss the clinical and scientific (if any) implications of your findings.
  • Suggest further work.
  • An otherwise very good manuscript but with poor discussion may be rejected for the same reason.

Conclusion
Produce a succinct conclusion. Show your readers why this paper was important. Show them that your paper was meaningful and useful. Don’t simply repeat things that were in your paper. Show them how the points you made and the support and examples you used were not random, but fit together. Give your reader something to think about, perhaps a way to use your paper in the “real” world. If your introduction went from general to specific, make your conclusion go from specific to general. Think globally.

Acknowledgements
Acknowledgements section should state person(s)/ firms to whom the author has to acknowledge. For more details, please refer to Declaration of authorship responsibility, financial disclosure, competing interest, copyright transfer, and acknowledgement form available along with this guideline (online).

References
For references, please use Vancouver system as mentioned above in Writing style.

Case notes

  • It should include four sections: Abstract with keywords, introduction, case report, and discussion.
  • Abstract should be an unstructured one about 150 words.
  • Valid written expressed consent must be taken prior to involving any person in case note manuscript. The identity of the patient must not be revealed by text or figures. If the figure/picture tends to reveal the identity of the individual, it is the responsibility of the author to have explained so to the patient before submitting the manuscript. Confidentiality must be absolute.
  • The report should detail: what happened to the patient, the time course of events, why the particular management was chosen.
  • Opening section, i.e. introduction should introduce the case in short and highlight the importance of presenting it as a case report in the journal. Check to see that it has not been reported before in Nepal.
  • Positive features should be accentuated and irrelevant details avoided.
  • A photograph or other illustration may be useful.
  • The discussion should be useful and not overlong.
  • Reference other work only when necessary to make a specific point.
  • Cases that really merit publication always have an educational message.

Review articles

Review article must incorporate various aspects of the topic chosen, and should also incorporate latest researches and findings. Work already done or reported in Nepal should be noted. It should not merely be a collection of quotes from textbooks or very old articles of journals that does not contribute anything new to the scientific literature base already available.

Ideal Contents of a review:

–What is the problem?

–Historical background

–Basic science

–Methodology

–Human studies

–Discussion

–Conclusions

–Recommendations

–The future

The ideal review should be topical, up to date, balanced, accurate, authoritative, quotable, provocative and a good read.

We accept articles on:

  • Education
  • Careers
  • Life
  • View Point
  • What’s on the web?

The details on each topic can be found on our website www.odoan.org.np

Letters to the Editor
Letter to the Editor will be accepted or edited and published at the Editor’s discretion. The author must give a full reference of the article published in OJN while writing the letter to which he is referring. While writing be succinct (approximately 325 words) and address one or two major subjects regarding the article. Letters that, in the Editor’s view, require a response from the authors of the article will be held pending notification of the authors, who will have fifteen days to respond. On receipt of an author’s response, the letter and the author response will be published in the journal and will also be posted in the web. If we do not receive an author response within fifteen business days, the letter will be published with a note stating, “The author has been invited to respond and has not done so.”

General instructions to authors
The decision of the editor will be final for modification or rejection. However, the author may withdraw his/her manuscript prior to publication when given a chance by the editor (e.g. after modification).

If the authorship of a paper is changed in any way after it has been reviewed, the Editor will require a letter, signed by all authors named on the original or on the revised submission, explicitly agreeing to the change.

Peer Review Process

The journal will process the received manuscript as follows:

Double blind procedure:
The received manuscript will be blinded to both the author and the reviewer during the reviewing process. The author will be anonymous to the reviewer and the reviewer will be anonymous to the author as well.  

Two stage review:
The manuscript will be sent back to the same reviewers after the initial review. However in case of controversies, the decision of the editorial board will be final.

The submitted manuscripts will undergo national or international or both reviewing after blinding to 3 reviewers.  The editors are responsible for directing the manuscript to reviewers depending on their expertise and knowledge. The manuscript will be accepted or declined depending on the reviewers decisions. However, in case of controversies, the ultimate decision is reserved by the Editor in Chief and the editorial board.

The peer reviewers are provided with the guidelines for the review of the manuscript.

Generally, the reviewing process takes about 6 to 8 weeks which includes 4 weeks for review and 2 weeks for processing. Nevertheless, sometimes, it may take some more time due some unseen circumstances.

After the reviewing is completed, one of the following decisions will be made:

Accept Submission:
The manuscript is accepted without the need of any revisions

Revision Needed:
The manuscript needs minor changes and is accepted as per the comments received from the reviewer.

Re-submission for review:
The manuscript requires  major changes and another review needed. The manuscript may be accepted after the review.

Decline Submission:
The manuscript will not be accepted 

The journal will provide all the review comments to the authors regardless of any of the above decisions made by the reviewers.

OJN respects all the opinions, views, comments and decisions made by the reviewers. However, the decision to accept or reject the manuscript is reserved by the Editor in Chief and the editorial board, on the basis of maintaining the integrity of the science, following the guidelines of ICJME, WAME, COPE, CSE.

Privacy Statement

Nepal Journals Online (NepJOL) is a member of the Ubiquity Partner Network coordinated by Ubiquity Press. According to the EU definitions, NepJOL is the data controller, and Ubiquity Press are the service providers and data processors. Ubiquity Press provide the technical platform and some publishing services to NepJOL and operate under the principle of data minimisation where only the minimal amount of personal data that is required to carry out a task is obtained.

More information on the type of data that is required can be found in Ubiquity Press’ privacy policy below.

Ubiquity Press Privacy Policy

We take seriously our duty to process your personal data in a fair and transparent way. We collect and manage user data according to the following Privacy Policy. This document is part of our Terms of Service, and by using the press portal, affiliated journals, book, conference and repository websites (the “Websites”), you agree to the terms of this Privacy Policy and the Terms of Service. Please read the Terms of Service in their entirety, and refer to those for definitions and contacts.

What type of personal data do we handle?

There are four main categories of personal data stored by our journal platform, our press platform, and our book management system; Website User data, Author data, Reviewer data and Editor data.

The minimum personal data that are stored are:

  • full name
  • email address
  • affiliation (department, and institution)
  • country of residence

Optionally, the user can provide:

  • salutation
  • gender
  • associated URL
  • phone number
  • fax number
  • reviewing interests
  • mailing address
  • ORCiD
  • a short biography
  • interests
  • Twitter profile
  • LinkedIn profile
  • ImpactStory profile
  • profile picture

The data subjects have complete control of this data through their profile, and can request for it to be removed by contacting info@ubiquitypress.com

What do we do to keep that data secure?

We regularly backup our databases, and we use reliable cloud service providers (Amazon, Google Cloud, Linode) to ensure they are kept securely. Backups are regularly rotated and the old data is permanently deleted. We have a clear internal data handling policy, restricting access to the data and backups to key employees only. In case of a data breach, we will report the breach to the affected users, and to the press/journal contacts within 72 hours.

How do we use the data?

Personal information is only used to deliver the services provided by the publisher. Personal data is not shared externally except for author names, affiliations, emails, and links to ORCiD and social media accounts (if provided) in published articles and books which are displayed as part of the article/book and shared externally to indexes and databases. If a journal operates under open peer review then the reviewer details are published alongside the reviewer details.

How we collect and use your data:

1. When using the website

1.1 what data we collect

  • When you browse our website, we collect anonymised data about your use of the website; for example, we collect information about which pages you view, which files you download, what browser you are using, and when you were using the site.
  • When you comment on an article or book using Disqus, we are not collecting, controlling or processing the data. More details on the DISQUS privacy policy can be found on their website.
  • When you annotate an article or book, this is done via a 3rd party plugin to the website called Hypothes.is. In using this plugin we are not collecting, controlling or processing the data. More details on the Hypothes.is privacy policy can be found on their website.

1.2 why we collect the data

  • We use anonymised website usage data to monitor traffic, help fix bugs, and see overall patterns that inform future redesigns of the website, and provide reports on how frequently the publications on our site have been accessed from within their IP ranges.

1.3 what we do (and don’t do) with the data

  • We do not collect personal information that can be used to identify you when you browse the website.
  • We currently use Google Analytics for publication reports, and to improve the website and services through traffic analysis, but no personal identifying data is shared with Google (for example your computer’s IP is anonymised before transmission).

1.4 what to do if you want to get a copy of your data, or want your data to be removed

  • Please contact info@ubiquitypress.com to request a copy of your data, or for your data to be removed/anonymised.

2. When registering as an author, and submitting an article or book

2.1 what data we collect

  • When registering an account we ask you to log in and provide certain personal information (such as your name and email address), and there is the option to register using an ORCiD which will pre-fill the registration form.
  • As part of submitting an article for publication, you will need to provide personally identifying information which will be used for the peer review process, and will be published. This can include ‘Affiliation’, ‘Competing interests’, ‘Acknowledgements’.

2.2 why we collect the data

  • Registering an account allows you to log in, manage your profile, and participate as an author/reviewer/editor. We use cookies and session information to streamline your use of the website (for example in order for you to remain logged-in when you return to a journal). You can block or delete cookies and still be able to use the websites, although if you do you will then need to enter your username and password to login. In order to take advantage of certain features of the websites, you may also choose to provide us with other personal information, such as your ORCiD, but your decision to utilize these features and provide such data will always be voluntary.
  • Personal data submitted with the article or book is collected to allow follow good publication ethics during the review process, and will form part of the official published record in order for the provenance of the work to be established, and for the work to be correctly attributed.

2.3 what we do (and don’t do) with the data

  • We do not share your personal information with third parties, other than as part of providing the publishing service.
  • As a registered author in the system you may be contacted by the journal editor to submit another article.
  • Any books published on the platform are freely available to download from the publisher website in PDF, EPUB and MOBI formats on the publisher’s site.
  • Any personal data accompanying an article or a book (that will have been added by the submitting author) is published alongside it. The published data includes the names, affiliations and email addresses of all authors.
  • Any articles published on the platform are freely available to download from the publisher website in various formats (e.g. PDF, XML).
  • Ubiquity Press books and articles are typeset by SiliconChips and Diacritech.This process involves them receiving the book and book associated metadata and contacting the authors to finalise the layout. Ubiquity Press work with these suppliers to ensure that personal data is only used for the purposes of typesetting and proofing.
  • For physical purchases of books on the platform Ubiquity Press use print on demand services via Lightning Source who are responsible for printing and distribution via retailers. (For example; Amazon, Book Repository, Waterstones). Lightning Source’s privacy policy and details on data handling can be found on their website.

2.4 why we store the data

  • We store the account data so that you may choose to become a reviewer and be able to perform those tasks, or to become an author and submit an article and then track progress of that article.
  • Published personal data that accompanies an article or a book forms part of the official published record in order for the provenance of the work to be established, and for the work to be correctly attributed.

2.5 what to do if you want to get a copy of your data, or want your data to be removed

  • You are able to view, change and remove your data associated with your profile. Should you choose to completely delete your account, please contact us at support@ubiquitypress.com and we will follow up with your request as soon as possible.
  • To conform to publication ethics and best practice any personal data that is published alongside an article or book cannot be removed. If you have a query about a publication to which you are attributed please contact info@ubiquitypress.com

3. When registering as a reviewer

3.1 what data we collect

  • To become a reviewer you must first register as a user on the website, and set your preference that you would like to be considered as a reviewer. No new personal data is collected when a registered user elects to become a reviewer.
  • When registering an account we ask you to log in and provide certain personal information (such as your name and email address), and there is the option to register using an ORCiD which will pre-fill the registration form.
  • Reviewers can also be registered by editors who invite them to review a specific article. This requires the editor to provide the reviewer’s First Name, Last Name, and Email address. Normally this will be done as part of the process of inviting you to review the article or book.
  • On submitting a review, the reviewer includes a competing interest statement, they may answer questions about the quality of the article, and they will submit their recommendation.

3.2 why we collect the data

  • The data entered is used to invite the reviewer to peer review the article or book, and to contact the reviewer during and the review process.
  • If you submit a review then the details of your review, including your recommendation, your responses to any review form, your free-form responses, your competing interests statement, and any cover letter are recorded.

3.3 what we do (and don’t do) with the data

  • This data is not shared publicly and is only accessible by the Editor and system administrators of that journal or press.
  • The data will only be used in connection with that journal or press.
  • Data that is retained post final decision is kept to conform to publication ethics and best practice, to provide evidence of peer review, and to resolve any disputes relating to the peer review of the article or book.
  • For journals or presses that publish the peer reviews, you will be asked to give consent to your review being published, and a subset of the data you have submitted will become part of the published record.

3.4 what to do if you want to get a copy of your data, or want your data to be removed

  • If you would no longer like to be registered as a reviewer you can edit your profile and tick the box ‘stop being a reviewer’. This will remove you from the reviewer database, however any existing reviews you may have carried out will remain.
  • If you have been contacted by an editor to peer review an article this means that you have been registered in the system. If you would not like to be contacted for peer review you can reply to the email requesting that your data be deleted.

4. When being registered as a co-author

4.1 what data we collect

  • Co-author data is entered by the submitting author. The submitting author will already have a user account. According to standard publishing practice, the submitting author is responsible for obtaining the consent of their co-authors to be included (including having their personal data included) in the article/book being submitted to the journal/press.
  • The requested personal data for co-authors are at the bare minimum; first name, last name, institution, country, email address. This can also include; ORCID ID, Title, Middle Name, Biographical Statement, Department, Twitter Handle, Linkedin Profile Name or ImpactStory ID.

4.2 why we collect the data

  • Assuming that it is accepted for publication, this data forms part of the official published record in order for the provenance of the work to be established, and for the work to be correctly attributed.
  • Author names, affiliations and emails are required for publication and will become part of the permanent cited record.

4.3 what we do (and don’t do) with the data

  • The co-author’s personal data is stored in the author database. This personal data is only used in relation to the publication of the associated article.
  • Any co-author data collected is added to the author database and is only used in association with the article the user is co-author on.

4.5 what to do if you want to get a copy of your data, or want your data to be removed

  • To receive a copy of your data, please contact info@ubiquitypress.com
  • To conform to publication ethics and best practice any personal data that is published alongside an article or book cannot be removed. If you have a query about a publication to which you are attributed please contact info@ubiquitypress.com

5. When signing-up to receive newsletters

5.1 what data we collect

  • We require you to include your name and email address

5.2 why we collect and store the data, and for how long

  • This data would be collected to keep you updated with any news about the platform or specific journal

5.3 what we do (and don’t do) with the data

  • We use mailchimp to provide our mailing list services. Their privacy policy can be found here

5.4 what to do if you want to get a copy of your data or want your data to be removed

  • All emails sent via our newsletter client will include a link that will allow you to unsubscribe from the mailing list

Notification about change of ownership or of control of data

We may choose to buy or sell assets. In the case that control of data changes to or from Ubiquity Press and a third party, or in the case of change of ownership of Ubiquity Press or of part of the business where the control of personal data is transferred, we will do our best to inform all affected users and present the options.

(Updated: 18 May 2018)