International Journal of Medical Laboratory

 Submission Form Agreement
All Authors must sign “Submission Form Agreement” before the manuscript is processed.
Submission of manuscript
 All manuscripts must be submitted using word-processing software. The manuscript must be typed in double-line spacing and 12 pt Time New Roman with ample margins. The manuscript may be submitted via the International Journal of Medical Laboratory (IJML) online submission system (http://ijml.ssu.ac.ir) or e-mailed to hhadinssu.ac.ir, ijml.officegmail.com. A covering letter should be prepared by the corresponding author to introduce the manuscript briefly and to state that:
 1. The manuscript is the original work of the author(s). All data used in the manuscript must be prepared originally by the author(s).
 2. The manuscript must be checked and approved by all the authors.
 3. The manuscript should not have been published in full or part, elsewhere, and will not be published or submitted for publication elsewhere.
Types of publication: The following types of articles will be considered for publication.
 1. Research Articles: Reports of original and basic studies relatingtomedical laboratory. The reports should be well-documented, novel, and significant. Different parts of such articles should include Abstract, Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion, Conflict of Interest, Acknowledgements and References. Papers should be of a length appropriate for the amount of information they contain.
2. Review Articles: Articles that review a timely subject important to medical laboratory researchers. Reviews must be written as concisely as possible. Different parts of such articles should include Abstract, Introduction, Discussion, Conclusion, Conflict of Interest,Acknowledgementsand References. Text is limited to 4000 words.
3. Letter to the Editor and Opinion: The editors invite the submission of correspondence that presents considered opinions in response to articles published in the journal. The Letter may be sent to the author(s) of the originally published article and possibly to other interested parties for a response to be published in the same issue of the journal as the Letter. This should be prepared in 1000-1500 words.
4. Technical Reports: The objective of Technical Reports is to describe primary research data on a new technique that is likely to be influential in the field of laboratory medicine. Technical reports have a format similar to that of research articles, though many Technical Reports are shorter than a typical article. Technical Reports should include a short abstract followed by separate sections for Introduction, Material and Methods and a combined Results and Discussion section. References are limited to 10.
5. Short Communications: Short Communications are concise manuscripts of two or less journal pages. Short Communications include a short abstract (typically 150 words) followed by separate sections for Introduction, Materials and Methods and a combined Results and Discussion section. This should not have more than one figure and/or table and references are limited to 12.
6. Case Reports: Case reports should include a title, abstract with subheadings of Introduction, Case report, and Conclusion, 3-5 keywords indicated after the Abstract, Introduction detailing the importance and justification for the rareness of the case reported, Case report, Discussion, and References numbered consecutively in the order of citation in the text according to the style specified for the journal.

 Research articles should have the following format:
 Title page
This must include the title of the article, correct authors' names and highest degree of each author, affiliations, complete mailing addresses, fax and telephone numbers of one author who will review the proofs, and suggested running title. The running title should be less than 50 characters.
Abstract
 All original articles must contain a structured abstract of not more than 250 words, organized into four paragraphs, Background and Aims, Materials and Methods, Results and Conclusions. The Abstract should reflect the content of the article accurately.
Key words
A list of 3-6key words, chosen from the MeSH list, is to be provided directly below the abstract.Key words should be specific and relevant to the paper. They should each be arranged in alphabetical order and separated by a comma (,).
Introduction
 State the objectives of the work and provide an adequate background, avoiding a detailed literature survey or a summary of the results.
Materials and Methods
 This should include the study design and exact method or observation or experiment. Provide sufficient detail to allow the work to be reproduced. Methods already published should be indicated by a reference; only relevant modifications should be described.Statistical method must be mentioned and specify any computer program used.
Results
 Results should be clear and concise and must be presented in the form of text,tablesand illustrations. This should include the pertinent findings in logical sequences with tables and figures as necessary. Unnecessary overlap between tables, figures and text should be avoided.
Discussion
 The discussion should set the results in context and set forth the major conclusions of the authors. Emphasize the new and important aspects of the study and the conclusions that follow from them. Information from the Introduction or Results section should not be repeated unless necessary for clarity. Avoid extensive citations and discussion of published literature.
Conclusions
 The main conclusions of the study may be presented in a short conclusions section.
Conflicts of Interest
 Authors must acknowledge and certify that they have no affiliations with or involvement in any organization or entity with any financial interest such as educational grants; membership, employment, consultancies, or patent-licensing arrangements, or non-financial interest such as personal or professional relationships, affiliations, knowledge or beliefs in the subject matter or materials discussed in this manuscript.
Acknowledgments
 All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be covered in this section. Financial and materials support should also be acknowledged. Illustrations from other publications must be acknowledged.
References
 All references must be cited in the text. All references cited in the text should be typed double-spaced in a separate section at the end of the paper and numbered consecutively in the order in which they are cited in the text. Abbreviations should conform to those in Index Medicus. We recommend the use of tools such as Reference Manager for reference management and formatting. Reference Manager reference styles can be searched for here: http://www.refman.com/support/rmstyles.asp
The Reference should provide the following information as stated in the presented models as follows:

 Journal Article
 Mosmann TR, Sad S. The expanding universe of T-cell subsets: Th1, Th2 and more. Immunol Today 1996;17(3):138-146.
Online document
 HadinedoushanH , Abbasirad N , Aflatoonian A , Eslami G. The serum level of transforming growth factor beta1 and its association with Foxp3 gene polymorphism in Iranian women with recurrent spontaneous abortion. Human Fertility 2014, in press.
Book
 McPherson RA, Pincus MR. Henry's Clinical Diagnosis and Management by Laboratory Methods. 22nd ed. Elsevier; 2011.
Book chapter
 Wyllie AH, Kerr JFR, Currie AR. Cell death: the significance of apoptosis. In: Bourne GH, Danielli JF, Jeon KW, editors. International review of cytology. London: Academic; 1980. pp. 251–306.

Tables
Each table should be numbered consecutively with Arabic numerals and typed double-spaced. They should be self-explanatory, clearly arranged, and supplemented to the text. Tables should not duplicate information already included in the text or figures.
Figures
 Cite figures in the text in numerical order using Arabic numerals. Each figure must have a legend that should explain all symbols, values, etc used in the figure. The same data should not be presented in the tables, figures and text, simultaneously. Figures should be submitted as separate files in TIFF or JEPG format and should have a resolution of at least 300 dpi.
Ethics of studies
The respected authors are needed to sincerely observe the following points:

• Acknowledging the authorship criteria addressed by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) including the following elements: 
  • Active contribution of all authors to the study regarding the design of the work, analysis of the data, as well as the interpretation of the results (authenticity of the data is of crucial importance and will be certified by the Editor-in-Chief);
  • Specifying any cooperation in writing or revising the work;
  • Approving the final version of the research;
  • Accountability in terms of accuracy or integrity.
• Approval of the work by the relevant Ethics Committee of the institution/college/university and supplying the ethical code (following the ethical standards of the Helsinki Declaration, as revised in 2013 and available at: https://www.wma.net/policies-post/wma-declaration-of-helsinki-ethical-principles-for-medical-research-involving-human-subjects/ 
• Quoting each and every source of the material used because plagiarism (copying from a previously published work of others or even your own) is a serious offence to the journal and the journal editorship has every right to prosecute the fraudulent officially
• Obtaining the copyright holder's permission if previously published tables, illustrations, figures, or photos are included.
• Omission of the details possibly disclosing the identity of the subjects under the study (Photographs need to be adequately clipped to prevent human subjects being identified).
• Avoiding any fabrication or "intentional misrepresentation of the results" as the author(s) may be demanded to provide the raw data for further investigations.
• Avoiding falsification or "manipulation of the research materials, equipment, or processes, or changing or omission of the data or results". If the case is identified, the journal will consider the issue and acts accordingly. 
• All manuscripts submitted to IJML will be checked after submission and before publication in terms of plagiarism using specific software. Submission of a paper implies that it reports unpublished results that are not under consideration for publication elsewhere. If previously published tables, illustrations, or texts are included, this should be clearly indicated in the manuscrip and the copyright holder's permission must be obtained. Previously published materials can be cited in a later review or commentary article, but it must be indicated using quotation marks if necessary.
• It is crucial to ensure the privacy of research subjects and maintain the confidentiality of their personal information by implementing all necessary precautions.
• Obtaining the informed consent from all human participants in experimental investigations and supplying them on demand
• Complying with the National Institute of Health guidelines in maintaining, caring, and using laboratory animals.
• Informing us about any kinds of financial, personal, political, or academic conflict of interest that would potentially affect our judgment. Authors are preferably asked to fill the uniform disclosure form available from  (http://ijml.ssu.ac.ir/page/21/Submission-Instruction).
• Agreement on the order, addition, or deletion of the names in advance as any change in authorship requires explanation by the corresponding author, signed by all contributors, and emailed to the Editor-in-Chief.

 Committee on Publication Ethics: The journal remains to be a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), but we are committed to implement the principles of it in an attempt to be a member in the future.
Retraction Policy: The IJML uses the COPE flowchart for the retraction of a published article. http://publicationethics.org/resources/guidelines
 Complaint Procedures
The complaint, if any, will be put on the agenda immediately. In any case, the complainant is needed to be aware that the investigation of the subject fails to be processed unless the corresponding author/author and possibly the institution or university at which the research took place

to be informed about the complaint. The following procedures are followed:
How to Make a Complaint
·       The best way to contact us is by email hhadinssu.ac.ir. Complaints should clearly contain the topic, person, or event related to the IJML.
·       Whenever possible, complaints will be processed by the relevant member of the Editorial Board. If that person cannot deal with the complaint, it will be relegated to the Editorial Board of IJML.
·       Complaints not under the control of the IJML Editorial Board will be sent to Paramedical School ResearchEthic Committee. Finally, if complaints are not appropriately addressed by the School Committee, Shahid Sadoughi University Research Ethics Committee will be responsible to resolve the issue.
·       Within four weeks a full response will be made. If this is not possible, an interim response will initially be given in four weeks and other interim responses will be provided until the complaint is resolved.
·       In the case the complainant remains unhappy, complaints will be sent to the chancellor of Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, whose decision ends the procedure.
·       If a complainant remains unhappy after the chancellor’s final decision, he/she may complain to the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). The Committee on Publication Ethics publishes a code of practice for editors of scientific, technical, and medical journals http://www.publicationethics.org. It will consider complaints when a journal cannot reach an agreement through its own procedures.
 Publication Charges
 This is an open access journal and there are no charges for publication in this Journal.
Copyright
 All articles published in the IJML are open access which means the articles are freely available online for anyone to download and use the provided address to the individual authors. In this journal as an open access journal, authors sign a publishing agreement where they will have copyright but grant broad publishing and distribution rights to the publisher, including the right to publish the article on the International Journal of Medical Laboratory's website and choose the end-user license under which readers can use and share the articles. Then the Journal provides the article's online access under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial 4.0 International License.

Archive & Repository Policy

Articles published by IJML are digitally archived on our website under the support of Yektaweb Company as well as in numerous international databases around the world such as Google Scholar, Index Medicus for the Eastern Mediterranean Region (IMEMR), Islamic World Science Citation Center (ISC), and Open Academic Journals Index (OAJI) for visibility and long-term preservation.
Articles published by IJML are also placed in the e-prints repository by our publisher. Authors can publish a final, definitive, and citable version of an article with metadata applied to it during publication in the journal and assigned a DOI (Digital Object Identifier). Authors should link to the address of the published version using the DOI or they can post the PDF article on any non-commercial website and repository by adding the DOI. Article download, Altmetrics data, and citations can all be tracked and categorized using a link containing DOI, and the existence of all these data is necessary to help authors evaluate the effectiveness of their research at the global level.
Peer review process and policy
 By submitting a manuscript to the International Journal of Medical Laboratory, the authors agree to subject it to a confidential peer-review process. Editors and reviewers are informed that the manuscript must be considered confidential. All received articles will undergo double-blind peer review by at least 2 experts in the relevant field. The corresponding author is notified of the editor’s decision to accept, require modification, or reject. If the manuscript is completely acceptable according to the criteria set forth in these instructions, it is scheduled for the next available issue.
Revision
 Manuscripts may be returned to the corresponding author for modification of scientific content and/or for language corrections. Revised manuscripts and a letter listing point-for-point response to the reviewers must be submitted to the Editor. If the manuscript that is returned to the corresponding author for modification is not resubmitted within two months it will be considered as having been withdrawn and any revised version received subsequently will be treated as a new manuscript.
Proofs
 A computer printout will be sent to the corresponding author to be checked for only typographical errors and other small changes before publication in order to avoid any mistakes. Corrected proofs must be returned to the publisher within 2-3 days of receipt. The publisher will do everything possible to ensure prompt publication. It willtherefore be appreciated if the manuscripts and figures conform from the outset to the style of the journal.

 Corresponding Author:
Manuscript Title: Mailing Address:
Phone or Cell phone:
Email:
Check list
 The submission has not been previously published, nor is it submitted to another journal for consideration.
 • All necessary files have been uploaded.
 • The submission file is in Open Office, Microsoft Word, RTF, or WordPerfect document file format.
 • The format of manuscript conforms to the International Journal of Medical Laboratory instructions to authors.
 •Manuscript has been “spell-checked” and “grammar-checked”.
 •Entire manuscript is typed in Times New Romans with the font size of at least 12.
 •Entire manuscript is typed double spaced with margins of at least 2.5 cm for each sides of page one side of A4 paper.
 • Abstract size is not exceeded 250 words.
• All symbols are explained in legends and all symbols in legends appear in figures.
 • References are in the correct format for this journal.
• All references mentioned in the references section list are cited in the text, and vice versa.
 • All human and animal studies are approved by an Institutional Review Board.
• Permission has been obtained for use of copyrighted material from other sources.
 • All listed authors have seen and approved the manuscript.
 • I accept responsibility for the scientific integrity of the work described in this manuscript.
Signature………………………….
                                                                                                    Submitted manuscript to:
 The Editor in Chief, International Journal of Medical laboratory, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, School of Allied Medical Sciences, Daneshjou Boulevard, Yazd, Iran. Website:ijml.ssu.ac.ir, Email: ijml.officegmail.com, hhadinssu.ac.ir
 
                                                                                                Assignment of copyright and authorship responsibility
Must be signed and returned to the editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Medical laboratory before the manuscript can be considered for publication. The undersigned authors hereby affirm that the manuscript entitled: …………………………………………………………………………………………… will not be published elsewhere in any language without the consent of the copyright holder (s).The manuscript is original and that all the statements asserted as facts are based on the author (s) investigation and research. The author(s) have not submitted the same materials or portions thereof for consideration of publication in any other journal for which a decision regarding publication is pending. In signing this form, the author (s) acknowledges that they have participated in the work in a substantive way and are prepared to take full responsibility for the data presented herein.
To be signed by all authors
Full name………………………Date…………………. Signature…………………
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I/We agree with the publication of the above manuscript in International Journal of Medical laboratory as its main author.
Corresponding author full name………………………Date…………………..Signature……….