Author Guidelines

Author’s Guide

The XERON Journal of Medical Research (XJMR) is a peer-reviewed, open-access medical journal published by XERON Medical Research (XMR). The journal considers original and ethically conducted research in clinical medicine, surgery, public health, pharmacology, pathology, cardiology, neurology, medical education, biomedical sciences, and related health disciplines.

XJMR follows the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals issued by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. Authors should consult the latest ICMJE Recommendations when preparing manuscripts. (ICMJE)

The journal is also guided by internationally accepted principles of research integrity, transparency, fairness, accountability, and responsible scholarly publishing. (Publication Ethics)

1. Online Submission

Manuscripts must be submitted through the journal’s online submission system. Submissions sent by email will not ordinarily be processed unless specifically requested by the editorial office.

Authors must:

  1. Register on the XJMR submission platform as an author.

  2. Log in using their username and password.

  3. Start a new submission.

  4. Select the appropriate article category.

  5. Enter complete manuscript metadata.

  6. Upload all required files.

  7. Confirm the submission checklist.

  8. Complete and submit the manuscript for editorial consideration.

XJMR currently accepts manuscripts through its OJS platform and applies double-blind peer review involving at least two external subject experts. (Xeron Club)

2. Conditions of Submission

By submitting a manuscript, the authors confirm that:

  • the work is original;

  • the manuscript has not previously been published in substantially the same form;

  • the manuscript is not under consideration by another journal;

  • all authors have reviewed and approved the submitted version;

  • all listed authors meet the journal’s authorship requirements;

  • the research was conducted in accordance with applicable ethical standards;

  • the data are authentic and have not been fabricated, falsified, or improperly manipulated;

  • all relevant funding and competing interests have been disclosed; and

  • permission has been obtained for any copyrighted material reproduced in the manuscript.

Simultaneous submission of the same manuscript to more than one journal is prohibited. Duplicate publication, plagiarism, data fabrication, falsification, inappropriate image manipulation, and misleading authorship may result in rejection, retraction, notification of relevant institutions, or other action consistent with publication-ethics guidance.

A complete manuscript based on work previously presented as a conference abstract may be considered, provided that the full article has not already been published and the earlier presentation is disclosed in the title page and cover letter.

3. Types of Manuscripts

XJMR may consider the following article categories:

  • Original Research Articles

  • Clinical Trials

  • Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses

  • Narrative Reviews

  • Case Reports

  • Case Series

  • Short Communications

  • Brief Reports

  • Medical Education Research

  • Public Health Research

  • Editorials

  • Letters to the Editor

  • Correspondence

  • Research Protocols, when approved by the editorial office

The editorial team may reclassify a submission when another article category is more appropriate.

4. Reporting Guidelines

Authors should follow the reporting guideline appropriate to their study design and upload the relevant completed checklist where applicable.

Examples include:

  • CONSORT for randomised controlled trials

  • STROBE for observational studies

  • PRISMA for systematic reviews and meta-analyses

  • CARE for case reports

  • STARD for diagnostic-accuracy studies

  • TRIPOD for prediction-model studies

  • SQUIRE for quality-improvement studies

  • COREQ for qualitative interview and focus-group studies

  • ARRIVE for animal research

  • SPIRIT for clinical-trial protocols

The EQUATOR Network maintains a searchable collection of reporting guidelines for health research. (Equator Network)

5. Manuscript Files

Authors should upload the following files separately.

A. Title Page

The title page must contain:

  • complete manuscript title;

  • short running title;

  • full names of all authors;

  • institutional affiliations of all authors;

  • department, institution, city, and country;

  • email addresses of all authors;

  • ORCID identifiers, where available;

  • corresponding author’s full postal address, email address, and telephone number;

  • word count;

  • number of tables and figures;

  • source of funding;

  • conflict-of-interest declaration;

  • acknowledgments;

  • previous presentation of the work, where applicable;

  • clinical-trial registration number, where applicable; and

  • data-availability statement.

The title page must be uploaded separately and should not be included in the blinded manuscript file.

B. Blinded Manuscript

The main manuscript file must not contain:

  • author names;

  • institutional affiliations;

  • contact details;

  • acknowledgments identifying the authors or their institutions; or

  • other information that could reveal the authors’ identities.

This requirement supports the journal’s double-blind peer-review process.

C. Supplementary Files

Depending on the study, supplementary files may include:

  • ethical approval or exemption letter;

  • informed-consent form or consent-for-publication statement;

  • completed reporting checklist;

  • trial-registration documentation;

  • study questionnaire or data-collection instrument;

  • supplementary tables or figures;

  • dataset or data dictionary;

  • author declaration and licence-to-publish form;

  • permissions for reproduced material; and

  • suggested-reviewer document.

6. General Manuscript Format

Manuscripts should be prepared in Microsoft Word or another compatible editable document format.

Use the following formatting:

  • A4 page size

  • 12-point readable font

  • Double line spacing

  • Continuous line numbering

  • Page numbers

  • Standard margins

  • Left-aligned text

  • Italics rather than underlining, except where underlining forms part of a web address

  • Standard international units of measurement

Do not submit the manuscript as a PDF unless the editorial office specifically requests it.

Abbreviations should be defined at first use. Avoid unnecessary abbreviations. Generic names of medicines should normally be used. Brand names may be included in parentheses when relevant to the study.

7. Manuscript Title

The title should be concise, informative, and scientifically accurate. It should identify the main study question, population, exposure or intervention, and study design where appropriate.

Avoid:

  • unsupported conclusions;

  • unnecessary abbreviations;

  • institutional names;

  • promotional wording;

  • excessive punctuation; and

  • statements such as “first study” unless this can be reliably established.

8. Abstract

Original research articles should include a structured abstract under the following headings:

  • Objective

  • Methodology

  • Results

  • Conclusion

The abstract should contain sufficient numerical information to support the principal findings. Report effect estimates, confidence intervals, and p-values where relevant.

Systematic reviews should use a structured abstract appropriate to the review design.

Case reports may use:

  • Background

  • Case Presentation

  • Conclusion

Do not include references, unexplained abbreviations, tables, figures, or unsupported claims in the abstract.

Clinical-trial registration numbers should be provided at the end of the abstract where applicable.

9. Keywords

Provide three to six keywords below the abstract. Authors are encouraged to select terms from recognised medical subject-heading systems where appropriate.

Keywords should not simply repeat all the words already used in the title.

10. Original Research Articles

Original research manuscripts should normally follow this structure:

Introduction

The introduction should:

  • explain the scientific or clinical problem;

  • summarise relevant evidence;

  • identify the knowledge gap;

  • provide the rationale for the study; and

  • state a clear objective or hypothesis.

Avoid an extensive literature review.

Methodology

The methodology section should provide sufficient detail for the work to be evaluated and, where possible, reproduced.

Include:

  • study design;

  • study setting;

  • study period;

  • participants;

  • inclusion and exclusion criteria;

  • sampling technique;

  • sample-size calculation;

  • study variables;

  • operational definitions;

  • data-collection procedure;

  • measurement methods;

  • ethical approval;

  • informed-consent process;

  • strategies used to address bias;

  • statistical methods; and

  • statistical software and version.

Authors should distinguish between analyses planned before examining the data and any exploratory or post hoc analyses.

Results

Present findings in a logical order corresponding to the study objectives.

The Results section should:

  • describe participant recruitment and analysis;

  • provide relevant descriptive statistics;

  • report denominators for percentages;

  • include effect estimates and confidence intervals;

  • report exact p-values where practical;

  • avoid repeating every value from tables in the text; and

  • avoid interpreting the findings.

Discussion

The Discussion should:

  • begin with the principal findings;

  • interpret the results in relation to the study objective;

  • compare the findings with relevant evidence;

  • explain plausible differences from earlier studies;

  • discuss clinical or scientific implications;

  • acknowledge limitations;

  • avoid unsupported causal claims; and

  • identify reasonable directions for future research.

Conclusion

The conclusion should be directly supported by the study findings. It should not introduce new results or make recommendations that extend beyond the evidence.

11. Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses

Systematic reviews should follow the applicable PRISMA guidance.

The manuscript should include:

  • review question;

  • eligibility criteria;

  • information sources;

  • complete search strategy;

  • study-selection process;

  • risk-of-bias assessment;

  • data-extraction methods;

  • synthesis methods;

  • assessment of heterogeneity;

  • certainty-of-evidence assessment, where applicable; and

  • protocol-registration information.

The complete search strategy for at least one database should be provided in the manuscript or supplementary material.

12. Case Reports and Case Series

Case reports should follow the CARE reporting guideline.

The manuscript should normally include:

  • Abstract

  • Introduction

  • Case Presentation

  • Investigations

  • Differential Diagnosis, where relevant

  • Treatment or Intervention

  • Outcome and Follow-up

  • Discussion

  • Conclusion

  • Patient Perspective, where available

  • Informed Consent Statement

Written consent for publication must be obtained from the patient or legally authorised representative. The manuscript must not contain unnecessary identifying information.

13. Tables

Tables should:

  • be numbered consecutively;

  • have a clear and descriptive title;

  • be understandable without extensive reference to the text;

  • use appropriate column headings;

  • define all abbreviations in footnotes;

  • report units clearly; and

  • avoid duplicating information presented in figures.

Authors should create tables using the Word table function rather than submitting them as images.

Statistical measures should be clearly identified. Use consistent decimal places within each table.

14. Figures and Images

Figures should be numbered consecutively according to their first citation in the text.

Each figure must have:

  • a concise caption;

  • clearly labelled axes;

  • defined symbols and abbreviations;

  • appropriate units; and

  • sufficient image quality for publication.

Photographs of patients must not reveal identity unless identification is scientifically essential and written consent for publication has been obtained.

Image enhancement must not obscure, remove, introduce, or misrepresent information. Adjustments to brightness, contrast, or colour must be applied consistently to the entire image. Any substantive image processing should be disclosed.

15. References

XJMR uses the Vancouver referencing style.

References should:

  • be numbered consecutively in the order in which they first appear;

  • be cited in the text using Arabic numerals;

  • use official journal abbreviations where available;

  • include the DOI when available;

  • be checked against the original publication; and

  • contain only sources directly relevant to the manuscript.

Authors are responsible for the accuracy and completeness of all references.

Unpublished observations and personal communications should not ordinarily be included in the reference list. Preprints should be clearly identified as preprints.

16. Research Ethics

Research involving human participants, identifiable human material, or identifiable health data must have approval from an appropriate ethics committee or institutional review board before the research begins, unless the committee formally determines that the study is exempt.

Authors must provide:

  • name of the approving committee;

  • approval number;

  • approval date, where available; and

  • informed-consent statement.

A copy of the approval or exemption letter should be uploaded as a supplementary file.

For retrospective record reviews, audits, surveys, and similar studies, authors must provide evidence of ethical approval or formal exemption where required by institutional or national rules.

Research involving animals must have approval from the appropriate animal ethics committee and should follow accepted animal-welfare and reporting standards.

17. Clinical-Trial Registration

Prospective clinical trials must be registered in a publicly accessible trial registry at or before the enrolment of the first participant.

The registration number and registry name should appear:

  • on the title page;

  • at the end of the abstract; and

  • in the methodology section.

The ICMJE recommends prospective registration of clinical trials as a condition of consideration for publication. (ICMJE)

18. Authorship and Contributorship

Authorship should be based on the current ICMJE authorship criteria.

Each author should have:

  1. made a substantial contribution to the conception or design of the work, or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data;

  2. contributed to drafting the manuscript or revising it critically;

  3. approved the final version; and

  4. agreed to be accountable for the work.

Individuals who do not meet all authorship criteria should be acknowledged rather than listed as authors.

The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that:

  • all eligible contributors are included;

  • no ineligible person is listed;

  • all authors approve the submission;

  • all disclosures are complete; and

  • communication with the journal is shared with the co-authors.

The ICMJE provides current guidance on authorship, contributorship, and disclosure of AI-assisted technologies. (ICMJE)

19. Use of Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence tools cannot be listed as authors because they cannot assume responsibility for the work.

Authors must disclose the use of generative artificial intelligence or AI-assisted tools when these have been used to:

  • generate or substantially revise text;

  • analyse data;

  • create images;

  • produce code;

  • perform translations; or

  • assist with other substantive components of the manuscript.

The disclosure should identify:

  • the tool used;

  • the version, where known;

  • the purpose for which it was used; and

  • the extent of human verification.

Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, integrity, citations, and confidentiality of submitted content.

Routine spelling, grammar, and reference-management software does not normally require disclosure unless it materially influences the manuscript.

20. Plagiarism and Similarity Screening

All submissions may be screened using recognised similarity-detection software.

XJMR currently states a general similarity target below 15%, with similarity from a single source below 5%. However, similarity scores are interpreted in context and do not by themselves establish plagiarism or originality. Properly quoted material, standard methodological language, references, and legitimate overlap may affect the report. (Xeron Club)

The journal does not accept:

  • plagiarism;

  • text recycling without disclosure;

  • fabricated or falsified data;

  • manipulated results;

  • deceptive image alteration;

  • undisclosed duplicate publication; or

  • manuscripts prepared from fabricated or dummy datasets.

21. Conflicts of Interest

All authors must disclose financial and non-financial interests that could reasonably be perceived as influencing the work.

Examples include:

  • employment;

  • consultancies;

  • honoraria;

  • grants;

  • stock ownership;

  • patents;

  • personal relationships;

  • institutional roles; and

  • academic or professional competition.

Where no competing interest exists, authors should state:

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

22. Funding

All financial and material support must be disclosed.

The funding statement should include:

  • name of the funding organisation;

  • grant number, where applicable; and

  • role of the funder in study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, manuscript preparation, and publication decisions.

Where no specific funding was received, state:

The authors received no specific funding for this work.

23. Data Availability

Authors should provide a data-availability statement describing whether the data supporting the findings are:

  • publicly available;

  • available from the corresponding author on reasonable request;

  • restricted because of ethical, legal, or confidentiality requirements; or

  • not applicable.

Authors must not publicly release identifiable or inadequately de-identified patient information.

24. Suggested Reviewers

Authors should suggest at least two potential reviewers with appropriate subject expertise.

For each suggested reviewer, provide:

  • full name;

  • designation;

  • institution;

  • country;

  • institutional email address; and

  • area of expertise.

Suggested reviewers should:

  • not be authors or contributors to the manuscript;

  • not belong to the same department or institution as the authors;

  • not have a recent close collaboration with the authors;

  • not have a personal or financial conflict of interest; and

  • be capable of providing an independent assessment.

The editorial team is not required to invite any suggested reviewer.

25. Peer Review and Editorial Decision

After submission, manuscripts undergo an initial editorial assessment for:

  • journal scope;

  • completeness;

  • originality;

  • ethical compliance;

  • reporting quality;

  • language and presentation; and

  • methodological suitability.

Manuscripts passing initial screening are generally evaluated through double-blind peer review by at least two external reviewers. The Editor-in-Chief or delegated editor makes the final decision after considering the reviewers’ reports and the manuscript’s scientific quality. (Xeron Club)

Possible decisions include:

  • Accept

  • Minor Revision

  • Major Revision

  • Reject and Resubmit

  • Reject

Acceptance is not guaranteed, and editorial decisions remain independent of the publisher’s research-support services.

26. Revised Manuscripts

Authors submitting a revision should provide:

  1. a clean revised manuscript;

  2. a marked or tracked-changes version;

  3. a detailed point-by-point response to every reviewer and editor comment; and

  4. any newly requested supporting documents.

Each response should identify the location of the corresponding revision by page, paragraph, or line number.

Where authors disagree with a comment, they should provide a clear scientific explanation supported by evidence.

27. Copyright and Open Access

XJMR publishes articles under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence (CC BY 4.0).

Under this licence, published material may be shared and adapted, including for commercial purposes, provided that appropriate credit is given, the licence is identified, and any changes are indicated. (Creative Commons)

Authors retain copyright in their work and grant XJMR a non-exclusive licence to publish, distribute, archive, and identify itself as the original publisher.

Accordingly, the author form should preferably be titled:

Author Declaration and Licence to Publish Form

rather than “Copyright Transfer Form,” unless XJMR formally decides to require transfer of copyright.

28. Article Processing Charges

XJMR currently charges:

  • No manuscript submission fee

  • No article publication fee

The journal website should be updated promptly if this policy changes. (Xeron Club)

29. Submission Preparation Checklist

Before completing submission, authors must confirm that:

  • The manuscript has not been previously published.

  • The manuscript is not under consideration elsewhere.

  • All authors meet the authorship criteria.

  • All authors have approved the submitted version.

  • A separate title page has been uploaded.

  • The main manuscript has been anonymised.

  • The manuscript is in an editable Word-compatible format.

  • The text is double-spaced and line-numbered.

  • The abstract and keywords comply with the article type.

  • Tables and figures are numbered and cited in the text.

  • References follow Vancouver style.

  • Ethical approval or exemption documentation has been uploaded where applicable.

  • Patient consent has been obtained where required.

  • Trial-registration details have been provided where applicable.

  • Funding and competing interests have been disclosed.

  • A data-availability statement has been included.

  • The relevant reporting checklist has been uploaded.

  • Suggested-reviewer details have been uploaded.

  • Permission has been obtained for reproduced copyrighted material.

  • The Author Declaration and Licence to Publish Form has been completed.

  • Any use of AI-assisted technologies has been disclosed.

  • The manuscript has been checked for language, accuracy, and completeness.

Submissions that do not comply with these requirements may be returned to the authors before peer review.

30. Privacy Statement

Names, email addresses, affiliations, telephone numbers, and other personal information entered into the journal system will be used only for legitimate editorial, peer-review, publication, indexing, and journal-administration purposes.

Personal information will not be sold or disclosed to unrelated third parties except where required:

  • to process the manuscript;

  • to investigate suspected misconduct;

  • to comply with legal obligations; or

  • with the individual’s consent.

Authors are responsible for ensuring that manuscripts and supplementary files do not contain unnecessary personal or identifying information.