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Instructions to Authors
Included here is an abbreviated version of the
instructions. Those planning on submitting manu-
scripts should visit jima.imana.org, click on About and
read Online Submissions.
JIMA accepts original and review articles, updates
in different medical disciplines, case reports, and let-
ters to the editors. JIMA also welcomes articles deal-
ing with medical ethics in general and Islamic medical
ethics in particular. JIMA solicits and publishes arti-
cles about Islamic medicine and the history of medi-
cine, particularly the contributions of Muslim physi-
cians, both historical and contemporary.
The manuscript should not have been previously
published. Nor should the manuscripts be under con-
sideration by other journals. Prior presentation(s),
meeting(s), or publication of an abstract do not pre-
clude submission to JIMA.
Authors should submit a statement indicating that
their opinions do not reflect the opinions or policies of
the institutions with which they are affiliated, if
required by those institutions.
Authors are also expected to submit a statement
informing the editor of any commercial association
that might pose a conflict of interest.
Below are the guidelines for authors wishing to
submit articles to be considered for publication in
JIMA. These generally conform to the “Uniform
Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to
Biomedical Journals,” established by the International
Committee of Medical Journal Editors
(www.icmje.org).
Submission of Manuscript
Manuscripts must be submitted online at
jima.imana.org. For technical assistance, contact the
assistant editor at jima@imana.org or at +1
706.284.3002.
Manuscripts are sent to outside reviewers.
Authors are usually notified within eight (8) weeks
about the results of the review process. If revisions
are suggested, the authors should send their revi-
sions/responses in a timely manner, as specified in
the JIMA notification.
When a manuscript is submitted and accepted for
publication, the author transfers copyright ownership
rights to the Islamic Medical Association of North
America (IMANA). Details of JIMA’s copyright policy
are available at jima.imana.org.
JIMA: Volume 42, 2010 - Page 2
Manuscript Preparation
1. Manuscripts should be submitted in Microsoft Word
2003 format.
2. The body of the manuscript should contain its title,
an abstract (see below) and key words, the text,
acknowledgements, references, legends of tables
and figures. This file should contain no information
that can identify the authors.
3. Each figure and table must be submitted separate-
ly as a supplementary file. Graphics must be
grayscale with resolution greater than or equal to 300
dpi. In addition, each table’s data should be submitted
as a supplementary file. These supplementary files
may be made available on the web site at the editor’s
discretion. These files should contain no information
identifying the authors.
3. A title page should be submitted as a supplemen-
tary file. This page should contain: (a) the title of the
article, (b) names of all authors (first name, middle ini-
tial, and then last name), (c) highest degrees of each
of the author(s), (d) name(s) and address(s) of the
institution(s) at which the study was conducted, (e)
institutional affiliations of the author(s), if different
from (c) (f), acknowledgement of source(s) of finan-
cial support, if any, and (g) the preferred method of
reader contact with the corresponding author.
4. The abstract should be limited to 150 words and
double-spaced, with the required margins and head-
ed by the title of the article. Below the abstract, list
three to five key words or short phrases for indexing
purposes. Whenever possible, use the terms from the
Medical Subjects list of Index Medicus.
A structured abstract is to be used for regular arti-
cles and is to contain the following major headings:
Objective(s): Reflects the purpose of the study, that
is, the hypothesis that is being tested.
Study Design: Include the setting for the study, the
subjects (number and type), the treatment or inter-
vention, and the type of statistical analysis.
Results: Include the outcome of the study and statis-
tical significance, if appropriate.
Conclusion(s): States the significance of the results. A
standard abstract is required for other types of
papers, for example, Case Reports and Review
Articles.
5. The manuscript text should usually be divided into
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the following headings: Introduction, Materials and
Methods, Results, and Discussion.
The introduction should state the purpose of the
article, summarize the rationale for the study, and cite
only the most pertinent references as background.
The Materials and Methods section should detail
the selection process of experimental subjects,
including controls, the use of experimental animals,
and identify the procedures used, including the statis-
tical methods, in sufficient detail to permit others to
replicate the study. It should also address Institutional
Review Board issues as stated in the Human and
non-Human Experimentation section of this docu-
ment.
Results should be presented in logical sequence
in the text, tables, and figures. Tables and figures
should supplement, not duplicate, the text.
Discussion should emphasize the new and impor-
tant aspects of the study and its conclusions. Limit
your opinions to those strictly indicated by the facts in
your report. New hypotheses should be stated clear-
ly, when warranted.
Quoting Qur’anic verses and Ahadith is encour-
aged in both the introduction and discussion sections.
The quotation should be on a separate line in the text.
It should be given a reference number in the text and
listed in the reference section. See examples in the
References section.
6. Use standard abbreviations only. Abbreviations
should not be used in the title and should be avoided
as much as possible in the abstracts. In the text,
abbreviations should be kept to a practical minimum.
The full term for which a given abbreviation stands
should precede its first use in the text, unless it is a
standard unit of measurement. Consult Scientific
Style and Format by the Council of Science Editors
(www.councilscienceeditors.org) or the American
Medical Association’s Manual of Style.
7. Use generic names of medications and use the
metric or international System of Units (S.I. for
Systeme Internationale).
8. In the Acknowledgments section, acknowledge
only persons who have made substantial contribu-
tions to the study.
9. References should be numbered consecutively as
they appear in the text. Use the format of the Uniform
Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to
Biomedical Journal (www.icmje.org). Journal titles
should conform to abbreviations used in Cumulated
Index Medicus.
a. Standard journal article: List all authors if three
or fewer. If more than three, list the first three-
authors followed by et al. Halpern SD, Ubel PA,
Caplan AL. Solid-organ transplantation in HIV-
infected patients. N Engl J Med. 2002 Jul
25;347(4):284-7.
b. Organization as author: Diabetes Prevention
Program Research Group. Hypertension,
insulin, and proinsulin in participants with
impaired glucose tolerance. Hypertension.
2002;40(5):679-86.
c. No author given: 21st century heart solution
may have a sting in the tail. BMJ.
2002;325(7357):184.
d. Personal author(s) of books and monographs:
Murray PR, Rosenthal KS, Kobayashi GS,
Pfaller MA. Medical microbiology. 4th ed. St.
Louis: Mosby; 2002.
e. Editor(s), compiler(s) as author: Gilstrap LC
3rd, Cunningham FG, VanDorsten JP, editors.
Operative obstetrics. 2nd ed. New York:
McGraw-Hill; 2002.
f. Author(s) and editor(s): Breedlove GK,
Schorfheide AM. Adolescent pregnancy. 2nd
ed. Wieczorek RR, editor. White Plains (NY):
March of Dimes Education Services; 2001.
g. Chapter in a book: Meltzer PS, Kallioniemi A,
Trent JM. Chromosome alterations in human
solid tumors. In: Vogelstein B, Kinzler KW, edi-
tors. The genetic basis of human cancer. New
York: McGraw-Hill; 2002. p. 93-113.
h. Conference proceedings: Harnden P, Joffe JK,
Jones WG, editors. Germ cell tumours V.
Proceedings of the 5th Germ Cell Tumour
Conference; 2001 Sep 13-15; Leeds, UK. New
York: Springer; 2002.
i. Newspaper article: Tynan T. Medical improve-
ments lower homicide rate: study sees drop in
assault rate. The Washington Post. 2002 Aug
12;Sect. A:2 (col. 4).
j. Audiovisual material: Chason KW, Sallustio S.
Hospital preparedness for bioterrorism [video-
cassette]. Secaucus (NJ): Network for
Continuing Medical Education; 2002.
k. In press: Tian D, Araki H, Stahl E, Bergelson J,
Kreitman M. Signature of balancing selection in
Arabidopsis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. In press
2002.
l. Homepage/web site: Cancer-Pain.org [home-
page on the Internet]. New York: Association of
Cancer Online Resources, Inc.; c2000-01
[updated 2002 May 16; cited 2002 Jul 9].
Available from: http://www.cancer-pain.org/.
m. Qur’anic Verse: The Glorious Qur’an Chapter
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40, Verse 68.
n. Hadith from printed volume: Ibn Hajar al-
‘Asqalani. Fath al-Bari bi-Sharh Sahih al-
Bukhari (The Creator’s Inspiration in
Interpreting the Verified Collection of al-
Bukhari). Cairo, Egypt: Al-Bahiyyah Egyptian
Press; 1930. Vol 11, p. 405.
o. Hadith from database: Sahih Al-Bukhari, Book
79, Kitaab al-Tibb, Chapter 1, Hadith 5354. [on-
line] Available from: http://www.muhaddith.org.
10. Number the tables consecutively, and use Arabic
numerals. Each table must be cited in sequence at an
appropriate point in the text. Each table has to have a
caption. These should be brief yet indicate closely the
purpose or content of the table. Each column should
be precisely defined by headings. Abbreviations and
special designations should be explained in a footnote
to the table.
11. The term figure includes all types of illustrations
such as graphs, diagrams, photographs, flow charts,
and line drawings. A reasonable number of black and
white figures will be reproduced without charge. Color
should be used in illustrations only when it illustrates a
point that cannot be made in black and white. Color
figures may not be reproduced in the print edition, but
may be available in the electronic edition. Figures
must be cited consecutively in the text with Arabic
numerals. Figures should be 12.5 cm by 17.5 cm (5
inches by 7 inches). Consistency in size is strongly
preferred. Any special instructions regarding sizing
JIMA: Volume 42, 2010 - Page 4
should be clearly noted. Freehand lettering on the fig-
ure is not acceptable. All lettering must be in propor-
tion to the drawing, graph, or photograph. Figure leg-
ends should not appear on the figure.
Illustrations should be professionally created.
Photographs must be sharp and glossy. If photo-
graphs of patients are used, either the subjects should
not be identifiable or written permission to reproduce
them should accompany the submission.
12. When reporting experiments on human subjects,
include in the Materials and Methods section that the
study was approved by the authority on human exper-
imentation of the institution in which the study was per-
formed. Also indicate that the procedures followed
were in accord with the ethical standards of the
Helsinki Declaration (JAMA, 1997;277:925-6). In the
case of experimentation on animals, indicate in the
Materials and Methods section that the National
Research Council’s guide for the care and use of lab-
oratory animals was followed and that the approval of
the local institution was obtained.
13. Direct quotations, tables, or figures that have
appeared in copyrighted material must be accompa-
nied by written permission for their use from the copy-
right owner and original author along with complete
reference information.
14. Author(s) is/are responsible for all the statements
made in his/their work, including changes made by the
copy editor.