Submissions

Author Guidelines

Submission:  (Quick Manuscript Preparation Guidelines)

Guidelines to Authors

Full-text manuscripts should be submitted by one of the authors (considered as corresponding author) of the manuscript through the online submission system which can be accessed after registering as an author on this website. Corresponding authors must fill all the necessary meta-data relevant to the submission. It is suggested that before starting the submission, authors must read carefully all the instruction and policies pertaining to the journal. It is assumed that by submitting the paper, authors agree with all the policies and guidelines of the journal.  

Only electronic submissions are accepted to facilitate rapid publication and minimize administrative costs. Submissions by anyone other than one of the authors will not be accepted. The corresponding author takes responsibility for the paper during submission and peer review. It is also the responsibility of the corresponding author to keep informed other authors (co-authors) of the paper about the status of the paper from time-to-time.

Terms of Submission and Copyright Transfer Agreement

The paper must be submitted on the understanding that they have not been published elsewhere (except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture, review, or thesis, or as preliminary version in the form of a conference paper) and are not currently under consideration by another conference / journal by any other publisher. The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that the article's publication has been approved by all the other co-authors of the paper. Further correspondence and proofs will be sent to the author(s) before publication unless otherwise indicated. It is a condition of submission of a paper that the authors permit editing of the paper for readability, and if needed for correct language also.

Peer review

All manuscripts are subjected to double-blind peer review and are expected to meet standards of academic excellence. There is only one anonymised review procedure used by this journal. Our editors will first evaluate the submission to check if it is appropriate for this journal. The submission will normally be sent to at least two reviewers for an independent expert evaluation of the scientific quality if it is judged appropriate. The editors will make the final decision about the acceptance or rejection of your article.

Open Access and Article Processing Charges

Since NUJPS is an open access journal, access to everyone for its contents is free without any charge. The journal does not charge any article processing/publication fess or any other hidden fees for publication of the articles.

Authorship and Changes to Authorship

Each author should have contributed significantly to the study's idea and design, data collection, analysis and interpretation. Additionally, help with the article's draughting or critical revisions for significant intellectual substance and final approval of the supplied version. To guarantee that any concerns regarding the integrity or accuracy of any portion of the work are suitably looked into and addressed, all writers should consent to take responsibility for every facet of the work.

After a manuscript has been submitted, changes to authorship will not be taken into consideration by NUJPS editors. The authorship list and author order should be carefully considered by the writers, and a definite author list should be provided at the time of original submission.

Declaration of Interest, Funding Sources and Generative AI in Scientific Writing

• Any financial or personal relationships to other individuals or groups that can improperly affect or skew their work must be disclosed by all authors. Consultancies, employment, grants or financing honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications or registrations, and stock ownership are a few examples of possible conflicting interests. The statement "I have nothing to declare" should be declared by authors who have no conflicting interests to disclose.
• When submitting their work, authors are required to disclose the use of generative AI in scientific writing. If the writers have used any AI tools or services, they have to mention the name of the tool/service and reason for using the same. Following the use of this tool or service, the author or authors took full responsibility for the content of the published article and reviewed and edited it as necessary. Authors don't need to include a statement if there is nothing to reveal.

Please note: This journal presently prohibits reviewers and editors from using generative AI or AI-assisted technologies during the peer review and manuscript evaluation process in order to safeguard authors' rights and the privacy of their research.

Ethics in Preclinical and Clinical Studies

For research involving both humans and animals, authors are required to adhere to ethical standards. A declaration that all procedures were carried out in accordance with applicable laws and institutional norms and have been authorised by the relevant institutional body or committees must be included in manuscripts. The protocols for animal/human experimentation must be approved by institutional committee. The date and reference number of the ethical approval or approvals should be included in the statement.

• The ARRIVE (Animal Research: Reporting of In Vivo Experiments) guidelines should be followed in all animal experiments. The NIH (National Research Council) Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, EU Directive 2010/63 for the protection of animals used for scientific purposes and guidance on the operation of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 and related guidelines, or those of an equivalent internationally recognised body, should all be followed when conducting studies.
• The World Medical Association's Declaration of Helsinki: Ethical norms for medical research involving human subjects should be followed while conducting any work that uses humans. In addition to aiming to be representative of human populations in terms of sex, age, and ethnicity, manuscripts should adhere to the guidelines set forth by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) for the conduct, reporting, editing, and publication of scholarly work in medical journals. According to WHO guidelines, sex and gender words should be used appropriately.

Plagiarism

It is strongly suggested that authors must themselves do the similarity index check of their manuscript prior to its initial submissions for the Journal. The paper shall be properly modified to bring the similarity index below 10%. This will help saving time at both the sides and lead to fast review process. The manuscripts with more than 10% similarity index will not be considered for review process.

Preparation of Manuscript

File format

Provide all of your submission's as editable source files, including text images, tables, and figures. Only electronic files with .doc, .docx, and .pdf can be uploaded. Organise the text using page numbers and a single column. The text should 1.5 spaced using a 12-point Times New Roman font and employs italics rather than underlining (except with URL addresses).

Language and Grammar

The language of the manuscript should be English. Many a times it is observed that authors do not take adequate care of using proper grammar and overlook the linguistic flow of the paper. Majority of papers are rejected not only because of the poor technical content, but due to lack of proper presentation also. It is strongly suggested to authors that they must look into this aspect and prepare the manuscript error free as far as language is concerned. Poor grammatical representation clearly indicates immature paper writing skills. Writing a paper is an iterative task, precise use of words, presentation by self-explanatory figures, sound mathematical analysis of the concept, modelling and simulation studies, and validation of the concept by experimental results need through structuring of the paper. Initial submission must be prepared taking all such care for seamless review process and fast acceptance of the paper. Author should ask an English-speaking colleague to proofread your paper. Papers that fail to meet basic standards of literacy are likely to be unsubmitted by the Editorial Office. 

Abbreviations

Abbreviations are used to improve readability and conciseness, especially when terms are mentioned frequently. Abbreviations should be defined at first mention in text of manuscript.

Units of Measurement

Units of measurement should be presented simply and concisely using System International (SI) units.

Title Page

Authors are required to include the following details in the title page information:

• Article title: Concise and informative.
• Author names. Provide the given name and family name of each author. The order of authors should match the order in the submission system
• Author affiliations. Below the names of the authors, include affiliation addresses that indicate the location of the work. A lower-case superscript number should be used to indicate affiliations right after the author's name and before the relevant address. Make sure to include each affiliation's complete mailing address, along with the name of the country and, if possible, each author's email address.
• Corresponding author. Make it clear who will be in charge of your article's correspondence during the entire refereeing, publication and post-publication processes. This duty includes responding to any follow-up questions on your data, methods, materials and results. It's important to have your corresponding author's email address and contact information current throughout the submission and publication processes.
• It is compulsory to add the ORCID of first author and corresponding author.

Abstract

The goal of your study, key findings, and important conclusions should all be succinctly stated in the abstract. The abstract should be no more than 250 words. Since abstracts are presented independently of the article, they must be self-contained. Also, don't include references in the abstract.

Keywords

You are required to provide one to six keywords for indexing purposes just below the abstract.

Research Article

A Research paper typically should include the following order: Title Page, Abstract, Keywords, Introduction, Material and Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion, Acknowledgments (If any), References, Tables and/or Figures (to be kept at appropriate places in the manuscript along with captions and figure legends and not at the end).

Introduction: The introduction section should explain the background to the study, a summary of the existing literature and why this study was necessary. Also, briefly the aims and objectives of the study should be indicated in the last paragraph of introduction section.

Materials and Methods: This section should include the design and setting of the study, the characteristics of participants or description of materials and a clear description of all processes, interventions and comparisons. Generic names should generally be used. When proprietary brands are used in research, include the brand names in parentheses. Also, the type of statistical analysis used, should be mentioned.

Results: This should include the study's major findings, including any applicable statistical analysis results that need to be presented in the text or as tables and figures.

Discussion: This portion of research articles should identify the study's limitations and address the findings' implications in light of previous research. For study protocols and methodology articles, this section should address any operational or practical concerns that arise during the study's execution, as well as any topics that aren't addressed in other sections.

Conclusions: This should clearly outline the key findings and explain the significance and applicability of the research to the field.

Review Articles

Keep the words limited to 3,500-5,000. It is expected that articles would be written by individuals who have done substantial work on the subject or are considered experts in the field. A summary of the work done by the contributor(s) in the field of review should accompany the manuscript. Ensure the review addresses a comprehensive overview of current knowledge, controversies, and gaps in a specific field. Conduct a thorough and balanced analysis of recent, high-quality sources relevant to the topic. Use of tables and figures are encouraged to present data and summarize information clearly, enhancing readability. Go beyond summarizing findings by providing critical insights and identifying future research directions. The manuscript should have an unstructured abstract representing an accurate summary of the article. The section titles would depend upon the topic reviewed. Authors submitting review articles should include a section describing the methods used for locating, selecting, extracting, and synthesizing data. These methods should also be summarized in the abstract. The manuscript may have sufficient references.

Short Communication

Keep the manuscript concise, generally under 1,500-2,000 words, including references. Include a brief, clear abstract summarizing key findings. Follow the journal’s requirement same as per a research article. Focus on novel findings, methodology, or preliminary results, without extensive background. Limit the number of tables and figures to one each.

Mini Review

Limit the review to around 2,000-2,500 words, including references tables and figures. Provide a concise abstract summarizing the review’s scope and main points. Focus on recent advancements, highlighting critical insights and emerging trends in the field. Use clear headings and subheadings to organize topics; ensure a logical flow of information. Limit the number of tables and figures to one each.

Case Study

Keep the case study concise, usually within 1,500-2,000 words, including references and figures. Include a brief, structured abstract outlining the case, diagnosis, and conclusions. Obtain and document informed consent if patient information is included, following ethical guidelines. Organize the manuscript into clear sections: Introduction, Case Presentation, Discussion, and Conclusion. Emphasize unique aspects or learning points of the case, highlighting its clinical significance.

Letter to Editor

Limit the letter to 500-800 words, with no more than 5 references. Address specific points from a recent article or provide brief insights or commentary on relevant topics. Begin with a clear statement of the topic or article in question, followed by your comments or findings. Maintain a professional and respectful tone, focusing on constructive criticism or discussion.

Book Review

Keep the review concise, typically between 500-1,500 words. Briefly summarize the book’s main themes, purpose, and target audience. Offer a balanced critique, assessing strengths, weaknesses, and the book's contribution to its field. Organize with an introduction to the book, a critical evaluation, and a concluding remark on its relevance. Disclose any potential conflicts of interest, especially if connected to the author or publisher.

Tables

Tables cannot be supplied as images; they must be submitted as editable text. Place tables next to the relevant text in the manuscript and cite all tables in the manuscript text. Provide captions along with the tables and number tables consecutively according to their appearance in the text.

Figures

Provide TIFF, JPG or PNG files using a minimum of 300 dpi (for single column: min. 1063 pixels, full page width: 2244 pixels). Place figures next to the relevant text in the manuscript and cite all images in the manuscript text. Number the figures consecutively according to their appearance in the text. All images must have a caption. A caption should consist of a brief title (not displayed on the figure itself) and a description of the image. The labels of the figures are also subject to resizing to be of minimum 12 pt according to needs of journal in-house specifications. Prior permission has to be taken and submitted to the editorial office if the figure is taken as it is from a published source or reproduced with similarity.

The use of generative AI or AI-assisted tools to produce or modify images in submitted manuscripts is not permitted by NUJPS. The sole exception is if the research design or methodology include the use of AI or AI-assisted technologies (for example, in the field of biomedical imaging). If so, the model or tool name, version and extension numbers, and manufacturer must all be included in the techniques section along with a reproducible description of the use.

Acknowledgments

All acknowledgments (if any) should be included at the very end of the paper before the references and may include supporting grants, agencies supporting the research and so forth.

References

Authors are responsible for ensuring that the information in each reference is complete and accurate and as per APA style of referencing. All references must be numbered consecutively and citations of references in text should be identified using numbers in square brackets (e.g., "as discussed by Smith [9]"; "as discussed elsewhere [9, 10]"). All references should be cited within the text otherwise, these references will be considered as redundant and may be removed from the manuscript. It is expected that a significant portion of references are to recently published papers. Please also ensure that you provide as much information as possible to allow the reader to locate the article concerned. This is particularly important for articles appearing in conferences, workshops and books that may not appear in journal databases. An average research paper should reference between 20 and 30 works, the bulk of which should be recently published (i.e. within the last 5 years) leading-edge articles in the field, preferably from top journals or conferences. You should compare your own findings to this recent research and demonstrate how your work improves on it in order to demonstrate that your work shows a significant advance over the state of the art - a pre-requisite for publication in NUJPS.

Few examples are given below to write references

[1] Article: Merkel TJ, Jones SW, Herlihy KP, Kersey FR, Shields AR, Napier M, Luft JC, Wu H, Zamboni WC, Wang AZ, Bear JE, DeSimone JM. Using mechanobiological mimicry of red blood cells to extend circulation times of hydrogel microparticles. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., 2010, 108:586-591.

[2] Chapter in a book: Meltzer PS, Kallioniemi A, Trent JM. Chromosome alterations in human solid tumors. In: Vogelstein B, Kinzler KW, editors: The genetic basis of human cancer. New York: McGraw-Hill; 2002, pp. 93-113.

[3] Book: Getzen TE. Molecular cell biology. 3rd ed. New York: Scientific American 1995, pp.102-104.

[4] Website: Cancer Research UK, Cancer statistics reports for the UK. http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/aboutcancer/statistics/cancerstatsreport/, 2023 (accessed 13 March 2023).

Supplementary Material

If the manuscript is submitted along with supplementary material, included supplementary it will be uploaded to the journal website and provide a link in your paper. Please adhere to our guidelines when submitting further figures and tables as part of supplementary materials. We welcome video files that demonstrate operations, methods, etc. as part of the primary manuscript or as supplemental data.