Submissions

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Author Guidelines

The Bangladesh Journal of Medical Microbiology (BJMM) is the official journal of the Bangladesh Society of Medical Microbiologists (BSMM). The BJMM is published bi-annually in January and July each year. The authors and the contributors are requested to strictly follow the guidelines1 below:

Contribution by ad materials
The BJMM welcomes good quality advertisement materials for contribution as an aid to the journal publication. However, all ad materials must conform to the legal requirements of Bangladesh. The BJMM authority does not hold any responsibility for any violence of legal regulations. Any personal contribution is highly appreciated.

Submission of manuscripts
Submission criteria. Manuscripts related to Medical Microbiology or allied subjects are accepted. Materials to be submitted include: (i) A covering letter from the corresponding author (a sample given at the end of this document) with signatory recommendation form all authors mentioning contribution of each author and containing a statement that the manuscript has been seen and approved by all authors and the material has not been submitted to or published elsewhere wholly
or partially; (ii) Two hard copies of the manuscript together with tables and illustrations; (iii) A soft copy of the manuscript in word 97/2000/word XP format written in a CD.

Check-list for submission of Manuscripts to BJMM:

Covering letter with signatory recommendation from all authors
having full names of the authors

Copies of permission from publisher and editor, in case of reprint publication of text or pictures

Copies of previous publication in case of redundant publication

Categories of manuscripts. The BJMM considers for publication manuscripts reporting original clinical and/or laboratory studies (original articles), reviews (review articles), case reports, brief communications and letters to the editor related to Medical Microbiology or allied subjects. Manuscripts of any category must not contain more than 5000 words excluding abstract and references. Please provide a word count along with.

Preparation of the manuscript2

Language: English (British).

Typing criteria: (i) Double-spaced although with left alignment in MS Word in ‘Arial' font with a size of 12 and on one side of good quality bond papers of A4 size (21x 29.7 cm) with at least 2.5 cm margins.

Each of the sections (title page, abstract, text, acknowledgments, references, individual tables, and legends for illustrations) to begin on separate page. Pages numbered consecutively, beginning with the title page.

Please keep texts (excluding the title page) unnamed for the purpose of masked (unbiased) review.

Title page: The title page should contain: (i) title of the article; (ii) name (s) of the author (s) in full (please ‘do not submit' abbreviation in any part of the author's name); (iii) institutional affiliation of each author; (iv) a short running title of fewer than 40 letter spaces; (v) name, address, mobile as well as office-time telephone number of the corresponding author.

Conflict of interest: All financial and personal relationships that might bias concerned work of the manuscript must be disclosed. Authors must state explicitly whether any potential conflicts do or do not exist on a "Conflict of interest notification page" following the title page. Please mention role of study sponsor(s), if any, in study design, in collection, analysis and interpretation of data, in writing of the report, and in the decision to submit report for publication. Authors are requested to state if supporting source had no such involvement.

Abstract: The next page of an original article should carry an ‘unstructured abstract' of not more than 150 words headed by title of the article and without name(s) of the authors. Please submit 3-10 key words for indexing along with the abstract.

Text: The text of observational and experimental articles (original articles) should be divided into sections with headings: Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion (IMRAD). Reviews, case reports and similar articles should start with an Introduction and entailed with a Discussion.

Acknowledgments: All acknowledgments including financial supports should be mentioned under the heading ‘Acknowledgments' and not as a footnote on the first page or in the text.

References: The form of references used in the Index Medicus/ NLM Medline,3 including style of abbreviations should be followed. References to be numbered consecutively in the order in which they are first mentioned in the text. Identify references in text, tables, and legends by Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3....). ‘Unpublised observations' and ‘personal communication' to be avoided in the references (please insert them in the text within parenthesis along with the date and details of the person to whom the correspondence was made). Information supplied in the references section of any manuscript is not usually checked by the editorial staff, and hence, the concerned author(s) bear total responsibilities of the bibliographic accuracy.

Following are few examples of citing references:

1. Standard Journal Article: (List all authors when six or less; when seven or more, list only first three and add et al). Rahman M, Alam A, Nessa K, et al. Etiology of Sexually Transmitted Infections among Street-based Female Sex Workers in Dhaka, Bangladesh. J Clin Microbiol 2000; 38(1): 1244-1246.

2. Corporate Author in Journal: Committee for Computer Application in Clinical Microbiology. Bacterial Antimicrobial Susceptibility Pattern, 1988. J Infect Dis Antimicrob Agents 1991; 8: 25-39.

3. Letter to Editor: Yagupsky P, Menegu MA. Intraluminal colonization as a source of catheter-related infection. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 1989; 33: 2025. (Letter)

4. Corporate Author in Book: World Health Organization. On being in charge: a guide to management in primary health care, 2nd ed. England: World Health Organization; 1992.

5. Chapter in Book: Wenzel RP. Organization for infection control. In: Mandell GL, Douglas RG, Bennett JE, eds. Principles and Practice of Infectious Disease, 3rd ed. USA: Churchill Livingstone Inc 1990: pp. 2176-80.

6. Formally published abstracts: Roy CK, Tabassum S, Miah RA, Munshi SU, Islam N. Serological diagnosis of clinically suspected cases of Dengue infection by ELISA and HI assay. Abstract from 23rd National convention of Bangladesh Society of Pathologists; 2005: p. 39.

7. Conference papers. Micholvitz S. Treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome. In: Low back injury and carpal tunnel syndrome: proceedings of Project Focus '93, conference on work related injury. 28 August 1993; Akexandria, Virginia. Alexandria, Virginia: American Physical Therapy Association for the Foundation of Physical Therapy; 1994.

8. Articles from symposium volumes: Hamilton LD. Immunogenic polynucleotides. In: Beers RF Jr (ed). Biological effects of polynucleotides: Proceedings of the symposium on molecular biology. New York, Heidelberg, Berlin: Springer Verlag 1971: 107-28.

9. Thesis/ Dissertation: Chowdhury MZ. Studies on humoral immune responses in Kala-azar infection and analysis of immuno-reactive antigens and molecular characterization of Leishmania donovani. [Ph.D thesis} Dhaka: The University of Dhaka; 2005: p. 252.

10. Web only article: Division of tuberculosis elimination. Surveillance reports: reported tuberculosis the United States, 2000. Atlanta: Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, 2001. (Web page, accessed June 27, 2001, at http:/ www.cdc.gov /hchstp/tb/surv/surv2000.)

Anonymous. Cutaneous leishmaniasis. (Web page, accessed on 12 December, 2006 at http:/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/cutaneous leishmaniasis)

11. Monograph in electronic format: Farrar WE, Wood MJ, Innes JA, Tubbs H. Infectious diseases (monograph in CD-ROM, publication no. M6791). England: Mosby- Times Mirror International Publisher; 2006.

Abbreviations Avoid abbreviations except for units of measurements. Mention full meaning first time, and followed by abbreviations.

Drug name Generic names should generally be used. When proprietary brands are used in research, include the brand name in parentheses in the methods section.

permissions Materials taken from other sources must be accompanied by a written statement from both author and publisher addressed towards BJMM for reproduction.

Redundant Publication: ManuscPripts already published in print or electronic media abroad/ in home in other languages will be considered for publication in BJMM, providing a full statement about all submissions and previous reports or publications along with the reason for doing so to be included. Please include such material with your submissions.

Review and Action
Manuscripts are examined by editorial staff after receipt and usually sent to reviewers. Unless indicated otherwise, reviewed manuscripts are sent to the corresponding author and should be returned with appropriate responses in least possible delay. Alterations made in reviewed manuscripts, other than the reviewers responses and/or correction of printer's errors may cause unusual delay of the publication.

Rejected manuscripts will only be returned if accompanied by stamped and self-addressed envelope.


Copyright© 2008 Bangladesh Society of Medical Microbiologists

1 Guidelines have been prepared following "Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals. International
Committee of Medical Journal Editors, Updated on October, 2008, retrieved from http://www.icmje.org/index.html

2 Additional information regarding manuscript preparation and relevant editorial policy is available in the editorial office

3 For samples of reference citation formats, please consult http://www.icmje.org/index.html or http://www.nlm.nih.gov/

 

Sample of Covering letter to the Editor for submission of manuscripts

To
The Editor
The BJMM
Bangladesh Society of Medical Microbiologists

Temporary Office: Department of Microbiology, Bangabandhu Sheick Mujib Medical University, Shahbag, Dhaka

Subject: Submission of manuscript

Dear Sir

I/we am/ are submitting herewith a manuscript for Original Article/ Case Report/ Review
Article/ Medical Progress/ Occasional Note/ Others for publication in the BJMM:

Title of the manuscript:  ...............................................................................................

.......................................................................................................................................

Inclusions (if any): 1............................................. 2......................................................

I/we mention that the manuscript has been seen and approved by all authors listed below, and had not been subjected for publication to, or published in any other journal, partially or completely, in any form, printed or electronic.

I/ we also agree with the following orders of authorship to the manuscript.

Corresponding author:    Signature:----------------------------------------------

Name in full:------------------------------------------

Address:---------------------------------------------

---------------------------------------------------


Authors chronology Contribution* Signature

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

* Mention in numbers the area (s) of contribution: (1) Conception and design; (2) Acquisition of data; (3) Analysis and interpretation of data; (4) Drafting the article; (5) Critical revision of article for important intellectual content; and Final approval of the submitted version.

Submission Preparation Checklist

All submissions must meet the following requirements.

  • 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 Microsoft Word, RTF, or WordPerfect document file format.
  • Where available, URLs for the references have been provided.
  • The text is double-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.

Privacy Statement

Bangladesh Journals Online (BanglaJOL) is a member of the Ubiquity Partner Network coordinated by Ubiquity Press. According to the EU definitions, BanglaJOL 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 BanglaJOL 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)