The Editorial Process

 The Editorial Process

An article will be considered for publication on being submitted to the International Journal of Head and Neck Pathology for the first time and has not been published elsewhere, submitted simultaneously, or accepted for publication elsewhere. The journal anticipates that one of the authors will be designated as the appointed person for all correspondence with the journal on the manuscript. All manuscripts received are duly acknowledged. When a manuscript is submitted, editors check it for suitability for formal review before moving on to the next step. Before going through official peer review, manuscripts with insufficient originality, substantial scientific or technical faults, or a lack of a relevant message are rejected. Manuscripts that are unlikely to be of interest to the readers of the International Journal of Head and Neck Pathology will be rejected at this stage.

Manuscripts that are found suitable for publication in the International Journal of Head and Neck Pathology are sent to two or more professional reviewers. The contributor is asked to supply the names of two or three qualified reviewers with experience in the subject of the submitted work upon submission, although this is not required. The reviewers should not be connected with the contributors' institutes. The editor, however, has sole discretion in selecting these reviewers. The journal adopts a double-blind review method, in which the reviewers and authors have no idea who the other one is. Every manuscript is also allocated to a member of the editorial team, who makes the ultimate judgement on the manuscript based on the feedback from the reviewers. Reviewers' comments and suggestions (acceptance/rejection/manuscript modifications) are forwarded to the relevant author. If necessary, the author is asked to respond to the reviewers' remarks in detail and submit a revised version of the manuscript. This process is repeated until the manuscript's reviewers and editors are pleased.

Manuscripts are copy edited for grammar, punctuation, print style, and format until being accepted for publication. The corresponding author receives page proofs. Within three days, the corresponding author is expected to return the amended proofs. Corrections received after that time may not be able to be included. The entire procedure, from manuscript submission to final decision, as well as sending and receiving proofs, is handled online. The journal publishes articles online as 'Ahead of Print' as soon as they are accepted, in order to achieve faster and larger diffusion of knowledge and information.

Processes for appeals 

The authors do have the right to appeal if they have a genuine cause to believe that the editorial board has wrongly rejected the paper. If the authors wish to appeal the decision, they should email the editorial office (email: editor_ijhnp@saveetha.com)explaining in detail the reason for the appeal. The appeals will be acknowledged by the editorial office and will be investigated in an unbiased manner. The processing of appeals will be done within 6 – 8 weeks. While under appeal, the said manuscript should not be submitted to other journals. The final decision rests with the Editor in Chief of the journal. Second appeals are not considered.

Anti-Plagiarism Policy

Plagiarism includes duplicate publication of the author’s own work, in whole or in part without proper citation or misrepresenting other’s ideas, words, and other creative expression as one’s own. The Journal follows strict anti-plagiarism policy. All manuscripts submitted to International Journal of Head and Neck Pathology undergoes plagiarism check with commercially available software. Based on the extent of plagiarism, authors may be asked to address any minor duplication, or similarity with the previous published work. If plagiarism is detected after publication, the Journal will investigate. If plagiarism is established, the journal will notify the authors’ institution and funding bodies and will retract the plagiarised article. To report plagiarism, contact the journal office (email: editor_ijhnp@saveetha.com)

 

Clinical trial registry  

International Journal of Head and Neck Pathology favours registration of clinical trials and is a signatory to the Statement on publishing clinical trials in Indian biomedical journals. International Journal of Head and Neck Pathology would publish clinical trials that have been registered with a clinical trial registry that allows free online access to public. Registration in the following trial registers is acceptable: http://www.ctri.nic.in/; https://www.anzctr.org.au/; http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/; http://isrctn.org/; http://www.trialregister.nl/trialreg/index.asp and http://www.umin.ac.jp/ctr. This is applicable to clinical trials that have begun enrollments of subjects in or after June 2018. Clinical trials that have commenced enrolment of subjects prior to June 2018 would be considered for publication in International Journal of Head and Neck Pathology only if they have been registered retrospectively with clinical trial registry that allows unhindered online access to public without charging any fees.

 

 Authorship Criteria

Only major contributions to each of the three components listed below should be given credit for authorship:

1.      Study concept and design, data gathering, data analysis, and data interpretation; 

2.       Article draft or critical revision for essential intellectual content; and

3.       Final approval of the version to be published.

Authorship is not justified only on the basis of participation in the acquisition of funding or the collection of data. Authorship does not require general supervision of the research group. Each contributor should have contributed enough to the project to accept public accountability for relevant sections of the manuscript's content. The order in which the contributors are named should reflect their proportional contribution to the study and the preparation of the manuscript. The order cannot be modified once it has been submitted without the explicit approval of all contributors. Depending on the type of paper, its scope, and the number of universities involved, the journal sets a maximum number of authors (vide infra). If the number of writers exceeds these boundaries, the authors must justify their decision.

 Contribution Details

Contributors should include a detailed summary of their contributions to the work. Concept, design, definition of intellectual content, literature search, clinical investigations, experimental research, data gathering, data analysis, statistical analysis, article preparation, manuscript editing, and manuscript review should all be included in the description. One or more authors should be identified as 'guarantor' and assume responsibility for the integrity of the work as a whole from conception to publication.

 

 Conflicts of Interest/ Competing Interests

All authors must disclose any and all potential conflicts of interest they may have with the manuscript's publication, or with an institution or product referenced in the report and/or crucial to the study's conclusion. Conflicts of interest with products that compete with those described in the paper should also be disclosed.

 

Submission of Manuscripts

All manuscripts must be submitted online through the website- https://www.mmpubl.com/ijhnp

If you experience any problems, please contact the editorial office by e-mail at editor_ijhnp@saveetha.com.

The submitted manuscripts that are not as per the “Instructions to Authors” would be returned to the authors for technical correction, before they undergo editorial/ peer-review. Generally, the manuscript should be submitted in the form of two separate files:

[1] Title Page/First Page File/covering letter:

This file should provide

1.       The type of manuscript (original article, case report, review article, Letter to the editor, Images, etc. ), the title of the manuscript, the running title, the names of all authors/ contributors (with their highest academic degrees, designations, and affiliations), and the name(s) of the department(s) and/ or institution(s) to which the work should be credited. All information that could lead to your identity being revealed should be kept here. Use files that are text, rtf, or doc. The files should not be compressed.

2.       The total number of pages, the total number of pictures, and word counts for the abstract and the text (excluding references, tables, and abstract), as well as the word counts for the introduction + discussion in the case of an original article.

3.      Source(s) of support in the form of grants, equipment, drugs, or all of these;

4.      Acknowledgement, if any. One or more statements should specify 1) contributions that need acknowledging but do not justify authorship, such as general support by a departmental chair; 2) acknowledgments of technical help; and 3) acknowledgments of financial and material support, which should specify the nature of the support. This should be included in the title page of the manuscript and not in the main article file.

5.      If the manuscript was presented as part at a meeting, the organization, place, and exact date on which it was read. A full statement to the editor about all submissions and previous reports that might be regarded as redundant publication of the same or very similar work. Any such work should be referred to specifically, and referenced in the new paper. Copies of such material should be included with the submitted paper, to help the editor decide how to handle the matter.

6.      Registration number in case of a clinical trial and where it is registered (name of the registry and its URL)

7.      Conflicts of Interest of each author/ contributor. A statement of financial or other relationships that might lead to a conflict of interest, if that information is not included in the manuscript itself or in an authors' form

8.      Criteria for inclusion in the authors’/ contributors’ list

9.      A statement that the manuscript has been read and approved by all the authors, that the requirements for authorship as stated earlier in this document have been met, and that each author believes that the manuscript represents honest work, if that information is not provided in another form (see below); and

10.   The name, address, e-mail, and telephone number of the corresponding author, who is responsible for communicating with the other authors about revisions and final approval of the proofs, if that information is not included on the manuscript itself.

[2] Blinded Article file: The main text of the article, beginning from Abstract till References (including tables) should be in this file. The file must not contain any mention of the authors' names or initials or the institution at which the study was done or acknowledgements. Page headers/running title can include the title but not the authors' names. Manuscripts not in compliance with the Journal's blinding policy will be returned to the corresponding author. Use rtf/doc files. Do not zip the files. Limit the file size to 1 MB. Do not incorporate images in the file. If file size is large, graphs can be submitted as images separately without incorporating them in the article file to reduce the size of the file. The pages should be numbered consecutively, beginning with the first page of the blinded article file.

[3] Images: Submit good quality color images. Each image should be less than 2 MB in size. Size of the image can be reduced by decreasing the actual height and width of the images (keep up to 1600 x 1200 pixels or 5-6 inches). Images can be submitted as jpeg files. Do not zip the files. Legends for the figures/images should be included at the end of the article file. 

[4] The contributors' / copyright transfer form (template provided below) has to be submitted in original with the signatures of all the contributors within two weeks of submission via courier, fax or email as a scanned image. Print ready hard copies of the images (one set) or digital images should be sent to the journal office at the time of submitting revised manuscript. High resolution images (up to 5 MB each) can be sent by email.

Contributors’ form / copyright transfer form can be submitted online from the authors’ area.

[4] Copyright on any open access article in a journal published by MM Publishers is retained by the author(s).

  • Authors grant MM Publishers a License/Journal Publishing agreement to publish the article and identify itself as the original publisher.

  • Authors also grant any third party the right to use the article freely as long as its integrity is maintained and its original authors, citation details and publisher are identified.

  • The Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) formalizes these and other terms and conditions of publishing articles. This is an open access journal, and articles are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, which allows others to remix, tweak, and build upon the work non-commercially, as long as appropriate credit is given and the new creations are licensed under the identical terms.

  • To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, PO Box 1866, Mountain View, CA 94042, USA.

 Preparation of Manuscripts

Manuscripts must be prepared in accordance with "Uniform requirements for Manuscripts submitted to Biomedical Journals" developed by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (October 2008). The uniform requirements and specific requirement of International Journal of Head and Neck Pathology are summarised below. Before submitting a manuscript, contributors are requested to check for the latest instructions available. Instructions are also available from the website of the journal (https://www.mmpubl.com/ijhnp) and from the manuscript submission site (https://www.mmpubl.com/ijhnp).

International Journal of Orthodontic Rehabilitation accepts manuscripts written in American English.

 Copies of any permission(s)

It is the responsibility of authors/ contributors to obtain permissions for reproducing any copyrighted material. A copy of the permission obtained must accompany the manuscript. Copies of any and all published articles or other manuscripts in preparation or submitted elsewhere that are related to the manuscript must also accompany the manuscript.  

 

 Types of Manuscripts

Original articles:

These include randomised controlled trials, intervention studies, studies of screening and diagnostic test, outcome studies, cost effectiveness analyses, case-control series, and surveys with high response rate. The text of original articles amounting to up to 3000 words (excluding Abstract, references and Tables) should be divided into sections with the headings Abstract, Key-words, Introduction, Material and Methods, Results, Discussion, References, Tables and Figure legends.

Introduction: State the purpose and summarise the rationale for the study or observation. 

Materials and Methods: It should include and describe the following aspects:

Ethics: When reporting studies on human beings, indicate whether the procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional or regional) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2013 (available at https://www.wma.net/policies-post/wma-declaration-of-helsinki-ethical-principles-for-medical-research-involving-human-subjects/). For prospective studies involving human participants, authors are expected to mention about approval of (regional/ national/ institutional or independent Ethics Committee or Review Board, obtaining informed consent from adult research participants and obtaining assent for children aged over 7 years participating in the trial. The age beyond which assent would be required could vary as per regional and/ or national guidelines. Ensure confidentiality of subjects by desisting from mentioning participants’ names, initials or hospital numbers, especially in illustrative material. When reporting experiments on animals, indicate whether the institution’s or a national research council’s guide for, or any national law on the care and use of laboratory animals was followed.
Evidence for approval by a local Ethics Committee (for both human as well as animal studies) must be supplied by the authors on demand. Animal experimental procedures should be as humane as possible and the details of anesthetics and analgesics used should be clearly stated. The ethical standards of experiments must be in accordance with the guidelines provided by the CPCSEA and World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki on Ethical Principles for Medical Research Involving Humans for studies involving experimental animals and human beings, respectively). The journal will not consider any paper which is ethically unacceptable. A statement on ethics committee permission and ethical practices must be included in all research articles under the ‘Materials and Methods’ section.

Study design:

Selection and Description of Participants: Describe your selection of the observational or experimental participants (patients or laboratory animals, including controls) clearly, including eligibility and exclusion criteria and a description of the source population. Technical information: Identify the methods, apparatus (give the manufacturer's name and address in parentheses), and procedures in sufficient detail to allow other workers to reproduce the results. Give references to established methods, including statistical methods (see below); provide references and brief descriptions for methods that have been published but are not well known; describe new or substantially modified methods, give reasons for using them, and evaluate their limitations. Identify precisely all drugs and chemicals used, including generic name(s), dose(s), and route(s) of administration.

Reports of randomised clinical trials should present information on all major study elements, including the protocol, assignment of interventions (methods of randomization, concealment of allocation to treatment groups), and the method of masking (blinding), based on the CONSORT Statement (http://www.consort-statement.org).

Reporting Guidelines for Specific Study Designs

Guideline

Type of Study

Source

STROBE

Observational studies including cohort, case-control, and cross-sectional studies

https://www.strobe-statement.org/index.php?id=available-checklists

CONSORT

Randomized controlled trials

http://www.consort-statement.org

SQUIRE

Quality improvement projects

http://squire-statement.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=Page.ViewPage&PageID=471

PRISMA

Systematic reviews and meta-analyses

http://prisma-statement.org/PRISMAStatement/Checklist.aspx

STARD

Studies of diagnostic accuracy

https://pubs.rsna.org/doi/full/10.1148/radiol.2015151516

CARE

Case Reports

https://www.care-statement.org/checklist

AGREE

Clinical Practice Guidelines

https://www.agreetrust.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/AGREE-Reporting-Checklist-2016.pdf

The reporting guidelines for other type of studies can be found at https://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/

Statistics: Whenever possible quantify findings and present them with appropriate indicators of measurement error or uncertainty (such as confidence intervals). Authors should report losses to observation (such as, dropouts from a clinical trial). When data are summarized in the Results section, specify the statistical methods used to analyze them. Avoid non-technical uses of technical terms in statistics, such as 'random' (which implies a randomizing device), 'normal', 'significant', 'correlations', and 'sample'. Define statistical terms, abbreviations, and most symbols. Specify the computer software used. Use upper italics (P 0.048). For all P values include the exact value and not less than 0.05 or 0.001. Mean differences in continuous variables, proportions in categorical variables and relative risks including odds ratios and hazard ratios should be accompanied by their confidence intervals.

Results: In the text, tables, and illustrations, present your findings in a logical order, beginning with the most important or primary findings. Do not repeat all of the data from the tables or graphics in the text; instead, highlight or summarize only the most relevant points. Extra- or supplemental materials, as well as technical details, can be included in an appendix, where they will be accessible but not disrupt the flow of the text; alternatively, they can be published solely in the journal's electronic form.

When data are summarized in the Results section, give numeric results not only as derivatives (for example, percentages) but also as the absolute numbers from which the derivatives were calculated, and specify the statistical methods used to analyze them. Restrict tables and figures to those needed to explain the argument of the paper and to assess its support. Use graphs as an alternative to tables with many entries; do not duplicate data in graphs and tables. Where scientifically appropriate, analyses of the data by variables such as age and sex should be included.

Discussion: Include summary of key findings (primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, results as they relate to a prior hypothesis); Strengths and limitations of the study (study question, study design, data collection, analysis and interpretation); Interpretation and implications in the context of the totality of evidence (is there a systematic review to refer to, if not, could one be reasonably done here and now?, what this study adds to the available evidence, effects on patient care and health policy, possible mechanisms); Controversies raised by this study; and Future research directions (for this particular research collaboration, underlying mechanisms, clinical research).
Do not repeat in detail data or other material given in the Introduction or the Results section. In particular, contributors should avoid making statements on economic benefits and costs unless their manuscript includes economic data and analyses. Avoid claiming priority and alluding to work that has not been completed. New hypotheses may be stated if needed, however they should be clearly labeled as such. About 30 references can be included. These articles generally should not have more than six authors.

Review Articles:

It is expected that these articles would be written by individuals who have done substantial work on the subject or are considered experts in the field. A short summary of the work done by the contributor(s) in the field of review should accompany the manuscript.

The prescribed word count is up to 3000 words excluding tables, references and abstract. The manuscript may have about 90 references. The manuscript should have an unstructured Abstract (250 words) representing an accurate summary of the article. The section titles would depend upon the topic reviewed. Authors submitting review article 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 journal expects the contributors to give post-publication updates on the subject of review. The update should be brief, covering the advances in the field after the publication of the article and should be sent as a letter to editor, as and when major development occurs in the field.

Case reports:

New, interesting and rare cases can be reported. They should be unique, describing a great diagnostic or therapeutic challenge and providing a learning point for the readers. Cases with clinical significance or implications will be given priority. These communications could be of up to 1000 words (excluding Abstract and references) and should have the following headings: Abstract (unstructured), Key-words, Introduction, Case report, Discussion, Reference, Tables and Legends in that order.

The manuscript could be of up to 1000 words (excluding references and abstract) and could be supported with up to 10 references. Case Reports could be authored by up to four authors.

Letter to the Editor:

These should be short and decisive observations. They should preferably be related to articles previously published in the Journal or views expressed in the journal. They should not be preliminary observations that need a later paper for validation. The letter could have up to 500 words and 5 references. It could be generally authored by not more than four authors.

Other:

Editorial, Guest Editorial, Commentary and Opinion are solicited by the editorial board.

References
References should be numbered consecutively in the order in which they are first mentioned in the text (not in alphabetic order). Identify references in text, tables, and legends by Arabic numerals in superscript with square bracket after the punctuation marks. References cited only in tables or figure legends should be numbered in accordance with the sequence established by the first identification in the text of the particular table or figure. Use the style of the examples below, which are based on the formats used by the NLM in Index Medicus. The titles of journals should be abbreviated according to the style used in Index Medicus. Use complete name of the journal for non-indexed journals. Avoid using abstracts as references. Information from manuscripts submitted but not accepted should be cited in the text as "unpublished observations" with written permission from the source. Avoid citing a "personal communication" unless it provides essential information not available from a public source, in which case the name of the person and date of communication should be cited in parentheses in the text.
The commonly cited types of references are shown here, for other types of references such as newspaper items please refer to ICMJE Guidelines (http://www.icmje.org or http://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_requirements.html).

Articles in Journals

  1. Standard journal article (for up to six authors): Parija S C, Ravinder PT, Shariff M. Detection of hydatid antigen in the fluid samples from hydatid cysts by co-agglutination. Trans. R.Soc. Trop. Med. Hyg.1996; 90:255–256.

  2. Standard journal article (for more than six authors): List the first six contributors followed by et al. Roddy P, Goiri J, Flevaud L, Palma PP, Morote S, Lima N. et al., Field Evaluation of a Rapid Immunochromatographic Assay for Detection of Trypanosoma cruzi Infection by Use of Whole Blood. J. Clin. Microbiol. 2008; 46: 2022-2027.

  3. Volume with supplement: Otranto D, Capelli G, Genchi C: Changing distribution patterns of canine vector borne diseases in Italy: leishmaniosis vs. dirofilariosis.Parasites & Vectors 2009; Suppl 1:S2. 

  4. Books and Other Monographs - Personal author(s): Parija SC. Textbook of Medical Parasitology. 3rd ed. All India Publishers and Distributors. 2008.

  5. Editor(s), compiler(s) as author: Garcia LS, Filarial Nematodes In: Garcia LS (editor) Diagnostic Medical Parasitology ASM press Washington DC 2007: pp 319-356.

  6. Chapter in a book: Nesheim M C. Ascariasis and human nutrition. In Ascariasis and its prevention and control, D. W. T. Crompton, M. C. Nesbemi, and Z. S. Pawlowski (eds.). Taylor and Francis,London, U.K.1989, pp. 87–100.

  7. Electronic Sources as reference. Journal article on the Internet: Parija SC, Khairnar K. Detection of excretory Entamoeba histolytica DNA in the urine, and detection of E. histolytica DNA and lectin antigen in the liver abscess pus for the diagnosis of amoebic liver abscess .BMC Microbiology 2007, 7:41.doi:10.1186/1471-2180-7-41. http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2180/7/41

Tables

  • Tables should be self-explanatory and should not duplicate textual material.

  • Tables with more than 10 columns and 25 rows are not acceptable.

  • Number tables, in Arabic numerals, consecutively in the order of their first citation in the text and supply a brief title for each.

  • Place explanatory matter in footnotes, not in the heading.

  • Explain in footnotes all non-standard abbreviations that are used in each table.

  • Obtain permission for all fully borrowed, adapted, and modified tables and provide a credit line in the footnote.

  • For footnotes use the following symbols, in this sequence: *, †, ‡, §, ||,¶ , **, ††, ‡‡

  • Tables with their legends should be provided at the end of the text after the references. The tables along with their number should be cited at the relevant place in the text

Illustrations (Figures)

  • Upload the images in JPEG format. The file size should be within 1024 kb in size while uploading.

  • Figures should be numbered consecutively according to the order in which they have been first cited in the text.

  • Labels, numbers, and symbols should be clear and of uniform size. The lettering for figures should be large enough to be legible after reduction to fit the width of a printed column.

  • Symbols, arrows, or letters used in photomicrographs should contrast with the background and should be marked neatly with transfer type or by tissue overlay and not by pen.

  • Titles and detailed explanations belong in the legends for illustrations not on the illustrations themselves.

  • When graphs, scatter-grams or histograms are submitted the numerical data on which they are based should also be supplied.

  • The photographs and figures should be trimmed to remove all the unwanted areas.

  • If photographs of individuals are used, their pictures must be accompanied by written permission to use the photograph.

  • If a figure has been published elsewhere, acknowledge the original source and submit written permission from the copyright holder to reproduce the material. A credit line should appear in the legend for such figures.

  • Legends for illustrations: Type or print out legends (maximum 40 words, excluding the credit line) for illustrations using double spacing, with Arabic numerals corresponding to the illustrations. When symbols, arrows, numbers, or letters are used to identify parts of the illustrations, identify and explain each one in the legend. Explain the internal scale (magnification) and identify the method of staining in photomicrographs.

  • Final figures for print production: Send sharp, glossy, un-mounted, color photographic prints, with height of 4 inches and width of 6 inches at the time of submitting the revised manuscript. Print outs of digital photographs are not acceptable. If digital images are the only source of images, ensure that the image has minimum resolution of 300 dpi or 1800 x 1600 pixels in TIFF format. Send the images on a CD. Each figure should have a label pasted (avoid use of liquid gum for pasting) on its back indicating the number of the figure, the running title, top of the figure and the legends of the figure. Do not write the contributor/s' name/s. Do not write on the back of figures, scratch, or mark them by using paper clips.

  • The Journal reserves the right to crop, rotate, reduce, or enlarge the photographs to an acceptable size. 

Protection of Patients' Rights to Privacy

Identifying information should not be published in written descriptions, photographs, sonograms, CT scans, etc., and pedigrees unless the information is essential for scientific purposes and the patient (or parent or guardian, wherever applicable) gives informed consent for publication. Authors should remove patients' names from figures unless they have obtained informed consent from the patients. The journal abides by ICMJE guidelines:

  1. Authors, not the journals nor the publisher, need to obtain the patient consent form before the publication and have the form properly archived. The consent forms are not to be uploaded with the cover letter or sent through email to editorial or publisher offices.

  2. If the manuscript contains patient images that preclude anonymity, or a description that has obvious indication to the identity of the patient, a statement about obtaining informed patient consent should be indicated in the manuscript.

Sending a revised manuscript 

The revised version of the manuscript should be submitted online in a manner similar to that used for submission of the manuscript for the first time. However, there is no need to submit the “First Page” or “Covering Letter” file while submitting a revised version. When submitting a revised manuscript, contributors are requested to include, the ‘referees’ remarks along with point to point clarification at the beginning in the revised file itself. In addition, they are expected to mark the changes as underlined or colored text in the article. 

Withdrawal of the manuscript is not entertained once the review process is complete. A proper intimation by email to the editorial office is mandatory for withdrawal. Manuscripts once accepted for publishing cannot be withdrawn except under extreme situations.

Reprints and proofs  Journal provides no free printed reprints. Authors can purchase reprints, payment for which should be done at the time of submitting the proofs.

Publication schedule

The journal publishes articles on its website immediately on acceptance and follows a ‘continuous publication’ schedule. Articles are compiled for ‘print on demand’ semiannual issues.

The journal does not charge for submission and processing of the manuscripts.

Copyrights  

The entire contents of the International Journal of Head and Neck Pathology are protected under Indian and international copyrights. The Journal, however, grants to all users a free, irrevocable, worldwide, perpetual right of access to, and a license to copy, use, distribute, perform and display the work publicly and to make and distribute derivative works in any digital medium for any reasonable non-commercial purpose, subject to proper attribution of authorship and ownership of the rights. The journal also grants the right to make small numbers of printed copies for their personal non-commercial use under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Covering letter

  • Signed by all contributors

  • Previous publication / presentations mentioned

  • Source of funding mentioned

  • Conflicts of interest disclosed

Authors

  • Last name and given name provided along with Middle name initials (where applicable)

  • Author for correspondence, with e-mail address provided

  • Number of contributors restricted as per the instructions

  • Identity not revealed in paper except title page (e.g. name of the institute in Methods, citing previous study as 'our study', names on figure labels, name of institute in photographs, etc.)

Presentation and format

  • Double spacing

  • Margins 2.5 cm from all four sides

  • Page numbers included at bottom

  • Title page contains all the desired information

  • Running title provided (not more than 50 characters)

  • Abstract page contains the full title of the manuscript

  • Abstract provided (structured abstract of 250 words for original articles, unstructured abstracts of about 150 words for all other manuscripts excluding letters to the Editor)

  • Key words provided (three or more)

  • Introduction of 75-100 words

  • Headings in title case (not ALL CAPITALS)

  • The references cited in the text should be after punctuation marks, in superscript with square bracket.

  • References according to the journal's instructions, punctuation marks checked

  • Send the article file without ‘Track Changes’

Language and grammar

  • Uniformly American English

  • Write the full term for each abbreviation at its first use in the title, abstract, keywords and text separately unless it is a standard unit of measure. Numerals from 1 to 10 spelt out

  • Numerals at the beginning of the sentence spelt out

  • Check the manuscript for spelling, grammar and punctuation errors

  • If a brand name is cited, supply the manufacturer's name and address (city and state/country).

  • Species names should be in italics

Tables and figures

  • No repetition of data in tables and graphs and in text

  • Actual numbers from which graphs drawn, provided

  • Figures necessary and of good quality (colour)

  • Table and figure numbers in Arabic letters (not Roman)

  • Labels pasted on back of the photographs (no names written)

  • Figure legends provided (not more than 40 words)

  • Patients' privacy maintained (if not permission taken)

  • Credit note for borrowed figures/tables provided

  • Write the full term for each abbreviation used in the table as a footnote