Guide for Authors

The International Journal of Behavioral Sciences (ISSN: 2676-2900) publishes papers describing novel work relating to all issues of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences.

Contributions in any of these formats are invited for editorial consideration following peer review by at least three experts in the field.

Unsolicited manuscripts will be reviewed for publication with the following understanding:

1. The paper represents an original work.

 2. The paper neither was published already nor is being under review elsewhere.

3. Upon acceptance, the paper may not be published elsewhere without the permission of IJBS.

 4. The published paper is the sole property of IJBS and may be edited before publication.

  

IJBS follows Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), as well as, World Association of Medical Editors (WAME) for submitted manuscripts. IJBS is a publication of Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences.

Main considerations

Manuscripts should be electronically submitted through Online Submission System.

A covering letter must be included when submitting a paper and must state the novelty of the paper.

IJBS makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) contained in its publications. However, IJBS makes no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness or suitability for any purpose of the content and disclaim all such representations and warranties whether express or implied to the maximum extent permitted by law. Any views expressed in this publication are the views of the authors and are not the IJBS views. IJBS guaranteed 21-day rapid review process.

Cover letter order

The corresponding author should indicate the following in a cover letter:

  1. An introduction stating the title of the manuscript and the journal to which you are submitting.
  2. The reason why your study is important and relevant to the journal’s readership or field.
  3. The question your research answers.
  4. Your major experimental results and overall findings.
  5. The most important conclusions that can be drawn from your research.
  6. A statement declaring that the study complies with current ethical considerations.
  7. A statement that the manuscript has not been published and is not under consideration for publication in any other journal
  8. A statement that all authors approved the manuscript and its submission to the journal.
  9. Any other details that will encourage the editor to send your manuscript for review.

 

Conflict of Interest:

It is the policy of the IJBS to ensure balance, independence, objectivity, and scientific rigor in the Journal. All authors are expected to disclose to the readers any real or apparent conflict(s) of interest that may have a direct bearing on the subject matter of the article. This pertains to relationships with pharmaceutical companies, biomedical device manufacturers or other corporations whose products or services may be related to the subject matter of the article or who have sponsored the study. The intent of the policy is not to prevent authors with a potential conflict of interest from publication. It is merely intended that any potential conflict should be identified openly so that the readers may form their own judgements about the article with the full disclosure of the facts. It is for the readers to determine whether the authors’ outside interest may reflect a possible bias in either the exposition of the conclusions presented.

 

All authors must fill out the Conflict of Interest Form while submitting their manuscripts.

 

 

International Journal of Behavioral Sciences (ISSN: 2676-2900publication benefits:

  • Free access to all articles
  • Fast and constructive peer review process
  • Easy and quick online submission
  • Rapid publication

 

Plagiarism

In case, any attempt of plagiarism is brought to our attention accompanied with convincing evidence, following steps would be taken:

 (a)      After consulting the respective Editorial Board Members, authors guilty of plagiarism will be debarred from publishing their papers in IJBS.

 (b)     Heads of the Departments/Institutes of the offending authors will be intimated of such incidences of plagiarism.

 (c)       In case of confirmation of plagiarism on an already published article, the Editor will be obliged to withdraw the article from the journal website.

Structure and Preparation of Manuscripts

Types of Articles

Manuscripts should be presented as one of the following formats.

Original/Research Articles

A full length original research article (up to ~5000 words, including tables, figures and references) presents novel findings relevant to the aims and scope of the journal.

Reviews

A full length critical review (up to ~6000 words, including tables, figures and references) provides an abstract and discussion of the relevant literature about any topic covered within the aims and scope of the journal.

Mini Reviews

Mini Reviews are sharply focused, well-focused, well-documented examinations of timely related issues (up to ~3500 words, including tables, figures and references). The issues may be of a controversial nature, or may address a more narrowly focused area than those typically covered in a review.

 Short Communications

 Short Communications are preliminary reports (up to ~2000 words, including tables, figures and references).

 Commentaries

Commentaries present the author’s considered opinion (up to ~1000 words limited to one figure/table and limited references) on an original article to be published in the journal and usually submitted by the reviewers.

 Letters to Editor

Letter to Editor presents the author’s opinion (up to ~1000 words limited to one figure/table with limited references). If such a letter criticizes an article already published in the journal, then the authors of the original article will be given a chance to respond in the same issue in which the letter is published.

 Editorials

Opinion piece, policy statement, or general commentary, typically written by staff of the publication (up to ~1000 words limited to one figure/table with limited references). (The similar value “article-commentary” is reserved for a commentary on a specific article or articles, which is written by an author with a contrasting position, not an editor or other publication staff.)

 

 General Considerations

  • Manuscript should be written in good English (American or British usage is accepted, but not a mixture of these).
  • All manuscripts must be typed double spaced, single column, in size 12 font and adequate margins should be left.
  • No manuscripts submitted to the journal can exceed 5000 words.
  • Submitted manuscripts to the IJBS should not be under consideration for publication elsewhere.

Title page

Title: A concise and informative title directed at the general reader. Lengthy systematic names and complicated/numerous chemical formulae should therefore be avoided where possible.

Authors’ names: Full names (First, Middle and Last) for all the authors of an article should be given and specified with superscript number(s) for the affiliation(s) [e.g., Mark Junior Smiths1]. Where the family name may be ambiguous (e.g., a double name), please indicate this clearly.

Affiliation: Affiliation of all the authors should be given and specified with superscripted number before address (e.g., Faculty of …..).

Running title: A very short running title should be given.

Corresponding author: Full address, telephone and fax numbers (with country and area code) and email of the corresponding author(s) should be given.

Abstract page

Abstract: A factual concise abstract (up to 200 words) is required for every manuscript. The abstract should briefly state the Introduction and MethodsResultsand Conclusions. An abstract is often presented separately from the article; hence it must be able to stand alone. Referencing should be avoided, but if necessary, then cite the author(s) and year(s). Also, non-standard or uncommon abbreviations should be avoided, however, if essential they must be defined at their first mention in the abstract itself.

Keywords: Keywords appear below the abstract and should include 3 to 5 MeSH headings selected from 'MeSH Database' available from: http://www.pubmed.gov.

Full text of the Manuscripts:

Introduction

This section should clearly and briefly (up to 800 words) provide an adequate background with relevant references, avoiding a detailed literature survey or a summary of the results. The last paragraph should address the main objectives of the work.

 

Method

This section should provide sufficient details to allow the work to be reproduced, with details of supplier (i.e., company’s name, city, country) and catalogue number when appropriate. Methods already published, should be indicated by a reference: only relevant modifications should be described. The company’s name, city and country of manufacturer of the major equipment should be given. Unexpected hazards encountered during the experimental work should be noted. Any unusual hazards inherent in the use of chemicals, procedures or equipments in the investigation should be clearly identified. In cases where a study involves the use of live animals or human subjects, the author should include a statement that all experiments were performed in compliance with the relevant laws and institutional guidelines, and also state the institutional committee(s) that has approved the experiments. They should also include a statement that informed consent was obtained for any experimentation with human subjects.

Results

Results should be clear, descriptive and concise. Attention should be paid to the matter of significant figures and tables. The same data should not be presented in more than one figure or in both a figure and a table.

Basically, as a rule, interpretation of the results should be reserved for the discussion section of a full original research article.

Discussion

The discussion should explore the significance of the results of the work (without repeating them) in comparison with others similar reports.

Extensive citations and discussion of published literature should be avoided.

Conclusion

The main question of the work should be very concisely stated and the final conclusions of the study may be presented in a short “Conclusions” section, which may stand alone or form a subsection of a Discussion or Results and Discussion section(s). 

 

Text

Submit your text in DOC format. Do not embed figures or tables in this document. These should be submitted as separate files.

Tables

Tables should be created with a word processor and saved in either DOC or RTF format. Do not embed tables in your text. Tables should be on separate pages and saved as one file in DOC format.

Figures

To ensure the highest print quality, the figures must be submitted in either TIF or EPS format according to the following minimum resolutions:

  • 1200 dpi (dots per inch) for black and white line art (simple bar graphs, charts, etc.)
  • 300 dpi for halftones (black and white photographs)
  • 600 dpi for combination halftones (photographs that also contain line art such as labeling or thin lines), figures should be saved as individual files. Vector-based figures (e.g. figures created in Adobe Illustrator) should be submitted in EPS format.

Color figures must be submitted in a CMYK color.

 

Ethical Issues

Every experimental or clinical study may raise controversial ethical issues (e.g., Institutional Ethical Approval for working with animal or human subjects). Thus, IJBS expects all authors, reviewers and editors to consider COPEICMJE and Equator Network’s reporting guidelines in medical ethics plus scientific writing. If any, authors should state related declaration(s), otherwise the following sentence should be given “None to be declared". Please take a look at the review process in IJBS. 

The cover letter must include a statement declaring that the study complies with current ethical considerations.

Ethical issues (including plagiarism, misconduct, data fabrication, falsification, double publication or redundancy) must completely considered by the authors.

Authors reporting experimental studies on human subjects must include a statement of assurance in the Materials and Methods section of the manuscript reading that: (1) informed consent was obtained from each patient enrolled in the study and (2) the study protocol conforms to the ethical guidelines of the 1975 Declaration of Helsinki as reflected in a priori approval by the institution's human research committee. In studies involving animal experimentation, provide assurance that all animals received humane care according to the criteria outlined in the "Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals " prepared by the National Academy of Sciences and published by the National Institutes of Health (NIH publication 86-23 revised 1985).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declaration_of_Helsinki

http://grants.nih.gov/grants/olaw/olaw.htm

http://publicationethics.org/

http://www.icmje.org/

http://www.equator-network.org/

 

Ethical considerations for human and animal subjects

Human subjects

Authors reporting experimental studies on human subjects must include a statement of assurance in the Patients and Methods section of the manuscript reading that, The project was done with consideration of ethical issues and obtaining license from the ethics of their local committee and obtaining the written consent of participants. Also, it was done according to ethical standards of human experimentation in accordance to the Helsinki Declaration(www.cirp.org/library/ethics/helsinki ).

Animal subjects

Authors reporting experimental studies on animal subjects must include a statement of assurance in the Materials and Methods section of the manuscript reading that, the project was done with consideration of ethical issues and obtaining license from the ethics committee of local institute. Also, the general care of the experimental animals used for this study was done in compliance with the Animal Welfare Act (http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=5140&page=114).

Informed Consent

In the case of research on human subjects, informed consent and other ethical considerations should be mentioned in the "methods" section of the manuscript. The author should include a statement that informed consent was obtained for any experimentation with human subjects. In cases where a study involves the use of live animals or human subjects, the author should also include a statement that all experiments were performed in compliance with the relevant laws and institutional guidelines, and also state the institutional committee(s) that has approved the experiments. Moreover, the templates can be seen from WHO.

http://www.icmje.org/

http://www.icmje.org/urm_main.html

http://www.who.int/rpc/research_ethics/informed_consent/en/

Conflict of Interests

The authors must declare any conflict of interests of contributed authors very briefly in a separate paragraph at the end of the paper. All sources of funding should be declared; unless otherwise the following sentence should be given “Authors declare no conflict of interests”.

To prevent the information on potential conflict of interest for authors from being overlooked or misplaced, mention this information in the cover letter. Authors must identify any potential financial conflicts of interest before the review process begins. Declared conflict of interest will not automatically result in rejection of paper but the editors reserve the right to publish any declared conflict of interest alongside accepted. The following would generally be regarded as potential conflicts of interest:

1. Direct financial payment to an author for the research or manuscript production by the sponsor of a product or service evaluated in an article.

2. Ownership of shares by an author in the company sponsoring a product service evaluated in an article (or in a company sponsoring a competing product).

3. Personal consultant for companies or other organizations with a financial interest in the promotion of particular health care products and services.

Source of Funding: Authors are required to specify the source of funding for their research when submitting a paper. Suppliers of materials should be named and their location (town, state/county, country) included. The information will be disclosed in the Acknowledgements section of the published article.



Copyright Assignment: If your paper is accepted, the author identified as the formal corresponding author for the paper, the corresponding author should study and accept the copyright statement that is available on the journal website.

Acknowledgement

Authors should acknowledge any scientific, technical, statistical and financial supports. Contributors other than coauthors may be very briefly acknowledged in a separate paragraph at the end of the paper. All sources of funding should be declared.  

Abbreviations and symbols

Abbreviations of biological terms, such as culture media, reagents, or laboratory methods, should not be used unless they are well established or they are of advantage to the reader. Such abbreviations should be defined on their first appearance in the text.

Biological nomenclature

Scientific names of animals, plants and microorganisms should be in accordance with the International Codes. The scientific names in the manuscript should be in italics or underlined. The generic name is written in full in the title, on its first appearance in the text, and in the summary. Elsewhere, the initial letter of the generic name may be used if no confusion results.

Chemical nomenclature

The nomenclature of chemical compounds should agree with indexes of Chemical Abstracts.

Symptoms

Use a period after footnotes (including those in tables), table notes, figure captions, abstract, keywords, and the following abbreviations: ca., circa; e.g., for example; Eq(s)., equation(s); Fig(s)., figure(s); i.d., inner diameter; o.d., outer diameter; sh., sheet; st., stock, street; and vs., versus. The period is never used in subscripts.

Use × rather than x as a symbol of multiplication sign, e.g., 5 × 10 mol/l. The symbol · can be used only in dot products (a · b) and chemical formulas (CuSO4 · 2H2O). English subscripts are not italicized whenever they represent abbreviations of words (Hmin, Tmax) and italicized otherwise (Cp).

Greek symbols are not italicized except when the entire paragraph is set in italics.

Use a period, not a comma, for decimals: 5.25, correct; 5,25, incorrect.

Do not leave a space between the numeric value and signs of percent, pro mil, and degrees (temperature), e.g., 15%, 25‰, and 60°C, leave a space in the case of any other unit of measure. Fractional units can be represented both by using negative powers (12 μg l-1 day-1) and parentheses (562.2 μg/(m2day)), but the style chosen for the given unit should be used consistently throughout the paper.

A range of positive temperatures is designated as 20–45°C, but write from –18 to –4°C for a range of negative temperatures.

References

Authors are responsible for the accuracy of all references.

References should be complied numerically according to the order of citation in the text in the Vancouver style. The numbers of references should not preferably exceed 40 for original articles, 60 for review articles, 15 for brief, and 8 for case reports.

For the references credited to more than 6 authors please provide the name of the first six authors and represent the rest authors by the phrase “et al.”

For various references please refer to “the NLM style guide for authors, editors, and publishers”. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK7256/

Listed below are sample references.

 

Journal Article:

Gaydess A, Duysen E, Li Y, Gilman V, Kabanov A, Lockridge O, et al. Visualization of exogenous delivery of nanoformulated butyrylcholinesterase to the central nervous system. Chem Biol Interact. 2010;187:295-8. doi: 10.1016/j.cbi.2010.01.005. PubMed PMID: 20060815; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2998607.

Javan S, Tabesh M. Action of carbon dioxide on pulmonary vasoconstriction. J Appl Physiol. In press 2005

Complete Book:

Guyton AC: Textbook of Medical Physiology. 8th ed. Philadelphia, PA, Saunders, 1996.

Chapter in Book:

Young VR. The role of skeletal muscle in the regulation of protein metabolism. In Munro HN, editor: Mammalian protein metabolism. Vol 4. San Diego; Academic; 1970. p. 585-674.

 

Submission

Authors should ensure that papers conform to the scientific and style instructions given above. In order to accelerate the publication process the Journal requires that manuscripts be submitted online using online submission facility of the journal.

 IJBS offer a completely digital submission, review, and production process. At the time of submission of a manuscript, thus, it is advised to prepare production-quality files beforehand to speed up the process. It is advised that authors should follow the given guidelines above, unless otherwise the submission will be returned to the authors for additional revision which may decelerate the manuscript evaluation process and hence delay publication.  Thus careful attention is fully appreciated by the editorial members of the journal.  

Authors are required to register to create an account for submission at the online submission site. Authors can also follow on-screen instructions and the system will provide the essential guide through the submission process.

After creation of an account, authors are able to exit/re-enter in the account at any stage.  

All submissions are kept strictly confidential.

 

For further information please contact the Editorial Office:

Email:  Email: intjbehavsci@chmail.ir