TYPES OF MANUSCRIPTS:
Manuscripts submitted can be
- Original articles
- Systematic reviews, reviews, narrative reviews
- Case reports, series
- Commentaries, short communication, grounded theory, clinical comment
- Letter to editor
Original articles – Full lengths of original research or short reports of data from original research work are considered.
Systematic reviews – In-depth comprehensive reviews in physiotherapy and related fields are considered.
Case reports – New clinical observations and novel Physiotherapy treatment will be considered for publication.
Others are applicable as per standard protocol.
MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION
Manuscripts of original research should include introduction, methods, results and discussion sections. Articles often need subheadings within these sections to further their content. Manuscripts of Case reports may be less structured.
The following general requirements are required for reporting within sections of all study designs and manuscript formats
- Title page
- Abstract
- Introduction
- Methods
- Results
- Discussion and Conclusion
- Acknowledgment
- Tables
- Illustrations
- References
Title page
General information about the article and its author should be presented on the title page. Article title – Title should provide a complete description of the article, information about the study design in case of experimental studies can be included in the title. The author’s information must be provided on the title page which should include the author and contributing author's name and working address. Principle authors email address should be provided. Source of support – Authors are advised to disclose the source of support which includes grants, equipment, and other support that facilitated the conduct of the study. Disclaimer – The author should provide as a statement of disclaiming that the views expressed in the article are his/her own and not the funders/institutions.
Abstract
The abstract should not exceed more than 250 words; the Abstract should provide the background, methods, results, and conclusion. References should not be presented in the abstract. Authors need to ensure that their abstract accurately reflects the content of the article because abstracts are the only substantive portions of the articles that are available in many electronic databases and the only portion readers read. The authors need to provide a clinical trial registration number if the study is registered. BPJ will publish the clinical trial registration number after the abstract.
Keywords
2 to 6 key terms representing the main content of the manuscript can be given which are used frequently in the manuscript, please provide keywords complying with MeSH.
Introduction:
Author Should Provide the background of the study, state the specific purpose or study objective, and cite only references from previous studies but should not include data or conclusion from the work being reported.
Methods
The method of study should clearly explain why and how the study has been conducted. The section should include only information that was available at the time of the plan or protocol for the study was being written. The author should state the selection of participants, eligibility and exclusive criteria, and source of population, Objectives of the study, outcome measures, and procedure. Provide references to established methods and give the description of new or modified methods and give the reason for using them if ever so. Describe statistical methods, if possible quantify findings and present them with appropriate indicators of measurement errors. Define statistical terms, abbreviations, and symbols. Specify the statistical software package used for the study and versions used.
Results
The authors are advised to summarize the most important findings first and to avoid the repetition of results in text, tables, and figures. Text for results should be in sequence with the tables and figures used. Specify the statistical significance of each finding.
Discussion and conclusion
In the discussion section, new and important aspects of the study should be emphasized. Experimental studies should begin with summarizing the main findings, then explore possible mechanisms or explanations for these findings, compare and contrast the results of other relevant studies. State the limitations of the study and explore the implications of findings for future research and clinical practice. Final Conclusion should be clear and supported by the data.
Tables and Graphs
Number tables and Graphs consecutively in the order of their first citation in the text and supply a title for each. e.g. Table 1 or Graph 1. The title of the table/ graph should be short but self-explanatory. The author should place an explanatory matter at the footnotes and not in the heading. If you use data from another published or unpublished source, obtain permission, and acknowledge that source fully.
Illustrations
Digital images of manuscript illustrations should be submitted in JPEG, PNG, TIFF, BMP formats. For X-ray films, scans, and other diagnostic images, as well as pictures of exercises, send high-resolution photographic image files. Pictures should be numbered consecutively according to the order in which they have been cited in the text. Eg. Figure 1. If a picture has been published previously, acknowledge the original source, and submit written permission from the copyright holder to reproduce it.
Abbreviations or symbols:
Please elaborate on the standard abbreviation used in the manuscript. Try to avoid using abbreviations or symbols in the title of the manuscript.
Acknowledgment
Authors are encouraged to acknowledge the contributors in the preparation of the manuscript from conception to the final drafting of the manuscript.
References: Harvard referencing system
Language
All the manuscripts should be submitted in clear and concise English. As a reference for spellings and hyphenation, the Oxford English dictionary should be used. The authors are advised to check all the grammatical mistakes before submission.
General Guidelines
(i) Please use Times New Roman font size 11 for the content of the manuscript and Constantia font size 14 for the title of the manuscript.
(ii) Do not break words at the ends of the lines.
(iii) Do not use underlining.
(iv) Use the TAB key, not the spacebar when indenting paragraphs or separating columns in tables.
(v) Leave the right-hand margin unjustified.
Please supply manuscripts as editable text files (Preferably Microsoft Word documents), and make sure that the manuscript file is anonymized as the journal applies a double-blind peer-review process.
