Author Guidelines

Instructions to Authors

Advancements in Homeopathic Research of Research in Homeopathy is a homeopathic research journal with international circulation. It publishes original communications of research in homoeopathy that advances or illuminates homoeopathic science and that educates the journal readers. It is issued quarterly.

We invite valued articles from researchers/doctors/health professionals to publish articles and research papers on homoeopathy.

Manuscripts dealing with clinical aspects will be considered for publication, provided they contain results of original investigations. Articles need to be of general interest – e.g., they cross the boundaries of specialities or are of sufficient novelty and importance that the journal’s readers, whatever their speciality, should be made aware of the findings. Research papers reporting original research, review articles (both narrative and evidence based), research correspondence..

Anti Plagiarism Policy

“Advancements in Homeopathic Research” strongly discourages  plagiarism ,duplication/reduplication of data already published in other journals (even when certain cosmetic changes/additions are made).Any such paper/article would be summarily rejected.

Peer Review

All submitted articles will be initially subjected to editorial procedures, if found suitable for publishing will be sent to reviewers for peer review. Once the article will be found suitable to publish by reviewers, authors will be intimated for acceptance over mail with the galley proof which the author is insisted to reply within a week, after which the article will be sent for publishing.

All papers submitted are subject to Peer Review process. All accepted papers will be suitably edited before publication.

1. Reviews

Narrative review articles written by scientist(s)/ expert(s) working in the particular area and who has/have published quality original research, will be considered. The article could be about 15-20 typed pages with not more than 100 references (recent & relevant) and an abstract of about 250 words. Tables and Figures could be included as per requirement. Copyright permission should be obtained from the copyright holder in advance if a published Table/Figure is included.

2. Systematic Reviews (Including Meta-analysis)

The articles under this section will be critical appraisal of different studies on important topics of clinical/public health significance to obtain an unbiased quantitative estimate of the overall effect of an intervention or variable for a defined outcome. The focus could be on cause, diagnosis, prognosis, therapy, prevention, etc. These would be thoroughly researched articles giving comprehensive and balanced perspective. There should be a structured abstract. Systematic reviews could be about 2500-3000 words with minimum number of Tables/Figures. These will be published subject to peer review.

3. Perspectives/Personal View/View point

These are primarily opinion pieces written by senior scientists, public health experts and policy makers. Such papers will be generally written by a single author. No anonymous articles will be published. These should be about 1000-1500 words and may contain references. Except for commissioned pieces, all submissions will be published subject to peer review.

5. Short Paper/ Research Correspondence/ Short Note

Original research manuscripts containing well defined study design and sample size but limited parameters analysed may be submitted as Short Papers. These would be about 2000 words and contain a structured abstract with a combined Results & Discussion section. A research correspondence would be either a preliminary/pilot study or a post-implicative report with no abstract. Submissions with preliminary investigative data with limited methodology and sample size but having important clinical implications may be submitted as a Short Note containing a 200 words unstructured  abstract. Both Correspondence and Short Note would be of around 1000-1500 words containing either a Table and/or a Figure.

6. Clinical Images

Rare and educative cases may be presented under this section. A concise write up of around 125-150 words may be submitted, containing details of the place (department/institute) and period (month/year) of patient presentation, diagnosis, treatment and follow up (along with the duration of follow up). Clear and well resolved images (up to 3-4 or as panels; JPEG/TIFF format with at least 300 dpi resolution) and up to two videos not exceeding 1MB may be submitted with the write up.

Submission Of Manuscript

All manuscripts submitted for publication to the Journal should include the following:

1. Covering Letter

A covering letter which could explain why the paper should be published in the “Advancements in Homoeopathic Research of Homoeopathic Research”. One of the authors could be identified as the corresponding author of the paper, who would be responsible for the contents of the paper as also answer.

2. Manuscript

Manuscripts should be presented in as concise form as possible, typewritten neatly. Pages should be numbered consecutively and the contents arranged in the following order:

Title

Title of the article should be short, continuous (broken or hyphenated titles are not acceptable) and yet sufficiently descriptive and informative so as to be useful in indexing and information retrieval.

Title page should include name(s) of author(s) with departmental affiliations, complete postal addresses with e-mails.

A short running title not exceeding 6-7 words may also be provided.

Abstract

All manuscripts should (except reviews) have a structured abstract (of about 250 words) with subheadings of Background & objectives, Methods, Results, and Interpretation & conclusions. Abstract should be brief and indicate the scope and significant results of the paper. It should only highlight the principal findings and conclusions so that it can be used by abstracting services without modification. Conclusions and recommendations not found in the text of the articles should not be inserted in the Abstract.

A set of suitable key words (6-8 in number) arranged alphabetically may be provided.

Introduction

Introduction should be brief and state precisely the scope of the paper. Review of the literature should be restricted to reasons for undertaking the present study and provide only the most essential background.

Material & Methods

The nomenclature, the source of material and equipment used, with the manufacturers details in parenthesis, should be clearly mentioned. The procedures adopted should be explicitly stated to enable other workers to reproduce the results, if necessary.

Study design: Selection of the observational or experimental participants (patients or laboratory animals, including controls, whether randomly or consecutively) and basis of sample size calculation should be mentioned clearly, including eligibility and exclusion criteria and a description of the source population.

Period (with month and year) and place of the study should be clearly stated.

Studies based on clinical trials: All clinical trials should be registered in a Primary Clinical Trial Registry and the Registration number be given under Material & Methods. Articles presenting with results of randomized clinical trials should provide 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/). It should be clearly stated that study protocol was approved by the institutional/local ethics committee and written consent obtained from the participants.

The statistical analysis done and statistical significance of the findings when appropriate, should be mentioned.

Results

Only such data as are essential for understanding the discussion and main conclusions emerging from the study should be included. The data should be arranged in unified and coherent sequence so that the report develops clearly and logically. Data presented in Tables and Figures should not be repeated in the text. Only important observations need to be emphasized or summarized. The same data should not be presented both in tabular and graphic forms. Interpretation of the data should be taken up only under the Discussion and not under Results.

Discussion

The discussion should deal with the interpretation of results without repeating information already presented under Results. It should relate new findings to the known ones and include logical deductions. It should also mention any weaknesses/limitations/lacunae of the study.

The conclusions can be linked with the goals of the study but unqualified statements and conclusions not completely supported by the data should be avoided. Claiming of priority on work that is ongoing should also be avoided. All hypotheses should, if warranted, clearly be identified as such; recommendations may be included as part of the Discussion, only when considered absolutely necessary and relevant.

Acknowledgement

Acknowledgement should be brief and made for specific scientific/technical assistance and financial support only and not for providing routine departmental facilities and encouragement or for help in the preparation of the manuscripts (including typing or secretarial assistance).

References

The total number of References should normally be restricted to a maximum of 30.

References to literature cited should be numbered consecutively and placed at the end of the manuscript. In the text they should be indicated above the line (superior). As far as possible mentioning names of author(s) under references should be avoided in text.