Preparing Manuscript

Maximum: 3500 words excluding abstracts, declarations, references, table, and figure legends

 You may create your full-length paper manuscript with the HSI Journal manuscript processing template

Page 1: TITLE PAGE    

• A concise and informative title (not to exceed 300 characters including spaces)
• Running title (not to exceed 90 characters including spaces)
• The name(s) of the author(s): First, middle, surnames
• Designated corresponding author
• The current e-mail address of authors
• The affiliation(s) and address(es) of the author(s) [in the following order (i) Department; (ii) Institution/School; (iii) College where applicable; (iv)University;  (v) City; and (vi) Country]

A study group, surveillance team, working group, consortium, or the like (e.g., the Group Team) may be listed as a coauthor in the byline if its contributing members fulfil the criteria of substantial contribution and responsibility for authorship. Otherwise, names and institutional affiliations may be given as contributing members in the acknowledgements section of the manuscript

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Provide a structured abstract of maximum 300 words with background and objectives, methods, results and conclusions.  Avoid abbreviations, references, and diagrams. Include a maximum of 4 keywords for subject indexing. The keywords should be listed on the last line on the abstract page.

The introduction should supply sufficient background information to allow the reader to understand and evaluate the results of the present study without an exhaustive review of the literature. It should include the purpose of the study and its relationship to earlier work in the field.

• For Case Reports, the case description must be placed after the ‘Introduction’ and before ‘Materials and Methods’, to give relevant clinical information about one or more patients.

The Materials and Methods section should include sufficient technical information to allow the experiments to be repeated. When centrifugation conditions are critical, give enough information to enable another investigator to repeat the procedure: make of centrifuge, the model of the rotor, temperature, time at maximum speed, and centrifugal force. For commonly used materials and methods (e.g., media and protein concentration determinations), a simple reference is sufficient. If several alternative methods are commonly used, it is helpful to identify the method briefly and also cite the reference. Describe new methods completely and give sources of unusual chemicals, equipment, or microbial strains.

The Results section should include the results of the experiments. Reserve extensive interpretation of the results for the Discussion section. Present the results as concisely as possible in one of the following: text, Tables, or Figures. Avoid extensive use of graphs to present data that might be more concisely presented in the text or Tables. Limit photographs (particularly photomicrographs and electron micrographs) to those that are necessary to show the experimental findings. Number the Tables and Figures in the order in which they are cited in the text and be sure to cite all Tables and Figures.

• Each paper is limited to not more than 7 Tables and/or Figures.
• Additional displays should be included as Supplementary Table or Figure. Each paper is limited to not more than 2 Supplementary Tables and/or Figures

Note: Please refer to Tables and Figure legend section for notes on Tables, Figures and Figure legends.

The Discussion should provide an interpretation of the results concerning previously published work and to the experimental system at hand. It should not contain extensive repetition of the Results section or reiteration of the introduction. Include a sub-section ‘conclusion’ in the discussion. In short papers, the Results and Discussion sections may be combined.

• Ethics. Manuscripts must contain a statement (where applicable) that all human studies have been reviewed by an appropriate ethics committee and the research performed under the ethical standards of the appropriate institution. Where applicable, the informed consent process should be stated. The HSI Journal requires that all manuscripts about studies on human participants should state the body/organization that provided ethical clearance permission. Authors must also cite the ethical clearance identity number. Reports on animal studies must state that the principles of laboratory animal care (NIH publication number 85-23, revised 1985) that were followed. The Editor-in-Chief reserves the right to reject manuscripts that do not comply with the above guidelines.

• Acknowledgement. The source of any financial support received for the work being published must be indicated in the Acknowledgments section. (It is assumed that the absence of acknowledgement is a statement by authors that no support was received.). This could be cited as “This study was supported by the AIDS Commission Research grant AC 0-2524 from the Global Fund.”

• Conflict of interest. The manuscript should include a statement on conflict of interest in this section. The HSI Journal subscribes that conflicts of interest towards publications could be academic, commercial, personal, political or even financial. Financial conflicts of interests could include work, payment for conferences, lectures or travel, funding for research work, patents, the share of ownership, or even an interest in a company. If authors declare no conflicts of interest, the HSI Journal will publish the manuscripts as such. When in doubt, authors must disclose the situation so that the HSI Journal editors can evaluate the circumstances for any implication.

• Author Contributions Statement. Authors are expected to provide a short description of the contributions made by each listed author. This will also be published in a separate section after the Conflict of Interest statement in the article.

• Data availability. The HSI Journal requires all authors to include a data availability statement in their article. The statement should state where data supporting the results reported in the article may be found. Such statements can also be about whether data are available upon reasonable request to other researchers. Authors may select any or use a combination of the following statements:
  1. The datasets generated during and/or analysed during this study may be available in the [NAME] repositoryThe datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are not publicly available [REASON WHY DATA ARE NOT PUBLIC] but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
  2. The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
  3. Data sharing not applicable to this article as no datasets were generated or analysed during the current study.
  4. All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article [and its supplementary information files].

Authors are advised to limit references to what is essential; we recommend up to 50 references for original and review articles and 20 for case reports. The HSI Journal encourages authors to cite the primary literature rather than review articles throughout their manuscripts. The HSI Journal references are cited in the text by numbers in square only. The citation-sequence system lists the references consecutively with numbers in the order of appearance in the text (Vancouver style). List of authors in the references section should not be abbreviated with “et al.” Journal names are abbreviated according to Index Medicus and without periods after abbreviated words. Authors are responsible for the accuracy of the references.  Do not italicize titles of academic journals, books etc. When there are several citations within a single set of brackets, they should be separated by commas without spaces between the comma and the next number. If there are more than2 sequential citations, the numbers should be given as a range (e.g., 6-8).

• Citing references in the reference section. References should include all journal articles (both print and online), patents, theses and dissertations, books and book chapters (both print and online), published conference proceedings, meeting abstracts from published abstract books or journal supplements, letters (to the editor), and company publications, as well as in-press journal articles, book chapters, and books.

• The HSI Journal advocates the use of referencing software such as Mendeley or Zotero, both of which are free for download. The citation style language (csl) for HSI Journal can be downloaded at hsijournal references style. Using any reference software (e.g., Mendeley, Zotero, Endnote, Reference Manager etc.), search for ‘’Springer - Basic (numeric, brackets, no "et al.")’’ from the citation style language repository. Note: The ‘’Springer - Basic (numeric, brackets, no "et al.")’’ is not unique to HSI Journal. 

Reference format examples:

• Published articles

• In Press Papers

• Article within a journal supplement

• Electronic Journal Articles

• Whole Book

• Book Chapters

Tyoyu TY and Rooney MN (2019) Male occupation therapy. In Mo HY, Tach JG, Quinson M, Allak Y, Monarch TB, Kyth JK, Mok TY, editors. Male Therapy in Africa. Accra: University of Ghana Press. 2019-312.

• Tables should be on separate sheets, have brief titles, and numbered in the order in which they appear in the text. The preferred format for regular tables is in Microsoft Word (.doc) and should be formatted with horizontal borders only and a horizontal line to separate the heading space from the content.
• Lead-ins within the heading space should be delineated with horizontal lines. Arrange the data so that columns of like material read down, not across.
• All tables are numbered using Arabic numerals.
• Tables must be cited in text in consecutive numerical order.
• For each table, a table caption (title) explaining the components of the table must be stated on top of the table.
• Footnotes should be cited with lowercase letters. Table legends are not acceptable. Tables with fewer than six pieces of data must be incorporated into the text.
• Table footnotes must be indicated using superscript lower-case letters (or asterisks for significance values and other statistical data) and placed beneath the table body.

Footnotes. Authors may use footnotes to give additional information to the table and may include the citation of a reference included in the reference list. Footnotes must not be solely for a reference citation. Footnotes must not contain any figures or tables. Footnotes must not include details of a reference. Footnotes to the text must be numbered consecutively. Footnotes to tables should be indicated by superscript lower-case letters (or asterisks for significance values and other statistical data). Always use footnotes instead of endnotes. 
 

Important checklist for submitting Tables to the HSI Journal

• All tables (including number, title and footnotes) should be placed at end of the article text in the manuscript after referencing.
• The tables must be on separate sheets, one table per page.
• Each table must include the number (corresponding to the Arabic number in the text), title and footnotes for each table).
• The manuscript with the tables will be uploaded as one document during submission.

A Figure legend is a text that accompanies each Figure in the manuscript. Its purpose is to explain the Figure thoroughly. The legend includes the title and explanation of features that in the Figure.

• Number the Figure legend according to their sequence in the text.
• All Figure legends are to be numbered using Arabic numerals, such as Figure 1, 2, 3 etc. without abbreviation.
• Ensure that each Figure legend has a caption (title of the Figure), and a short explicit explanation of features of the Figure (< 100 words). 

Figures appropriate for HSI Journal

• If a Figure is created with Microsoft Office application (e.g., Word, PowerPoint, Excel), then the Figure should be submitted to HSI Journal 'as is' in the native format document.
• If the figure is not a Microsoft Office document, then 'Save as' and convert the images to one of the following formats:

- TIFF (or JPEG): Color or grayscale photographs (halftones), keep to a minimum of 300 dpi.

- TIFF (or JPEG): Bitmapped (pure black & white pixels) line drawings, keep to a minimum of 1000 dpi.

- TIFF (or JPEG): Combinations bitmapped line/half-tone (colour or grayscale), keep to a minimum of 500 dpi.

- EPS (or PDF): Vector drawings, embed all used fonts.

Please do not supply files such as GIF, BMP, PICT, WPG. These typically have a low number of pixels and a limited set of colours. Image files should not be manipulated or adjusted in any way that could lead to misinterpretation of the information present in the original image.

• Multipanel figures (figures with parts labelled a, b, c, d, etc.) must have consistent labelling and should be assembled into a composite file. Figure parts should be denoted by lowercase letters (a, b, c, etc.). No specific feature within an image should be enhanced, obscured, moved, removed, or introduced.
• The “Times New Roman” should be used for labelling all Figures

• Keep text embedded in Figures themselves to a minimum but explain all symbols and abbreviations used in the Figure. Such explanations should be part of the legend.
• If you include figures that have already been published elsewhere, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner(s) for both the print and online format. Please be aware that some publishers do not grant electronic rights for free. HSI Journal will not refund any costs to authors
• Ensure that colour images are accessible to all, including those with impaired color vision.
• Label photographs as plates. The photograph uploaded should be 100% of its print dimensions so that no reduction or enlargement is necessary. Space must be cropped from the image to include only the significant portion of the Figure.
• If Figures are included that have already been published elsewhere, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner(s) for both the print and online format. Please be aware that some publishers do not grant electronic rights for free. The HSI Journal will not be complicit in such matters. 

Note: Color graphics may be submitted, but the cost of printing in colour would be borne by the author. Please indicate your preference for colour in print. You will receive information regarding the costs from HSI Journal before the production of the article is complete. 

A detailed guide on types of Figures that are suitable for the HSI Journal can be assed from here: https://www.elsevier.com/authors/author-schemas/artwork-and-media-instructions

Important checklist for submitting Figures to the HSI Journal

• Figures should be submitted as separate files.
• The uploaded Figures should not contain any labelling, just indicate in the submission portal Figure 1,2,3, etc.
• The Figures should be uploaded as individual files (in their appropriate format, e.g., TIFF or EPS). Upload Figure 1 as one file. Then Figure 2 as another, then Figure 3, and so on.
• For all submitted Figures, legends should be provided in the manuscript, at the Figure legend section. Each Figure legend should correspond to an uploaded Figure.

Allowable supplementary data. Tables or Figures submitted here should conform to guidelines provided in the Tables section as well as Figures and Figure legend sections. All manuscripts submitted to HSI Journal should be complete and self-contained. Supplemental information must be limited to such things as videos, 3-D structures/images, extended chemical syntheses, extensive NMR data, molecular dynamics, kinetic modelling data, and other large data sets such as those obtained with microarray analyses or mass spectrometry studies. Supplementary data should be indicated as such during submission.

Brief reports or short papers should have the same format as Original articles, but should have no more than two figures or illustrations, abstract of no more than 75 words, a maximum of 20 references and should not exceed 1500 words of text. Do not use section headings in the body of the paper; combine methods, results, and discussion in a single section. You may use paragraph lead-ins. Present acknowledgements as in full-length papers. The Reference section is identical to that of full-length papers.

The reviews may be systematic or regular. There is no length limit for this format but authors are advised to use precise language. These generally aim to give an overview of a field suitable for a wide audience, and they should include an abstract (250 words maximum) and subsequent subheadings at the author’s discretion. Reviews are biographical profiles, historical perspectives, or summaries of developments in fast-moving areas within the scope of HSI Journal. They must be based on published articles; they are not outlets for unpublished data. Reviews may be either solicited or proffered by authors responding to a recognized need. Irrespective of origin, reviews are subject to peer review. The cover letter should state whether the article was solicited and by whom.

The HSI Journal publishes Case reports that are of adequate quality and potential importance. Reports should have no more than three figures or illustrations, abstract of no more than 150 words, the main text of 1500 words and a maximum of 20 references. All photographs should be labelled as Plates. It should comprise an Abstract, Introduction, Case presentations, Consent, Discussions, Acknowledgements, Funding, Transparency declarations and References. Illustrations submitted for case reports must comply with the Journals policy on uploaded Figures. Please refer to guidelines on Figures and Figure legends

Commentaries are invited communications concerning topics relevant to the readership of HSI Journal and are intended to engender discussion. Commentaries are subject to review. The length may not exceed 1500 words, and the format is like that of a review but without an abstract.

Two forms of letters to the Editor are accepted. A Comment Letter is intended for comments on published articles in the journal. A Comment Letter should cite published references to support the writer's argument. The second type (New-Data Letter) reports new, concise findings that are not appropriate for publication as full-length papers or Short-Form papers. Letters to the Editor do not have abstracts. Both types of Letter must have a title, which must appear in the manuscript. Figures and tables for New-Data Letter should be kept to a minimum. A Comment Letter will be sent to the Editor who handled the article in question. If the editor believes that publication is warranted, he/she will solicit a reply from the corresponding author of the article and approve publication. New-Data Letters are assigned to editors according to the subject matter for review. Correspondence on topics of concern or interest in the field of biomedical sciences, public health or allied health especially arising from papers or letters already published in the Journal. These must not exceed 800 words, one table or illustration, and 10 references, and must be addressed to the Editor-in-Chief.