Scope
MAJN aims to publish all articles related to neurological disorders across various subspecialities, health policy and planning that pertain predominantly to the Middle East and African region. However, articles from other parts of the world are also highly encouraged.
Open Access
MAJN is an open access journal, and published materials will be made available free of charge to allow perpetual unrestricted online access to readers globally, immediately upon publication. For each accepted article, an article processing charge (APC) of 30$ is charged upon acceptance of manuscript and should be paid within 30 days of acceptance date by the author, funding agency or sponsoring institution. For authors who are members and annual subscribers of MAJN, the APC fees will be waived.
MAJN publishes review articles, original articles, systematic reviews, metanalyses, clinical trials, cohort studies, case-control studies, case series, case reports, Teaching Image/Video in Neurology, and Letters to the Editor. Details regarding each article type are outlined below.
Original Articles
Original articles include research letters, cohort studies, and case-control studies and they represent full-length reports of original research. Original articles will be considered based on their scientific relevance, the originality of the work, and the priority of the work for The MAJN and its readership.
Review Articles
The Editorial Board solicits narrative review articles from authoritative experts in the field. We also consider unsolicited narrative reviews and approve those of broad interest to neurologists, especially those in Middle East and Africa. A prospective contributor should submit an inquiry with the Editors-in-Chief prior to submission to determine whether their proposal is appropriate for the journal. The inquiry should include a description of the proposed review topic and what gap the review will close in the current literature.
Systematic Review and Metanalysis
Systematic review and metanalysis are welcomed and will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Follow PRISMA Guidelines
Case Reports / Case Series
Case reports or case series of rare conditions or unusual presentations are welcomed. However, they should contain a review of the related literature and observations should be put in perspective. The clinical relevance of the case(s) being reported should also be clearly stated.
Follow CARE Guidelines
Letter to the Editor
Readers are invited to respond to any article in the form of a Letter to the Editor. Letters should be concise and relevant. They should consist of no more than three double-spaced pages and should contain no more than nine references and one figure or table.
Teaching Image/Video
This feature is intended to provide a visual image/video of an interesting and unique neurological observation. Images of patients along with photomicrographs of tissues, MRIs (magnetic resonance images), CTs (computed tomography), PET (positron emission tomography) scans, SPECT (single-photon emission tomography) scans, angiograms, and other diagnostic visual procedures would be appropriate. A 500-word description of the clinical issue, the patient's neurological findings, and the image/video should be included. There should be no more than 1 video, 2 images (figures), 4 references, and no more than 3 authors.
Reporting Guidelines
Authors should follow the appropriate reporting guidelines for their study design:
For other study types, visit the EQUATOR Network: www.equator-network.org
Manuscript Preparation
General
- The manuscript should be written in English-Language, double-spaced and page numbers included at the bottom.
- 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.
- Check the manuscript for spelling, grammar and punctuation errors.
Title Page
The title page consists of:
Abstract
Abstracts of Original Articles should use the following subheads: Objectives, Methods, Results, and Conclusions. Abstract should be a maximum of 350 words.
Abstracts of Case Reports should use the following subheads: Introduction, Case Report and Conclusion. Abstract should be a maximum of 350 words.
Abstracts for Review Articles should use the following subheads in your abstract: Purpose of review, Review Summary, and Conclusions. Abstracts should be a maximum of 350 words.
Key Words
List 3 to 5 keys words after the abstract.
Abbreviations
Write out the full term for each abbreviation at its first use unless it is a standard unit of measure.
Manuscript Text
Original Articles: should be divided into introduction, materials and methods, results, discussion, and conclusion.
Case Reports: should be divided into introduction, case presentation, and discussion.
Teaching Video/Image in Neurology: Case presentation followed by brief discussion.
Figures, Tables & Media
Figures
Cite figures in numerical order (Figure 1, Figure 2, etc.) as they appear in the text.
Figures must be submitted as separate files saved in JPEG, TIFF, GIF, EPS, or PPT format (do not embed the figures in the Microsoft Word manuscript file for final publication).
Figure legend(s) should be included in the manuscript file. They should be brief and specific and should appear on a separate manuscript page after the references.
Video, and Animations
Aspect ratio: 16:9 or 4:3
Maximum file size: 25 GB for high-resolution files; 5 GB for low resolution files
Supported file formats: avi, wmv, mp4, mov, m2p, mp2, mpg, mpeg, flv, mxf, mts, m4v, 3gp
Tables
Creation
Create tables using the table creating and editing feature of your word processing software.
Citation
Type each table, with a title, on a separate page. Cite and number tables in the order they are mentioned in the text.
Structure
Tables should be as compact as possible. All abbreviations should be spelled out when they first appear in tables.
Placement
Tables should be placed after Figure Legends in the main manuscript.
Supplementary Materials
Authors can submit additional materials as supplementary.
Funding
All sources of funding and financial or material support should be clearly identified in a separate section in the manuscript.
Conflicts of Interest
Requirement
All authors are required to report potential conflicts of interest, including funding and specific financial interests relevant to the subject of their manuscript in the Acknowledgment section.
Definition
A conflict of interest may exist when an author (or the author's institution or employer) has financial or personal relationships or affiliations that could influence (or bias) the author's decisions, work, or manuscript.
Definitions and Terms of Conflicts of Interest Disclosures
Authors are expected to provide detailed information about all relevant financial interests, activities, relationships, and affiliations (other than those affiliations listed in the title page of the manuscript) including, but not limited to, employment, affiliation, funding and grants received or pending, consultancies, honoraria or payment, speakers' bureaus, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, royalties, donation of medical equipment, or patents planned, pending, or issued.
Following the guidelines of the ICMJE the definitions and terms of such disclosures include:
Any potential conflicts of interest "involving the work under consideration for publication" (during the time involving the work, from initial conception and planning to present),
Any "relevant financial activities outside the submitted work" (over the 3 years prior to submission), and
Any "other relationships or activities that readers could perceive to have influenced, or that give the appearance of potentially influencing" what is written in the submitted work (based on all relationships that were present during the 3 years prior to submission).
Authors without conflicts of interest, including relevant financial interests, activities, relationships, and affiliations, should indicate such in their disclosures and include a statement of no such interests in a separate section in the manuscript.
Authors' Contributions
Each author should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for appropriate portions of the content. One or more authors should take responsibility for the integrity of the work as a whole, from inception to published article. According to the guidelines of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), authorship credit should be based on the following 4 criteria:
Substantial contributions to conception or design of the work, or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; and
Drafting of the work or reviewing it critically for important intellectual content; and
Final approval of the version to be published; and
Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.
Accountability & Certifications
Each author should be accountable for the parts of the work he or she has done. In addition, each author should be able to identify which coauthors are responsible for specific other parts of the work and should have confidence in the integrity of the contributions of any coauthors.
All those designated as authors should meet all 4 above described criteria for authorship, and all who meet the 4 criteria should be identified as authors. Those who do not meet all 4 criteria should be acknowledged in an Acknowledgement section placed before references.
All authors (ie, the corresponding author and each coauthor) must read, complete, and submit an electronic Authorship Form with required statements on Authorship Responsibility, Criteria, and Contributions; Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest; and Publishing Agreement.
The authors also must certify that the manuscript represents valid work and that neither this manuscript nor one with substantially similar content under their authorship has been published or is being considered for publication elsewhere. Authors of manuscripts reporting original data or systematic reviews must provide access to data statements from 1 or 2 named authors. If requested, authors should be prepared to provide the data and must cooperate fully in obtaining and providing the data on which the manuscript is based for examination by the editors or their assignees.
Authors should determine the order of authorship among themselves and should settle any disagreements before submitting their manuscript. Changes in authorship (ie, order, addition, and deletion of authors) should be discussed and approved by all authors. Any requests for such changes in authorship after initial manuscript submission and before publication should be explained in writing to the editor in a letter or email from all authors.
Contribution Categories
Authors should provide a description of contributions made by each of them towards the manuscript. Description should be divided into the following categories, as applicable:
Authors' contributions will be printed along with the article.
Ethical/Legal Considerations
Human/Animal Research
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 WMA Declaration of Helsinki).
For prospective studies involving human participants, authors are expected to mention approval of regional/ national/ institutional or independent Ethics Committee or Review Board.
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.
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).
Important: 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.
Plagiarism Policy
Authors should avoid plagiarism. Plagiarism includes duplicate publication of the author's own work, in whole or in part without proper citation or mispresenting other's ideas, words, and other creative expression as one's own. The Journal follows strict anti-plagiarism policy.
Warning: If plagiarism is detected after publication, the Journal will investigate. If plagiarism is established, the journal will notify the authors' institution and/or funding bodies and will retract the plagiarized article.
The journal adheres to the principles of transparency and best practices in scholarly publishing as recommended by:
- Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)
- International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE)
- DOAJ Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing
Original Contribution
A submitted manuscript must be:
- An original contribution not previously published
- Not under consideration for publication elsewhere
- If accepted, not published elsewhere in similar form without Journal consent
Each person listed as an author is expected to have participated in the study to a significant extent.
Although editors and referees make every effort to ensure validity, the final responsibility rests with the authors, not with the Journal or its editors.
Authorship Guidelines
According to ICMJE guidelines, authorship credit should be based on ALL of the following 4 criteria:
Substantial contributions to conception/design, or acquisition/analysis/interpretation of data
Drafting or reviewing the work critically for important intellectual content
Final approval of the version to be published
Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work
Contributors who don't meet all 4 criteria should be acknowledged in the Acknowledgement section.
Author Contributions
Authors should describe contributions in these categories:
Data Sharing Requirement
For all reports of original research:
- Authors must provide a Data Sharing Statement
- Indicate whether data will or will not be shared
- If requested, authors must provide data for examination by editors
Copyright
Each author must complete and submit the journal's agreement, which includes a section on the disclosure of potential conflicts of interest based on the recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. A copy of the form is made available to the submitting author within the Editorial Manager submission process. Co-authors will automatically receive an Email with instructions on completing the form upon submission.
Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY)
MAJN uses the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY) for articles and content published.
The CC-BY agreement allows anyone to reuse the article and create derivatives, even for commercial purposes, provided the original authors and original source (MAJN reference) is given. Such downloading, use, reuse, and derivative creation does not require permission from either the authors or the publisher.
To view a copy of this license, visit: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
With such open access to its content, MAJN grants users a free, irrevocable, worldwide and perpetual right to read, download and share the work subject to the terms of the applicable open access license applied to the work. Users must provide appropriate attribution to the original authors and source.
Permissions
Authors must submit written permission from the copyright owner (usually the publisher) to use direct quotations, tables, or illustrations that have appeared in copyrighted form elsewhere, along with complete details about the source.
Important: Any permissions fees that might be required by the copyright owner are the responsibility of the authors requesting use of the borrowed material, not the responsibility of the Journal.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) Authorizing Tools
Important: Nonhuman artificial intelligence, language models, machine learning, or similar technologies do not qualify for authorship.
If these models or tools are used to create content or assist with writing or manuscript preparation, authors must take responsibility for the integrity of the content generated by these tools. Authors should report the use of artificial intelligence, language models, machine learning, or similar technologies to create content or assist with writing or editing of manuscripts in the Acknowledgment section or Methods section if this is part of formal research design or methods.
Disclosure Requirements
Authors who use AI tools in the writing of a manuscript, production of images or graphical elements of the paper, or in the collection and analysis of data, must be transparent in disclosing in the Materials and Methods of the paper how the AI tool was used, and which tool was used.
Correction, Retraction, and Withdrawing Policy
The journal adheres to the COPE Retraction Guidelines (2019) and ICMJE recommendations for maintaining accuracy in scientific communication.
The journal adheres to the COPE Retraction Guidelines (2019) and ICMJE recommendations for maintaining accuracy in scientific communication.
Correction
A correction is issued when a minor error is discovered in a published article that does not invalidate the study’s results or conclusions but needs rectification for clarity or accuracy. Authors or readers should promptly notify the editor of any errors. The editorial team will assess the significance of the error and determine whether a correction is warranted. If approved, a correction notice will be published in the next available issue and linked to the original article online. The correction notice will include:
Retraction
A retraction is issued to formally remove an article from the scientific record when major errors or ethical breaches are identified that invalidate the findings or compromise the integrity of the publication. Retractions may occur in cases of:
If there is a concern for major errors or ethical breaches, the editor-in-chief initiates an investigation, and the corresponding author will be notified. If retraction is warranted, a retraction notice will be published clearly stating:
Withdrawal
Withdrawal applies to articles that have been accepted but not yet published online or in print. An article may be withdrawn if:
Requests for withdrawal must be submitted in writing to the editorial office by the corresponding author, explaining the reason. Once an article is assigned to a DOI and published online, withdrawal is replaced by formal retraction if necessary. In cases of misconduct, the editorial board reserves the right to impose a publication ban on future submissions from the responsible author(s).
Data Access, Responsibility, Analysis, and Sharing
For all reports containing original data, at least 1 named author, and no more than 2 authors, must indicate that she or he "had full access to all the data in the study and takes responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis" and this statement should be included in the manuscript. Additionally, for all reports of original research, authors are required to provide a Data Sharing Statement to indicate if data will or will not be shared.
Acknowledgement Section
All other persons who have made substantial contributions to the work reported in the manuscript (eg, data collection, analysis, and writing or editing assistance) but who do not fulfill the authorship criteria should be named with their specific contributions in an Acknowledgment in the manuscript.
References
The authors are responsible for the accuracy of the references. References should be numbered serially in the text using numbers as unparenthesized superscripts: 1,4,7-9. They should be listed on a separate page at the end of the paper in the order first cited in the text.
Submission
All manuscripts should be submitted into our online submission system.
The Editorial and Peer-Review Process
On submission, editors review all submitted manuscripts initially for suitability for formal review. Manuscripts with insufficient originality, serious scientific or technical flaws, or lack of a significant message are rejected before proceeding for formal peer-review. For manuscripts that are considered for publication at MAJN, they will undergo a thorough single-blinded peer-review process by at least 1-3 external peer reviewers. The editorial team, based on the comments from the reviewers, takes a final decision on the manuscript in terms of acceptance or rejection.
If required, the author is requested to provide a point-by-point response to reviewers' comments and submit a revised version of the manuscript. This process is repeated till reviewers and editors are satisfied with the manuscript before proceeding with publication.
Manuscripts accepted for publication are copy edited for grammar, punctuation, print style, and format.
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