Instructions to the Authors

1. Submission of Manuscripts

The International Journal of Tropical Medicine (IJTM) accepts original manuscripts that are relevant to tropical medicine, infectious diseases, public health, clinical medicine, epidemiology, and related biomedical sciences.

All manuscripts must be submitted electronically through the journal's Open Journal Systems (OJS) submission platform:

Online Submission:
https://ijtm.org/index.php/ijtm/about/submissions

Manuscripts should be submitted in Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) format. Authors should ensure that the submitted manuscript is complete and prepared according to the journal's requirements.

Submission of a manuscript to IJTM implies that:

The work is original and has not been published previously.
The manuscript is not under consideration by another journal.
All authors have approved the submitted version.
All authors agree to its submission to IJTM.
The research has been conducted in accordance with applicable ethical standards.
Any relevant funding and conflicts of interest have been disclosed.

2. Initial Editorial Assessment

All submitted manuscripts undergo an initial editorial assessment. The editorial team evaluates the manuscript for:

Scope and suitability for IJTM
Originality and scientific relevance
Basic methodological quality
Ethical compliance
Completeness of the submission
Compliance with the journal's author guidelines

Manuscripts that do not meet the basic requirements may be returned to the authors before peer review.

3. Peer Review

Manuscripts considered suitable for further evaluation are sent for independent peer review.

IJTM generally follows a double-anonymized peer-review process, where appropriate. Reviewers evaluate manuscripts based on scientific quality, originality, methodology, clarity, ethical compliance, and significance.

The final editorial decision may be:

Accept
Accept subject to minor revision
Major revision
Reject

The Editor-in-Chief and/or designated editors are responsible for the final editorial decision.

4. Research Ethics

Research involving human participants must comply with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki and applicable institutional and national requirements.

Authors must provide information regarding approval from an appropriate Institutional Review Board (IRB), Institutional Ethics Committee, or equivalent ethics body, where applicable.

The manuscript should include the name of the ethics committee and approval/reference number when applicable.

For studies involving identifiable participants, appropriate informed consent must be obtained.

For animal research, authors must provide evidence of compliance with relevant institutional and national standards for the ethical treatment of animals.

5. Originality and Plagiarism

Authors must submit original work and appropriately acknowledge all sources.

Manuscripts may be screened for plagiarism, inappropriate text overlap, duplicate publication, and other forms of publication misconduct using appropriate similarity-detection and editorial tools.

Significant plagiarism, fabricated data, falsified information, or duplicate publication may result in rejection or further editorial action.

6. Authorship

IJTM follows the authorship principles recommended by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).

Authorship should be based on all of the following:

Substantial contribution to the conception/design of the work, acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data.
Drafting the manuscript or critically revising it for important intellectual content.
Final approval of the version to be published.
Accountability for all aspects of the work and ensuring that questions concerning its accuracy or integrity are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Individuals who do not meet all authorship criteria should not be listed as authors but may be acknowledged where appropriate.

7. Author Contributions

A statement describing the contribution of each author may be required.

Examples include:

Conceptualization
Methodology
Data collection
Data analysis
Statistical analysis
Manuscript preparation
Critical revision
Supervision

8. Conflict of Interest

All authors must disclose any financial, personal, professional, or other relationships that could influence or be perceived to influence the work.

If no conflict exists, authors should state:

"The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest."

9. Funding

All sources of financial support for the research must be disclosed.

If the study received no specific funding, authors should state:

"This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors."

10. Data Availability

Authors should provide a statement describing the availability of data supporting the findings of the study, where applicable.

Where ethically and legally possible, authors are encouraged to make relevant research data available through appropriate repositories or upon reasonable request.

Participant confidentiality and applicable legal or institutional restrictions must always be respected.

Article Types

Original Research Article

Maximum approximately 3,500 words, excluding references where appropriate
Structured abstract of up to 250 words
3–10 keywords
Appropriate tables and figures
References should be relevant, current, and preferably include recent peer-reviewed literature

Recommended Abstract Structure

Background
Objective
Methods
Results
Conclusion
Keywords

Review Article

Review articles should provide a comprehensive and critical assessment of an important topic within the journal's scope.

Maximum approximately 4,000 words
Abstract up to 250 words
3–10 keywords
Tables/figures where appropriate
Appropriate and up-to-date references

For systematic reviews and meta-analyses, authors should follow appropriate reporting standards such as PRISMA.

Short Communication

Short Communications should present concise but scientifically significant findings.

Approximately 1,500 words
Abstract up to 150 words
Appropriate tables or figures
Relevant references

Case Report

Case reports should describe clinically significant, unusual, or educational cases with appropriate scientific and ethical justification.

Approximately 1,500 words
Abstract up to 150 words
Appropriate tables/figures
Relevant references
Patient consent where required

Authors are encouraged to follow the CARE reporting guidelines for case reports.

Letter to the Editor

Letters may address published articles, important scientific issues, emerging developments, or matters relevant to the journal's readership.

Approximately 800 words
Up to 10 references
Tables or figures may be included where appropriate

Manuscript Preparation

Title Page

The title page should include:

Full title of the manuscript
Full names of all authors
Institutional affiliations
Department and institution
Corresponding author's name
Corresponding author's email address
ORCID iD, where available
Funding information
Conflict of interest statement
Word count, where applicable

The corresponding author is responsible for communication with the journal during submission, peer review, and publication.

Abstract

The abstract should accurately reflect the content of the manuscript and should not contain information that is not presented in the main text.

Original Research Articles should normally use a structured abstract with appropriate headings.

Keywords

Authors should provide 3–10 keywords that accurately represent the main subjects of the manuscript. Where appropriate, standardized terminology such as MeSH terms should be used.

Introduction

The Introduction should clearly explain the background, rationale, significance, and objective of the study. Relevant and up-to-date references should be used.

Methods

The Methods section should provide sufficient information to allow the study to be understood and, where appropriate, reproduced.

Authors should clearly describe:

Study design
Study setting and duration
Study population
Inclusion and exclusion criteria
Sampling methods
Data collection procedures
Ethical approval
Statistical methods
Relevant interventions or treatments

Generic drug names should preferably be used.

Results

Results should be presented logically and clearly. Tables and figures should complement the text and should not unnecessarily duplicate information.

Statistical findings should be reported accurately with appropriate measures of uncertainty where applicable.

Discussion

The Discussion should interpret the principal findings in relation to existing evidence. Authors should discuss similarities and differences with previous studies, the significance of the findings, strengths and limitations, and possible implications.

Conclusion

The Conclusion should be concise and directly supported by the findings of the study. Authors should avoid making claims that are not supported by the presented evidence.

Study Limitations

Important limitations of the study should be clearly stated.

Acknowledgments

Individuals who contributed to the work but do not meet the criteria for authorship may be acknowledged with their permission.

References

IJTM follows the Vancouver referencing style.

References should:

Be numbered consecutively in the order in which they first appear in the text.
Be cited using Arabic numerals.
Include complete and accurate bibliographic information.
Preferably include relevant and recent peer-reviewed literature.
Include DOI information where available.

Authors should verify all references before submission.

Reporting Guidelines

Authors should use appropriate reporting guidelines according to the study design. These may include:

CONSORT – randomized controlled trials
STROBE – observational studies
PRISMA – systematic reviews and meta-analyses
CARE – case reports
STARD – diagnostic accuracy studies
COREQ – qualitative research

Where applicable, authors should submit the relevant reporting checklist with the manuscript.

Corrections, Retractions and Post-Publication Issues

IJTM is committed to maintaining the integrity of the published scientific record.

Corrections, expressions of concern, retractions, or other editorial actions may be issued when necessary to address significant errors, research misconduct, ethical concerns, or other issues affecting the reliability of published work.

Such actions will be handled in accordance with recognized publication-ethics principles.

Submission Checklist

Before submitting a manuscript, authors should ensure that:

The manuscript falls within the scope of IJTM.
The work has not been published or submitted elsewhere.
All authors have approved the manuscript.
The manuscript is prepared according to the journal's guidelines.
Ethical approval is included where applicable.
Informed consent is documented where required.
Funding and conflicts of interest are disclosed.
Author contributions are provided where required.
Tables and figures are appropriately cited.
References are formatted in Vancouver style.
The corresponding author's contact information is complete.
Any applicable reporting guideline checklist is provided.

Important Notice

Submission of a manuscript does not guarantee acceptance or publication. All manuscripts are subject to editorial assessment and, where appropriate, peer review. The journal reserves the right to request revisions or decline manuscripts that do not meet its scientific, ethical, or editorial requirements.