Submissions

Author Guidelines

These guidelines outline the editorial, ethical, and formatting requirements for manuscript submission. Authors are advised to read them carefully before preparing their manuscript. Submission of a manuscript implies that all listed authors have approved the content and agree to comply with the standards outlined below.

1. Authorship and Contributor Responsibility

• Authorship should be based on substantial contributions to conception, design, data acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of the work.

• All authors must approve the final version of the manuscript before submission.

• The corresponding author is responsible for:

  • Ensuring the accuracy and integrity of the manuscript.

  • Confirming that all co-authors have reviewed and approved the submission.

  • Managing all communication with the editorial office during submission, peer-review, and post-publication.

• Contributors who do not meet authorship criteria should be acknowledged under Acknowledgements, with specific mention of their contribution type.

• Any changes in authorship (addition, removal, or reordering of authors) after submission require written consent from all authors and editorial approval.

2. Manuscript Preparation and Technical Specifications

General Formatting Requirements

Recommended Manuscript Structure

• Title Page – Title, authors’ full names, affiliations, ORCID IDs (if available), and complete contact details of the corresponding author.

• Abstract – Structured or unstructured (as required), followed by 4–6 keywords.

• Introduction

• Materials and Methods / Methodology – Detailed for reproducibility; ethical clearance details mandatory for human/animal studies.

• Results

• Discussion

• Conclusion

• Acknowledgements

• Conflicts of Interest

• Funding Statement

• References

• Tables

• Figure Legends

• Supplementary Data (if any)

3. Tables and Figures

Tables

• Tables should be numbered consecutively using Arabic numerals.

• Each table should have a concise caption placed above.

• Submit tables in an editable format—do not embed as images.

• Footnotes should be denoted using superscript symbols or sequential letters and placed beneath the table.

Figures

• Figures should be of high resolution (minimum 300 dpi) in TIFF/JPEG/PNG formats.

• Complex figures (multi-panel) should be labeled as Figure 2A, Figure 2B, etc.

• Captions should be brief, descriptive, and placed below the figure in the manuscript file but submitted separately if required by the system.

• Avoid decorative graphics; scientific clarity must be prioritized over styling.

4. Referencing Standards (Harvard Style – Author–Date System)

• The journal follows the Harvard (Author–Date) referencing system.

• All references cited in the text must appear in the reference list and must be arranged alphabetically by the surname of the first author.

• Ensure accuracy, consistency, and completeness of each reference. References to unpublished work, personal communications, or inaccessible sources should be avoided unless absolutely essential.

4.1 In-text Citation Format

Note: Only surnames should be used in citations. Avoid honorifics like Hakim, Hakeem, Dr., Prof., etc.

4.2 Reference List Format (Harvard Style)

All references must follow the formats given below:

A. Journal Articles

Format:

Author(s) Surname, Initial(s). (Year) ‘Article title’, Journal Name, Volume(Issue), pp. xx–xx.

Example:

Rahman, A. and Ali, S. (2004) ‘Pharmacological evaluation of Unani formulations’, Journal of Traditional Medicine, 12(3), pp. 45–52.

B. Books

Format:

Author(s) Surname, Initial(s). (Year) Title of the Book. Edition (if not first). Place: Publisher.

Example:

Goodman, S. (2011) Medical Herbalism: Science and Practice of Herbal Medicine. 2nd ed. London: Routledge.

C. Chapter in an Edited Book

Format:

Author(s) Surname, Initial(s). (Year) ‘Chapter title’, in Editor Surname, Initial(s) (ed.) Book Title. Place of Publication: Publisher, pp. xx–xx.

Example:

Siddiqui, H. (2015) ‘Concept of temperament in Unani Medicine’, in Ahmed, R. (ed.) Perspectives in Traditional Healing. New Delhi: CCRUM, pp. 65–78.

D. Classical / Traditional Text (Dual-Year Citation)

Format:

Author (Original Year/Edition Year) Title of Manuscript. Editor/Translator (if applicable). Place: Publisher.

Example:

Ibn Sīnā (1025/1999) Al-Qanun fi al-Tibb, translated by K. Shah. New Delhi: CCRUM.

E. Conference Proceedings

Format:

Author(s) Surname, Initial(s). (Year) ‘Title of paper’, Conference Title, Location, Date. Publisher (if any), pp. xx–xx.

Example:

Khan, R. (2018) ‘Modern validation of Unani clinical practices’, Proceedings of the International Congress on Integrative Medicine, Istanbul, 12–15 May. WHO Publications, pp. 210–218.

F. Web Resources / Online Reports

Format:

Organization/Author (Year) Title of page/document. Available at: URL (Accessed: Day Month Year).

Example:

World Health Organization (2023) Traditional and Complementary Medicine Global Report. Available at: https://www.who.int/tcm (Accessed: 10 October 2025).

G. Theses and Dissertations

Format:

Author(s) Surname, Initial(s). (Year) Title of Thesis (Thesis type). Institution.

Example:

Ansari, N. (2024) Pharmacodynamic evaluation of Qurs Ziabetus in T2DM (PhD thesis). Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi.

4.3 Reference Management Recommendation

Authors are encouraged to use reference management tools such as Mendeley, EndNote, or Zotero to ensure consistency and accuracy.

5. Ethical Compliance

Research Integrity

• Manuscripts must reflect genuine research work. Fabrication, falsification, or selective omission of data is prohibited.

• Human/Animal Studies: Ethical clearance number, name of ethical review board, and informed consent statement must be clearly mentioned.

• Clinical Trials: Registration number from an approved trial registry must be included.

Plagiarism Policy

• All submissions undergo plagiarism screening. The acceptable similarity index should not exceed 10–15% (excluding references and standard phrases).

• Verbatim copying, inappropriate paraphrasing, or recycling of one’s own published work without citation (self-plagiarism) is grounds for immediate rejection.

Conflict of Interest and Funding Disclosure

• Authors must declare all potential conflicts of interest, financial or otherwise.

• A separate funding statement should mention the name of the funding agency, grant number, and role of the funder (if any) in study design or publication.

6. Post-Publication Responsibilities

• Authors must be prepared to provide raw data or supplementary data if requested by the editorial board.

• If an error is discovered after publication, authors must notify the editorial office immediately for correction or retraction.