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Policies

Who Can Submit?

Restricted to Physician Assistant and Doctor of Medical Science students and Faculty. Physician Assistants and other health care professionals may receive permission from the editorial board to submit articles related to the Medical Sciences, Physician Assistant Advocacy, or practice.

Physician Assistant and Doctor of Medical Science students and faculty may submit an original article to be considered for publication in SIU Journal of Medical Science Scholarly Works provided he or she owns the copyright to the work being submitted or is authorized by the copyright owner or owners to submit the article. Authors are the initial owners of the copyrights to their works (an exception in the non-academic world to this might exist if the authors have, as a condition of employment, agreed to transfer copyright to their employer).

General Submission Rules:

Submitted articles cannot have been previously published, nor be forthcoming in an archival journal or book (print or electronic). Please note: "publication" in a working-paper series does not constitute prior publication. In addition, by submitting material to SIU Journal of Medical Science Scholarly Works, the author is stipulating that the material is not currently under review at another journal (electronic or print) and that he or she will not submit the material to another journal (electronic or print) until the completion of the editorial decision process at SIU Journal of Medical Science Scholarly Works. If you have concerns about the submission terms for SIU Journal of Medical Science Scholarly Works, please contact the editors.

Formatting - SIU Journal of Medical Science Scholarly Works

SIU Journal of Medical Science Scholarly Works formatting requirements for article submission. See Final Manuscript Preparation Guidelines for details. Although bepress can provide limited technical support, it is ultimately the responsibility of the author to produce an electronic version of the article as a high-quality PDF (Adobe's Portable Document Format) file, or a Microsoft Word, WordPerfect or RTF file that can be converted to a PDF file. It is understood that the current state of technology of Adobe's Portable Document Format (PDF) is such that there are no, and can be no, guarantees that documents in PDF will work perfectly with all possible hardware and software configurations that readers may have.

A Document Type field will display on the submission form, submitters use this field to select the applicable option when submitting and/or revising [Articles / Case Reports].

Formatting

  • All submissions must be in English.
  • Authors should use proper, standard English grammar.
  • Copyedit your work.
  • Submissions should be a single file, word or pdf (include all tables, figures, etc.).
  • 8.5 x 11-inch pages.
  • All margins 1 inch (including tables, figures, etc.).
  • 1.5 spacing throughout.
  • Font:
    o Main Body – 12 pt. Times New Roman or closest comparable option.
    o References – 12 pt. Times New Roman or closest comparable option.
  • Pages numbered consecutively, right aligned in the header.
  • No colored text.
  • Use only high-resolution figures, tables, etc.

Additional Requirements:

  • Indent all paragraphs except those following a section heading.
  • No extra space between headings and paragraphs.
  • Headings should be bold type and all CAPS (e.g., BOLD CAPS).
  • Tables and figures should appear where they are referenced in the text whenever possible. Large tables or graphs may appear on their own page.
  • Mathematics:
    o Roman letters in mathematical expression should be italicized.
    o Short expressions typed inline.
    o Long expressions should appear on their own line.
    o Avoid unusual symbols or notation.
  • References:
    o Single space within the citation and double-space between citations.
    o No hanging indents
    o Include complete references in AMA style at the end of the work, beginning on the final page.
    o In text citations.

Case Reports

A Case Report should recount an interesting, atypical, surprising, or otherwise remarkable patient care experience, including a discussion of the presentation, intervention, and outcome. Authors should discuss clinical reasoning and supportive medical science related to the case.

*All Case Reports must have documented patient consent for publication. Authors must submit a completed “Authorization to Use and Share Protected Health Information for Case Reports” form with their Case Report Submission (form available for download on journal website).

  • Case Report titles should be engaging but clearly represent the case.
  • Case Reports should be 1500-2000 words excluding references. Word limit is not strict. Word count may be exceeded if important facts require further explanation.

The manuscript should include the following sections: CASE and DISCUSSION. Authors may also choose to include a final CONCLUSION in order to discuss patient outcome. Do not include an INTRODUCTION.

  • CASE section may include Chief Complaint, Focused Differential Diagnosis, History of Present Illness, pertinent Review of Systems and Patient History, Physical Exam, Diagnostic Results, Diagnosis, and Treatment with appropriate discussion of clinical reasoning throughout.
  • DISCUSSION section may include Disease Process Research, Continued Clinical Reasoning, Prevalence, Morbidity, Mortality, Epidemiology, Etiology, Risk Factors, Physiology, Pathophysiology, Anatomy (brief and only what is necessary), Integrated Medical Concepts, Clinical Manifestations, Diagnostic Criteria, Medical Treatment(s), Prognosis, Patient Education, and Prevention.
  • Optional CONCLUSION may include Patient Progress, Final Patient Outcome, and Wrap-Up of Key Concepts ("take-home" message) to include 3-5 points.
  • All References in AMA formatting. A minimum of 10 references is recommended.
  • Include Photographs, Radiographs, or other types of clinical images if appropriate. Authors must remove protected patient information from the case description and any included images or diagnostics that could identify the patient.

Case Reports are not meant to serve as complete reviews of the literature, nor are they appropriate for discussion of standard diagnosis and treatment of common conditions.

AI Generative Tools

Any text, citations, quotations, figures, tables, images, or graphics generated from AI, machine learning, or similar algorithmic tools cannot be used in any publications produced by the SIU Journal of Medical Science Scholarly Works (JMSSW) without the explicit permission from the editors. In addition, an AI program cannot be an author or artist in a JMSSW publication. Violation of this policy constitutes scientific misconduct.

Rights for Authors and OpenSIUC

The authors retain all copyright of the article in consideration for publication in the SIU Journal of Medical Science Scholarly Works. Faculty and students of SIU School of Medicine Physician Assistant program are encouraged to submit their work to other publications upon completion of all course requirements.

Attribution and Usage Policies

Reproduction, posting, transmission or other distribution or use of the article or any material therein, in any medium as permitted by a personal-use exemption or by written agreement of OpenSIUC, requires credit to OpenSIUC as copyright holder (e.g., OpenSIUC © 2023).

Personal-use Exceptions

The following uses are always permitted to the author(s) and do not require further permission from OpenSIUC provided the author does not alter the format or content of the articles, including the copyright notification:

  • Storage and back-up of the article on the author's computer(s) and digital media (e.g., diskettes, back-up servers, Zip disks, etc.), provided that the article stored on these computers and media is not readily accessible by persons other than the author(s);
  • Posting of the article on the author(s) personal website, provided that the website is non-commercial;
  • Posting of the article on the internet as part of a non-commercial open access institutional repository or other non-commercial open access publication site affiliated with the author(s)'s place of employment (e.g., a Phrenology professor at the University of Southern North Dakota can have her article appear in the University of Southern North Dakota's Department of Phrenology online publication series); and
  • Posting of the article on a non-commercial course website for a course being taught by the author at the university or college employing the author.

People seeking an exception, or who have questions about use, should contact the editors.

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General Terms and Conditions of Use

Users of the OpenSIUC website and/or software agree not to misuse the OpenSIUC service or software in any way.

The failure of OpenSIUC to exercise or enforce any right or provision in the policies or the Submission Agreement does not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. If any term of the Submission Agreement or these policies is found to be invalid, the parties nevertheless agree that the court should endeavor to give effect to the parties' intentions as reflected in the provision, and the other provisions of the Submission Agreement and these policies remain in full force and effect. These policies and the Submission Agreement constitute the entire agreement between OpenSIUC and the Author(s) regarding submission of the Article.