Guide for Authors

Submission Instructions

All manuscripts must be submitted through the journal’s online submission system.
The journal follows a structured peer-review and editorial workflow to ensure scientific quality, transparency, and research integrity.

Journal Information

• Journal Title: Iranian Journal of Health Research and Development(Iran J Health Res Dev)
• Publisher: Torbat Jam Faculty of Medical Sciences, Iran
• Language of Publication: Persian (with English abstract)
• Referencing Style: Vancouver style

Ethical Principles of Publication

The journal adheres to the principles and guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and follows internationally recognized standards for biomedical publishing.

All studies involving human participants or animals must comply with the Declaration of Helsinki and relevant national and institutional regulations.

• Ethics approval from a recognized Research Ethics Committee is mandatory for original research.
• Clinical trials must be registered in an official registry (e.g., IRCT), and the registration code must be included in the manuscript.

Research and Publication Misconduct

The journal considers the following as misconduct (not limited to):

• Simultaneous submission to multiple journals
• Lack of ethics approval or trial registration (if applicable)
• Data fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism
• Redundant or duplicate publication
• Unauthorized changes in authorship

All allegations are investigated according to COPE flowcharts and in coordination with relevant institutional ethics committees

Plagiarism Screening Policy

All submitted manuscripts are screened for similarity prior to the peer review process.

The journal uses iThenticate for similarity detection to identify potential instances of plagiarism and text overlap:
Manuscripts with an unacceptable level of similarity or evidence of plagiarism will be rejected or returned to the authors for clarification or revision, depending on the nature and extent of the overlap

Peer Review and Editorial Process

The journal follows a double-blind peer review process.

Editorial workflow includes:

1. Initial Editorial Screening (scope, novelty, structure)
2. Technical Compliance Check (formatting, completeness)
3. Peer Review by at least two independent reviewers
4. Revision by authors based on reviewer comments
5. Final editorial decision
6. Proofreading and final approval
7. Publication scheduling

The Editorial Board reserves the right to accept, reject, or request revisions.

Types of Articles Accepted

• Original Research Articles
• Short Research Articles
• Review Articles (Systematic & Narrative)
• Meta-Analyses
• Case Reports
• Letters to the Editor
• Editorials
• Brief Communications
• Clinical Images

Language Policy

The official language of the journal is Persian.
All manuscripts must include a structured English abstract.

Authorship and Submission Requirements

• Manuscripts must be original and not under review elsewhere
• Authors are encouraged to provide ORCID iDs
• Authorship must reflect actual contributions
• Changes in authorship after submission require written approval of all authors
• No authorship changes are allowed after acceptance

Manuscript Preparation

Manuscripts must follow ICMJE recommendations and journal formatting.

General Structure (Original Articles):

• Title Page
• Abstract
• Keywords (MeSH-based)
• Introduction
• Methods
• Results
• Discussion
• Conclusion
• Acknowledgment
• References
• Tables and Figures

Abstract Requirements

• Original Articles: structured abstract
• Reviews: structured or unstructured abstract
• Case Reports: structured abstract
• Maximum length: 350 words

Referencing Style

• References must follow Vancouver style
• Numbered in order of appearance
• Journal names should follow Index Medicus style
• EndNote is recommended for reference management

Article Types and Limits

Original Articles

• Max 4000 words
• Max 55 references
• Max 5 tables/figures

Review Articles

• 3500–4000 words
• Max 80 references
• Max 5 tables/figures

Case Reports

• Max 1000 words
• Max 20 references
• Max 2 tables/figures

Brief Reports

• Max 1200 words
• Max 20 references
• Max 2 tables/figures

Letters to the Editor

• Max 700 words
• Max 10 references
• No tables/figures

Figures and Tables

• Figures must be submitted separately
• Must be high resolution (150–300 dpi)
• Acceptable formats: TIFF, EPS, PDF
• Tables must not duplicate text
• Legends must be concise (≤50 words)

Conflict of Interest

All authors must disclose any financial or non-financial conflicts of interest.

Copyright and Licensing

Authors retain copyright of their work.
All articles are published under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0).

Peer Review Policy

All manuscripts undergo double-blind peer review.
Editorial decisions are based on scientific quality, originality, and relevance.

Open Access Policy

The journal is fully open access.
All content is freely available without subscription or access fees.

Publication Fees

• Submission Fee: Free
• Article Processing Charges (APC): Free
• Publication: Free of charge

Duties of Authors

Authors must ensure:

• Originality and accuracy of work
• Proper citation of sources
• No duplicate submission
• Full disclosure of conflicts of interest
• Prompt correction of errors if identified

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)