Author Guidelines

GUIDELINES FOR MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION

(These manuscript submission guidelines apply to articles published from March 10, 2023, in accordance with Decision No. 865/QĐ-ĐHYDCT promulgating the Regulations on the publication of the Can Tho Journal of Medicine and Pharmacy.)

The Can Tho Journal of Medicine and Pharmacy publishes articles in three categories:

• Original research articles: Reports of valuable scientific research findings from completed research projects.
• Medical, biological, and pharmaceutical review articles: Intended to support continuing education in the fields of medicine, biology, and pharmacy by systematizing classical and modern knowledge.
• Updates on new knowledge in medicine, biology, and pharmacy in Vietnam and worldwide.

MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

Scientific research articles submitted to the Journal must be original manuscripts that have not been submitted to or published in any other national or international journal. Manuscripts must comply with the regulations, content requirements, and formatting guidelines applicable to each type of article. Manuscripts that do not meet the required format, contain inappropriate content, or violate copyright will be rejected. Authors must use English manuscript template provided by the Journal to prepare their manuscripts. Authors must complete all required information and sign the Research Ethics Commitment Form for the manuscript and submit it together with the manuscript (it will be sent by the secretary of journal after submitting). When submitting a manuscript, authors must provide the research ethics approval document issued by the Institutional Review Board (IRB). Authors must submit their manuscripts through the online submission system: https://ctjmp.edu.vn/index.php/ctjmp/about/submissions.

RESEARCH ETHICS REQUIREMENTS FOR MANUSCRIPTS

A manuscript will only be accepted when the corresponding author assumes primary responsibility and confirms the following: (a) The content of the manuscript has not been published in whole or in part in any other journal; (b) All authors have made substantial contributions to the research process or manuscript preparation and share responsibility for the content of the manuscript; and (c) Research ethics requirements have been complied with (e.g., informed consent to participate in the research). Authors are responsible to the Editorial Board, the public, and relevant regulations of Vietnam for these matters.

SPECIFIC GUIDELINES/REQUIREMENTS FOR EACH TYPE OF ARTICLE

1. Original Research Article (5–7 pages)

The format of an original research article includes: Title, Authors and affiliations, Abstract (Vietnamese–English), Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion, and References.

1.1. Title: The title should be written in capital letters, be concise, accurately reflect the main content of the article, and avoid abbreviations.

1.2. Authors and Affiliations

The authors’ full names must be provided without academic degrees, academic titles, or professional titles. Superscript numbers should be placed after each author’s name to indicate their affiliation. The corresponding author should be marked with an asterisk (*) and an email address should be provided. The authors’ names and institutional affiliations should be written in both Vietnamese and English. Email and affiliation format:

• Author A¹, Author B², and Author C³*, author order: Authors should be listed according to their level of contribution, from greatest to least, separated by commas. The first author and the corresponding author are considered the principal authors by default. (*) Corresponding author.
• ¹Institution X, ²Institution Y, ³Institution Z. If all authors are from the same institution, numbering is not required.
• *Corresponding author’s email. Example: *Email: C3@gmail.com

1.3. Abstract

The abstract must provide an overview of the research problem and objectives, the study population and methods, the main findings, and the conclusion of the research. All information and data presented in the abstract must also appear in the main text. The abstract should be presented before the main article, should be no more than 300–350 words. Keywords should reflect the main issue addressed by the study and should include approximately 3–5 words or phrases. The English abstract should include the following sections: Background; Objectives; Materials and methods; Results; Conclusion; Keywords.

1.4. Main Content (including five main sections and References)

I. INTRODUCTION: This section should provide a brief overview of the research problem and state the research objectives.

II. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This section should be concise but contain sufficient information for readers to understand the research procedures. Only new procedures or procedures performed for the first time need to be described in detail, with appropriate references cited. This section includes the following three main components:

• Study population: study population, inclusion criteria, and exclusion criteria.
• Methods: including study design, sample size and sampling method, research content/indicators, research procedures, data analysis methods, study period and setting, and a clear statement that the Institutional Review Board (IRB) approved the ethical aspects of the study when required by the research topic. Studies in the fields of Pharmacy and Laboratory Science must also include a section describing the chemicals and equipment used in the research.

III. RESULTS: Figures, tables, and charts should be presented directly in this section, including titles and brief explanatory comments below them. Figures, tables, and charts should be numbered consecutively, beginning with 1, according to their order of appearance, and should be presented clearly with brief comments and captions below them. Tables and charts that are overly simple and could be described in words should be avoided, as should tables with excessive numbers of rows and columns that are difficult to present within the Journal’s page size. The total number of figures, tables, and charts should be at least 3 and should not exceed 6 for original research articles. The Results section should be presented in accordance with the research questions/objectives and may be organized into subsections.

IV. DISCUSSION: Only findings and interpretations directly related to the results obtained should be discussed. The Results and Discussion sections should correspond to the research objectives.

V. CONCLUSION: The conclusion should be concise and state the main findings derived from the research results. The results of the study should not simply be listed again. The conclusion should be written as one paragraph of approximately 5–7 lines, without bullet points.

REFERENCES: The article should generally include 10–15 references. References should be presented according to the Journal’s guidelines for citation and reference formatting.

2. Review Article (10–15 pages)

A review article should systematically present previously conducted research findings, both nationally and internationally, on a specific topic in the health sciences, and provide an assessment of the strengths, limitations, trends, and future prospects of research on that topic. The format of a review article includes: Title, Abstract, Introduction, Review content, Research prospects/clinical applications, Conclusion, Acknowledgments (if any), and References.

2.1. Title: The title should be concise and clearly reflect the topic being reviewed, while avoiding abbreviations.

2.2. Authors and Affiliations

The authors’ full names must be provided without academic degrees, academic titles, or professional titles. Superscript numbers should be placed after each author’s name to indicate their affiliation. The corresponding author should be marked with an asterisk (*) and an email address should be provided. The authors’ names and institutional affiliations should be written in English. Email and affiliation format:

• Author A¹, Author B², and Author C³*, author order: Authors should be listed according to their level of contribution, from greatest to least, separated by commas. The first author and the corresponding author are considered the principal authors by default. (*) Corresponding author.
• ¹Institution X, ²Institution Y, ³Institution Z. If all authors are from the same institution, numbering is not required.
• *Corresponding author’s email. Example: *Email: C3@gmail.com

2.3. Abstract

The abstract should provide an overview of the review topic; the purpose of the article; the methods used to collect and process references; research trends and prospects; and the conclusion. The English abstract must be a faithful translation of the corresponding Vietnamese abstract, grammatically correct, and appropriate for scientific writing. Keywords: Use concise and meaningful words or phrases that are directly related to the review topic. The number of keywords should be 3–6 words or phrases.

2.4. Main Content (including three main sections, Acknowledgments, and References)

I. INTRODUCTION: Clearly state the issue to be reviewed and the rationale for reviewing the research topic, based on practical requirements, limitations, or prospects of the research topic. Clearly explain the significance of reviewing the research topic and what the review article contributes to future directions in the relevant specialty. The author’s perspective and approach to reviewing the issue should also be stated.

II. REVIEW CONTENT

The review content may be divided into subsections according to the author’s perspective and approach. The content may be presented in written form or using tables, charts, diagrams, or figures newly developed by the author or cited from references. Priority should be given to references published most recently relative to the time of writing the review article. The achievements and limitations of each cited reference should be clearly identified. Figures and tables must be presented in accordance with the Journal’s regulations and placed in the appropriate position within the article. The author should provide critical assessment and identify future research trends related to the reviewed topic.

III. CONCLUSION: Clearly state what information the review article has provided, whether the objectives of the review have been achieved, and the prospects for further research on the topic.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS (if applicable). Acknowledge the assistance of individuals, groups, research projects, institutions, and/or organizations that supported the preparation of the review article.

REFERENCES: The article should generally include 20–30 references. References should be presented according to the Journal’s guidelines for citation and reference formatting.

3. Medical, Biological, and Pharmaceutical Knowledge Update Article

The format of a medical, biological, and pharmaceutical knowledge update article includes: Title, Authors and affiliations, Abstract, Introduction, Case Presentation, Discussion, Conclusion, and References.

3.1. Title

The title should be concise but clearly reflect the main content of the article and avoid abbreviations.

3.2. Authors and Affiliations

The authors’ full names must be provided without academic degrees, academic titles, or professional titles. Superscript numbers should be placed after each author’s name to indicate their affiliation. The corresponding author should be marked with an asterisk (*) and an email address should be provided. Email and affiliation format:

• Author A¹, Author B², and Author C³*, author order: Authors should be listed according to their level of contribution, from greatest to least, separated by commas. The first author and the corresponding author are considered the principal authors by default. (*) Corresponding author.
• ¹Institution X, ²Institution Y, ³Institution Z. If all authors are from the same institution, numbering is not required.
• *Corresponding author’s email. Example: *Email: C3@gmail.com

3.3. Abstract

The abstract should present the context in which the case was identified and briefly describe the process of detection, diagnosis, management, and treatment outcome of the case. The abstract should be presented as a single paragraph and should not exceed 200 words. Keywords should reflect the main issue addressed by the article and should include approximately 3–5 words or phrases.

3.4. Main Content (including four main sections and References)

I. INTRODUCTION: Introduce the case so that readers clearly understand its social and historical context and recognize the benefits of reading the case information.

II. CASE PRESENTATION: Describe the circumstances in which the case was identified, as well as the management and treatment plan, procedures, and treatment outcomes.

III. DISCUSSION: The Discussion should not exceed two typed pages and should present interpretations of the circumstances surrounding the occurrence of the case and the findings obtained.

IV. CONCLUSION: The conclusion should be concise and should not simply list the findings of the research.

REFERENCES: References should be presented according to the Journal’s guidelines for citation and reference formatting. The article should generally include 7–10 references.

4. POLICIES AND GUIDELINES FOR CLINICAL CASE REPORTS

Authors are required to obtain written informed consent from the patient or the legally authorized representative permitting the publication of clinical information and related images in the Journal in both print and online formats. The article must include a statement confirming that consent for publication has been obtained. The Editorial Office reserves the right to request a copy of the written consent during the manuscript evaluation process. All potentially identifying patient information, including names, initials, medical record numbers, dates of birth, facial features, or any other data that could lead to patient identification, must be completely anonymized. Clinical images must be appropriately processed to ensure that the patient cannot be identified, unless explicit written consent for publication has been obtained. Anonymization must not distort the scientific content or clinical significance of the report.

The Journal recommends that authors prepare clinical case reports in accordance with the CARE Guidelines (CAse REport Guidelines) to improve the transparency, completeness, and international standard of the article. Authors are encouraged to submit the CARE checklist together with the manuscript. The title of the article must clearly indicate the article type by including the phrase “Case Report,” enabling readers and indexing systems to readily identify the article type.

Each clinical case report must include an Ethics Statement specifying approval by an ethics committee, if applicable or required; confirming that consent for publication has been obtained from the patient; and affirming the protection of patient confidentiality and privacy.

ARTICLE FORMATTING

1. The manuscript must be prepared in a Microsoft Word file using A4 paper size.

Page setup:

• Page setup/Paper/Size: 19 cm × 26.5 cm
• Page setup/Layout: Header: 1.3 cm / Footer: 1.3 cm
• Page setup/Margins: Top: 2 cm / Bottom: 2 cm / Left: 1.8 cm / Right: 1.8 cm

2. Unicode encoding; font: Times New Roman, 12-point font, single line spacing, justified alignment.

a) Scientific research article title: 13-point font, uppercase, bold, centered.

b) The word “ABSTRACT” should be bold and left-aligned, with Paragraph Before: 6 pt and After: 6 pt.

Content: paragraph format, 11-point font, italicized. Section headings should be bold, including Background, Research objectives, Study population and methods, Results, Conclusion, etc.

The word “ABSTRACT” should be bold and left-aligned, with Paragraph Before: 6 pt and After: 6 pt.

Content: paragraph format, 11-point font, italicized. Section headings should be italicized and bold, including Background; Objectives; Materials and methods; Results; Conclusion; Keywords.

c) Section headings: bold, numbered sequentially using Roman numerals from I to V; 13-point font, bold, left-aligned. The spacing between major headings I, II, and III should be Paragraph 6/0, single spacing, left-aligned.

d) The spacing between subheadings 1.1, 1.2, and 1.3 should be Paragraph 3/0, single spacing, indented by one tab (1.27 cm), with justified alignment: Paragraph/Special/First line/By 1.27 cm.

e) Main text: single-spaced, 12-point font.

3. Tables: content in 11-point font, lowercase, and table headings should not be bold. Table titles should be 12-point font, lowercase, italicized, and left-aligned. Tables should extend across the full page width (Table Tools/Layout/Autofit/Autofit Window). Repeat the table heading if the table extends over two pages. Spacing between the table and its title: Before: 3 pt; After: 3 pt.

4. References: 11-point font, justified alignment.

5. Page numbers: centered at the bottom of the page.

6. The first page of the article must include the following: article title, author name(s) or group of authors, workplace/institution, address, telephone number, and email address of the author group, as well as the supervisor (if applicable). The corresponding author must be clearly identified.

REQUIREMENTS FOR FIGURES, TABLES, AND UNITS OF MEASUREMENT

1. Figures and Tables

Figures and tables should be clear and easy to read. Tables should contain no more than 7 columns of data.

Tables and figures should be numbered consecutively, for example: Table 1, Table 2, etc.; Figure 1, Figure 2, etc.

Table titles should be placed above the table, left-aligned, bold, with the first letter capitalized, and without a period at the end of the title.

Figure captions should be placed below the figure, centered, bold, with the first letter capitalized, and without a period at the end of the caption.

The source must be cited when a table or figure is reproduced from another reference. The citation should be placed below the table or figure, in parentheses, and in italics.

Images should be inserted in the appropriate position in the manuscript and submitted together with the original image file (JPEG format, with a resolution of at least 300 dpi). Figures reproduced from other reports must include a source citation, and the authors are responsible for obtaining permission to use figures created by other authors, where applicable.

2. Units of Measurement

a) Length, area, and volume: mm, cm, km, mm², cm², m³, µL, mL, L, etc.

b) Mass: kg, g, mg, µg, ng, kDa, Da, etc.

c) Concentration: nM, µM, mM, M, %, µg/L, mg/L, g/L, etc.

d) Units of measurement: A space should be placed between the number and the unit (e.g., 5 L, 5 kg, 5 ppm), whereas the percentage sign should be written without a space (e.g., 5%). Decimal numbers must use a comma, and numbers of one thousand or more must use a period as the thousands separator. The number of decimal places should be determined according to the measurement precision of the research method. For example, if a measurement or weighing procedure provides two decimal places, up to two decimal places may be used, but no more than two. Generally, a precision of 1% is used: when the integer part is a single digit (1–9), two decimal places should be used; when the integer part is in the tens (10–99), one decimal place should be used; and when the integer part is in the hundreds or higher (≥100), no decimal places should be used.

CITATION REQUIREMENTS FOR ARTICLES

References cited in the article should generally consist of up-to-date studies published within the past five years.

1. References should be cited by number rather than by author name and year. References should be collected and arranged in the order in which they are cited in the article.
2. References in foreign languages should be retained in their original form, without transliteration or translation, and do not need to be separated by language.
3. References must be fully cited in the article using numbers (e.g., [1], [2], etc.), rather than author names and years. For articles with multiple authors, if there are five or fewer authors, all authors must be listed. If there are six or more authors, only the first five authors should be listed, followed by “et al.”
4. For international authors, the surname should be written first, followed by abbreviated given name(s) and middle name(s). For Vietnamese authors, the full name should be written. Authors’ names should be separated by commas and spaces.

Examples of reference formatting:

• References from books should be formatted as follows:

Author name, translator name. Book title. Publisher. Year of publication. Page numbers. Volume or individual volume title. DOI.

Example: Mainfred B.S, Nguyễn Hải Bằng, trans. Globalization. Knowledge Publishing House. 2011. 224.

Rojko JL, and Hardy WD Jr. Feline leukemia virus and other retroviruses. Churchill Livingstone. 1989. 229–332.

• References from journal articles should be formatted as follows:

Author(s). Article title in upright/roman type. Journal title in italics, year of publication, volume (issue), article page numbers, DOI.

Example: Chang C.C., Yang M.H., Wen H.M., and Chern J.C. Estimation of total flavonoid content in propolis by two complementary colorimetric methods. Journal of Food and Drug Analysis. 2002. 10(3), 178–182, https://doi.org/10.38212/2224-6614.2748.

• References from theses and dissertations should be formatted as follows:

Author. Title of thesis/dissertation. Name of educational institution. Year of publication. Number of pages.

Example: Jones Đ.L. The role of physical activity on the need for revision total knee arthroplasty in individuals with osteoarthritis of the knee. University of Pittsburgh; 2001. 436.

• References from websites should be formatted as follows:

Author. Article title. Year of publication. Website link.

Example: Royal College of General Practitioners. The primary health care team. 1998. http/www.regp.org.uk/informat/publicat/ref0021.htm.