AUTHOR GUIDELINES

1. About MEDICINUS

MEDICINUS is a peer-reviewed, open-access medical journal that publishes scholarly work in medicine, biomedical sciences, clinical medicine, public health, and other health-related disciplines.

The journal welcomes manuscripts that contribute scientifically relevant, methodologically sound, and ethically conducted research to the advancement of medical knowledge and clinical practice.

All manuscripts must be original, must not have been published previously, and must not be under consideration for publication elsewhere at the time of submission.

The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that all listed authors have reviewed and approved the manuscript and have agreed to its submission to MEDICINUS.

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2. TYPES OF MANUSCRIPTS

MEDICINUS accepts the following categories of manuscripts.

2.1 Original Research Articles

Original Research Articles report original findings from basic, translational, clinical, epidemiological, or public health research.

Original research manuscripts should normally be organized as follows:

1. Title Page

2. Abstract

3. Keywords

4. Introduction

5. Methods

6. Results

7. Discussion

8. Conclusion

9. Acknowledgments

10. Funding

11. Conflict of Interest

12. References

13. Tables and Figures, where applicable

Authors should follow an appropriate reporting guideline according to the study design. Examples include:

• STROBE for observational studies;

• CONSORT for randomized controlled trials;

• STARD for diagnostic accuracy studies;

• TRIPOD for prediction model studies; and

• other relevant EQUATOR Network reporting guidelines.

Where appropriate, the study design should be identified in the manuscript title.

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2.2 Review Articles

Review Articles provide a comprehensive and critical synthesis of current evidence relating to an important topic in medicine or health sciences.

Systematic reviews and meta-analyses should follow the current PRISMA reporting guideline and should describe the search strategy, eligibility criteria, study-selection process, data-extraction procedures, and methods used for evidence synthesis.

Narrative reviews should provide a balanced and evidence-based discussion of the available literature.

Unless otherwise approved by the Editorial Office:

• Main text: maximum 5,000 words

• Abstract: maximum 250 words

• Tables and figures: maximum 10 in total

• References: maximum 75

Invited and unsolicited review articles may be considered.

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2.3 Case Reports

Case Reports should describe clinically important, unusual, educational, or novel cases that provide clear learning points for medical practice.

Case reports should follow the CARE reporting guideline, where applicable.

Patient confidentiality must be protected. Written informed consent for publication must be obtained from the patient or the patient's legally authorized representative when identifiable clinical information or images are presented.

Unless otherwise approved by the Editorial Office:

• Main text: maximum 3,000 words

• Abstract: maximum 250 words

• Tables and figures: maximum 5 in total

• References: maximum 50

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2.4 Commentary and Letters to the Editor

Commentaries and Letters to the Editor provide concise scholarly discussion, constructive criticism, interpretation, or perspectives relating to recently published articles or topics relevant to the scope of MEDICINUS.

Unless otherwise approved by the Editorial Office:

• Main text: maximum 750 words

• Abstract: not required

• Figures: maximum 1

• References: maximum 3

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3. LANGUAGE

Manuscripts may be submitted in English or Indonesian.

Authors are responsible for ensuring that manuscripts are written clearly and accurately. Manuscripts may be returned for language revision when the quality of the language substantially interferes with scientific evaluation or comprehension.

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4. MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION

Manuscripts should be prepared using a commonly accepted editable format, preferably Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx).

The manuscript should use:

• Times New Roman;

• 12-point font;

• 1.5-line spacing; and

• approximately 2.5-cm margins on all sides.

Authors should submit all files required for editorial assessment and production. Incomplete submissions may be returned to the authors before editorial evaluation.

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5. TITLE PAGE

The title page should include:

1. Full title of the manuscript;

2. Full names of all authors;

3. Institutional affiliation of each author, including department, institution, city, and country;

4. Name and contact details of the corresponding author;

5. Email address of the corresponding author; and

6. ORCID iD of each author, where available.

The title should be concise, informative, and accurately reflect the content of the manuscript.

Where appropriate, particularly for original research, systematic reviews, and clinical trials, the study design should be identified in the title.

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6. AUTHORSHIP

Authorship should be limited to individuals who have made substantial intellectual contributions to the work and who accept responsibility for the content of the manuscript.

All authors should:

• make a substantial contribution to the conception, design, acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of the work;

• participate in drafting the manuscript or critically revising it for important intellectual content;

• approve the final version submitted for publication; and

• accept accountability for their contributions to the work.

Individuals who contributed to the work but do not meet the criteria for authorship should be acknowledged appropriately.

The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that all authors satisfy the journal's authorship requirements.

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7. ABSTRACT

The abstract should not exceed 250 words.

For Original Research Articles, a structured abstract is recommended using the following headings:

• Introduction or Background

• Methods

• Results

• Conclusion

The abstract should accurately summarize the objectives, methodology, principal findings, and conclusions of the study.

Abstract formats for reviews, case reports, and other manuscript categories may be adjusted according to the nature of the article.

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8. KEYWORDS

Authors should provide a maximum of five keywords immediately following the abstract.

Where appropriate, authors are encouraged to use terms consistent with Medical Subject Headings (MeSH).

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9. INTRODUCTION

The Introduction should provide sufficient background to explain the rationale and significance of the study.

It should:

• describe the relevant scientific or clinical context;

• identify the problem being investigated;

• summarize the relevant knowledge gap;

• explain the novelty or importance of the study; and

• clearly state the study objective or research question.

The Introduction should be concise and should not include results or conclusions from the present study.

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10. METHODS

The Methods section should provide sufficient information to allow readers to understand and, where appropriate, reproduce the study.

Authors should describe:

• study design;

• study setting;

• participants or study population;

• inclusion and exclusion criteria;

• sampling procedures;

• interventions or exposures, where applicable;

• outcome measurements;

• data-collection procedures;

• statistical methods; and

• ethical considerations.

Statistical methods should be described with sufficient detail to enable readers to evaluate the appropriateness of the analysis.

Where relevant, authors should report actual numbers of participants in addition to percentages.

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11. ETHICAL APPROVAL AND INFORMED CONSENT

Research involving human participants must have been conducted in accordance with applicable ethical principles and institutional or national regulations.

Authors should provide:

• the name of the approving Institutional Review Board or Research Ethics Committee;

• the approval or reference number, where available; and

• a statement regarding informed consent.

When informed consent was waived by an ethics committee, this should be clearly stated.

Research involving animals must comply with applicable institutional and national standards for animal welfare and research ethics.

The Editorial Office may request supporting documentation relating to ethical approval or informed consent.

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12. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION

Prospective clinical trials should be registered in a publicly accessible clinical-trial registry recognized by relevant international standards.

The registration number and registry should be stated in the manuscript.

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13. RESULTS

The Results section should present study findings clearly, accurately, and logically.

Results should preferably be presented in the sequence corresponding to the objectives and methods of the study.

Authors should avoid unnecessary duplication of the same information in the text, tables, and figures.

Measurements should use internationally recognized units, preferably the International System of Units (SI) where applicable.

Interpretation of the significance or broader implications of findings should primarily be reserved for the Discussion section.

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14. DISCUSSION

The Discussion should interpret the principal findings in the context of existing scientific evidence.

Authors should:

• summarize the principal findings;

• compare the findings with relevant previous research;

• explain possible mechanisms or interpretations;

• discuss the clinical or scientific implications;

• identify the strengths of the study;

• clearly acknowledge its limitations; and

• avoid conclusions that extend beyond the evidence generated by the study.

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15. CONCLUSION

The Conclusion should directly address the objectives or research questions of the study.

It should summarize the principal findings and their significance without unnecessarily repeating the Results or introducing new information.

Recommendations for future research may be included where appropriate.

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16. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Individuals who contributed to the study but do not meet the criteria for authorship may be listed in the Acknowledgments section.

Authors should obtain permission from individuals whose names are included in the acknowledgments where appropriate.

Technical, administrative, institutional, or other relevant support may also be acknowledged.

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17. FUNDING

Authors must disclose all sources of financial support related to the research and publication of the manuscript.

The funding statement should include, where applicable:

• name of the funding organization;

• grant number; and

• role of the funder in the research.

If no external funding was received, authors should state:

“This research received no external funding.”

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18. CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

All authors must disclose financial and non-financial relationships or circumstances that could reasonably be perceived as influencing the work.

Potential conflicts may include, but are not limited to:

• employment;

• consultancies;

• stock ownership;

• honoraria;

• patents;

• research funding;

• advisory roles; and

• relevant personal, professional, or institutional relationships.

If there are no conflicts of interest, authors should state:

“The authors declare no conflicts of interest.”

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19. USE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND AUTOMATED TOOLS

Generative artificial intelligence and large language models, including tools such as ChatGPT, do not qualify for authorship and must not be listed as authors.

Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, integrity, citations, and scientific validity of all content submitted to MEDICINUS.

Authors should disclose substantive use of generative artificial intelligence or automated tools in the preparation of a manuscript when their use extends beyond routine spelling, grammar, language correction, or formatting.

When generative AI has been used as part of the research methodology, its use should be described transparently in the Methods section or another appropriate section.

Generative AI tools should not be cited as primary sources of scientific evidence.

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20. FIGURES AND TABLES

Tables and figures should be numbered consecutively according to the order in which they are first mentioned in the manuscript.

Each table should:

• have a concise and informative title;

• be understandable without unnecessary reference to the main text;

• explain abbreviations in footnotes where necessary; and

• avoid duplicating information already presented in figures or text.

Each figure should have an accompanying figure legend.

Authors are responsible for obtaining permission to reproduce copyrighted figures, tables, photographs, or other material that has previously been published.

Unless otherwise specified for a particular manuscript category, Original Research Articles should contain a maximum combined total of six tables and/or figures.

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21. IMAGE INTEGRITY

Images must accurately represent the original data.

Authors must not manipulate images in a manner that could misrepresent, obscure, remove, introduce, or alter scientifically relevant information.

Adjustments to brightness, contrast, or color balance should be applied to the entire image and should not distort or conceal information.

The Editorial Office may request original image files or underlying data when necessary to evaluate concerns regarding image integrity.

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22. REFERENCES

References should follow the Vancouver style and should be numbered consecutively according to the order in which they first appear in the text.

Reference numbers should be presented as superscript citations in the manuscript.

Authors are responsible for ensuring that all references are:

• accurate;

• relevant;

• retrievable;

• cited in the manuscript; and

• correctly matched between the text and reference list.

Authors are encouraged to prioritize recent and relevant literature while also citing important original or foundational studies when appropriate. References should not be excluded solely because they were published more than 10 years ago when they remain scientifically relevant.

Only published articles, articles formally accepted for publication, and other verifiable scholarly sources should normally be included in the reference list.

Authors are encouraged to use reference-management software such as Mendeley, EndNote, or Zotero.

Where available, the DOI should be included.

Examples

Journal article

Author AA, Author BB, Author CC. Title of article. Abbreviated Journal Title. Year;Volume(Issue):Pages. doi:xxxxx.

Journal article with more than six authors

Author AA, Author BB, Author CC, Author DD, Author EE, Author FF, et al. Title of article. Abbreviated Journal Title. Year;Volume(Issue):Pages. doi:xxxxx.

Book

Author AA, Author BB. Title of Book. Edition. City: Publisher; Year.

Chapter in a book

Author AA. Title of chapter. In: Editor AA, Editor BB, editors. Title of Book. Edition. City: Publisher; Year. p. xx-xx.

Website

Organization or Author. Title of page/document [Internet]. Place of publication: Publisher; Year [cited Year Month Day]. Available from: URL.

Authors should refer to the latest recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors for additional Vancouver reference examples.

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23. REPORTING GUIDELINES

MEDICINUS encourages authors to follow internationally recognized reporting guidelines appropriate to their study design.

Examples include:

• CONSORT — randomized controlled trials;

• STROBE — observational studies;

• PRISMA — systematic reviews and meta-analyses;

• CARE — case reports;

• STARD — diagnostic accuracy studies;

• TRIPOD — prediction model studies;

• COREQ — qualitative research; and

• ARRIVE — animal research.

Authors are encouraged to submit the relevant reporting checklist when applicable.

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24. ORIGINALITY AND PLAGIARISM

Submitted manuscripts must represent original work.

Authors must appropriately acknowledge and cite all material derived from the work of others.

Plagiarism, inappropriate text recycling, duplicate publication, fabricated or falsified data, manipulated images, and other forms of research misconduct are not acceptable.

Manuscripts may be screened using plagiarism-detection or other research-integrity tools.

Suspected misconduct will be handled according to the journal's Publication Ethics and Publication Malpractice Policy and applicable international publication-ethics guidance.

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25. DUPLICATE AND REDUNDANT PUBLICATION

Manuscripts submitted to MEDICINUS must not simultaneously be under consideration by another journal.

Authors must disclose any previous publication, preprint, abstract, conference presentation, dataset, or closely related manuscript that could potentially constitute overlapping publication.

Publication of substantially identical work in more than one journal without appropriate disclosure is not permitted.

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26. COPYRIGHT AND OPEN-ACCESS LICENSE

Authors should consult the journal's separate Copyright and Licensing Policy for the definitive terms applying to published articles.

MEDICINUS publishes articles under the Creative Commons license specified on the journal website and on the individual published article.

Copyright and licensing information displayed in the Author Guidelines, submission system, journal website, and published articles must remain consistent.

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27. AUTHOR FEES

Authors should consult the journal's dedicated Author Fees / Article Processing Charges page for the current fee policy.

All submission, processing, publication, page, color, or other author charges, including any waiver arrangements where applicable, must be transparently stated on that page.

No fee other than those publicly disclosed by the journal may be charged to authors.

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28. PEER-REVIEW PROCESS

All manuscripts submitted to MEDICINUS undergo an initial editorial assessment to determine whether they are suitable for the journal's scope and meet basic scientific, ethical, and editorial requirements.

Manuscripts that pass the initial assessment are evaluated through a double-anonymous peer-review process.

Each research article is reviewed by a minimum of two independent reviewers with appropriate expertise in the subject area.

Reviewers should be independent of the authors and should disclose potential conflicts of interest.

The Editor makes the final publication decision based on the scientific quality of the manuscript, reviewers' evaluations, authors' responses to peer review, ethical considerations, and relevance to the scope of MEDICINUS.

Editorial decisions may include:

• Accept;

• Minor Revision;

• Major Revision;

• Reject and Resubmit; or

• Reject.

Manuscripts submitted by members of the Editorial Board or other individuals associated with the journal must undergo an independent editorial and peer-review process in which the submitting editor or author has no involvement in the editorial decision.

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29. REVISION

When revisions are requested, authors should submit:

1. a revised manuscript;

2. a detailed point-by-point response to the reviewers and editors; and

3. where requested, a version indicating the changes made.

Authors should respond respectfully and comprehensively to all reviewer and editorial comments.

When an author disagrees with a requested revision, the reason should be explained clearly in the response letter.

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30. MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION

All manuscripts must be submitted through the MEDICINUS online submission system:

https://ojs.uph.edu/index.php/MED/

MEDICINUS does not normally accept manuscript submissions by email or offline submission.

Authors should ensure that all required information and files have been provided before completing the submission.

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31. EDITORIAL DECISION AND PROCESSING TIME

MEDICINUS aims to conduct editorial and peer-review processes as efficiently as possible.

The time required to reach an editorial decision may vary depending on manuscript complexity, reviewer availability, revisions required, and other editorial considerations.

Authors may contact the Editorial Office regarding manuscripts that have remained under review substantially longer than the journal's usual processing period.

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32. AUTHOR RESPONSIBILITY

Authors are responsible for the accuracy and integrity of the content submitted to MEDICINUS, including:

• data;

• statistical analyses;

• quotations;

• references;

• figures;

• tables;

• ethical statements;

• declarations;

• authorship information; and

• disclosures.

Acceptance of a manuscript does not transfer responsibility for the accuracy or integrity of the work from the authors to the journal.

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33. EDITORIAL OFFICE

MEDICINUS Editorial Office
Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Pelita Harapan
Gedung FK-UPH, 4th Floor
Jl. Boulevard Jenderal Sudirman
Lippo Karawaci, Tangerang, Indonesia

Telephone: (021) 54210130–54210131
Fax: (021) 54210133
Email: medicinus.fk@uph.edu

For questions regarding manuscript preparation, submission, or editorial procedures, authors may contact the MEDICINUS Editorial Office.