Guide for Authors

Pistachio and Health Journal (PHJ) welcomes the following types of articles:

 

a) Original Papers:

This type of paper should be limited to 3500 words and not include more than 5 displayitems (i.e., figures, images and tables). In addition, the number of references should notexceed 35. Additional information may be presented as Supplementary Data.

 b) Review papers:

Reviews on different aspects of pistachio and health are welcomed and encouraged. Reviews should be concise and no longer than 4-6 printed pages (about 12 to 18 manuscript pages).

 c) Short Communications:

Communications should not exceed a length of 1500 words, 3 display items, and 25 references. Supplementary Data may be provided.

 d) Letters to the Editor:

The content of a letter to the Editor must relate to a specific article published in PHJ. The letter should not exceed a length of 1200 words and 20 references and should have no figures/tables.

 Review Process:

Initially, the editor reviews the submitted manuscript. All manuscripts should provide interesting subject, original material, scientific writing, appropriate methods and valid data supported by adequate discussion and conclusions. Only manuscripts with sufficient priority for publication are sent to expert consultants for peer review.

 

Before you begin

Referees:

Authors are required to suggest at least 3 suitable reviewers. It is worth noting that the editor retains the sole right to decide whether or not the suggested reviewers are used.

 Human and animal rights:

If the work involves the use of human subjects, the author should ensure that the work described has been carried out in accordance with The Code of Ethics of the World Medical Association (Declaration of Helsinki) for experiments involving human. Authors should include a statement in the manuscript that informed consent was obtained for experimentation with human subjects, as subject privacy rights must always be observed. A clear statement that the work was approved by the author’s institutional review board or other equivalent body should be included.All animal experiments should be carried out in accordance with EU Directive2010/63/EU for animal experiments and/or institutional ethic committee the authors should clearly indicate in the manuscript that such guidelines have been followed.

 Preparation

  • Papers will be published in English. Authors' manuscripts must be consistent in style, spelling and syntax.
  • Manuscripts should be submitted in Word. Save your file in docx format (Word 2007 or higher)
  • The text should be in single-column format.
  • Use 10-point Times Roman for the text.
  • Manuscripts must be typewritten with 1.5-line spacing (including references, tables, figure legends, etc.)
  • Use the automatic page numbering function to number the pages.
  • Use the TAB key where indents are required.
  • Use the table function, not spreadsheets, to make tables.
  • Use the equation editor or MathType for equations.
  • Submit math equations as editable text and not as images.
  • Define abbreviations at first mention and use consistently thereafter.
  • Use internationally accepted signs and symbols for units (SI units).
  • Genus and species names should be in italics.
  • Generic names of drugs and pesticides are preferred; if trade names are used, the generic name should be given at first mention.

Article structure

Title Page: The title page should include:

  • A concise and informative title (12-point Times Roman, Bold)
  • The name(s) of the author(s) (10-point Times Roman)
  • The affiliation(s) and address(es) of the author(s) (10-point Times Roman, italics)
  • The e-mail address and telephone number(s) of the corresponding author (9-point Times Roman)

 Abstract:

The abstract should be structured under the following headings: Background; Materials and Methods; Results; Conclusions. The Abstract should not exceed 250 words. Please do not use non-standard or uncommon abbreviations, and do not cite references in the abstract.

 Keywords:

Three to six keywords should be provided immediately after the abstract. Use terms from the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) to ensure that a “common vocabulary” is applied to index biomedical content, facilitating literature searches. The keywords should be separated with semicolon.

  Subdivision- numbered sections:

Divide your article into clearly defined and numbered sections. Subsections should be numbered 1.1. (then 1.1.1., 1.1.2., ...), 1.2., etc. (the abstract is not included in section numbering). Each subsection is given a brief heading. Each heading should appear on its own separate line. Use no more than three levels of displayed headings.Research papers and short communications should be organized in the following four main sections: Introduction, Experimental, Results and Discussion and conclusions.Reviews should have an introductory section, followed by several informationpresentation sections and then end with a conclusion section. Section headings should be used to organize the presentation of information.

 1. Introduction:

This section should state the purpose and the rationale of the work and provide an adequate background.

 2. Materials and Methods:

Sufficient detail should be provided so that the work can be reproduced. Restrict technical descriptions to this section and don’t scatter them throughout the text. Give corresponding reference(s) for the method that has been previously established. Company information should be given in this format: Company (city, abbreviated name of state/province (for USA and Canada), country).

Manuscripts reporting data obtained from research conducted in human subjects must include a statement of assurance in the experimental section of the manuscript that i) informed consent was obtained from each patient and ii) the study protocol conforms to the ethical guidelines of the 1975 Declaration of Helsinki as reflected in a priori approval by the institution's human research committee. Manuscripts reporting experiments using animals must include a statement giving assurance that all animals received humane care and that study protocols comply with the institution's guidelines.

 3. Results:

The results obtained should be presented clearly without referring to the literature. Authors are encouraged to use tables and illustrations to provide the results.

 4. Discussion:

This section should interpret the results using the similar previously reported studies.

 5. Conclusions:

A short conclusions section is mandatory. It should include the main conclusions of the study.

 6. Tables and figures:

The number of tables and figures together should not exceed 6. Do not submit tables as photograph. Place caption above the table and explanatory matters in footnotes, not in the heading. Figures should be of high quality art work and mounted on separate pages. The captions should be placed below. The same data should not be presented in tables, figures and text, simultaneously. Both tables and figures should be numbered consecutively.

 6-1-Figure Captions:

Supply a caption for each figure. The captions should not be attached to the figures, place them at the end of the manuscript after references.

 6-2- Supplementary file:

PHJ accepts electronic supplementary data such as illustrations, sound clips and videos. Supplementary items are published exactly as they are submitted to the journal.

 6-3-Tables:

Tables should be submitted as editable text and not as images. Number the tables consecutively in the order they are first mentioned. Each table with a suitable heading at the top should be submitted as a separate file. Vertical lines should not be used to separate columns. Footnotes to tables should be indicated with a, b, c etc. in superscript.

 6-4-Figures:

Figures should be numbered consecutively in the order of their appearance in the text. Make sure that all figures have high quality (keep to a minimum of 300 dpi in TIFF or JPEG format). Submit each figure as a separate file.

 6-5-Highlights:

Highlights are mandatory for PHJ. Upload a separate editable file namely 'Highlights' containing 3 to 5 bullet points (maximum 85 characters, including spaces, per bullet point). Highlights should convey the most important and/or interesting findings of the study.

 6-6- Graphical abstract:

Graphical abstract is optional for PHJ. Authors may design an illustration to summarize the main contents of their article in order to capture the attention of a wide readership online.

 7. Acknowledgments:

Acknowledgments of people, grants, funds, etc. should be placed in a separate section at the end of the article before the references.

 8. Proof Reading:

A computer print out is sent to the corresponding author for proof reading before publication in order to avoid any mistakes. Corrections should be marked clearly and sent immediately to the Journal office. Corrections should be kept to a minimum.

 9. Abbreviations and symbols:

Use only standard abbreviations. Avoid using them in the title and abstract. The full term for which an abbreviation stands should precede its first use in the text unless it is a standard unit of measurement.

 10. Ethical guidelines:

Ethical considerations must be addressed in the Materials and Methods section. 1) Please state that informed consent was obtained from all human adult participants and from the parents or legal guardians of minors. Include the name of the appropriate institutional review board that approved the project. 2) Indicate in the text that the maintenance and care of experimental animals complies with National Institutes of Health guidelines for the humane use of laboratory animals, or those of your Institute or agency. Note that Provision of statement from the Bioethics Committee is essential for clinical trials and other relevant studies.

 11. Financial support:

In case of any financial support, it is important to mention the name of the respective organization/institute and the project number at the end of the manuscript.

 12. Conflicts of interest:

Authors must acknowledge and declare any sources of funding and potential conflicting interest, such as receiving funds or fees by, or holding stocks and shares in an organization that may profit or lose through publication of your paper. Declaring a competing interest will not lead to automatic rejection of the paper, but we would like to be made aware of it.

 13. Page charges:

There are no charges for publication in this Journal.

 14. Copyright:

The entire contents of the Pistachio and Health Journal are protected under international copyrights. Pistachio and Health Journal is licensed under the Creative Commons (CC) Attribution-Non-Commercial 4.0 International License. All CC Licenses allow others to download, reuse, reprint, modify, distribute, display, perform, and copy the content of the work as long as the original authors and source are cited correctly.

 15. Peer review process:

All manuscripts are considered to be confidential. They are peer reviewed by at least 2 anonymous reviewers selected by the Editorial Board. The corresponding author is notified as soon as possible of the editor decision to accept, reject, or modifications.

 16. Disposal of material:

Once published, all copies of the manuscript, correspondence and artwork will be held for 6 months before disposal.

17.Citation in text:

All articles published in PHJ are completely citable. In order to do this, different citation styles are available. The one which is defined as the standard in PHJ, is AMA (American Medical Association). In the journals hosted by PHJ, we have one method for exporting the citation for each article: the "How to Cite" text above the abstract which let both the article author and the reader to have a glance on how the current article can be shown in a standard referencing method (based on AMA).

 18. References:

Every reference cited in the text should be present in the reference list (and vice versa). Reference citations in the text should be identified by numbersin squarebrackets in line withthe text (e.g., This effect has been previously studied [2-6, 10]).

 Reference list:

The list of references should only include works that have been published or accepted for publication. Number the references in the order in which they appear in the text.

 Examples:

 Journal article: Hernández-Alonso P, Cañueto D, Giardina S, Salas-Salvadó J, Cañellas N, Correig X, Bulló M. Effect of pistachio consumption on the modulation of urinary gut microbiota-related metabolites in prediabetic subjects. J Nutr. Biochem. 2017;45:48-53.

Journal names should be abbreviated according to the List of Title Word Abbreviations (http://www.issn.org/services/online-services/access-to-the-ltwa/).

 Book: Harborne A. Phytochemical methods a guide to modern techniques of plant analysis: springer science & business media; 1998.

 Book chapter: MacDougall C, Chambers HF. Aminoglycosides. In: Brunton LL, Chabner BA, Knollman BJ, eds. Goodman &Gilman’s the pharmacological basis of therapeutics. 12thed. New York: McGraw-Hill; 2011. p. 1505-20.

 Website: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Diabetes: Australian facts 2008 [Internet]. 2008 [cited 2008 Mar 15]; AIHW cat. no. CVD 40. Available from:

 http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/index.cfm/title/10394

 Persian references must be translated into English. In this case, it is necessary to add the word "Farsi" in the squared brackets at the end of reference.

 An output style is also provided for authors using EndNote: PHJ EndNote style

 

We are happy to answer any questions at any time during the submission and processing of your manuscript. Please contact the Editorial Office at phj@rums.ac.ir