Submissions

Author Guidelines

Instruction to Authors

The Journal of Epidemiological Society of Nigeria (JESON) is the official journal of the Epidemiological Society of Nigeria (EpiSoN) and is currently published two times in a year in June and December. Order for the Journal should be directed to ‘The Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Epidemiological Society of Nigeria’. Articles should be sent online at https://jeson.org.ng or to the Editor-in-Chief at editor@jeson.org.ng.  A manuscript will be reviewed for possible publication with the understanding that it is being submitted to the Journal of Epidemiological Society of Nigeria alone at that point in time and has not been published or accepted for publication anywhere else and that it is not being considered for publication by another journal. The journal expects authors to authorize a member of the team to be a liaison between them and the Journal as a corresponding author. S/he will communicate with the Journal for all matters related to the manuscript. On submission, all manuscripts are acknowledged followed by a preliminary review to ascertain their suitability for the readers of the Journal of Epidemiological Society of Nigeria.  Manuscripts with insufficient originality, serious scientific flaws, or lack of a significant message are turned down and are therefore not forwarded for formal peer-review.

When the manuscript is found suitable for publication in the Journal of Epidemiological Society of Nigeria, it is sent to two or more reviewers who are considered subject experts in the area covered by the manuscript and who are usually not affiliated to the same institutions as the authors. In order to ensure transparency and objectivity, the reviewers and the authors are unaware of each other’s identities. Every manuscript is also assigned to a member of the editorial team, who based on the comments from the reviewers takes a final decision on the manuscript. The comments and suggestions received from reviewers are conveyed to the corresponding author. In revising the manuscript, authors are required, in addition to the revision of the manuscript, to provide a cover letter in which a point-by-point response is provided on what and where changes were made to the original manuscript. It is important to note that it may be necessary for authors to revise the manuscript more than once before it attains the acceptance status.

When manuscripts are finally accepted for publication, they are further edited to suit the format and style of the Journal after which Page proofs are sent to the corresponding author. For proofreading and final correction. Article submission, review by the reviewers, revision by authors, proofreading, and the final publication decision are all conducted online. The journal currently publishes articles online as ‘Ahead of Print’ immediately on acceptance.

Journal objective

The objective of the Journal is to promote global communication among academics, researchers, government and non-governmental agencies, health and health-related institutions, and industry. In doing this, the journal provides a veritable platform for the enhancement of contributions to the body of knowledge in the principles and global practice of Epidemiology.

Authors are to read this guideline carefully before submitting an article to this Journal. 

How to Submit Article to this journal Article
All submissions should be made online here (Recommended) by clicking the "Submit Manuscript" link tab in the upper right corner of this webpage.

The Journal publishes the following types of contributions among others:

• Original articles
• Critical and analytical review articles
• Systematic reviews and Meta analyses
• Short research reports
• Editorials and commentaries
• Letters to the Editor in the field of epidemiology or in reaction to publications in the Journal
• Reviewed reports of professional conferences
• Reports of clinical trials.

All manuscripts should be written in the American English Language and submitted with the understanding that the authors assign copyright on all articles published in the Journal to the Journal of Epidemiological Society of Nigeria.  It is the responsibility of authors to obtain from any copyright holder the permission to reproduce any material for which copyright already exists. More details are available on request from the Editor-in-Chief. Submitted manuscripts will be reviewed with the intention to publish in the proceeding edition in the yearly series. However, to enhance quick information sharing and dissemination of knowledge, the Journal publishes immediately online any manuscript that has undergone the peer-review process and satisfied the reviewers and editors. By this ‘Ahead-of-print’ policy, accepted articles do not have to await other articles to complete an edition for printing. To avoid rejection of submitted manuscripts, authors are advised to adhere strictly to the following instructions.

Manuscripts

General: Submitted articles must be in Microsoft word, double spaced with a one inch margin on either side with font size of 12pt and in Times New Roman. Bold letters should be used for emphasis while tap stops and other commands should be used for indents rather than the space bar. The total word count for the manuscript, excluding the abstract, tables, figures and references, should not exceed 3000. The section on Introduction should have between 10-15% of the total manuscript word count and should generally be between 300-450 words. The Editorial Board reserves the right to adjust the style of writing to certain standards for uniformity. Authors are advised to retain a copy of their manuscript as the editors will not take responsibility for any loss or damage of it. Only manuscripts that conform to the Journal’s instruction and style will be reviewed for publication. In addition to above, the manuscript should be structured into the following sections:

Title page

This should contain the following:

• A concise and informative title
• The surnames and initials of all authors
• Affiliations and addresses of all authors
• The e-mail address and telephone number of the corresponding author
• The e-mail addresses of all authors

Abstract

The abstract should contain 150-250 words without abbreviations or references. It should be structured into the following sections: Background {including study objective(s)}, methods, results and conclusion. At the end of the abstract there should be 3-5 key words, preferably MeSH terms, which will be used for indexing.

Main text

The main text should be structured into Introduction, Methods, Results, Tables and Figures, Discussion and Conclusion, each beginning on a new page. Numerals 1 to 10 should be spelled out and eleven and above can be written in figures. Numbers at the beginning of sentences should be spelled out. Tables should be numbered consecutively in Arabic numerals and same goes for figures. Authors should not duplicate in the tables and figures information already in the text. If a brand name is used, provide the reference (city, state and country). Specie names should be written in italics. The use of spread sheets to make tables and copying and pasting of words and sentences from online platforms should be avoided. Abbreviations when first used should be in open and closed brackets preceded by the full meaning. Thereafter, the abbreviation can be used consistently.

Tables

Tables with more than 10 columns and 25 rows are not acceptable and no table should exceed one page

Number tables, in Arabic numerals, consecutively in the order of their first citation in the text and supply a brief title for each.

Place explanatory matter in footnotes, not in the heading.

Explain in footnotes all non-standard abbreviations that are used in each table.

Obtain permission for all fully borrowed, adapted, and modified tables and provide a credit line in the footnote.

For footnotes use the following symbols, in this sequence: *, †, ‡, §, ||,¶ , **, ††, ‡‡

Tables with their legends should be provided at the end of the text after the references. The tables along with their number should be cited at the relevant place in the text

References

The Journal subscribes to the Vancouver referencing style by which the references are listed consecutively in the order in which they appear in the text. The numbers should be in superscript inserted above and after the punctuation mark each time a reference is cited. No brackets are required around the number in the citation. The list of references should be works cited in the text and have either been published or accepted for publication. All authors should be listed when they are six or less, otherwise list the first six followed by et al. Personal communications and unpublished works should only be mentioned in the text. Examples of appropriate references are as follows:

Journal article

Daboer JC, Bulus NG, Ayiga EG, Yako JB, Zoakah AI. Knowledge and perception of genetically modified foods among agricultural workers in Jos metropolis, Plateau State. Journal of Epidemiological Society of Nigeria 2020; 3 (1):31-38.

Book with single author

Gordis L. Epidemiology. 4^th ed. Philadelphia. Saunders Elsevier; 2009.

Book chapter

Greenland S, Rothman KJ. Introduction to stratified analysis. In: Rothman KJ, Greenland S, Lash TL, editors. Modern Epidemiology. 3^rd edition. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2008. Pp. 258-262.  The standard abbreviation of a journal title according to the ISSN List of Title Word Abbreviation should be used. For further information, see www.issn.org/2-22661-LTWA-online.php

Online document

Gross SJ. How to raise your self-esteem. http://psycentral.com/lib/2006/how-to-raise-your-self-esteem/. Accessed 30 August 2021.

Conflict of interest

Authors are expected to declare any conflict of interest where applicable. Conflicts may arise with the publication, the institution where the study was conducted, the product involved in the research or other products which compete or have the potential to compete with the product discussed in the manuscript.

Plagiarism

Authors are strongly advised to do due diligence and ensure that they are not involved in plagiarism of the work of others or of their own previous works. This and other forms of academic fraud and dishonesty are viewed and treated as very serious acts of misdemeanor if found out. Authors are advised to take advantage of the software for plagiarism check available online to check their work.

Acknowledgement

Authors should acknowledge those who either provided funding for the study (sponsors) or made other significant contributions to the work but who do not qualify to be listed as authors based on the authorship criteria of the Journal.

Dr Jonathan C. Daboer (MBBS_ABU MSc_Jos FMCPH_Nig)

Editor-in-Chief

Journal of Epidemiological Society of Nigeria

Department of Community Medicine

Faculty of Clinical Sciences

College of Health Sciences

University of Jos

E-mail: editor@jeson.org.ng

            jonathandabor@yahoo.co.uk

Phone: +2347038959300

   Authorship Criteria

To be listed as an author, an individual must have contributed significantly to each of the following:

1. Concept and design of study, acquisition of data or analysis and interpretation of data;
2. Drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content; and
3. All authors must approve of the final version to be published.

Contribution Details

Each author is expected to have made such contribution to the research and subsequent manuscript writing that s/he can take responsibility for at least a major component of the manuscript. In addition, authors should be listed in the order of their relative contributions towards the study and writing the manuscript. Authors are to describe their contributions in the research and manuscript writing in the following categories, where applicable: concept design, literature search, clinical studies, experimental studies, data collection, statistical analysis, manuscript drafting, manuscript editing and review for intellectual content. One of the authors should be assigned the responsibility for the integrity of the whole work from inception till the article is published.

Submission of Manuscripts

All manuscripts must be submitted on-line through the website https://jeson.org.ng. First time users will have to register at this site. Registration is free but mandatory. Registered authors can keep track of their articles after logging into the site using their user name and password. Generally, the manuscript should be submitted in the form of two separate files:

[1] Title Page/First Page File/covering letter. This file should provide:

The type of manuscript (original article, case report, review article, Ethics Forum, Education Forum, Letter to editor, Images, etc.), title of the manuscript, names of all authors, designation and affiliations) and name(s) of department(s) and/ or institution(s) where the research work was done or to which the work should be credited, . All information which can reveal the authors’ identity should be here. The total number of pages, total number of photographs and word counts separately for abstract and for the text (excluding the references, tables/figures and abstract) should be presented here as well as the Source(s) of support in the form of grants, equipment, drugs or any other.

Acknowledgement, if any should be presented here detailing contributions that significantly led to the high quality of the work but do not meet the authorship criteria. Such contributions may include, but are not limited to, technical help, financial and material support or administrative support such as is usually given by the head of an academic department or a faculty.

If the manuscript has been presented earlier at a scientific forum, this should be indicated and a full statement made to the editor about all submissions and previous reports that might be regarded as redundant publication of the same or very similar work. Registration number in case of a clinical trial and where it is registered (name of the registry and its URL).Provide the name, address, e-mail, and telephone number of the corresponding author, who is responsible for communicating with the other authors about revisions and final approval of the manuscript.

[2] Blinded Article file: This file contains the manuscript must not bear any identity revealing information such as author names, addresses or affiliations or acknowledgements. The Journal will return to the corresponding author any manuscript that does not adhere to this policy. This file should contain the main text of the manuscript from the abstract to the references including the tables and figures. The pages should be numbered consecutively, beginning with the first page of the main article.

[3] Images: Submit good quality color images. Each image should be less than 4 MB in size. Size of the image can be reduced by decreasing the actual height and width of the images (keep up to 1800 x 1200 pixels or 5-6 inches). Images can be submitted as jpeg files. Legends for the figures/images should be included at the end of the article file.

TYPE OF ARTICLES

Original articles

These include randomized controlled trials, intervention studies, studies of screening and diagnostic test, outcome studies, cost effectiveness analyses, case-control series, and surveys with high response rate. The text of original articles amounting to up to 3000 words (excluding Abstract, references and Tables) should be divided into sections with the headings Abstract, Key-words, Introduction, Methodology, Results, Discussion, References, Tables and Figure legends.

Introduction

Articulate the gap in knowledge, the purpose of the study and summarize the rationale for the study or observation.

Methodology

It should include and describe the study area and setting including the population from which the study participants are to be selected. Where required especially for quantitative studies, the method of estimating the minimum sample size along with the study participant selection technique should be provided. Describe the selection of study participants, including controls clearly, including eligibility and exclusion criteria and a description of the source population. This should be followed by a brief description of the method of data collection analysis, and the ethical issues considered and observed in the conduct of the study and in the manuscript writing. When reporting studies on human subjects, indicate if the procedures followed were in accordance with the approved standards of the relevant Research Ethics Committee on human research and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000 (available at http://www.wma.net/e/policy/17-c_e.html ). Mention must be made of informed consent from adult research participants and obtaining assent for children aged over 7 years participating in the study. Ensure confidentiality of participants by refraining from mentioning identifying information of participants, especially in illustrative material.

Evidence for approval by a local Ethics Committee (for both human as well as animal studies) must be supplied by the authors on demand and a statement on ethics committee approval and ethical practices must be included in all research articles under the ‘Methodology’ section. Animal experimental procedures should be as humane as possible. The journal will return to the corresponding author any manuscript that is ethically flawed.

Reports of randomized clinical trials should present information on all major study elements, including the protocol, assignment of interventions (methods of randomization, concealment of allocation to treatment groups), and the method of masking (blinding), based on the CONSORT Statement (http://www.consort-statement.org). Reference can be made to specific reporting guidelines for the reporting of  various researches:

Reporting Guidelines for Specific Study Designs

Initiative              Type of Study                                                                    Source

CONSORT            Randomized controlled trials                      http://www.consort-statement.org

STARD                   Studies of diagnostic accuracy                    http://www.consort-statement.org/stardstatement.htm

QUOROM            Systematic reviews and meta-analyses  http://www.consort- statement.org/Initiatives/MOOSE/moose.pdf.

STROBE                                Observational studies in epidemiology                   http://www.strobe-statement.org

MOOSE                                Meta-analyses of observational studies in epidemiology               http://www.consort- statement.org/Initiatives/MOOSE/moose.pdf

Results

 Present your results in a logical sequence in the text, tables, and illustrations, giving the main or most important findings first. Do not repeat in the text all the data in the tables or illustrations.  or Summarize only important observations. Extra- or supplementary materials and technical detail can be placed in an appendix where it will be accessible but will not interrupt the flow of the text. Whenever possible quantify findings and present them with appropriate indicators of measurement error or uncertainty (such as confidence intervals). Authors should report losses to observation. When data are summarized in the Results section, specify the statistical methods used to analyze them. Avoid non-technical uses of technical terms in statistics, such as 'random', 'normal', 'significant', 'correlations', and 'sample'. Define statistical terms, abbreviations, and most symbols. Specify the computer software used. Use upper italics (P 0.048). For all P values include the exact value and not less than 0.05 or 0.001. Mean differences in continuous variables, proportions in categorical variables and relative risks including odds ratios and hazard ratios should be accompanied by their confidence intervals. When data are summarized in the Results section, give numeric results, that is, the absolute numbers from which the derivatives (percentage) were calculated before the percentage in brackets. Restrict tables and figures to as few as possible, to only those needed to explain the argument of the paper and to assess its support. Do not duplicate data in graphs and tables. Where scientifically appropriate, analyses of the data by variables such as age and sex should be included.

Discussion

 Include summary of key findings (primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, results as they relate to a prior hypothesis); Strengths and limitations of the study (study question, study design, data collection, analysis and interpretation); Interpretation and implications in the context of the totality of evidence (is there a systematic review to refer to, if not, could one be reasonably done here and now?, what this study adds to the available evidence, effects on patient care and health policy, possible mechanisms); Controversies raised by this study; and Future research directions (for this particular research collaboration, underlying mechanisms, clinical research).

Do not repeat in detail data or other material given in the Introduction or the Results section. In particular, contributors should avoid making statements on economic benefits and costs unless their manuscript includes economic data and analyses. Avoid claiming priority and alluding to work that has not been completed. New hypotheses may be stated if needed, however they should be clearly labeled as such. About 30 references can be included. These articles generally should not have more than six authors.

Review Articles

It is expected that these articles would be written by individuals who have done substantial work on the subject or are considered experts in the field. A short summary of the work done by the contributor(s) in the field of review should accompany the manuscript.

The prescribed word count is up to 3000 words excluding tables, references and abstract. The manuscript may have about 90 references. The manuscript should have an unstructured Abstract (250 words) representing an accurate summary of the article. The section titles would depend upon the topic reviewed. Authors submitting review article should include a section describing the methods used for locating, selecting, extracting, and synthesizing data. These methods should also be summarized in the abstract.

The journal expects the contributors to give post-publication updates on the subject of review. The update should be brief, covering the advances in the field after the publication of the article and should be sent as a letter to editor, as and when major development occurs in the field.

Case reports

New, interesting and rare cases can be reported. They should be unique, describing a great diagnostic or therapeutic challenge and providing a learning point for the readers. Cases with clinical significance or implications will be given priority. These communications could be of up to 1000 words (excluding Abstract and references) and should have the following headings: Abstract (unstructured), Key-words, Introduction, Case report, Discussion, Reference, Tables and Legends in that order.

The manuscript could be of up to 1000 words (excluding references and abstract) and could be supported with up to 10 references. Case Reports could be authored by up to four authors.

Letter to the Editor

These should be short and decisive observations. They should preferably be related to articles previously published in the Journal or views expressed in the journal. They should not be preliminary observations that need a later paper for validation. The letter could have up to 500 words and 5 references. It could be generally authored by not more than four authors.

Others:

Editorial, Guest Editorial, Commentary and Opinion are solicited by the editorial board.