The Editors of the Annals of Saudi Medicine welcome contributions from our readers. The Annals will consider for publication manuscripts from any part of the world, but most particularly manuscripts that would be of interest to readers in the Middle East or other parts of Asia and Africa. We publish scientific reports on human subjects in the form of original articles, brief reports, case reports and letters in English. We also accept review articles, special communications and editorials. All submissions are subject to review by the Editorial Board and by referees in appropriate specialties.

Submission of manuscripts

Manuscripts are received with the understanding that they are original and have not been published (in print or online) or are not under simultaneous consideration by another publication. If an abstract of the work has been previously published or if manuscripts using the same database or relating to the same topic have been published or submitted by any of the authors, this should be disclosed. An abstract published prior to a full report is not regarded as a duplicate publication. Previous publication in another language does not preclude publication in the Annals, but it should be disclosed and permission obtained from the other publisher. Authors who violate these requirements will be subject to an extended publication ban. Accepted manuscripts may not be published elsewhere without the Annals’ permission. To ensure that peer review is double-blinded, there should be no title page in the file of the manuscript that is submitted online. The file name should not include the author’s name or other identifying text. Portions of the submission (photographs, artwork, etc.) may be sent by mail if necessary, but we prefer that these be prepared in digital form and submitted online. If you have difficulty, contact us by e-mail at admin . net

Manuscript preparation

The format of the Annals of Saudi Medicine complies with “Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals” published by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (see http://www.icmje.org). We encourage the use of reporting guidelines such the CONSORT statement for randomized, controlled trials and the STROBE statement for observational studies (see http://www.equator-network.org/). For human gene nomenclature, see the instructions at the back of the journal. Manuscripts, including tables, references, and figure legends, must be prepared using a word processing program and submitted online (http://www.journalonweb.com/asm). Before submitting a manuscript, create an account on the Medknow website. When you submit the manuscript online, a current email address must be provided for all authors. We publish original articles, review articles, mini-reviews, brief reports, case reports, special communications, perspectives (opinion), editorials and letters. Word count limits are 2000 for brief reports, case reports, and mini-reviews, and 750 for letters. Generally, original articles should not exceed 3500 words. The word count should include the references. The number of authors should be limited to four on brief reports, case reports and letters. Abstract.All original articles must contain a structured abstract of not more than 300 words. Usually, the abstract should be divided into: Background and Objectives, Design and Setting, Patients (or Subjects) and Methods, Results, and Conclusion. Manuscript Format. Most original articles have the following format: Introduction (the question the paper intends to answer, what remains unknown, how patients could benefit from the answer); Methods (study design and methods, operational definitions of major variables, description of the patient or subject population, and laboratory and statistical methods); Results (pertinent findings in a logical sequence with tables and figures as necessary); and Discussion (conclusions based on the findings, evidence from the literature that supports the conclusions, conflicting evidence, applicability of the conclusions, limitations of the study, and implications for future research or clinical applications). Statistics should be described in enough detail to enable a knowledgeable reader, with access to the original data, to verify the reported results. Authors might consult recent issues of the Annals for examples of appropriate style and format. References. List references in consecutive numerical order (the order of citation in the manuscript, and not alphabetically). Once a reference is cited, all subsequent citations should be to the original number. All references must be cited in the text or tables. References to journal articles should be formatted in the style recommended by the National Library of Medicine (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_requirements.html). References to material on the Internet should include the date of access. Manuscripts with incorrectly formatted citations will be returned to the author for correction. The author is responsible for the accuracy and completeness of the references and for their correct textual citation. In-text reference numbers should be superscripted and placed after the period (not in parentheses), as at the end of this sentence.1 Units of measurement. With the exception of blood pressure, all units of measurement and laboratory values must be expressed in SI units; conventional units may be included parenthetically. The international nonproprietary name should be used for drugs with mention of the trade name and manufacturer with manufacturer location or website on first mention. Illustrations. Photographs, scientific graphs and other illustrations should be uploaded as separate files, not embedded in Microsoft Word. The format should be .TIF or .EPS at 300 dpi (dots per inch) or greater resolution (please see http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/about/image_quality_table.html). File saving options can be found in most software in the ‘Save As’ or ‘Export’ commands under the ‘File’ menu. Save original files in the event that submitted files are not suitable for publication. Graphs must be digitally scanned, if not prepared initially as an electronic file in a scientific graphing program. Simple line and bar charts are usually sufficient. Do not use 3D charts unless the 3rd dimension presents data. The resolution of images prepared in Microsoft Powerpoint (72 dpi) is not usually sufficient for print publication (minimum 300 dpi). Subjects in pictures should not be identifiable. Written permission must accompany any illustration that has been previously published. All illustrations must be numbered as cited in the text in consecutive numeric order. For photomicrographs, the legend should include the original magnification and stain used. Tables. Tables should be prepared using the table function in Microsoft Word or other software. Verify tabular statistics to make sure they tally and match data cited in the text.

Scientific Misconduct

We follow the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (www.publication ethics.org) on duplicate publication, fabricated data, undisclosed conflict of interest, plagiarism and other issues of publication and scientific misconduct. Authors will be banned from submitting to the Annals in the future and their institutions notified when misconduct is encountered.

Responsibilities of authors

The authors are entirely responsible for the accuracy of all statements and data (including drug dosages) contained in the manuscript, the accuracy of all reference information, and for obtaining permission from the author and publisher of any previously published material included in the submitted manuscript. The authors should identify any financial support for the research and state any relationships of authors with commercial entities in an acknowledgment at the end of the manuscript. The corresponding author of accepted manuscripts will receive an edited manuscript for “final author approval.” The author(s) should review this carefully, as they are responsible for all changes, including those made in final editing.

Informed Consent

All manuscripts reporting the results of experimental investigation involving human subjects should include a statement confirming that informed consent was obtained from each subject or subject’s guardian, after approval of the experimental protocol by a local human ethics committee. (Revised January 2011)

Click here to download instructions

Click here to download copyright form

These ready to use templates are made to help the contributors write as per the requirements of the Journal.

Save the templates on your computer and use them with a word processor program. 
Click open the file and save as the manuscript file.

In the program keep 'Document Map' and 'Comments' on from 'View' menu to navigate through the file. 


Download Template for Original Articles/ABSTRACT Reports. (.DOT file)

Download Template for Case Reports.  (.DOT file)

Download Template for Review Articles.  (.DOT file)

Download Template for Letter to the Editor.  (.DOT file)