INSTRUCTION TO AUTHORS

The Journal

The Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research is a bimonthly online international journal allowing free unlimited access to abstract and full-text. The journal is devoted to the promotion of pharmaceutical sciences and related disciplines (including biotechnology, cell and molecular biology, drug utilization including adverse drug events, medical and other life sciences, and related engineering fields). It seeks particularly (but not exclusively) to encourage pharmaceutical and allied research of tropical relevance and to foster multidisciplinary research and collaboration among scientists, the pharmaceutical industry and the healthcare professionals. It will also provide an international forum for the communication and evaluation of data, methods and findings in pharmaceutical sciences and related disciplines. Although primarily devoted to original research papers, the journal welcomes reviews on current topics of special interest and relevance.

All manuscripts are subject to rapid peer review. Those of high quality (not previously published and not under consideration for publication in another journal) will be published without delay.

The maximum length of manuscripts should be 6000 words (24 double-spaced typewritten pages) for review, 4000 words for research articles, 1,500 for technical notes, commentaries and short communications.

Submission of Manuscript

All manuscripts (must be in English and in MS Word format) and should be submitted via our online system. The e-mail addresses (or telephone numbers) of all authors must be provided. Illustrations (figures) should be in computer format. Images for any manuscript should not exceed 200 kilobytes unless prior authorization is received from the editor-in-chief. Authors may submit the names, affiliations and addresses (including e-mail) of expert reviewers or those they do not want to review their papers.

Inquiries may be directed to:

The Editor-in-Chief,
Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research,
C/o Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Benin, 
Benin City 300001, NIGERIA
E-mail: editor@tjpr.org or erah@tjpr.org
Tel: +234-803-726-9910 or 802-336-318

Copyright

Submission is a representation that the manuscript has not been published previously and is not under consideration for publication elsewhere. Authors would be required to sign a form (to be supplied by the Editor) transferring copyright to Pharmacotherapy Group (Publisher of the Journal) before the manuscript can be accepted for publication.

Ethical Matters

Authors using experimental animals and human subjects in their investigation must seek approval from the appropriate Ethical Committee in accordance with "Principles of Laboratory Animal Care" (NIH publication no. 85-23, revised 1985) and/or the declaration of Helsinki promulgated in 1964 as amended in 1996. The method section must include a statement to prove that the investigation was approved and that informed consent was obtained.

Manuscript Format

The preferred format of all manuscript is MS Word or RTF. Illustrations (figures) and images must be inserted in the manuscript at the position they should appear when published.

Manuscript Style

The language of the journal is English. Each manuscript should be typed single-spaced on A4 (8.5" × 11") paper size with 1 inch margins. It should be arranged in the following order: Title, Abstract, Keywords, Introduction, Experimental, Results, Discussion, Conclusion, Acknowledgement, References.

First page of manuscript: This should include the title of the article, authors’ names (with full first name, initial and then the last name of each author) and their affiliations as well as Abstract and keywords. The corresponding author must give the full corresponding address (including telephone and e-mail address) at the bottom of the page.

Abstract: This should not be more than 200 words and should be arranged in the following order:

PURPOSE: The purpose of the investigation.

METHODS: The method adopted in the investigation. This should be very clear and precise.

RESULTS:  The findings of the investigation.

CONCLUSION:  Final conclusive statements on the work.

Keywords: Include between 3 and 10 keywords for indexing purposes.

References: References should be typed single-spaced on separate page(s) and numbered consecutively in the order in which they are cited in the text.  Arabic numerals (ENCLOSED IN SQUARED BRACKETS, eg., [1], [1,3,5] or [1-4]) should be used in citing references in the text. The squared brackets MUST NOT be used anywhere else in the text to allow easy xml file coding. Index Medicus Style of abbreviations should be used for journals cited. For correct abbreviations visit http://www.ncbi. nlm.nih.gov/PubMed/jbrowser.html.

Unpublished work should not be included in the list of references. References should be listed using the following order:

Journal Article: If there are more than 10 authors, only the first 10 should be listed and the others should be represented with "et al."

• Volume without Issue: Murri R, Fantoni M, Borgo CD, Visona R, Barracco A, Zambelli A, Testa L, Orchi N, Tozzi V, Bosco O, Wu AW. Determinants of health-related quality of life in HIV-infected patients. AIDS Care 2003;15:581–590.
• Volume with parts: Hanley C. Metaphysics and innateness: a psychoanalytic perspective. Int J Psychoanal 1988;69(Pt 3):89-99.
• No Issue or Volume: Danoek K. Skiing in and through the history of medicine. Nord Medicinhist Arsb 1982:86-100
• Issue but No Volume: Baumeister AA. Origins and control of stereotyped movements. Monogr Am Assoc Ment Defic 1978;(3):353-384.
• Issue with parts: Edwards L, Meyskens F, Levine N. Effect of oral isotretinoin on dysplastic nevi. J Am Acad Dermatol 1989 Feb;20(2 Pt 1):257-260.

Monograph:Matthews DE, Farewell VT. Using and Understanding Medical Statistics, ed 3, revised. Basel, Karger, 1996.

Book:

• Entire book: Ohlsen, Merle M.; Horne, Arthur M.; Lowe, Charles F. Group counseling. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston; 1988. 416 p.
• Editors: Diener, Hans-Christoph; Wilkinson, Marcia, editors. Drug-induced headache. New York: Springer-Verlag; 1988. 173 p.
• Contribution to book: Anderson, Robert J.; Schrier, Robert W. Acute renal failure. In: Braunswald, Eugene; Isselbacher, Kurt J.; Petersdorf, Robert G., et al., editors. Harrison's principles of internal medicine. 11th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill; 1987. p. 1149-1155.

Web pages:

• Hypertension, Dialysis & Clinical Nephrology [homepage on the Internet]. Hinsdale (IL): Medtext, Inc.; c1995-2001 [cited 2001 Mar 8]. Available from: http://www.medtext. com/hdcn.htm
• Pennington J. HIV/AIDS in Nigeria, 2007 [cited 2008 Mar 8]. Available from: http://www.avert.org/aids-nigeria.htm.
• Medlineplus [Internet]. Bethesda (MD): National Library of Medicine (US); [updated 2000 Apr 7; cited 2000 Apr 18]. Available from: http://medlineplus.gov.

Dissertation: Bertram, Kenneth. The role of natural killer activity in resistance to herpesvirus-induced disease [dissertation]. [Rochester]: University of Minnesota; 1981 Dec. 138 p

Tables: These should be numbered with arabic numerals. Each table should be typed using a table format (ie, each variable must be typed into a separate cell in the table) with only horizontal lines above and below the table column headers and at the bottom of the table (using 1 pt for the top and bottom lines and ½ pt for any middle line). No vertical lines should be included in any table. Each table MUST not exceed 6.5 x 7 inches (16.5 x 17.8 cm, width x height) and MUST be inserted at the appropriate position in the text just below where it was referred to the first time. The title should be typed at the top of the table in the sentence case format, i.e., only the first name should be in capital letters; names should also be in capital letters, as appropriate. Any footnote should be typed at the top and bottom of the table in italic.  

Illustrations: Figures should be professionally drawn electronically and inserted in the appropriate position where it was first cited within the text. Symbols, lettering, and numbering MUST NOT be in bold print and should be clear and large enough to remain legible (be at least 9 points in size) after the figure has been reduced to 1/2 of the original size. While photographs may be produced in any color, graphs MUST be drawn only in black color unless the author is prepared to pay US$100.00 for each graph in any color other than black. The legend and any footnote for each figure should be typed below the figure. If photographs of patients are used, either the subjects are not identifiable or their pictures must be accompanied by a written permission to use the images. Photographs must be clear and sharp. Labels of Tables MUST be in text form and MUST not form part of the image.

Manuscript charges

There is no charge for the processing of papers but author(s) of each accepted paper is required to pay a publication charge of US$100.00 before the accepted paper is published.

Copyright

Submission is a representation that the manuscript has not been published previously and is not under consideration for publication elsewhere. Authors would be required to sign a form (to be supplied by the Editor) transferring copyright to Pharmacotherapy Group before the manuscript can be published.

Ethical Matters

Authors using experimental animals and human subjects in their investigation must seek approval from the appropriate Ethical Committee in accordance with "Principles of Laboratory Animal Care" (NIH publication no. 85-23, revised 1985) and/or the declaration of Helsinki promulgated in 1964 as amended in 1996. The method section must include a statement to prove that the investigation was approved and that informed consent was obtained.

Unless indicated otherwise, galley proofs are sent to the address given for correspondence. It is the responsibility of the corresponding author to ensure that the galley proofs are returned without delay.

Order forms and a price list are sent with the galley proof.

MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION CHECK-LIST

Please carefully go through the following check list. You must be able to answer ‘Yes’ to all the items listed. Failure to comply with TJPR manuscript formatting requirements will result in the manuscript being returned to you for reformatting or being rejected outright.

[   ]   Is my manuscript typed double-spaced, including the ‘Abstract’ and ‘Reference list'?
[   ]   Are the Title and ‘Abstract’ each on separate pages?
[   ]   Is my manuscript within the limit of 4,000 words (approximately 18 pages typed double-spaced on A4) for research papers or 6,000 words (approximately 24 pages typed double-spaced on A4) for review papers?
[   ]   Are Results and Discussion separated into two sections of 'Results' and 'Discussion'?
[   ]   Is there a ‘Conclusion’ section?
[   ]   Is the reference numbering style within text co-script with square parenthesis (squared brackets) with the numbers inserted before and not after punctuations?
[   ]   Did the ‘Reference’ list adhere strictly to TJPR format, including the correct punctuations and italicization of the of the journal titles?
[   ]   Is the total number of Figures and Tables within the limit of five allowed.
[   ]   Has colour (other than black) been excluded from the manuscript including graphs?
[   ]   Is there a legend/caption at the bottom of each Figure and at the top of each Table?
[   ]   Are the Figures/images sharp and clear with legible fonts?
[   ]   Is the symbol key removed from within the Figure and integrated neatly within the legend?
[   ]   Have borders been removed from around the Figures?

© 2002. TJPR Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria