Covering letter
• Addressed to the Editor-in-Chief.
• Signed by the corresponding author.
• Previous publication / presentations mentioned.
• Disclosed whether Artificial Intelligence (AI) assisted technologies was used. If used, described how it was used.
• Source of funding mentioned.
• Conflicts of interest disclosed.
• Agree to pay the publication fee.
• Title page inserted after the cover page.
• Names and addresses with email IDs of two independent reviewers provided.
Title Page
• Title of the manuscript written.
• Running tile provided (not more than 50 characters).
• Full names of all authors mentioned (first name, middle initial, last name).
• Departments and affiliations of all authors provided.
• Author for correspondence with complete postal address, e-mail address and mobile number provided.
Presentation and format
• Double spacing.
• Times New Roman font with 12 font size.
• Margins 2.5 cm from all four sides.
• Page numbers included at bottom.
• Title page contains all the desired information.
• Abstract provided (structured abstracts of 250 words for original articles, unstructured abstracts of about 150 words for all other manuscripts excluding letters to the Editor)
• Key words provided (four to six).
• Introduction of 75-100 words.
• Headings in title case (not ALL CAPITALS).
• The references cited in the text after punctuation marks, in superscript with square bracket.
• References according to the journal's instructions, punctuation marks checked.
• Send the article file without 'Track Changes'.
• Identity not revealed in paper except in the first page file (e.g. name of the institute in Methods, citing previous study as 'our study', names on figure labels, name of institute in photographs, name of the institution in the Ethical Approval statement, etc.).
Language and grammar
• Vancouver style.
• Uniformly British English.
• Write the full term for each abbreviation at its first use in the title, abstract, keywords and text separately unless it is a standard unit of measure. Numerals from 1 to 10 spelt out.
• Numerals at the beginning of the sentence spelt out.
• Checked the manuscript for spelling, grammar and punctuation errors.
• If a brand name is cited, supply the manufacturer's name and address (city and state/country).
• Species names should be in italics.
Tables and figures
• No repetition of data in tables and graphs and in text.
• Actual numbers from which graphs drawn, provided.
• Figures necessary and of good quality (colour).
• Table and figure numbers in Arabic letters (not Roman).
• Figure legends provided (not more than 40 words).
• Credit notes for borrowed figures/tables provided.
• Write the full term for each abbreviation used in the table as a footnote.
• Number of tables and figures limited as per journal requirements.