Universa Medicina (univ.med) is a four-monthly medical journal that publishes new research findings on various topics of importance to biomedical science and clinical practice. Universa Medicina Online contains both the current issue and an online archive that can be accessed through browsing, advanced searching, or collections by disease or topic. Universa Medicina publishes original research articles, short communication, case report, review article, and invited editorials. 

Original Research Article

Original contributions are manuscripts containing substantial novel research. These articles can include randomized controlled trials, observational (cohort, case-control, or cross-sectional) studies, diagnostic accuracy studies, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, nonrandomized behavioral and public health intervention trials, experimental animal trials, or any other clinical or experimental studies.

Manuscript Preparation
The manuscript should be formatted as follows: paper size A4 (212 x 297 mm), with margins of at least 2.5 cm; use double-spacing in a serif font (e.g. Times), 12-point, and limited to approximately 16 pages in length, including references, tables, and figures. Do not justify the right margin. Number pages consecutively in the upper right-hand corner of each page, beginning with the title page. Each manuscript component should begin on a new page in the following sequence: title page, abstract and keywords, text, conflict of interest, acknowledgements, references, tables, and figures. Each table should be on a separate page, with a title and footnotes. Figures should be provided with legends. All manuscripts should be accompanied by a cover letter from the author responsible for correspondence.

Manuscript template
Universa Medicina offers a Microsoft Word template to be used to generate a standard style and format for the journal article. To find and download the Microsoft Word template. Download the template.

Manuscript Sections for Papers
Cover letter
Title
Title page
Abstract and keywords
Text
Conflict of interest
Acknowledgements
References
Tables
Figures

Cover Letter
It is mandatory that a signed Cover letter be submitted along with the manuscript by the author to whom correspondence is to be addressed. Your cover letter should inform the Editor of any special considerations regarding your submission.  The letter should state:

•     Innovation and significance of the work in relation to the scope of Universa Medicina
•     Confirm that the manuscript is entirely original and has not been copyrighted, published, submitted, or accepted for publication elsewhere

Title
The article's title should be precise and brief, not more than 14 words. Authors should avoid the use of non-standard abbreviations. Authors should also provide a short running title for page headings of not more than 40 characters.

Title Page
This should carry the title of the article, the names and addresses of all authors (the institution to which the work is to be attributed should be listed first), and the name, address, fax number and email address of the corresponding author.

Abstract and Keywords
A structured abstract containing no more than 250 words should consist of background (including objective), methods, design, results and conclusions. Below the abstract, provide a list of 3–10 keywords.

Introduction
[This section can include background information such as prior work and the study's objective. Citations must be in superscripted Arabic numerals within round brackets following the punctuation. Abbreviations are defined in full at their first instance.]
Helminthiasis is still one of the health problems in the world, particularly in developing and subtropical countries, including Indonesia. ⁽¹⁾ It has been estimated that around two thousand million people are infected with at least one of these parasites, with the highest prevalence found in poor areas with poor sanitation and hygiene. ^(1,2)
Describe the rationale of the study (need and significance). Summarise the previous relevant research and explains the author’s finding (pro and kontra results). Describe the novelty of the study.
Describe the objective of the study. 
[Generally, each major section of your manuscript should have a heading. The most common breakdown of a paper is given below, with some subheadings related to the above example text. Please delete or include as needed.]

Methods

Research design
Study subjects
Sample size determination
Intervention
Measurements
Laboratory analysis
Statistical analysis
Ethical clearance

Results
This section may be divided by subheadings. It should provide a concise and precise description of the experimental results and their interpretation.

Discussion
Summarise the major findings
Compare your results with previous work
Discuss the scientific of your findings
Limitations of the study
Clinical implication of the study
Future directions

Conflict of Interest
Authors should disclose any financial arrangement they may have with a company whose product is pertinent to the submitted manuscript or with a company making a competing product at the time of revision. Such information will be held in confidence while the paper is under review and will not influence the editorial decision, but if the article is accepted for publication, a disclosure statement will appear with the article. 
Authors should make a conflict of the interest disclosure statement or a declaration that they do not have any conflicts of interest. Please include a declaration of conflict of interest at the end of your manuscript, under the heading “Conflict of Interest”.

Acknowledgements
Anyone (individual/company/institution) who has substantially contributed to the study of important intellectual content must be acknowledged. Acknowledge only persons who have made substantive contributions to the study.

References
References should be in Vancouver style. It is the author's responsibility to check all references very carefully for accuracy and completeness. References must be double-spaced and numbered consecutively as they are cited. Identify references in the text by superscripted Arabic numerals within round brackets.  References first cited in a table or figure should be numbered in sequence with the references cited in the text at the point where the table or figure is first mentioned.  “Unpublished observations” and “personal communications” may not be used as references; if cited, a letter (from the person quoted) granting permission must be submitted. Authors should avoid using abstracts as references. The minimal number of references should be 20, and 85% of them should be recent (published during the last ten years, with the majority during the last five years). Abbreviate journal names according to the Index Medicus system (See also International Committee of Medical Journal Editors Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals: Sample References http://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_ requirements.html). Authors are recommended to use reference management software in writing the citations and references, such as Mendeley®.
Examples of correct references are given at the end of these instructions.

Tables and Figures
Type or print each table with double spacing on a separate sheet of paper. Number tables consecutively in the order of their first citation in the text and supply a brief title for each. Do not use internal horizontal or vertical lines. Give each column a short or abbreviated heading. Authors should place explanatory matter in footnotes, not in the heading. Explain in footnotes all nonstandard abbreviations. For footnotes, use the following symbols in sequence:  *,†,‡,§,||,¶,**,††,‡‡

Identify statistical measures of variations, such as standard deviation and standard error of the mean. There is normally a limit of 5 figures and tables (total) per manuscript.

Figures should be either professionally drawn and photographed or submitted as photographic quality digital prints. For x-ray films, scans, and other diagnostic images, as well as pictures of pathology specimens or photomicrographs, send sharp, glossy, black-and-white or color photographic prints, usually 127 x 173 mm (5 x 7 inches). Figures should be numbered consecutively according to the order in which they have been first cited in the text. If a figure has been published, acknowledge the original source and submit written permission from the copyright holder to reproduce the material. Permission is required irrespective of authorship or publisher except for documents in the public domain.

Units of Measurement
Measurements of length, height, weight, and volume should be reported in metric units (meter, kilogram, or liter) or their decimal multiples. Temperatures should be in degrees Celsius. Blood pressures should be in millimetres of mercury unless other units are specifically required by the journal.

Statistical Methods
Significance tests should be accompanied by confidence intervals for estimated effect sizes, association measures, or other interest parameters. The confidence intervals should be adjusted to match any adjustment made to significance levels in the corresponding test. In general, p values should be reported to three decimal places.

Case Report

Case reports usually describe one to three patients or a single family. A case report containing a substantial novel finding should be unique, representing a diagnostic or therapeutic challenge and having a learning point for the readers. The abstract must begin on a separate page and should be structured with the following subheadings: Background, Case Report, and Conclusion. The abstract should be limited to a maximum of 250 words. The main text of case reports should be structured with the following subheadings: Introduction, Case Report, Discussion, Conclusion, and References. A case report is limited to 2500 words, a maximum of 5tables and figures (total), and up to 20 references. Provide 4 to 7 keywords to help potential readers search for and find this case report. Universa Medicina offers a Microsoft Word template to be used to generate a standard style and format of a case report. To find and download the Microsoft Word template. Download the template.

Short Communication

Short Communication should be no more than 2500 words and could include three figures or tables. It should have at least eight references. It should be typed in 12 points Times New Roman font. Short communications must report completed work, not preliminary findings: they are an alternative format for describing smaller pieces of work.

Title
The title should be specific to the study yet concise and allow sensitive and specific electronic retrieval of the article. It should be comprehensible to readers outside your field. Avoid specialist abbreviations if possible.

Authors and Affiliations
Provide the first names or initials (if used), middle names or initials (if used), surnames, and affiliations—department, university or organization, city, state/province (if applicable), and country—for all authors. One of the authors should be designated as the corresponding author and provide the ORCID ID.

Abstract
The abstract should not exceed 150 words. The abstract is conceptually divided into four sections. Background: include here a statement of the main research question. Methods the techniques used without going into methodological detail, Results of the most important findings with measures of error and not just p values. Conclusions concisely summarize the study’s implications. Please do not include any citations in the abstract.

Keywords
Immediately after the abstract, provide a maximum of 6 keywords, using American spelling and avoiding general and plural terms and multiple concepts (avoid, for example, 'and', 'of'). . If names of microorganisms are used, they should precede the keywords, and be followed by the latter in alphabetical order. All keywords should be relevantly connected with the subject matter (avoid common terms like bacteria, medium, soil, temperature, etc.) as they will be used for indexing purposes.

Introduction
The introduction should put the focus of the manuscript into a broader context. As you compose the introduction, think of readers who are not experts in this field. Include a brief review of the key literature. If there are relevant controversies or disagreements in the field, they should be mentioned so that a non-expert reader can delve into these issues further. Describe the novelty of the study. The introduction should conclude with a brief statement of the overall aim of the experiments and comment on whether that aim was achieved.

Methods
This section should provide enough detail to allow full replication of the study by suitably skilled investigators. Protocols for new methods should be included, but well-established protocols may simply be referenced.

Research design
Study subjects
Sample size determination
Intervention
Measurements
Laboratory analysis
Statistical analysis
Ethical clearance

Results
The results section should provide details of all of the experiments required to support the paper's conclusions. There is no specific word limit for this section. The section may be divided into subsections, each with a concise subheading. Large datasets, including raw data, should be submitted as supporting information files; these are published online alongside the accepted article. We advise that the results section be written in the past tense.

Discussion
The discussion should be concise and tightly argued.
Summarise the major findings
Compare your results with previous work
Discuss the scientific of your findings
Limitations of the study
Clinical implication of the study

Conclusion
Conclusions firmly established by the presented data, hypotheses supported by the presented data, and speculations suggested by the presented data should be clearly identified as such.

Acknowledgements
People who contributed to the work but did not fit the criteria for authorship should be listed in the Acknowledgments, along with their contributions. The author must ensure that anyone named in the acknowledgements agrees to be so named. Details of the funding sources that have supported the work should be confined to the funding declaration provided on submission.

Conflict of interest
Disclose any personal financial interests related to the subject matters discussed in the manuscript here.

Contributors
Describe the author's contribution to this work

References 
References should be in Vancouver style. The minimal number of references should be 15, and 85% of them should be recent (published during the last ten years, with the majority during the last five years). Abbreviate journal names according to the Index Medicus system. Unpublished results and personal communications are not recommended in the reference list. Please read the guide to authors carefully to prepare a list of references. Use of the DOI is highly encouraged.

Reference style
Text: Indicate references by number(s) in square brackets in line with the text. The actual authors can be referred to, but the reference number(s) must always be given and superscript. Example: '..... as demonstrated. ^[3,6]. Barnaby and Jones ^[8] obtained a different result ....'

List: Number the references (numbers in square brackets) in the list in the order in which they appear in the text.

Examples:

Reference to a journal publication:

1. Somi MH, Dolatkhah R, Sepahi S, Belalzadeh M, Naghashi S, Jafarabadi MA. A 12-year trend analysis of the incidence of gastrointestinal cancers in East Azerbaijan: last updated results of an ongoing population-based cancer registry. BMC Cancer 2019;19:782. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12885-019-6008-3.

Figure Legends
The aim of the figure legend should be to describe the key messages of the figure, but the figure should also be discussed in the text. An enlarged version of the figure and its full legend will often be viewed in a separate window online, and it should be possible for a reader to understand the figure without switching back and forth between this window and the relevant parts of the text. Each legend should have a concise title of no more than 15 words.

Tables
Tables can be placed either next to the relevant text in the article or on separate page(s) at the end.

Total no more than three figures and tables.

Processing
Short communications undergo the same review process as full-length papers and are not printed more quickly.

Review Article

Review articles are comprehensive analyses of specific topics in medicine, review articles will also undergo peer review before acceptance. Review articles must not exceed 5000 words for the main text (excluding references, tables, and figure legends) and 200-300 words for the unstructured abstract. A review article can be signed by no more than 5 authors and the minimal number of references should be 50. And 3 to 5 tables and/or figures. They should be introduced by a general content summary in the form of an Abstract. Following a short introduction, putting the study into context, and defining the aim, reviews will concentrate on the most recent clinical updates in the field and summarize the state-of-the-art literature. A review should clearly describe the search strategy followed (key words, inclusion, exclusion criteria, search engines, ...). No particular format is required; headings should be used to designate the major divisions of the paper.

• Title: Titles not more than 15 words and should be as concise as possible and yet clearly convey the main purpose of the review
• Authors: List here all author names; first name, middle name, and family name, and identify authors with author affiliations with superscript Arabic numerals
• Affiliations: List here all author affiliations, including department, institute, and email; identify authors with author affiliations with superscript Arabic numerals
• Corresponding author details: Name, contact address, contact phone number, email, fax number and ORCID ID if available
• Unstructured abstract (in English): An unstructured abstract should be of approximately 200-300 words. Provide a brief summary of the review question being addressed, the rationale for the review, the major studies reviewed, and the conclusions are drawn.
• Keywords: Four to seven keywords for indexing purposes
• Short running title: a short title of the paper, less than 40 characters
• Introduction: Introduce the topic and your rationale for addressing this topic, focusing on why this topic is important. Clearly define what this article will discuss, and outline the order in which you will discuss each subtopic to give the reader any background information needed to understand the coming sections.
• Main body: The main body of a review is usually organised into subheadings, which vary according to the nature of the topics being reviewed. Conventionally, subheadings for a clinical review paper may include aetiology, pathogenesis, clinical manifestations, investigative findings (including imaging and pathology), treatment and prognosis. Details of a specific procedure (e.g. indications, selection of appropriate patients, execution, complications), features of a specific condition, or strengths and weaknesses of the use of techniques may be included. If you are reviewing three different methodologies, you might divide the body of the article into three sections, each discussing one of the methods. In these sections, be sure to describe the research methods and evaluate how studies were conducted, focusing on the study design and analysis, e.g., intention to treat versus completers/retention rate, compare studies, and discuss their implications.
• Conclusions: You should develop the conclusion by briefly restating the rationale for your review and the purpose of the article, then discussing the conclusions you have drawn. You should also discuss the implications of your review findings and where you think research in this field should go from here.
• Conflict of interest: Declare here if any financial interest or any conflict of interest exists
• Acknowledgements: List here any individuals who contributed to the work but do not qualify for authorship
• Contributors: First name, Middle name, Family name, at least one task from each group is required from an individual to be listed as the author of the review article. Group 1 - Conception and design, acquisition of data, analysis and interpretation of data. Group 2 - drafting the article, critical revision of the article. Group 3 - Final approval of the version to be published.
• References: Should be in Vancouver style. Must come from either primary (research) or secondary (review) literature articles. And the minimal number of references should be 50, and 85% of them should be recent (published during the last ten years, with the majority during the last five years). Abbreviate journal names according to the Index Medicus system. References must be numbered in order of appearance in the text (including citations in tables and legends) and listed individually at the end of the manuscript. List all authors if less than six. If there are more than six authors, list the first three followed by et al. Example :

1. Wallace ZS, Deshpande V, Mattoo H, et al. IgG4-related disease: baseline clinical and laboratory features in 125 patients with biopsy-proven disease. Arthritis Rheumatol 2015; 67: 2466–75. doi:10.1002/art.39205.

We recommend preparing the references with a bibliography software package, such as EndNote or Mendeley to avoid typing mistakes and duplicated references. Include the digital object identifier (DOI) for all references where available. In the text, reference numbers should be placed in square brackets and superscript ( ), and placed after the punctuation; for example. ⁽¹⁾ or. ^(1-3)

Review articles SHOULD NOT discuss preliminary data. Do not include unpublished data. The main text of a review is usually relatively long, and should follow a prescribed word limit, typically up to 15 manuscript pages or up to 4,000 words,

They should be introduced by a general content summary in the form of an Abstract. Following a short introduction, putting the study into context and defining the aim, reviews will concentrate on the most recent clinical updates in the field and summarize the state-of-the-art literature. A review should clearly describe the search strategy followed (key words, inclusion, exclusion criteria, search engines, ...). No particular format is required; headings should be used to designate the major divisions of the paper.

 

Examples of correct forms of references

Journals

1. Standard journal
List all authors when there are six or fewer; when there are seven or more, list only the first three, followed by “et al.” Abbreviate journal titles according to Index Medicus style, which is used in MEDLINE citations.

Pinelli NR, Hurren KM. Efficacy and safety of long-acting glucagon-like peptide-1: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Ann Pharmacother 2011;45:850-60.

Campbell NRC, Gilbert RE, Leiter LA, et al.  Hypertension in people with type 2 diabetes: update on pharmacologic management. Can Fam Physician 2011;57:997-1002.

2. Corporate author
Diabetes Prevention Program Research Group. Ten-year follow-up of diabetes incidence and weight loss in the Diabetes Prevention Program Outcomes Study. Lancet 2009;374:1677-86. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(09)61457-4.

3. Volume with supplement
Maeshiro R, Koo D, Keck CW.  Patients and populations: public health in medical education. Am J Prev Med 2011;41Suppl 3:S145-S318. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2011.07.010

4. Electronic journal without page numbers
Santos CAST, Fiaccone RL, Oliveira NF, et al. Estimating adjusted prevalence ratio in clustered cross-sectional epidemiological data. BMC Med Res Method 2008;8:80 doi:10.1186/1471-2288-8-80.

Thyssen JP, Linneberg A, Carlsen BC, et al. A possible association between a dysfunctional skin barrier (filaggrin null-mutation status) and diabetes: a cross-sectional study. BMJ Open 2011 doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2011-000062.

Bawaskar HS, Bawaskar PH. Efficacy and safety of scorpion antivenom plus prazosin compared with prazosin alone for venomous scorpion (Mesobuthus tamulus) sting: randomised open-label clinical trial. BMJ 2011;342:c7136. doi:10.1136/bmj.c7136.

Books and Other Monographs

1. Editor(s), compiler(s) as author
Gilstrap LC, Cunningham FG, VanDorsten JP, editors. Operative obstetrics. 4th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill;2010.

2. Chapter in a book
Meltzer PS, Kallioniemi A, Trent JM. Chromosome alterations in human solid tumors. In: Vogelstein B, Kinzler KW, editors. The genetic basis of human cancer. New York: McGraw-Hill;2010.p.93-113.

3. Conference paper
Christensen S, Oppacher F. An analysis of Koza’s computational effort statistic for genetic programming. In: Foster JA, Lutton E, Miller J, Ryan C, Tettamanzi AG, editors. Genetic programming. EuroGP 2002: Proceedings of the 5th European Conference on Genetic Programming; 2002 Apr 3-5; Kinsdale, Ireland. Berlin: Springer;2002.p.182-91.

4. Dissertation
Hos J. (2005). Mechanochemically synthesized nanomaterials for intermediate temperature solid oxide fuel cell membranes [dissertation]. Crawley, Western Australia: University of Western Australia;2005.

Electronic Material

1. Electronic documents
Murray G. (2005). A duty of care to children and young people in Western Australia: Report on the quality assurance and review of unsubstantiated allegations of abuse in care;2005. Available at : http://www.community.wa.gov.au/NR/rdonlyres/851183A4-A822-4592-AB66- CietsC410E453AEEC/0/DCDRPTGwennMurrayreportwithcover2006.pdf Accessed April 12, 2008,

2. Journal article on the internet
Sillick T J,  Schutte NS. Emotional intelligence and self-esteem mediate between perceived early parental love and adult happiness. Applied Psychol 2006;2:38–48. Available at : http://ojs.lib.swin.edu.au/index.php/ejap/article/view/71/100. Accessed Hune 10, 2010.

3. Monograph on the internet
Foley KM, Gelband H, editors. Improving palliative care for cancer [monograph on the Internet]. Washington: National Academy Press; 2008. Available at: http://www.nap.edu/books/0309074029/html/. Accessed July 9, 2010.