Authors Guidelines

Manuscript Submission

Manuscripts submitted to Bioscientific Review (BSR) shouldn’t be under consideration or being reviewed for publication in any other journal in any form. Duplicate submissions and submission of plagiarized content is not acceptable because it stands in blatant violation of publication ethics.

Submission Checklist

The authors are requested to familiarize themselves with author guidelines and submission requirements of BSR before submitting their papers. There are no restrictions on the number of figures, word count and length of manuscripts but the text should be kept comprehensive and concise.

Article Type Specifications

Article Description	Abstract	Word Limit	Tables/ Figures	References
Articles (Please see ‘Preparation of Articles’ below for further details) Full length articles Articles report significant original basic research	Structured abstract Background Methods Results Conclusions	Abstract: 250 words Article: 5,000 – 6000 words excluding abstract, references, figures and tables.	Max of 10	Max of 60. Please use as recent as possible.
Short communication Articles report significant original basic research	Structured abstract Background Methods Results Conclusions	Abstract: 250 words Article: 1500 – 2000 words excluding abstract, references, figures, and tables.	Max of 05	Max of 25. Please use as recent as possible.
Letter to Editor Letters provide rapid and concise reports of a novel finding that is brief in nature but is of general interest to the field. There should be no more than 10 authors.	Abstract	Abstract: 250 words Article: 1500 – 2000 words excluding abstract, references, figures, and tables.	Max of 5	Max of 20
Reviews Articles Review Articles aim to provide accessible, authoritative overviews of a field or topic. Reviews should communicate a sense of enthusiasm, weaving background information with the latest advances, and placing both of these elements in the context of the rest of the field.	Structured abstract Submission of graphical abstract of manuscript is mandatory	Abstract: 250 words Article: 6,000 words max excluding abstract, references, figures and tables.	Max of 8	Max of 100
Case Reports Case Reports should provide unique insight into disease mechanisms or diagnostic applications	Structured abstract	Abstract: 250 words Article: 2000 words max excluding abstract, references, figures and tables.	Max of 3	Max of 25
Commentary/opinion/perspective/Obituary	No abstract	2000 words including references	01	10
Editorials (Invited only) Proposals for Editorials may be submitted.	No abstract required	2,000 words max	Max 1	Max 15

Word limits are provided for guidance only. The Editors will consider submissions that exceed the recommended limit, subject to feedback received during peer review.

Authorship limit

At most 3 co-corresponding authors, and at most 6 co-first authors for each paper.

Preparation of Articles

Please note that Articles must contain the following components. Please take a look below for more details. Other Article Types needn’t follow the order. Please see below for further details.

Cover letter
Title page
Structured Abstract
Three Highlights
Introduction
Methodology
Results
Discussion
Conclusion
Acknowledgements
Author Contributions
Conflict of Interest
References (10% annotated)
Figure legends
Tables
Figures

Cover Letter:

All manuscripts submitted to BSR, must be accompanied by a cover letter declaring that

This manuscript is original, is not published, in press, or submitted elsewhere in English or any other language, and is not currently being considered for publication elsewhere.
It should declare that all authors have approved the content of the manuscript and have contributed significantly to the work.
It should declare that all authors agree with submitting this manuscript to BSR.
Affiliations, email addresses, and postal addresses of all contributing authors. One author should be designated as the corresponding author.

Abstract: The abstract should briefly (no more than 250 words) describe in complete sentences the scope of the investigation, the results obtained, and the major conclusions.

Highlights: Add at least three highlights that represent the crux of your paper.

Introduction: The introduction should give a brief background knowledge related to the research and should be as concise as possible.

Methodology: The section should be described clearly and referenced adequately so that all experimental procedures can be reproduced. Authors should provide the name of the manufacturer and their location for any specifically named medical equipment and instruments.

Results: The results should present the experimental data in tables and figures with suitable descriptions.

Discussion: The discussion should focus on the interpretation and significance of the findings with concise, objective comments.

Conclusion: Discussion should be followed by a paragraph (Max 6-7 lines) of the conclusion of your study.

Acknowledgments: The acknowledgments should be brief and include financial support and the number of grants.

Author Contributions: The contributions of each author should be listed in general terms, for example, M, Ali designed experiments and helped write the manuscript.

Conflict of Interest: Authors must declare whether or not there are any competing financial or non-financial interests in relation to the work described. This information will need to be included at this stage and will be published as part of the paper. For further details please visit the policies and guidelines on the journal’s website.

References: The journal follows the AMA manual of style (11th Edition) but the in-text citations are arranged with a slight modification. The reference should be cited in the text by number only in square brackets, e.g., “Thompson et al. [2] reported ...” or “... as previously described [2, 5–7]”, and list them in the REFERENCES section, in the order of citation in the text, Tables, and Figures (not alphabetically). If the same work is again needed to cite in the same article then the author should assign the same number. Only published (and accepted for publication) journal articles, books, and book chapters qualify for REFERENCES. The name of the journal should be abbreviated according to the PubMed Journals Database (NLM, NIH).

At least 10% of the references must be ANNOTATED from the past ten (10)years. Annotation means to provide brief findings and the importance of the study in the references section (after the full-text reference in the list). The ANNOTATED REFERENCES can be categorized as papers of special importance (mark with *) or outstanding importance (mark with **).

For example:

**30. Saleem, W., Sarfraz, B., & Mazhar, S. (2022). Combined Effect of Honey, Neem (Azadirachta Indica), and Turmeric against Staphylococcus Aureus and E. Coli Isolated from a Clinical Wound Sample. BioScientific Review, 4(4), 21-44. https://doi.org/10.32350/BSR.44.01

A study using wound samples found that natural ingredients such as honey, turmeric, and neem can be effective alternatives to antibiotics, showing excellent antimicrobial activity against clinical bacterial isolates.

A list of REFERENCES must be prepared as under:

Journals

Print Journal Articles

General format:

Author(s). Article title. Abbreviated Journal Title. Year; vol(issue):pages.

Online Journal Articles

The same general format is followed for an online journal article, but with the addition of either a DOI (digital object identifier) or URL/accessed date (only if no DOI is available) at the end.

General format with DOI:

Author. Article title. Abbreviated Journal Title. Year;vol(issue):pages. doi:xx.xx.

General format without DOI:

Author. Article title. Abbreviated Journal Title. Year;vol(issue);pages. URL. Published date. Updated date. Accessed date.

The accessed date will often be the only date available.

For all reference entries, list all authors if six or less, otherwise list first three followed by “et al”

1-6 authors: Smith IS, Hanson JP, Adams.
7 or more authors: Wormser GP, Ramanathan R, Nowakowski J, et al.

Ogedegbe ABO, Eloka EV. Biodiversity of termites on farmlands in Ugoniyekorhionmwon, Orhionwmon local government area, Edo State, Nigeria. Int J Pure Appl Sci Technol. 2015;27(2): 65-762.
Abd-Elmonem AM, Elhady HS. Effect of rebound exercises on balance in children with spastic diplegia. Int J Ther Rehabil. 2018;25(9):467-474. https://doi.org/10.12968/ijtr.2018.25.9.467
Books

Print Books

General format:

Author(s). Chapter title. In: Editor(s). Book Title. Edition number (if applicable). City, State (or country) of publisher: Publisher’s name; copyright year: pages (if a chapter of book).

Electronic/Online Books

General format:

Follow the same general format for a print book, but add the URL and accessed date at the end of the reference.

If the reference is for an entire book, the information on the chapter title and page numbers is omitted

For all reference entries, list all authors if six or fewer, otherwise list the first three followed by “et al.”.

1-6 authors: Smith IS, Hanson JP, Adams WE.
7 or more authors: Wormser GP, Ramanathan R, Nowakowski J, et al.

Blair E, Cans C. The Definition of Cerebral Palsy. In: Panteliadis CP, ed. Cerebral Palsy A Multidisciplinary Approach. Cham: Springer International Publishing; 2018:13-17.c.
Government/Organization Reports

Government and organization reports are generally treated like electronic journals or book references, depending on the type of report.

Provide the published, updated, and accessed dates if however, the accessed date will often be the only date available.

World Health Organization. Equitable access to essential medicines: a framework for collective action.http://whqlibdoc.who.int/hq/2004/WHO_EDM_2004.4.pdf. Published March 2004. Accessed December 6, 2005.

Figure Legends: These should be brief, specific and appear on a separate manuscript page after the References section.

Tables: Tables should only be used to present essential data; they should not duplicate what is written in the text. It is imperative that any tables used are editable. Each can be uploaded as a separate file or after the Figure legends.

Please ensure each table is cited within the text and in the correct order, e.g. (Table 3).

Figures: Figures and images should be labeled sequentially and cited in the text. Figures should not be embedded within the text but rather appear on a separate manuscript page after the References section

Please note: All parts of a figure should be grouped together where possible large figures and tables should be included as supplementary material.

Graphs, Histograms, Statistics

Plotting individual data points is preferred to just showing means, especially where N<10
If error bars are shown, they must be described in the figure legend
Axes on graphs should extend to zero, except for log axes
Statistical analyses (including error bars and p values) should only be shown for independently repeated experiments, and must not be shown for replicates of a single experiment
The number of times an experiment was repeated
(N) must be stated in the legend

Standard abbreviations: Abbreviations should be defined in full at their first usage in the body of the manuscript, in the conventional manner. Terms used less than four times should not be abbreviated.

Reuse of Display Items: It is the responsibility of the author to seek permission for the reuse of previously published tables or figures. When a manuscript is submitted to the journal, please make sure to obtain prior permission from the original source.

Supplementary Information: Supplementary information is peer-reviewed material directly relevant to the conclusion of an article that cannot be included in the printed version owing to space or format constraints. The article must be complete and self-explanatory without the Supplementary Information, which is posted on the journal's website and linked to the article. Supplementary Information may consist of data files, graphics, movies, or extensive tables. Authors should submit supplementary information files in the FINAL format as they are not edited, typeset, or changed, and will appear online exactly as submitted. When submitting Supplementary Information, authors are required to:

Include a text summary (no more than 50 words) to describe the contents of each file.

Identify the types of files (file formats) submitted.

Include the text “Supplementary information is available at (journal name)’s website” at the end of the article and after the references.

Formatting style

Text should be single spaced on A4 (7" × 9") paper size with 1 inch margins. All pages and lines are to be numbered.

Use a coarse hatching pattern rather than shading for tints in graphs. Use Times New Roman with font size12 for text and 14 for headings

Color should be distinct when being used as an identifying tool.

At first mention of a manufacturer country name should be provided.

Statistical methods: For normally distributed data, mean (SD) is the preferred summary statistic. Relative risks should be expressed as odds ratios with 95% confidence interval. To compare two methods for measuring a variable the method of Bland & Altman (1986, Lancet 1, 307–310) should be used; for this, calculation of P only is not appropriate.

Units: Use metric units (SI units) as fully as possible. Preferably give measurements of energy in kiloJoules or MegaJoules with kilocalories in parentheses (1 kcal

= 4.186kJ). Use % throughout.

Abbreviations: On first using an abbreviation place it in parentheses after the full item. Very common abbreviations such as FFA, RNA, need not be defined. Note these abbreviations: gram g; litre l;

milligram mg; kilogram kg; kilojoule kJ; megajoule MJ; weight wt; seconds s; minutes min; hours h. Do not add s for plural units.

Language Editing

Authors who are not native speakers of English sometimes receive negative comments from referees or editors about the language and grammar usage in their manuscripts, which can contribute to a paper being rejected. To reduce the possibility of such problems, we strongly encourage such authors to have their manuscript reviewed for clarity by a colleague whose native language is English or use a professional language editing service where editors will improve the English to ensure that your meaning is clear and identify problems that require your review. Language editing does not guarantee that the article will be selected for peer review or accepted.

Please note that the journal provides a language editing service (free of cost) to only those manuscripts which have been accepted for publication.
Editorial and Publishing Policies

Authorship

BSR discourages the practice of honorary and ghost authorships. All authors enlisted in the manuscript must fulfill authorship criteria defined by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. Furthermore, post-acceptance changes in authorship are not allowed.

Editorial Evaluation

The manuscripts submitted to Bioscientific Review are first evaluated for their originality, scientific quality, contribution to the field and appropriateness. The acceptable manuscripts are then subjected to fair, rigorous and rapid peer-review.

Peer-Reviewing

After initial screening, the manuscripts go through double blind peer-review process and will be sent to two impartial expert referees having no conflict of interest with the authors. Peer-review process takes no more than 4-6 weeks. After receiving reviewer’s feedback, the editor will make the following recommendations,

Acceptance without revision
Acceptance subject to minor revision
Resubmission for review after major revision
Declined

A rebuttal letter must also accompany a revised submission and must address, point by point, issues raised in the review process.

Article Processing Charges

No fees apply to rejected articles, and there are no charges for submissions or additional fees based on article length, figures, or supplementary data; however, the article will only be processed for publication once the author pays the following APC on acceptance:

For International: 75$

For National: 15000 PKR

Production and Publication

After acceptance, the manuscripts will be formatted and edited by journal’s editorial team. Both authors and readers will have free access to the final full length online version of the manuscript.

Post acceptance corresponding author will receive an email from BSR giving details of the publication process and who to contact if they have any queries. A copy of the accepted article will be published online on the website of BSR as an Article in Press. Please note that this version will not have been copyedited, and the PDF version will be the same as your submitted manuscript. Your article will then be typeset and you will receive proofs. This uncorrected proof will replace the accepted manuscript. The final, corrected version of your article will be posted online once we have received fully formatted version.

Plagiarism

Bioscientific Review takes strict action for publication misconduct, multiple and duplicate submissions, misleading and selective reporting, falsification and fabrication of data and findings, plagiarism and copyright infringement. To avoid plagiarism, proper citation of previous works or ideas must be done. Similarity to previous work should be less than 20%.

Experimental Ethics

In case of studies that incorporate data from living human beings, the author(s) must include a statement declaring that the study was performed following the recognized standards of Declaration of Helsinki. It should also be confirmed that all participants of the study must sign an informed consent document. Similarly, in case of an animal-model based study, the author(s) must include statement declaring adherence to animal research reporting standards.