1. Aims and Scope: The “ Hakim Research Journal” is the peer-reviewed journal of the National Institute of Health Research of Iran; currently published in Persian (Farsi) with English abstracts. The Journal has been published with the objectives of increasing the knowledge about policy, management and decision making in health system. This includes but not limited to these subjects: investigations of the social factors affecting health, health service systems, assessment of national and regional health systems, resource allocation, legislations on health programs, health care financing and insurance, payment methods, health policy and other relevant topics. 

  2. This Journal accepts Original Research Papers, Review Articles, Short Communications, Letter to the Editor and Case Studies. The editorial board is free to accept, revise (with author's permission) and/or reject a manuscript.

  3. Submission: Authors should submit their manuscript online via submitting their manuscript to http://hakim.hbi.ir or hakim@hbi.ir. It is notable to submit the article in two forms of files namely: "with the name(s) and affiliation(s) of the author(s)" and" without the name(s) and affiliation(s) of the author(s)". In addition, a completed copy of signed cover letter along with the signed declaration form by all authors ( available from the Journal site ) should be provided for each manuscript. Manuscript should be typed with Microsoft Word 2003 in single space with clear margins on both sides. The figures should be sent in a format of JPEG or GIF which will produce high quality images in the online edition of the journal. Do not submit tables as photographs. Please note that t he manuscript should not have been published or considered for publication in any other journal and this should be stated in the cover letter. Any contradiction to the above statement will lead to the automatic withdrawal of the manuscript.

  4. The manuscript should include: Title page; the Abstract; Introduction; Materials & Methods; Results; Discussion; Acknowledgement and References. The number of manuscript pages should not exceed 12 typewritten single spaced pages (including the text, reference, figures and tables). Case reports should not exceed 5 pages and review articles have a limit of 18 pages.

  5. The title page: Title page should include the title of the manuscript, a short running title of not more than 40 characters (including spaces), complete name, higher academic degree and affiliation of the author(s), along with the contact information of the corresponding author including address, email, phone and fax numbers .

  6. The Abstract: All original articles must be accompanied by a structured abstract of 150-250 words containing Introduction, Methods, Results, and Conclusion followed by 3 to 5 Keywords. Keywords will assist indexers in cross indexing the article as they are published with abstract. Use terms from the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) list of index medicus ( http://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/MBrowser.html ). Authors should be careful that the abstract reflects the content of the article accurately.

  Note: Review articles and case studies should have unstructured Abstract of 150-250 words.

  7. Introduction: This should summarize the purpose and the rationale for the study. It should neither review the subject extensively nor should it have data or conclusions of the study.

  8. Materials & Methods: This should include exact method or observation or experiment. If an apparatus is used, its manufacturer’s name and address should be given in parenthesis. If the method is established, give reference but if the method is new, give enough information so that another author is able to perform it. If a drug is used, its generic name, dose and route of administration must be given. Statistical method must be mentioned and specify any general computer program used.

  9. Results: It must be presented in the form of text, tables and illustrations. The contents of the tables should not be all repeated in the text. Instead, a reference to the table number may be given. Long articles may need sub-headings within some sections (especially the Results and Discussion parts) to clarify their contents.

  10. Discussion: This should emphasize the present findings and the variations or similarities with other work done in the field by other workers. The detailed data should not be repeated in the discussion again. Emphasize the new and important aspects of the study and the conclusions that follow them.

  11. Acknowledgement: All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be covered in the acknowledgement section. It should include persons who provided technical help, writing assistance and departmental head who only provided general support. Financial and material support should also be acknowledged.

  12. Tables and figures: The number of tables and figures together should not exceed 6. Do not submit tables as photograph. Place caption above the table and explanatory matters in footnotes, not in the heading. Figures should be of high quality art work and mounted on separate pages. The captions should be placed below. The same data should not be presented in tables, figures and text, simultaneously. Both tables and figures should be numbered consecutively.

  13. References: All manuscripts should be accompanied by relevant references. The accuracy of referencing is the responsibility of the authors. To minimize such errors author should verify references against the original documents. The reference should be numbered in the text consecutively and listed at the end of the manuscript according to their number. Please print the surnames and initials of the first three authors followed by et al. The reference style should follow the presented model:

• Journal articles: surnames and initials of the first three authors followed by et al, Title of manuscript, Name of journal (abbreviated according to PubMed) Year; Vol(no): Pages.

  Seeff LB, Buskell-Bales Z, Wrught EC, et al. Long term mortality after transfusion associated non A, non B hepatitis. The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute study group. N Engl J Med 1992; 27: 1906-11.

• Book: surname and initials of the author(s). Name of the book. Edition no. Place of publication: Publisher; Year: Pages.

  Kates M. Techniques of Lipidology. 2^nd ed. New York: Elsevier; 1992: 172-5.

• Chapter of a book: surname and initials of the author(s) of the chapter. Title of the chapter. In: surname and initials of the author(s). Name of the book. Edition no. Place of publication: Publisher; Year: Pages.

  Phillips SJ, Whisnant JP. Hypertension and stroke. In: Laragh JH, Brenner BM, eds. Hypertension: pathophysiology, diagnosis and management. 2^nd ed. New York: Raven Press; 1995: 465-78.

• Conference presentations:

  Bengtsson S, Solheim BG. Enforcement of data protection, privacy and Security in medical informatics. In: Lun KC, Degoulet P, Piemme TE, et al. Eds. MEDINFO 92. Proceedings of the 7th world congress on Medical Informatics; 1992 Sep 6-10; Geneva, Switzerland. 1992: 1561-5.

• Reports: surname and initials of the author(s) of the report. Title of the report. The name of the organization to which the report is written: country, city. Year: Pages.

  Author (s). Title of the report. A report to x: Country, City. Year: pages.

• Citing materials on Internet:

  Author (s). Title. [cited 2001 Mar 8]. Available from: URL: http://....

• Theses: surname and initials of the author(s) of the thesis. (dissertation). Title of the Thesis. City: University;  Year: pages. 
  

  Author(s). Title of the thesis. (dissertation). City: University;  Year: pages. 
  

   
• Note: If any of the references is in other language rather than English, it should be written in parenthesis after the reference. The example for original article is as below:

  Nedjat S, Majdzadeh R, Rashidian A, et al. Admission of medical students from bachelor’s degree: why?. Hakim Research Journal 2007; 10(2): 1-7. (Article in Persian)

 The rest of the reference types should be according to Vancouver style.

  14. Proof Reading: A computer print out is sent to the corresponding author for proof reading before publication in order to avoid any mistakes. Corrections should be marked clearly and sent immediately to the Journal office.

  15. Abbreviations and symbols: Use only standard abbreviations. Avoid using them in the title and abstract. The full term for which an abbreviation stands should precede its first use in the text unless it is a standard unit of measurement.

  16. Ethical guidelines: Ethical considerations must be addressed in the Materials and Methods section. 1) Please state that informed consent was obtained from all human adult participants and from the parents or legal guardians of minors. Include the name of the appropriate institutional review board that approved the project. 2) Indicate in the text that the maintenance and care of experimental animals complies with National Institutes of Health guidelines for the humane use of laboratory animals, or those of your Institute or agency. Note that Provision of statement from the Bioethics Committee is essential for clinical trials and other relevant studies.

  17. Financial support: In case of any financial support, it is important to mention the name of the respective organization/institute and the project number at the end of the manuscript.

  18. Conflicts of interest: Authors must acknowledge and declare any sources of funding and potential conflicting interest, such as receiving funds or fees by, or holding stocks and shares in an organization that may profit or lose through publication of your paper. Declaring a competing interest will not lead to automatic rejection of the paper, but we would like to be made aware of it.

  19. Page charges: There are no charges for publication in this Journal.

  20. Copyright: The entire contents of the Hakim Research Journal are protected under international copyrights. This Journal is for your personal noncommercial use. You may not modify, copy, distribute, transmit, display, or publish any materials contained on the Journal without the prior written permission of it or the appropriate copyright owner.

  21. Peer review process: All manuscripts are considered to be confidential. They are peer reviewed by at least 2 anonymous reviewers selected by the Editorial Board. The corresponding author is notified as soon as possible of the editor decision to accept, reject, or modifications.

  22. Disposal of material: Once published, all copies of the manuscript, correspondence and artwork will be held for 6 months before disposal.

The Final Checklist

  The authors must ensure that before submitting the manuscript for publication, they have taken care of the following:

  1. Title page should contain full title, running title, name of the author/co-authors, their highest academic degree and affiliation, along with mailing address, E-mail address, Phone & Fax number for future correspondence.

  2. Abstract in Structured format up to 250 words (except review articles and case-studies which need unstructured abstracts).

  3. References as stated in the Instruction to Authors section.

  4. Tables should be typed on separate pages.

  6. Make sure for Headings of Tables, their numbers and Captions of illustrations. Don’t repeat the information in tables if it is covered in the text.

  7. Photographs / illustrations along with their captions.

  8. Declaration Letter signed by all the authors.

  9. Disclosure regarding source of funding and conflict of interest if any besides approval of the study from respective Ethics Committee/Institution Review Board.

  10. Covering Letter

   Editor-in-Chief: Mohammad K, PhD

  Hakim Research Journal

  Post Code-: 14155- 7714 Tehran, Iran

  Tel: + 98- 21- 88991102-5

  Fax: + 98- 21- 88991113

  Email: Hakim@hbi.ir

  URL: http://hakim.hbi.ir