Author Guidelines

Original Research Article full structure


Title: The title should be short, clear, and informative but does not exceed 20 words. It has to be pinpointed with the issues discussed. The article title does not contain any uncommon abbreviations. The main ideas should be written first and followed by their explanations.

Abstract: The English-language abstract must be written in the past tense and should not exceed 250 words. The objectives, methods, findings, and importance of the subject should all be briefly described in the abstract. An original research article's unstructured abstract should be composed of six paragraphs without the labels Background, Aim, Setting, Methods, Results, Conclusion, and Contributions. The abstract's only marked heading is the latter.

  • Background: Summarise the social value (importance, relevance) and scientific value (knowledge gap) that your study addresses (optional).
  • Aim: State the overall aim of the study.
  • Methods: Clearly express the basic design of the study and name or briefly describe the methods used without going into excessive detail.
  • Results: State the main findings.
  • Conclusion: State your conclusion and any key implications or recommendations.
  • ContributionWhat key insights into the research results and its future function are revealed? How do these insights link to the focus and scope of the journal? It should be a concise statement of the primary contribution of the manuscript; and how it fits within the scope of the journal.

Do not cite references, and do not use abbreviations excessively in the abstract.

Introduction: The introduction must contain your argument for the social and scientific value of the study, as well as the aim and objectives:

  • Social value: The first part of the introduction should make a clear and logical argument for the importance or relevance of the study. Your argument should be supported by the use of evidence from the literature.
  • Scientific value: The second part of the introduction should make a clear and logical argument for the study's originality. This should include a summary of what is already known about the research question or specific topic and should clarify the knowledge gap that this study will address. Your argument should be supported by the use of evidence from the literature.
  • Conceptual framework: In some research articles, it will also be important to describe the underlying theoretical basis for the research and how these theories are linked together in a conceptual framework. The theoretical evidence used to construct the conceptual framework should be referenced from the literature.
  • Aim and objectives: The introduction should conclude with a clear summary of the aim and objectives of this study.

Research methods: This must address the following:

  • Study design: An outline of the type of study design.
  • Setting: A description of the setting for the study; for example, the type of community from which the participants came or the nature of the health system and services in which the study is conducted.
  • Study population and sampling strategy: Describe the study population and any inclusion or exclusion criteria. Describe the intended sample size and your sample size calculation or justification. Describe the sampling strategy used. Describe in practical terms how this was implemented.
  • Intervention (if appropriate): If there were intervention and comparison groups, describe the intervention in detail and what happened to the comparison groups.
  • Data collection: Define the data collection tools that were used and their validity. Describe in practical terms how data were collected and any key issues involved, e.g. language barriers.
  • Data analysis: Describe how data were captured, checked and cleaned. Describe the analysis process, for example, the statistical tests used or steps followed in qualitative data analysis.
  • Ethical considerations: Approval must have been obtained for all studies from the author's institution or other relevant ethics committee, and the institution’s name and permit numbers should be stated here.

Results: The results obtained from the research have to be supported by sufficient data. The research results and the discovery must be the answers or the research hypothesis stated previously in the introduction part.

Discussion: The discussion section should address the following four elements:

  • Key findings: Summarise the key findings without reiterating details of the results.
  • Discussion of key findings: Explain how the key findings relate to previous research or to existing knowledge, practice or policy.
  • Strengths and limitations: Describe the strengths and limitations of your methods and what the reader should consider when interpreting your results.
  • Implications or recommendations: State the implications of your study or recommendations for future research (questions that remain unanswered), policy or practice. Make sure that the recommendations flow directly from your findings.

Conclusion: The conclusion should answer the research objectives and discoveries. The concluding remark should not only repeat the results and discussions or abstract. You should also suggest future research and point out those that are underway.

 

Acknowledgements: In this section, you can acknowledge any support given not covered by the author's contribution or funding sections. This may include administrative and technical support or donations in kind (e.g., materials used for experiments).

References: The literature in the References contains only the sources referenced or included in the article. We recommend preparing the references with a bibliography software package, such as Mendeley, EndNote, Reference Manager or Zotero, to avoid typing mistakes and duplicated references. Referral sources should provide 80% of journal articles, proceedings, or research results from the last five years. Writing techniques bibliography, using Chicago Manual of Style 17th edition (full note).