The Medical Journal of Malaysia welcomes articles of interest on all aspects of medicine in the form of original papers, research notes, communications and correspondence. The MJM also welcomes brief abstracts, of not more than 50 words, of original papers published elsewhere, concerning medicine in Malaysia. Articles are accepted for publication on condition that they are contributed solely to The Medical Journal of Malaysia. Neither the Editorial Board nor the Publishers accept responsibility for the views and statements of authors expressed in their contributions. The Editorial Board further reserves the right to reject papers read before a society. To avoid delays in publication, authors are advised to adhere closely to the instructions given below.

Manuscripts
All manuscripts should be submitted in triplicate to :

Hon Editor
Medical Journal of Malaysia
Malaysian Medical Association
4th Floor, MMA House
124 Jalan Pahang
53000 Kuala Lumpur

Manuscripts should be typed on one side of A4 paper and double-spaced throughout (including tables, legends and references) with wide margins.
An electric typewriter, letter quality or laser printer should be used. Do not use dot-matrix printer. 'San Serif' typefaces/fonts such as Helvetica are preferred.
The title page should state the title of the paper, initials and name(s) of the author(s), degrees (limited to one degree or diploma) and address(es). The name and address of the author for correspondence should be clearly indicated.
Names of authors should be written in style of initials followed by the surname or preferred name e.g., B.A.K. Khalid, K. Suresh, C.C. Chan or J. Brown.
Summary, Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, Acknowledgment and References should follow each section beginning on a fresh page.

Papers may be submitted in Bahasa Malaysia but must be accompanied by a short summary in English.

Scientific names, foreign words and Greek symbols should be clearly indicated and underlined. Case Reports

Papers on case reports (one to five cases) must follow these rules : maximum of 1,000 words; only one table is allowed; maximum of two photographs; only up to three references quoted.

Short Communications
Short communications should not exceed 1,000 words and shall consist of a Summary and the Main Text. The number of figures and tables should be limited to three and the number of references to five.

Letters to the Editor
Such correspondence must not exceed 450 words.

Summary and Key Words
A summary of not more than 100 words should be provided immediately after the title page. Below the summary, provide and identify 3 to 10 key words or short phrases that will assist indexers in cross-indexing your article. Use terms from all the medical subject headings list from Index Medicus where possible.

Introduction
Clearly state the purpose of the article. Summarise the rationale for the study or observation. Give only strictly pertinent references, and do not review the subject extensively.

Materials and Methods
Describe your selection of the observational or experimental subjects (patients or experimental animals, including controls) clearly, identify the methods, apparatus (manufacturer's name and address in parenthesis), and procedures in sufficient detail to allow other workers to reproduce the results. Give references to established methods, including statistical methods; provide references and brief descriptions of methods that have been published but are not well-known; describe new or substantially modified methods, give reasons for using them and evaluate their limitations.

Identify precisely all drugs and chemicals used, including generic name(s), dosage(s) and route(s) of administration. Do not use patients' names, initials or hospital numbers. Include numbers of observation and the statistical significance of the findings when appropriate.

When appropriate, particularly in the case of clinical trials, state clearly that the experimental design has received the approval of the relevant ethical committee.

Results
Present your results in logical sequence in the text, tables and illustrations. Do not repeat in the text all the data in the tables or illustrations, or both : emphasise or summarise only important observations.

Discussion
Emphasise the new and important aspects of the study and conclusions that follow from them. Do not repeat in detail data given in the 'Results' section. Include in the 'Discussion' the implications of the findings and their limitations and relate the observations to other relevant studies.

Conclusion
Link the conclusions with the goals of the study but avoid unqualified statements and conclusions not completely supported by your data. Avoid claiming priority and alluding to work that has not been completed. State new hypotheses when warranted, but clearly label them as such. Recommendations, when appropriate, may be included.

Acknowledgements
Acknowledge grants awarded in aid of the study (state the number of grant, name and location of the institution or organisation), as well as persons who have contributed significantly to the study.

Authors are responsible for obtaining written permission from everyone acknowledged by name, as readers may infer their endorsement of the data.

References
Number references consecutively in the order in which they are first mentioned in the text. Identify references in text, tables and legends by Arabic numerals (in parenthesis). References cited only in tables or legends to figures should be numbered in accordance with a sequence established by the first identification in the text of the particular table or illustration. Use the form of references adopted by the US National Library of Medicine and used in the Index Medicus. Use the style of the examples cited at the end of this section, which have been approved by the National Library of Medicine.

The titles of journals should be abbreviated according to the style used in the Index Medicus.

Try to avoid using abstracts as references; "unpublished observations" and "personal communications" may not be used as references, although references to written, not verbal, communication may be inserted (in parenthesis) in the text.
Include among the references manuscripts accepted but not yet published; designate the journal followed by "in press" (in parenthesis). Information from manuscripts should be cited in the text as "unpublished observations" (in parenthesis).

The references must be verified by the author(s) against the original documents. List all authors when six or less; when seven or more list only three and add et al. Examples of correct forms of references are given below :

Journals


1. Standard Journal Article
   Soter, NA, Wasserman SI, Austen KF et al. Cold uticaria : release into the circulation of histamine and eosinophil chemotaxic factor of anaphylaxis during cold challenge. New Engl J Med 1976; 294 : 687-90.
2. Corporate Author
   The Committee on Enzymes of the Scandinavian Society of Clinical Chemistry and Clinical Physiology. Recommended method for the determination of gammaglutamyltransferase in blood. Scand J Clin Lab Invest 1976; 36 : 119-125.

   
   Books and Other Monographs

3. Personal Author(s)
   Osler AG. Complement : mechanisms and functions. Englewood Cliffs : Prentice-Hall, 1976.

4. Corporate Author
   American Medical Association Department of Drugs. AMA drug evaluation (3rd ed.). Littleton : Publishing Sciences Group, 1977.
5. Editor, Compiler, Chairman as Author
   Rhodes, AJ, Van Rooyen CE (comps). Textbook of virology : For students and practitioners of medicine and the other health sciences (5th ed). Baltimore : Williams & Wilkins, 1968.
6. Chapter in Book
   Weinstein L, Swartz MN. Pathogenic properties of invading micro-organisms. In : Sodeman WAJr, Sodeman WA (eds). Pathogenic physiology : mechanisms of disease. Philadelphia : WB Saunders, 1974 : 457-72.
7. Agency Publication
   National Care for Health Statistics. Acute conditions : incidence and associated disability, United States, July 1968 - June 1969. Rockville, Me : National Centre for Health Statistics, 1972. (Vital and health statistics). Series 10 : data from the National Health Survey, No 69). (DHEW Publication No [HSM] 72-1036).

   
   Other Articles

8. Newspaper Article
   Shaffer RA. Advances in chemistry are starting to unlock mysteries of the brain : discoveries could help cure alcoholism and insomnia, explain mental illness. However, the messengers work. Wall Street Journal 1977; Aug 12 : 1 (col 1), 10 (col 1).
9. Magazine Article
   Roucehe B. Annals of Medicine : the santa claus culture. The New Yorker 1971; Sep 4 : 66-81.

All tables, illustrations and diagrams should be fully labelled so that each is comprehensible without reference to the text. All measurements should be reported using the metric system.

Each table should be typed on a separate sheet of paper, double-spaced and numbered consecutively. Omit the internal horizontal and vertical rules. The contents of all tables should be carefully checked to ensure that all totals and subtotals tally.

All illustrations and diagrams should be in Indian ink on separate sheets of thick, smooth, white paper of Bristol board or in the form of photographs printed on glossy paper and should be 12.7 cm x 17.3 cm but not larger than 20.3 cm x 25.4 cm. They should bear, on the reverse side, the author's name, short title of the paper, the figure number and an arrow indicating the top of each illustration.
All illustrations and diagrams should be referred to as "Figures" and numbered consecutively. Their approximate position in the text should be indicated. Legends and captions should be typed on separate sheets and numbered correspondingly.

Whenever possible, please include all data used for construction of graphs in order to ensure clarity or reproduction.

Colour Reproduction
Illustrations and diagrams are normally reproduced in black and white only. Colour reproductions can be included if so required and upon request. However, a nominal charge must be paid by the authors for this additional service; the charges to be determined as and when on a per article basis.

Colour illustrations and diagrams should be supplied in the form of colour positive photographic prints or slides. All other specifications should be as for normal illustrations and diagrams, as noted above.

Abbreviations
Use only standard abbreviations. The full term for which an abbreviation stands should precede its first use in the text, unless it is a standard unit of measurement.

Reprints
25 copies of the article will be supplied free of charge to the leading author. Requests for additional reprints should be made to the MMA Secretariat. A nominal charge will be levied for each additional reprint.