The Healer
International Journal of Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine

Author Guidelines

The Editorial and Peer Review Process:

The article submitted for publication in “The Healer journal” first undergoes editorial review for scanning & assessment of standard of the article. The journal expects that one of the authors would be authorized to correspond with the Journal for all matters related to the manuscript. All manuscripts received are duly acknowledged. Manuscripts with insufficient originality, serious scientific or technical flaws, or lack of a significant message are rejected before proceeding for formal peer-review. Manuscripts that are unlikely to be of interest to the The Healer readers are also liable to be rejected at this stage itself. The editor decides whether to forward the article for peer review or to return the article to authors for modification to meet the Uniform standard requirements of manuscript submission in The Healer. The journal follows double blind peer review system. Based on the editor’s decision, the article is forwarded anonymously to two subject experts for decision. The adjudicatory comments (if any) and suggestions (acceptance/ rejection/ amendments in manuscript) received from reviewers are again referred anonymously to the corresponding author for necessary modifications. If required, the author is requested to provide a point by point response to reviewers’ comments and make the amendments in the article are to be highlighted separately and then submit a revised version of the manuscript. The Editorial Board again examines the modified article and conveys the publication status of the article. The whole process of submission of the manuscript to final decision and sending and receiving proofs is completed online. To achieve faster and greater dissemination of knowledge and information, the journal publishes articles online as ‘Ahead of Print’ immediately on acceptance. During the process of publication, the editorial office sends proofs to authors for checking which is to be returned within three days after checking the setting, tables, figures etc. After publication, the Journal provides ten reprints and one author’s copy of the respective issue to the principal author.    

 Authorship Criteria:

Authorship credit should be based only on substantial contributions to each of the three components mentioned below: 

1. Concept and design of the study or acquisition of data or analysis and interpretation of data;
2. Drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content; and
3. Final approval of the version to be published.

Participation solely in the acquisition of funding or the collection of data does not justify authorship. General supervision of the research group is not sufficient for authorship. Each contributor should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for appropriate portions of the content of the manuscript. The order of naming the contributors should be based on the relative contribution of the contributor towards the study and writing the manuscript. Once submitted the order cannot be changed without written consent of all the contributors. The journal prescribes a maximum number of authors for manuscripts depending upon the type of manuscript, its scope and number of institutions involved (vide infra). The authors should provide a justification, if the number of authors exceeds these limits.

Conflicts of Interest/ Competing Interests:

All authors must disclose any and all conflicts of interest they may have with publication of the manuscript or an institution or product that is mentioned in the manuscript and/or is important to the outcome of the study presented. Authors should also disclose conflict of interest with products that compete with those mentioned in their manuscript.

Submission of Manuscripts:

All manuscripts must be submitted on-line through login the website www.thehealerjournal.org. First time users will have to register at this site. Registration is free but mandatory. Registered authors can submit the manuscript through email: manuscript@thehealerjournal.org and can keep track of their article after logging into the site using their user name and password. Authors do not have to pay for submission, processing or publication of articles. If you experience any problems, please contact the editorial office by e-mail at editor@thehealerjournal.org. The submitted manuscripts that are not as per the “Instructions to Authors” would be returned to the authors for technical correction, before they undergo editorial or peer-review. Generally, the manuscript should be submitted in the form of two separate files:

[1] Title Page/First Page File/covering letter:

This file should provide

(a) The type of manuscript (original article, case report, review article, Ethics Forum, Education Forum, Letter to editor, Images, etc.) title of the manuscript, running title, names of all authors/ contributors (with their highest academic degrees, designation and affiliations) and name(s) of department(s) and/ or institution(s) to which the work should be credited. All information which can reveal your identity should be here. Use text/rtf/doc files. Do not zip the files.

(b) The total number of pages, total number of photographs and word counts separately for abstract and for the text (excluding the references, tables and abstract), word counts for introduction + discussion in case of an original article;

(c) Source(s) of support in the form of grants, equipment, drugs, or all of these;

(d) Acknowledgement, if any. One or more statements should specify 1) contributions that need acknowledging but do not justify authorship, such as general support by a departmental chair; 2) acknowledgments of technical help; and 3) acknowledgments of financial and material support, which should specify the nature of the support. This should be included in the title page of the manuscript and not in the main article file.

(e) If the manuscript is presented as a part or whole at a meeting or conference or seminar, it should be mentioned including the organization, place, and exact date on which it was presented. A full statement about all submissions and previous reports should be sent to editor that might be regarded as redundant publication of the same or very similar work. Any such work should also be referred to specifically, and referenced in the new paper. Copies of such material should be included with the submitted paper, to help the editor decide how to handle the matter.

(f) Registration number in case of a clinical trial and where it is registered (name of the registry and its URL)

(g) Conflicts of Interest of each author/ contributor. A statement of financial or other relationships that might lead to a conflict of interest, if that information is not included in the manuscript itself or in an authors' form should be mentioned.

(h) Criteria for inclusion in the authors’/ contributors’ list.

(i) A statement that the manuscript has been read and approved by all the authors, that the requirements for authorship as stated earlier in this document have been met, and that each author believes that the manuscript represents honest work, if that information is not provided in another form (see below); and

(j) The name, address, e-mail, and telephone number of the corresponding author, who is responsible for communicating with the other authors about revisions and final approval of the proofs, if that information is not included on the manuscript itself.

[2] Blinded Article file: The manuscript must not contain any mention of the authors' names or initials or the institution at which the study was done or acknowledgements. Page headers/running title can include the title but not the authors' names. Manuscripts not in compliance with The Journal's blinding policy will be returned to the corresponding author. The main text of the article, beginning from Abstract till references (including tables) should be in this file. Use rtf/doc files. Do not zip the files. Limit the file size to 1024 KB. Do not incorporate images in the file. The pages should be numbered consecutively, beginning with the first page of the blinded article file.

[3] Images: Submit good quality colour images. Each image should be less than 4 MB in size. Size of the image can be reduced by decreasing the actual height and width of the images (keep up to 1800 x 1200 pixels or 5-6 inches). Images can be submitted as JPEG files. Do not zip the files. Legends for the figures/images should be included at the end of the article file. 

[4] The contributors' / copyright transfer form (template provided below) has to be submitted in original with the signatures of all the contributors within two weeks of submission via courier, fax or email (manuscript@thehealerjournal.org) as a scanned image with the specification copyright. High resolution images (up to 5 MB each) can be sent by email.

[5] Author’s Undertaking: All the author(s) will have to submit an undertaking (in the format specified by the journal) that the paper has not been published / submitted for publication elsewhere as well as indicating their consent to be co-authors. The author’s undertaking is to be signed by each author in same sequence specified in the paper. Each author should give his/her names as well as the address and appointment at the time the work was done, along with current address for correspondence including telephone, fax number and email address. One of the authors could be identified as corresponding author, who would be responsible for the contents of the paper as well as for all communications. A senior author may sign the undertaking by authors for a junior author who has left the institution and whose whereabouts are not known and take the responsibility of any conflict of interest. 

The hard copies of the Contributors’ form / copyright transfer form and Author’s Undertaking are to be sent to the following addresses or submitted online from the authors’ area on www.thehealerjournal.org  Email:manuscript@thehealerjournal.org.

Preparation of Manuscripts:

Manuscripts must be prepared in accordance with "Uniform requirements for Manuscripts submitted to Biomedical Journals" developed by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE; October 2006). The uniform requirements and specific requirement of “The Healer Journal” are summarized below. Before submitting a manuscript, contributors are requested to check for the latest instructions available. Instructions are also available from the website of the journal (http://www.thehealerjournal.org) The Healer journal accepts manuscripts written in British English.

Copies of any permission(s):

It is the responsibility of authors/ contributors to obtain permissions for reproducing any copyrighted material. A copy of the permission obtained must accompany the manuscript. Copies of any and all published articles or other manuscripts in preparation or submitted elsewhere that are related to the manuscript must also accompany the manuscript. 

Types of Manuscripts:

Original Articles : These include randomized controlled clinical and drug trials,  diagnostic, survey studies, cross sectional studies, experimental studies, observational and intervention studies, studies of screening, outcome studies, case studies. These should be divided into sections with the headings Abstract, Key words, Introduction, Material and Methods, Observations and Results, Discussion, References, Tables and Figure legends. The general content of these sections should be as follows:

Abstract: Well-structured abstract, not more than 250 words, should clearly cover the background, aims and objectives of the study; material and methods, indicating the study protocol and statistical tests used; results, the important observations; discussion, describing the reasoning and probabilities for the results obtained. It should also conclude main concrete implications of the study. The full form of the abbreviations used in the abstract is to be given. No reference should be cited in the abstract.  
Key words: A list of up to six relevant keywords should be given.

Language and Grammar: The language of the article must be clear and direct free from grammatical mistakes. All the Ayurvedic and Sanskrit terms are to be made italics and at first appearance the approximate English meaning of the Ayurvedic terms should be given in the bracket.

Introduction: A concise account is required about the background to the subject, its significance and its relationships to earlier works with references and aims and objectives of the study.

Materials and Methods: These should be presented with sufficient clarity and details about  the design of the study, the samples, type of participants or materials involved, a clear description of all interventions and comparisons, and the type of analysis used, including a power calculation if appropriate. 

Ethics: A statement on ethics committee permission and ethical practices must be included in all research articles. When reporting studies on human beings, indicates whether the procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional or regional) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000 (available at http://www.wma.net/e/policy/17-c_e.html). For prospective studies involving human participants, authors are expected to mention about approval of (regional/ national/ institutional or independent Ethics Committee or Review Board, obtaining informed consent from adult research participants and obtaining assent for children aged over 7 years participating in the trial. The age beyond which assent would be required could vary as per regional and/ or national guidelines. Ensure confidentiality of subjects by desisting from mentioning participants’ names, initials or hospital numbers, especially in illustrative material. When reporting experiments on animals, indicates whether the institutions or a national research council’s guide for, or any national law on the care and use of laboratory animals was followed.
Evidence for approval by a local Ethics Committee (for both human as well as animal studies) must be supplied by the authors on demand. Animal experimental procedures should be as humane as possible and the details of anaesthetics and analgesics used should be clearly stated. The ethical standards of experiments must be in accordance with the guidelines provided by the CPCSEA and World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki on Ethical Principles for Medical Research Involving Humans for studies involving experimental animals and human beings, respectively). The journal will not consider any paper which is ethically unacceptable. A statement on ethics committee permission and ethical practices must be included in all research articles under the ‘Materials and Methods’ section.

Study Designs: Selection and Description of Participants: Description on selection of the observational or experimental participants (patients or laboratory animals, including controls) clearly, including eligibility and exclusion criteria and a description of the source population. Technical information: Identify the methods, apparatus (give the manufacturer's name and address in parentheses), and procedures in sufficient detail to allow other workers to reproduce the results. Give references to established methods, including statistical methods (see below); provide references and brief descriptions for 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), botanical sources, dose(s), and route(s) of administration.

Reports of randomized clinical trials should present information on all major study elements, including the protocol, assignment of interventions (methods of randomization, concealment of allocation to treatment groups), and the method of masking (blinding), based on the CONSORT Statement (http://www.consort-statement.org/).

Reporting Guidelines for Specific Study Designs

There have been taken some initiative for the type of study such as CONSORT for Randomized controlled trials (http://www.consort-statement.org/), STARD for Studies of diagnostic accuracy ( http://www.consort-statement.org/stardstatement.htm), QUOROM for Systematic reviews and meta analyses and  MOOSE for Meta analyses of observational studies in epidemiology(http://www.consort statement.org/Initiatives/MOOSE/moose.pdf), and STROBE for Observational studies in epidemiology (http://www.strobe-statement.org/)

Statistics: Whenever possible quantify findings and present them with appropriate indicators of measurement error or uncertainty (such as confidence intervals, standard deviation). Authors should report losses to observation (such as, dropouts from a clinical trial). When data are summarized in the Results section, specify the statistical methods used to analyze them. Avoid non-technical uses of technical terms in statistics, such as 'random' (which implies a randomizing device), 'normal', 'significant', 'correlations', and 'sample'. Define statistical terms, abbreviations, and most symbols. Specify the computer software used. Use upper italics (P 0.048). For all P values include the exact value and not less than 0.05 or 0.001. Mean differences in continuous variables, proportions in categorical variables and relative risks including odds ratios and hazard ratios should be accompanied by their confidence intervals.

Observations and Results: The original and important findings should be stated. Illustrate results with figures or tables wherever necessary but these should be kept to the minimum.

Discussion: The principal conclusions drawn from the results and their important implications should be discussed. The interventions, possible adversities and observed drug reactions may also be discussed.

Conclusion: This should state clearly the main conclusions of the research and give a clear explanation of their importance and relevance. Summary of important illustrations may be included.

Review Article:

Standard reviews on concepts/ fundamental principles/diseases/drug(s) with updated scientific facts in contemporary era are published. These are supposed to be written by individuals who have done substantial work on the subject or are considered as experts in the field. The general format of the review article is same as mentioned above. The section titles would depend upon the topic reviewed. Authors submitting review article should include a section describing the methods used for locating, selecting, extracting, and synthesizing data. These methods should also be summarized in the abstract. The journal expects the contributors to give post-publication updates on the subject of review. The update should be brief, covering the advances in the field after the publication of the article and should be sent as a letter to editor, as and when major development occurs in the field.

Case reports/Brief communication

New, interesting and rare cases can be reported. They should be unique, describing a great diagnostic or therapeutic challenge and providing a learning point for the readers. Cases with clinical significance or implications will be given priority. These communications should have the following headings: Abstract (unstructured), Key-words, Introduction, Case report, Discussion, Reference, Tables and Legends in that order.

Letter to the Editor

The letters regarding the content of the published matter in the journal, suggestions and updates can be communicated to Executive Editor. These should be short and decisive observations. They should not be preliminary observations that need a later paper for validation.

Book reviews

Books for review should be sent to the Reviews Editor.

Commentaries

Invited, peer-reviewed, critical discussion about crucial aspects of the field but most importantly methodological and conceptual-theoretical developments in the field and should also provide a standard, for example, for Ayurveda and Integrative medicines to be used in papers in The Healer Journal. The scientific dialogue differs greatly in the social / cultural and natural sciences, the discussions about the common foundations of the field are ongoing and the papers published should contribute to a transdisciplinary and multidisciplinary discussion. The length should be a maximum of 2-3 printed pages or 2500 words. Please contact the Reviews Editor manuscript@thehealerjournal.org an outline.

Conference announcements and news

Short communication or summary can be published on seminar and conference related to Ayurveda and Integrative medicines.

Conflicts of Interest

At the end of the text, under a subheading 'Conflict of interest statement' all authors must disclose any financial and personal relationships with other people or organisations that could inappropriately influence (bias) their work. Examples of potential conflicts of interest include employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications/registrations, and grants or other funding.

Acknowledgements
The role of a medical writer must be included in the acknowledgements section, including their source(s) of funding. Authors should obtain permission to acknowledge from all those mentioned in the Acknowledgements. Please list the source(s) of funding for the study, for each author, and for the manuscript preparation in the acknowledgements section.

Plagiarism
Plagiarism is the appropriation of another person's thoughts, ideas, data, figures, research methods, or words without giving appropriate credit, or the over-citation of another person's published work. Manuscripts that are found to have been plagiarized from a manuscript by other authors, whether published or unpublished, will be rejected at point of publication process and the authors may incur sanctions. Any published articles may need to be corrected or retracted.

Fabrication
Fabrication is the practice of making up data or results without having performed the relevant research. The authors of submitted manuscripts or published articles that are found to have fabricated or falsified the results, including the manipulation of images, may incur sanctions, and published articles may be retracted.

Citation manipulation

In order to prevent citation manipulation, our science editor and editorial director check whether the manuscript’s citations meet the rules and norms; Upon discovery of citation manipulation, the manuscript will be withdrawn.

References: These should be numbered consecutively in order in which they are first mentioned in the text (not in alphabetic order) and placed as endnote. In the text they should be indicated above the line (superscripted). It should be in without end note format. Use the style of the examples mentioned below, which are based on the formats used by the National Library of Medicines (NLM) in Index Medicus. The titles of journals should be abbreviated according to the style used in Index Medicus. Use complete name of the journal for non-indexed journals. Avoid using abstracts as references. Information from manuscripts submitted but not accepted should be cited in the text as "unpublished observations" with written permission from the source. Avoid citing a "personal communication" unless it provides essential information not available from a public source, in which case the name of the person and date of communication should be cited in parentheses in the text.

The commonly cited types of references are shown here, for other types of references such as newspaper items please refer to ICMJE Guidelines (http://www.icmje.org or http://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_requirements.html ).

Articles in Journals

1. Standard journal article (for up to six authors): Deole YS, Ashok BK, Shukla VJ, Ravishankar B, Chandola HM.  Psychopharmacological Study on Antidepressant effect of Brahmi Ghrita. AYU Int Res J Ayurveda 2008; 29(2):77-83.
2. Standard journal article (for more than six authors): List the first six contributors followed by et al. Nozari Y, Hashemlu A, Hatmi ZN, Sheikhvatan M, Iravani A, Bazdar A, et al. Outcome of coronary artery bypass grafting in patients without major risk factors and patients with at least one major risk factor for coronary artery disease. Indian J Med Sci 2007; 61:547-54.
3. Volume with supplement: Shen HM, Zhang QF. Risk assessment of nickel carcinogenicity and occupational lung cancer. Environ Health Perspect 1994;102 Suppl 1:275-82.
4. Issue with supplement: Payne DK, Sullivan MD, Massie MJ. Women's psychological reactions to breast cancer. Semin Oncol 1996; 23(1, Suppl 2):89-97.

Books and Other Monographs

1. Personal author(s): Ringsven MK, Bond D. Gerontology and leadership skills for nurses. 2nd ed. Albany (NY): Delmar Publishers; 1996. p. 465-78.
2. Editor(s), compiler(s) as author: Norman IJ, Redfern SJ, editors. Mental health care for elderly people. New York: Churchill Livingstone; 1996. p. 465-78.
3. Chapter in a book: Phillips SJ, Whisnant JP. Hypertension and stroke. In: Laragh JH, Brenner BM, editors. Hypertension: pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management. 2nd ed. New York: Raven Press; 1995. p. 465-78.

Electronic Sources as reference

Journal article on the Internet

Abood S. Quality improvement initiative in nursing homes: the ANA acts in an advisory role. Am J Nurs [serial on the Internet]. 2002 Jun [cited 2002 Aug 12]; 102(6): [about 3 p.]. Available from: http://www.nursingworld.org/AJN/2002/june/Wawatch.htm

Monograph on the Internet

Foley KM, Gelband H, editors. Improving palliative care for cancer [monograph on the Internet]. Washington: National Academy Press; 2001 [cited 2002 Jul 9]. Available from: http://www.nap.edu/books/0309074029/html/.

Homepage/Web site

Cancer-Pain.org [homepage on the Internet]. New York: Association of Cancer Online Resources, Inc.; c2000-01 [updated 2002 May 16; cited 2002 Jul 9]. Available from: http://www.cancer-pain.org/.

Part of a homepage/Web site

American Medical Association [homepage on the Internet]. Chicago: The Association; c1995-2002 [updated 2001 Aug 23; cited 2002 Aug 12]. AMA Office of Group Practice Liaison; [about 2 screens]. Available from: http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/1736.html

References frm Ayurvedic Classical Texts and Samhitas:

The references from Ayurvedic Samhitas should be given in the following order:

Name of the original writer(s) of Samhita, Name of the Samhita, then editor,  name of the Sthana(part or section), serial number of chapter/Shloka(verse)number, edition number, name of the publisher, then year of publication; Page number (if specified only).

E.g. Agnivesha. Charaka samhita of Acharya Charaka, Dridhabala krit,  edited by Vaidya Jadavaji Trikamji Aacharya. Chikitsa Sthana. Ch.16, Ver. 10. 2^nd edition,  Varanasi: Chaukhamba Sanskrit Sansthan; 1990. p. 222.

If the same Samhita or book is refereed two or more times then after quoting the full reference first time, on the second time write the word “Ibidem” followed by reference number (1) followed by name of the Samhita ‘Charaka Samhita’ and name of the Sthana, name of Adhyaya Number/ shloka number and at last page number if specific.

E.g. Ibidem Charaka Samhita(1), Grahani Chikitsa Adhyaya, 15/25;226.

If the reference is taken from the edited version or view of the editor on the original text, then the reference can include: Name of the editor, followed by designation like ‘editor’, and the reference from the Samhita as described above,

E.g. Jadavji T., editor. Charaka Samhita of Agnivesha, Chikitsa Sthana.  Ch.15, Ver. 20. 2^nd edition,  Varanasi: Chaukhamba Sanskrit Sansthan; 1990. p. 225.

If the reference is quoted from a commentary of original text, then the reference can include: Name of the commentator, followed by designation ‘commentator’, and the reference from the Samhita as described above.

E.g. Chakrapanidutta, Commnetator. Charaka Samhita of Agnivesha,  Chikitsa Sthana. Ch.15, Ver. 20. 2^nd edition,  Varanasi: Chaukhamba Sanskrit Sansthan; 1990. p. 225.

Tables

1. Tables should be self-explanatory and should not duplicate textual material.
2. Tables with more than 10 columns and 25 rows are not acceptable.
3. Number tables, in Arabic numerals, consecutively in the order of their first citation in the text and supply a brief title for each.
4. Place explanatory matter in footnotes, not in the heading.
5. Explain in footnotes all non-standard abbreviations that are used in each table.
6. Obtain permission for all fully borrowed, adapted, and modified tables and provide a credit line in the footnote.
7. For footnotes use the following symbols, in this sequence: *, †, ‡, §, ||,.¶ , **, ††, ‡‡
8. Tables with their legends should be provided at the end of the text after the references. The tables along with their number should be cited at the relevant place in the text

Illustrations (Figures)

1. Upload the images in JPEG format. The file size should be within 4 MB in size while uploading.
2. Figures should be numbered consecutively according to the order in which they have been first cited in the text.
3. Labels, numbers, and symbols should be clear and of uniform size. The lettering for figures should be large enough to be legible after reduction to fit the width of a printed column.
4. Symbols, arrows, or letters used in photomicrographs should contrast with the background and should be marked neatly with transfer type or by tissue overlay and not by pen.
5. Titles and detailed explanations belong in the legends for illustrations not on the illustrations themselves.
6. When graphs, scatter-grams or histograms are submitted the numerical data on which they are based should also be supplied.
7. The photographs and figures should be trimmed to remove all the unwanted areas.
8. If photographs of individuals are used, their pictures must be accompanied by written permission to use the photograph.
9. If a figure has been published elsewhere, acknowledge the original source and submit written permission from the copyright holder to reproduce the material. A credit line should appear in the legend for such figures.
10. Legends for illustrations: Type or print out legends (maximum 40 words, excluding the credit line) for illustrations using double spacing, with Arabic numerals corresponding to the illustrations.  When symbols, arrows, numbers, or letters are used to identify parts of the illustrations, identify and explain each one in the legend. Explain the internal scale (magnification) and identify the method of staining in photomicrographs.
11. Final figures for print production: If uploaded images are not printable quality, publisher office may request for higher resolution images which can be sent at the time of acceptance of the manuscript. Send sharp, glossy, un-mounted, colour photographic prints, with height of 4 inches and width of 6 inches at the time of submitting the revised manuscript. Print outs of digital photographs are not acceptable. If digital images are the only source of images, ensure that the image has minimum resolution of 300 dpi or 1800 x 1600 pixels in JPEG format. Send the images on a CD or email. Each figure should have a label pasted (avoid use of liquid gum for pasting) on its back indicating the number of the figure, the running title, top of the figure and the legends of the figure. Do not write the contributor/s' name/s. Do not write on the back of figures, scratch, or mark them by using paper clips.
12. The Journal reserves the right to crop, rotate, reduce, or enlarge the photographs to an acceptable size. 

Protection of Patients' Rights to Privacy:

Identifying information should not be published in written descriptions, photographs, sonograms, CT scans, etc., and pedigrees unless the information is essential for scientific purposes and the patient (or parent or guardian, wherever applicable) gives informed consent for publication. Authors should remove patients' names from figures unless they have obtained informed consent from the patients. The journal abides by ICMJE guidelines:

• Authors, neither the journals nor the publisher, need to obtain the patient consent form before the publication and have the form properly archived. The consent forms are not to be uploaded with the cover letter or sent through email to editorial or publisher offices.
• If the manuscript contains patient images that preclude anonymity, or a description that has obvious indication to the identity of the patient, a statement about obtaining informed patient consent should be indicated in the manuscript.

Sending a revised manuscript:

The revised version of the manuscript should be submitted online in a manner similar to that used for submission of the manuscript for the first time. However, there is no need to submit the “First Page” or “Covering Letter” file while submitting a revised version. When submitting a revised manuscript, contributors are requested to include, the ‘referees’ remarks along with point to point clarification at the beginning in the revised file itself. In addition, they are expected to mark the changes as underlined or colour text in the article.

Reprints and proofs:

Journal provides no free printed reprints. Authors can purchase reprints, payment for which should be done at the time of submitting the proofs.

Proofs will be sent to the corresponding authors by email approximately 2 weeks before the publication date.

Manuscript submission, processing and publication charges:

In 2020 due to COVID-19, articles processing charges and submission charges are free. All accepted papers will be published free-of-charge. 

Copyrights:

The entire contents of “The Healer Journal” are protected under Nepali and international copyrights. The Journal, however grants to all users a free, irrevocable, worldwide, perpetual right of access to, and a license to copy, use, distribute, perform and display the work publicly and to make and distribute derivative works in any digital media for any reasonable non-commercial purpose, subject to proper attribution of authorship and ownership of the rights. The journal also grants the right to make small numbers of printed copies for their personal non-commercial use.

Checklist:

Covering letter

• Signed by all contributors
• Previous publication / presentations mentioned
• Source of funding mentioned
• Conflicts of interest disclosed

Authors

• Last name and given name provided along with Middle name initials (where applicable)
• Author for correspondence, with e-mail address provided
• Number of contributors restricted as per the instructions
• Identity not revealed in paper except title page (e.g. name of the institute in Methods, citing previous study as 'our study', names on figure labels, name of institute in photographs, etc.)

Presentation and format

• Double spacing
• Margins 2.5 cm (1 Inch) from all four sides
• Page numbers included at bottom
• Title page contains all the desired information
• Running title provided (not more than 50 characters)
• Abstract page contains the full title of the manuscript
• Abstract provided (structured abstract of 200 words for original articles, unstructured abstracts for all other manuscripts excluding letters to the Editor)
• Key words provided (three or more up to six)
• Introduction as concise background of the topic
• Headings in title case (not ALL CAPITALS)
• The references cited in the text should be after punctuation marks, in superscript with square bracket.
• References according to the journal's instructions, punctuation marks checked
• Send the article file without ‘Track Changes’

Language and grammar

• Uniformly American English
• Write the full term for each abbreviation at its first use in the title, abstract, keywords and text separately unless it is a standard unit of measure. Numerals from 1 to 10 spelt out
• Numerals at the beginning of the sentence spelt out
• Check the manuscript for spelling, grammar and punctuation errors
• If a brand name is cited, supply the manufacturer's name and address (city and state/country).
• Species names should be in italics

Tables and figures

• No repetition of data in tables and graphs and in text
• Actual numbers from which graphs drawn, provided
• Figures necessary and of good quality (colour)
• Table and figure numbers in Arabic letters (not Roman)
• Labels pasted on back of the photographs (no names written)
• Figure legends provided (not more than 40 words)
• Patients' privacy maintained (if not permission taken)
• Credit note for borrowed figures/tables provided
• Write the full term for each abbreviation used in the table as a footnote

for any query related to Manuscripts, illustrations and all communications relating to them should be submitted to

www.thehealerjournal.org  Email:editor@thehealerjournal.org, info@thehealerjournal.org

UNDERTAKING BY AUTHOR(S):

I/ We undersigned, give an undertaking to the following effect with regard to our article entitled ____________________________________________________________________

Submitted for publication in the The Healer journal:

1. The article mentioned above has not been published or submitted to or accepted for publication in any form, in any other journal.
2. We also grant that the authorship of this article will not be contested by anyone whose name(s) is/are not listed by us here.
3. I/We declare that I/We contributed significantly towards the research study i.e., (a) conception, design and /or analysis and interpretation of data and to (b) drafting of the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content and on (c) final approval of the version to be published.
4. I/We hereby acknowledge The Healer’s conflict of interest policy requirement to scrupulously avoid direct and indirect conflicts of interest and, accordingly hereby agree to promptly inform the editor or editor’s designee of any business, commercial, or other proprietary support, relationships, or interests that I/ We may have which relate directly or indirectly to the subject of the work.
5. I/We also agree to the authorship of the article in the following sequence:

Author’s Names (in sequence)                    Signature of Authors

1. _______________________                  __________________
2. _______________________                  __________________
3. _______________________                  __________________
4. _______________________                 __________________
5. _______________________                  __________________
6. _______________________                  __________________
7. _______________________                  __________________
8. _______________________                  __________________

Important Note:

1. All the authors are required to sign independently in this form in the sequence given above. In case an author has left the institution/country and whose whereabouts are not known, the senior author may sign on his/her behalf taking the responsibility.
2. No addition/deletion/or any change in the sequence of the authorship will be permissible at a later stage, without valid reasons and permission of the Executive Editor.
3. If the authorship is contested at any stage, the article will not be processed for publication till the issue is solved.

COPYRIGHT TRANSFER AGREEMENT FORM:

This document must be signed by all authors and submitted with the manuscript.

“The Healer journal” is a publication of Ayurveda Medical Development and Research Foundation (AMDRF) Kathmandu, Nepal.

The Healer and authors hereby agree as follows: In consideration of The Healer reviewing and editing the following described work for first publication on an exclusive basis:

Title of the manuscript: _______

The undersigned author(s) hereby assigns, conveys, and otherwise transfers all rights, title, interest, and copyright ownership of said work for publication. Work includes the material submitted for publication and any other related material submitted to The Healer. In the event that The Healer does not publish said work, the author(s) will be so notified and all rights assigned hereunder will revert to the author(s).

The assignments of rights to The Healer includes but is not expressly limited to rights to edit, publish, reproduce, distribute copies, include in indexes or search databases in print, electronic, or other media, whether or not in use at the time of execution of this agreement, and claim copyright in said work throughout the world for the full duration of the copyright and any renewal or extension thereof.

All accepted works become the property of The Healer and may not be published elsewhere without prior written permission from The Healer. The author(s) hereby represents and warrants that they are sole author(s) of the work, that all authors have participated in and agree with the content and conclusions of the work, that the work is original, and does not infringe upon any copyright, propriety, or personal right of any third party, and that no part of it nor any work based on substantially similar data has been submitted to another publication.

Author’s Names (in sequence)                              Signature of Authors

1. _______________________                             __________________
2. _______________________                             __________________
3. _______________________                             __________________
4. _______________________                             __________________
5. _______________________                             __________________
6. _______________________                             __________________
7. _______________________                             __________________
8. _______________________                             __________________

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