Manuscript Structure

For original research articles, a typical structure includes a title page, abstract and keywords, main text, references, tables and figures, followed by any supplementary material. The title page, submitted as a separate file, should include the full title; a short running title; full names of all authors; their institutional affiliations; clear details for the corresponding author (name, postal address, email and telephone); a word count for the main text; and brief statements on funding, conflicts of interest and acknowledgments.

The abstract for full-length research and review articles is usually structured with headings such as Background, Methods, Results and Conclusion and should not exceed a defined number of words (up to 250 words). It should briefly and accurately reflect the content of the paper and should not contain references or unexplained abbreviations. Below the abstract, authors should provide three to six keywords using terms from recognised vocabularies such as MeSH where possible.

The main text of an original research article normally begins with an Introduction that outlines the background, rationale and objectives of the study, including the knowledge gap being addressed. The Methods section should provide sufficient detail for another researcher to understand and, where feasible, reproduce the study. This includes study design and setting, target population and sampling procedures, inclusion and exclusion criteria, data collection tools and procedures, variable definitions, outcome measures and statistical analyses, including software and thresholds for statistical significance. Information on ethics approval and informed consent should be clearly stated here.

The Results section should present the findings in a logical sequence without repeating all data from tables and figures in the text. Important summary statistics, effect estimates and confidence intervals should be reported as appropriate. The Discussion should interpret the main findings in relation to the study objectives and to previous literature, discuss the strengths and limitations of the study, consider the implications for practice and policy and suggest directions for future research. The Conclusion should provide a concise statement of the key message and its significance for public health.

At the end of the manuscript, a Declarations section may be used to present information on ethics approval and consent to participate, consent for publication, data availability, conflicts of interest, funding, authors’ contributions and acknowledgments in a standardised format.

Other article types may adopt modified structures. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses should describe the search strategy, databases searched, search dates, inclusion and exclusion criteria, study selection process (with a PRISMA flow diagram), data extraction methods, risk of bias assessment tools and planned statistical synthesis. Narrative reviews should clearly state their objectives and approach to selecting and organising the literature. Case reports typically include an Introduction, a detailed Case Presentation, a Discussion linking the case to the wider literature and a brief Conclusion.