International Journal of Biomedical Laboratory Science
Instructions to Authors
The International Journal of Biomedical Laboratory Science (IJBLS), the official journal of the International Federation of Biomedical Laboratory Science, is a peer-reviewed publication dedicated to the dissemination of information and contributing to the knowledge in laboratory science across the international professional community.
The International Journal of Biomedical Laboratory Science (IJBLS) seeks to publish Original Articles, Mini-Review Articles, Case Studies, Brief Communications and Letters to the Editor describing original investigations in all fields of biomedical laboratory sciences. The journal covers several major disciplines: clinical chemistry, molecular diagnostics, clinical serology and immunology, hematology, transfusion medicine, clinical virology, clinical bacteriology and mycology, clinical microscopy, cytology, quality control, laboratory management, education and ethnics, laboratory safety and any important topics or issue related to the biomedical laboratory science. The IJBLS is issued twice a year. However, special or additional issues may be published on an as needed basis.
Manuscripts submitted to the IJBLS must represent original scholarly work in one of the areas described in the scope of the journal. If the scholarly work is based on the reports of original research, and the original data must be available for review by the editor if necessary. By submission of a manuscript to the journal, the authors guarantee that they have the authority to publish the work and that the manuscript, or one with substantially the same content, was not published previously, is not being considered or published elsewhere. elsewhere.
A scientific paper or its substance published in a serial, periodical, book, conference report, symposium proceeding, or technical bulletin, posted on a non-personal website, or made available through any other retrievable source, including CD-ROM and other electronic forms, is unacceptable for submission to this journal on grounds of prior publication.
Authorship
An author is one who made a substantial contribution to the overall design and execution of the scholarly work experiments; therefore, IJBLS considers all authors responsible for the entire manuscript paper. Individuals who aided, e.g., supplied reagents or strains or critiqued the workpaper, need not be listed as authors but may be recognized in the Acknowledgments section. A study group, surveillance team, working group, consortium may be listed as a coauthor byline for their contribution to the manuscript paper. The names (and institutional affiliations if desired) of the contributing members only may be given in a footnote keyed to the study group name in the byline or as a separate paragraph in the Acknowledgments section.
Conflict of Interest
All authors are expected to disclose, in the manuscript cover letter, any commercial affiliations as well as consultancies, stock or equity interests, and patent-licensing arrangements that could be considered to pose a conflict of interest regarding the submitted manuscript. (Inclusion of a company name in the author address lines of the manuscript does not constitute disclosure.) Details of the disclosure to the editor will remain confidential. However, it is the responsibility of authors to provide, in the Acknowledgments section, a general statement disclosing financial or other relationships that are relevant to the study.
Authors are encouraged to review their manuscript with computer grammar and spelling check software and with a colleague who is expert in English language, grammar and syntax. Check to ensure that all listed references, figures, and tables cited in the text are presented in the appropriate sections. The editor reserves the right to make changes to improve the clarity of the text. All such changes will be subject to author's approval before publication.
Please make sure that the submitted your manuscript format meets the manuscript guidelines. is confirmed to the Author Instructions. The submitted manuscript will be returned to the authors without activating the external review process if the manuscript format does not meet the guidelines of the journal or if all the required documents are not submitted to the editor.
All submissions to IJBLS must be made electronically via email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Types of Manuscripts: Formatting
The text of original research articles should be organized under the following headings: Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, Acknowledgments, References, Figures and Tables all with legends. The text should describe the equipment and methods in sufficient detail to permit other researchers to reconstruct the experimental procedures. Equipment and pharmaceutical trade names as well as company's name, place and country should be listed. Trade names of medicine should be stated with generic names.
A case study is an in-depth study of one individual. All case studies should present with evidence of a detailed literature review and include the relevance of the publication of the manuscript based on the uniqueness, clinical outcome, diagnostics, methods and application to clinical practice. The text should be organized under the following headings: Introduction, Patient Profile (without personal identifiers), Diagnostic Processes including interventions and outcomes, Discussion, Acknowledgements, References, Figures and Tables with all legends.
A review manuscript is a focused discussion on a defined topic relevant to clinical laboratory science. A minireview is not expected to be comprehensive reviews of the literature but rather very directed discussion of a specific issue, with emphasis on the views of the author(s). A minireview may not exceed 12 double-spaced manuscript pages in length, inclusive of illustrations, tables, and references. References should be limited to 20 or fewer. The body of the minireview may have section headings and/or paragraph lead-ins.
A literature review is a comprehensive review of the literature on a defined topic relevant to clinical laboratory science based on the current scientific knowledge. There is no page limit or reference limit on a literature review manuscript. Section headings or paragraph lead-ins will be dependent on the topic or content included in the review manuscript.
Manuscripts are limited to 800 words, one figure, one table, and 10 or fewer references. The format should be the same as that of Letters to the Editor. The brief communication articles should be submitted via electronic transport system. The manuscript will be assigned to an appropriate IJBLS editor and reviewed, according to the same standards applied for traditional manuscripts, within 2 weeks. If accepted, the manuscript will be scheduled for the next available issue and edited. An acceptance letter will be mailed to the corresponding author.
Two types of Letters to the Editor may be submitted. The first type (Comment Letter) is intended for comments on final articles published in the journal and must cite published references to support the writer’s argument. The second type (New-Data Letter) may report new, concise findings that are not appropriate for publication as full-length papers or Notes. Letters may be no more than 500 words long and must be typed double spaced. Note that authors and affiliations are listed at the foot of the Letter. Provide only the primary affiliation for each author. All Letters to the Editor must be submitted electronically, and the type of Letter (New Data or Comment) must be selected from the drop-down list in the submission form. For Letters commenting on published articles, the cover letter should state the volume and issue in which the article was published, the title of the article, and the last name of the first author. Letters to the Editor do not have abstracts. Both types of Letter must have a title, which must appear on the manuscript and on the submission form. Figures and tables should be kept to a minimum. If the Letter is related to a published article, it will be sent to the editor who handled the article in question. If the editor believes that publication is warranted, he/she will solicit a reply from the corresponding author of the article and give approval for publication. New-Data Letters will be assigned to an editor according to subject matter and will be reviewed by that editor and/or a reviewer.
Organization and format
- All manuscripts will be submitted using Times New Roman 12-point font double spaced typed including cover letter, title page, abstract, manuscript, figure legends, table legends, and references.
- All pages, except cover letter and the title page should be numbered in sequence.
- Set the page size to 81⁄2 by 11 inches (ca. 21.6 by 28 cm) with all margins of at least one inch (2.5 cm). The right margin should not be justified.
All papers must include a cover letter, title page, abstract, manuscript, and references.
Cover Letter
The cover letter should include the name, degree, certification, affiliation, address, e-mail address, and telephone numbers of all authors. The contribution to the work and manuscript should be described for each author. The cover letter should include a brief description of the manuscript and relevance to the journal. The cover letter must also indicate that this is an original work, and the authors have the full authority for copy right of the work. If a figure, diagram, image or table is used from another manuscript or publication, written permission must be included with the manuscript submission for reproduction of the document. IF the work was presented at a professional meeting, the information, location and date of the meeting must be included. Finally, authors are required to describe any direct or indirect financial interest related to the subject matter of a submitted manuscript and authorize IJBLS to publish this financial disclosure with the article if deemed appropriate. Authors must disclose all sources of funding, materials, or equipment contributed or loaned.
Title page
The title page should be the first page and include a concise title of the article, full names and affiliations of the authors, an address for correspondence and an e-mail address or fax number of the corresponding author. Place an asterisk after the name of the corresponding author to whom inquiries regarding the paper should be directed. The title page should include a running title of not more than 150 characters.
Abstract
All manuscripts, except for letters to the editor, must include an abstract at the beginning of the paper of no more than 300 words in length (150 words for brief communications). The abstract should include an overall summary of the manuscript. Content will vary based on the type of manuscript submission. The summary should include the overall purpose of the manuscript, and a closing statement or conclusion.
Structured Abstract: This is a very organized abstract that includes sub- headings. Subheadings may include the following:
a. Objective or Purpose
b. Materials and Methods
c. Outcomes or Results
d. Discussion
e. Summary or Conclusion
Unstructured Abstract: This type of abstract may be more appropriate for a clinical case study, a literature review, or a clinical practice manuscript. An unstructured abstract does not include subheadings and is a summary of the manuscript, including an introduction, overview, and conclusion.
Abbreviations/Acronyms: Any abbreviations or acronyms used in the abstract should be defined at the bottom or end of the abstract.
Index Terms or Keywords: All abstracts should provide three to five key words at the end of the abstract to identify the subjects to index the article. Use MeSH headings as a guide in selecting index terms, available from http://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/.
Manuscript
- All manuscripts will be submitted using Times New Roman 12-point font double spaced typed including cover letter, title page, abstract, manuscript, figure legends, table legends, and references.
- Figures, tables or diagrams should be included on individual pages following the references section and not imbedded within the manuscript
- Do not create symbols as graphics or use special fonts that are external to your word processing program; use the “insert symbol” function.
- Acronyms and abbreviations must be written out the first time they appear in the manuscript, followed by the abbreviation in parenthesis.
- Set the page size to 81⁄2 by 11 inches (ca. 21.6 by 28 cm) with all margins of at least one inch (2.5 cm). The right margin should not be justified.
- Italicize or underline any words that should appear in italics and indicate paragraph lead-ins in boldface type.
- Authors who are unsure of proper English usage should have their manuscripts checked by someone proficient in the English language.
Figures and Tables
- Legends for each illustration should be double spaced. Magnification and staining information should be included for all figures.
- Do not duplicate detailed information in figures or tables that is included in the text.
- All illustrations and tables taken from other publications must be accompanied by written consent to reprint from the original publishers.
- Figure legends should be typed double-spaced on a separate sheet of paper and should include figure number, title and description or caption at the bottom.
- Tables should include a table number, title, and caption at top of table.
- Abbreviations or symbols in the figures must be defined in the figure or table legend at the bottom using foot notes.
- Figures and tables may be submitted in color or black and white.
- Figures and tables must fit a standard 8.5 x 11-inch portrait orientation page.
- Cite each figure in numerical order in the text; cite each table in numerical order in the text.
- Images must be saved in high-resolution format (300 dpi) using tag image files (.tif), jpeg files.
- When creating tables, avoid using automated cell functions or calculations that may interfere with reformatting for publication.
- All figures, tables or diagrams should be included on individual pages (one per page) following the references section.
References
- The accuracy of reference data is the responsibility of all author's.
- All references should be cited at the end of the paper and listed consecutively in the order in which they appear in the text.
- References should appear in the text, identified in superscripted Arabic numerals.
- Do not use autoformatting or numbering.
- Formatting for each reference must conform to the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) requirements, located at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_requirements.html
- Abstracts may be cited as a sole source and must be identified in the reference as "Abstract."
- For any "In press" citations, the paper must be accepted for publication and the name of the journal or publisher is required.
Acknowledgements
This section is used to acknowledge assistance from other researchers, students or staff that assisted with the work or manuscript, but do not qualify as authors. In addition, authors must report all sources of funding, materials, or equipment donated or loaned in this section.