ZJMS, the scientific journal of Hawler Medical University, aims to publish high-quality, original research across a wide range of disciplines. To ensure consistency, clarity, and fairness in the publication process, please adhere to the following guidelines. ZJMS is dedicated to publishing peer-reviewed manuscripts of Iraqi, regional, and international significance.
The journal encompasses clinical, basic, and laboratory investigations that are highly relevant to the fields of medicine, pharmacy, and related health sciences. It serves as a comprehensive platform for the dissemination of original research that advances scientific knowledge and improves patient care. By integrating findings from clinical practice with discoveries made in laboratory settings, the journal promotes a deeper understanding of disease mechanisms, therapeutic strategies, and healthcare innovations. The scope includes studies that explore diagnostic techniques, treatment outcomes, pharmacological developments, and emerging biomedical technologies. In addition, it encourages interdisciplinary collaboration among researchers, clinicians, pharmacists, and other healthcare professionals. Through this broad and inclusive approach, the journal aims to contribute meaningfully to the advancement of medical science and the improvement of global health outcomes.
ZJMS accepts original research articles, reviews, case reports, brief communications, insights, and letters to the editor.
Papers submitted for publication to ZJMS must be original, have not been published or currently under consideration for publication in other journals. Submission should be made online through the online submission system (https://zjms.hmu.edu.krd/index.php/zjms/about/submissions).
For prospective studies involving human investigations or animal experiments, authors are expected to have obtained the approval of regional, national, institutional or independent Ethics Committee, in addition to obtaining the subjects' consent to participate in the study. All studies involving human experiments should be performed only in accordance with the ethical standards provided by the responsible committee of the institution and in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki for Ethical Principles for Medical Research Involving Human Subject. Studies related to animal experiments should follow the institutional and national guidelines for the care and use of laboratory animals. A relevant statement on ethics committee permission and ethical practices must be included in all research articles under Subjects and Methods section. The journal will not consider any paper which is ethically unacceptable. The journal asks for a copy of ethics approval and/or a copy of the consent form, if relevant. Clinical trials should be registered in a public trials registry in order to be considered for publication. Authors are recommended to register in one of the clinical trials registries certified by ICMJE.
All conflicts of interest must be outlined in the manuscript. If authors have no conflicts of interest to report, this must be explicitly stated. The suggested wording in such an instance is: The author(s) report no conflicts of interest.
Authors are required to state all sources of funding for the study.
Authorship must be based on having substantial contributions to conception and design, acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data, drafting the article or revising it critically, and final approval of the version to be published. All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in an acknowledgments section at the end of the article. All authors must give their signed consent for publication after reading and agreeing to the contents of the paper. The authors will be accountable for the accuracy and integrity of the paper according to the ICMJE guidelines. Please see the ICMJE Recommendations for authorship and contributor-ship.
The copyright on any article published in ZJMS is retained by the author(s) in agreement with the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike License (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). Author(s) needs to grant ZJMS a license to publish the article and identify the journal as the original publisher. Author(s) can grant any third party the right to use the article freely subjected to the maintenance of its integrity and the identification of its original authors, citation details and the journal.
ZJMS provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.
ZJMS is an Open Access Journal. This means that all content is freely available without charge to the user or his/her institution following the Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI) definition of open access. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author(s).
Submissions must be original and unpublished. Simultaneous submissions to other journals are not permitted. Plagiarism and AI-generated content similarity must be less than 20% (checked via Turnitin or iThenticate). Authors must confirm that the work is their own and that all sources are properly cited.
The editorial office of ZJMS and the subject editors check each submitted manuscript for general quality, suitability and whether it conforms to the journal guidelines. Submissions that do not comply with the journal guidelines will be returned to the author for correction before being considered for publication. If the manuscript is found suitable and acceptable in principle, it will be sent out for double-blind review by at least two referees. Authors will be asked to recommend three expert reviewers, but the Editor will have the right to select the reviewers. Authors also have the right to name particular reviewers that they do not wish them to review their manuscript due to potential conflicts of interest. Invited reviewers will be asked to declare any conflicts of interest with the authors. All efforts are made to avoid reviewers from the same institution or the governorate of the authors. All reviewers treat the manuscript with the strictest confidentiality and must declare any conflicts of interest. Comments and suggestions from the reviewers are conveyed to the authors. Revised manuscripts are subject to further review by the original reviewers and the responsible subject editors. The final decision as to acceptance or rejection lies with the Editor, with advice from the journal editorial board and recommendations of peer reviewers. The corresponding author will be advised of the final decision, acceptance or rejection of the manuscript, in a formal letter. No manuscript is rejected without having negative comments from at least two reviewers and without providing detailed comments to the authors explaining the decision.
The editorial office edits the papers selected for publication for brevity, clarity, grammar, spelling, and style. When the editing is extensive, with the possibility of altered meaning, queries are sent to the corresponding author by email. A galley proof will be forwarded to the corresponding author before publication of accepted papers which must be returned to the journal office with specific comments if any. Corrections in the galley proof, in case any, must be limited to typographical errors, or missing contents only.
The manuscript of ZJMS should be typed as ‘normal text' on one side of A4 size (29.7 x 21cm) paper in a single column format, (1.5) spaced line. No artwork and/or special effects are acceptable for the text and/or table(s). Italics should not be used other than for foreign/Latin expressions and/or special terminologies such as names of microorganisms. Maintain a minimum of 2 cm margin on both sides of the text and a 3 cm margin at the top and bottom of each page. No part of the text other than abbreviations and/or subtitles shall be written in upper case (ALL capital). Header/footnotes, endnotes, lines drawn to separate the paragraphs or pages are not acceptable. Typing is with the normal, Calibri font size (12) throughout the manuscript including all the headings, subheadings, text, tables and legends (figures). The maximum number of Tables and Figures is (6-8).
The manuscript should be paginated consecutively, commencing with the title page and should not exceed 16 pages. However, longer manuscripts for review articles and qualitative studies can be considered. Main headings, introduction, subjects, and methods, etc., should be placed on separate lines. Keywords should be preferably MeSH (Medical Subject Headings) terms, and must not duplicate words already in the manuscript title; MeSH terms can be checked at: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/MBrowse.html.
Original Articles: Title page, Abstract (in structured format for original articles) of no more than 250 words, Keywords (up to five), followed by Introduction, Subjects (or Materials) and methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion, Acknowledgement/s (if any), References, Legends to figures, Tables, and Figures.
Review Articles: Title Page, abstract of no more than 250 words, Keywords (up to five), followed by Introduction, Methods/History (if applicable), Literature Review, Conclusion, Acknowledgement/s (if any), References, Legends to figures, Tables, and Figures. Each section should begin on a new page.
Case Studies: Title page followed by Abstract (a summary of not more than 250 words), Keywords, Introduction, Case history/report, Discussion, Conclusion, Acknowledgement/s (if any), References, Legends to figures, Tables, and Figures.
The title page of the submitted manuscript should provide a clear title of the article followed by full names of all authors, the highest academic degree, the official academic and/or clinical title and affiliation, the name and address of the institution/s where the work was done including the department, the name and complete address of the corresponding author to whom proofs and correspondences shall be sent, duly supported with contacts such as telephone, mobile/cell, fax and e-mail address (if available) if it differs from the first author, and any disclaimers. the 16-digit ORCID of the author(s) to be added
1st Author’s organizational email:
1st Author’s ORCID link: https://
1st Author’s Google Scholar Citation link: https://
A structured abstract (no more than 250 words) is required for studies under the section "Original Articles." It must provide an overview of the entire paper, and should contain succinct statements and should be divided where appropriate into the following: Background and Objective(s), Methods, Results, and Conclusion(s). Abstract for all other categories of submissions shall be a short summary followed by Keywords and the report or review.
The body of the manuscript should be divided into sections preceded by appropriate heads (introduction, subjects/patients/materials (as appropriate) and methods, results, discussion, conclusion (when appropriate), acknowledgment (when appropriate), conflicts of interest and references). Major headings should be typed bold in capital letters at the left-hand margin; subheading should appear typed bold at the left-hand margin with only the first letter of each word capitalized; additional subdivisions should be underlined only.
State the study's objective (the question the paper intends to answer) and omit an extensive review of the literature, which is normally found in a thesis.
Describe the study design procedures and subjects used, methods, definitions such as for diagnostic criteria, the population or patient samples, and laboratory and statistical methods. Provide the details only if the methods are original or essential for understanding, otherwise, provide references.
The pertinent findings in a logical sequence with tables, chart, figures, and photographs as necessary to clarify the findings.
Point out the significance of the data and the limitations, conclusions based on the findings, evidence from the literature that supports the conclusions and opposing views, conflicting evidence, the applicability of conclusions, and implications for future research or clinical application.
The objective of this section is to disclose affiliations with or association with any organization with a direct financial interest in the study. Otherwise, it will be considered as having no such interests. Contributions of others who have involved in the study, such as statisticians, radiologists etc. and/or those who have assisted in the preparation of manuscript being submitted could also be included in this section.
Use the Vancover referencing style. Ensure all references are complete and accurate and are listed in numerical order, not alphabetically. the number corresponds to first appearance in text. Use Index Medicus journal abbreviations. Double-check punctuation and spacing carefully.
Citation in the Text
Use Arabic numerals assigned sequentially. The same number is used each time you cite the same source. Use the Parentheses Format as follow:
Recent studies show a significant improvement in patient outcomes (1).
Reference List
References should list in numerical order, based on when they first appear in the text.They are not arranged alphabetically. Each number matches the number used in parentheses in the text.
Example (as it would appear at the end of the paper):
Author AA, Author BB. Title of the study. J Med Res. 2023;15(2):120–8.
Author CC, Author DD, Author EE. Title of clinical trial. Int Health Sci. 2022;10(1):45–52.
Author FF. Title of public health review. Global Med J. 2021;8(3):200–7.
Journal Article Format
Structure: Number. Author(s). Title of article. Abbreviated Journal Title. Year; Volume (Issue): Page numbers.
Example: 1. Author AA, Author BB. Effects of treatment X on recovery rates. J Clin Stud. 2024;18(4):250–6.
Book Format
Structure: Number. Author(s). Title of book. Edition. Place of publication: Publisher; Year.
Example: 1. Author CC. Principles of clinical research. 2nd ed. City: Publisher; 2020.
Chapter in an Edited Book
Structure: Number. Author(s) of chapter. Title of chapter. In: Editor(s), editors. Title of book. Edition. Place: Publisher; Year. p. Page numbers.
Example: 1. Author DD, Author EE. Pharmacological mechanisms. In: Editor FF, Editor GG, editors. Advances in medical science. 3rd ed. City: Publisher; 2022. p. 75–90.
Website Format
Structure: Number. Author/Organization. Title of webpage [Internet]. Place: Publisher; Year [cited Year Month Day]. Available from: URL
Example: 1. Organization Name. Guidelines for clinical practice [Internet]. City: Publisher; 2024 [cited 2026 Feb 21]. Available from: https://www.example.org
Tables must be clear and understandable on their own without requiring reference to the main text. Each table should include a descriptive title positioned above it. Tables should be numbered consecutively using Arabic numerals, and the word Table must be bold with only the first letter capitalized. Every table must be cited in the text according to the order in which it appears. Do not use vertical or internal gridlines within the table; only the top and bottom lines of the table heading and the final bottom line of the table should be displayed.
Each figure must include a descriptive title placed below the image. Figures should be numbered consecutively using Arabic numerals (e.g., Figure 1: Gender Variations). Every figure must be cited in the text in the sequence in which it appears. Charts and illustrations should be professionally prepared, properly labeled, and submitted as separate files in Excel format. When submitting charts, authors must also provide the numerical data used to generate them.
Except for units of measurement, abbreviations should be defined on first use and then applied consistently throughout the article. Non-standard abbreviations or those appearing fewer than three times are not accepted. Use abbreviated units of measure, only when used with numbers.
Measurements of length, height, weight and volume must be reported in metric units (meter, kilogram, liter, etc.) or their decimal multiples. The temperature should be given in degrees Celsius. Blood pressure in mm Hg, and hematological and biochemical measurements in International (SI) units. Use a comma for numbers >10,000 and do not use a comma for numbers <9999, (e.g., 6542).
ZJMS is committed to correcting errors in published articles. Corrections to minor errors that do not affect the conclusion will be posted online and linked to the published article. In case of research misconduct, articles will be retracted in accordance with COPE guidelines (https://publicationethics.org/retraction-guidelines).
ZJMS imposes a non-refundable article processing charge of 150,000 Iraqi Dinars for each manuscript after been accepted for publication.
Zanco Journal of Medical Science
Hawler Medical University
Peshawa Qazi Street, 44001, Erbil, Iraq.
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://zjms.hmu.edu.krd