Interested in submitting to this journal? We recommend that you review About the Journal page for the journal's section policies and the Author Guidelines, or the page below 

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1. Overview

These Instructions to Authors set out the editorial standards and formatting requirements of the Journal of Health Science Updates (JHSU) for all manuscripts submitted for peer review and publication. Authors are strongly encouraged to follow all guideline points that are explained here and in the relevant manuscript template on the journal website, alongside the Instructions to Authors, before submission.

All manuscripts must be prepared according to the templates provided on the JHSU website. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses should be prepared using the Original Article template rather than the Review Article template.

2. Language, Style, and Ethical Writing Standards

Manuscripts must be submitted in standard American English. Authors who are uncertain of the linguistic quality of their manuscript, or for whom this is recommended by the Editor, are advised to obtain professional English-language editing prior to submission.

Authors must ensure that the manuscript text is free of bias, stereotyping, slang, and unwarranted cultural assumptions. Authors should also favor objective, passive-voice scientific construction over first-person narrative — for example, "a study was conducted" rather than "we conducted a study."

3. General Manuscript Requirements

Irrespective of article type, every manuscript submitted to JHSU must contain the following elements:

1. A Title Page comprising authors' information, a structured or unstructured Abstract as appropriate, and Keywords.
2. A body organized into Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, and Conclusions, prepared in accordance with the relevant template.
3. A Declarations section reporting ethics approval, acknowledgments, competing interests, funding, data availability, and (where applicable) the use of generative artificial intelligence.
4. Tables and Figures embedded directly within the text at the point of first citation, rather than appended at the end of the manuscript.
5. Authorship form. 

Detailed requirements specific to each article type are set out below

4. Manuscript Structure by Article Type

JHSU publishes three principal article types: the Original Article, the Review Article, and the Case Report. Each follows the shared conventions described below for the title page, together with a structure specific to the article type.

4.1 Title Page Conventions (all article types)

Title: Concise and informative, avoiding abbreviations and formulae where possible, as titles are widely used in information-retrieval systems.

Author names and affiliations: The given name(s) and family name(s) of every author must be stated in full and checked for accuracy; middle names should be abbreviated to an initial. Affiliations are listed beneath the author list following the template, with each author linked to their affiliation by a lower-case superscript letter. The ORCID iD of every author must be provided.

Corresponding author: The corresponding author, who must also be the submitting author, should be clearly identified as the point of contact throughout peer review, publication, and post-publication correspondence.

Present address: Where an author has since relocated, or was a visiting researcher at the time the work was conducted, a 'Present address' may be given as a footnote using superscript Arabic numerals. The affiliation at which the work was actually performed must remain the primary address.

4.2 Original Article

The Original Article template applies to primary research reports and, in accordance with Section 1, to systematic reviews and meta-analyses.

Abstract

A structured abstract of no more than 300 words is required, comprising Background, Methods, Results, Conclusion, and Future Studies. The abstract must be capable of standing alone, must not cite references, and should minimize non-standard abbreviations, defining any that are essential at first use.

Keywords

Five keywords should follow the abstract, selected in accordance with Index Medicus guidance to support subject classification and indexing. Keywords should not simply restate words already used in the title.

Introduction

The Introduction should provide adequate background and conclude with a clear statement of the study aim(s). Methodological detail and results should not be anticipated here.

Methods

The Methods section must be organized under subheadings and reported in sufficient detail to permit replication. Authors must address all relevant items of the applicable reporting checklist: STROBE for cross-sectional, case-control, and cohort studies; CONSORT for randomized trials; ARRIVE for animal studies; and PRISMA for systematic reviews. Reagents should be reported with supplier details where relevant, previously published methods should be cited rather than reproduced, and epidemiological studies should specify setting, time, and place.

Results

Results should be reported clearly and concisely under subheadings, with tables and figures placed within the text at first mention.

Discussion

The Discussion should interpret the significance of the findings without subheadings, avoiding extensive re-citation of the published literature in favor of substantive interpretation. Authors should explicitly acknowledge the study's strengths (for example, methodological rigor or novel contributions) and limitations (for example, sample size, selection bias, or other methodological constraints), and identify research gaps and directions for future work.

Conclusions

Conclusions should be stated briefly and derived directly from the study's results, without further citation of prior literature.

Declarations

Six components are required: Ethics approval, Acknowledgments, Competing interests, Funding, Data availability statement, and Declaration of generative AI use. Definitions and required wording for each are set out in Section 5.

4.3 Review Article

Review Articles offering new insights or perspectives on infection, public health, global health, tropical disease, One Health, surgery, nursing, or related disease areas are welcome.

Abstract

Systematic reviews and meta-analyses require a structured abstract (Background, Methods, Results, Conclusion, Future Studies) of no more than 300 words; narrative reviews should instead use an unstructured abstract. In both cases, the abstract must stand alone, omit references, and define any essential non-standard abbreviations at first use.

Keywords

Five keywords should be listed, selected per Index Medicus guidance and distinct from the title wording.

Introduction

The Introduction should establish adequate background, state the aim of the review, and outline the structure the review will follow.

Main Body

The main body should be organized under clear subheadings and should present the substantive discussion of the reviewed topic.

Conclusions

Conclusions should be stated briefly on the basis of the review's findings, without re-citing previously discussed literature.

Declarations

Five components are required: Ethics approval (for a Review Article, authors should state "Not required"), Acknowledgments, Competing interests, Funding, and Data availability statement. Wording for each is set out in Section 5.

4.4 Case Report

Abstract

An unstructured abstract of no more than 300 words is recommended, briefly summarising the clinical context, presentation, intervention, and outcome, and capable of standing alone without reference citations.

Keywords

Five keywords should be listed following the abstract, selected per Index Medicus guidance.

Introduction

The Introduction should briefly establish the clinical context and rationale for reporting the case, including why it is of scientific or educational interest.

Case Presentation

This section should present the patient's relevant history, clinical findings, diagnostic assessment, intervention, and outcome in chronological order, using subheadings where appropriate to aid clarity.

Discussion

The Discussion should compare the case with the existing literature, highlighting its clinical implications, lessons learned, and any unusual features, as well as the rationale for the chosen interventions and the observed outcomes.

Conclusions

The main conclusions arising from the case should be stated briefly, without re-citing previously discussed literature.

Declarations

Five components are required: Ethics approval (reported as a statement of how informed consent was obtained), Acknowledgments, Competing interests, Funding, and an Underlying Data statement. Wording for each is set out in Section 5.

5. Standard Declaration Components

The following definitions and model statements apply wherever a Declarations component is required, as set out in the schedule for each article type in Section 4.

Ethics approval: State clearly the approving institutional ethics committee, the date of approval, and the approval reference number. For Case Reports, state instead how informed consent was obtained from the patient (or next of kin, where applicable).

Acknowledgments: List individuals who contributed assistance not warranting authorship, such as language editing, writing assistance, or proofreading.

Competing interests: A statement is required in every case, including where none exist. Where there is no conflict, authors should state: "The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest."

Funding: Report funding sources by institution or organization name; detailed descriptions of grant type are not required. Where a university, college, or institutional block grant funded the work, the funding institution should be named. Where no specific funding was received, authors should state: "This study did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors," or, equivalently, "This study received no external funding."

Data availability / Underlying data: State where the data supporting the findings may be obtained, with a link where available. Suitable model statements include: "Derived data supporting the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author on request," or "All data underlying the results are available as part of the article, and no additional source data are required."

Declaration of generative AI use: Applies only to the writing process, not to the use of AI tools in data analysis. Where generative AI or AI-assisted technologies have been used to improve readability or language, this must be disclosed under a dedicated heading, 'Declaration of Generative AI and AI-assisted Technologies in the Writing Process', placed at the end of the manuscript before the reference list. Such tools must not be listed as authors or co-authors, and authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy of the resulting content. Where nothing is to be disclosed, no statement is required. The required model statement is reproduced in Section 5.1.

5.1 Model AI Declaration Statement

6. References

Reference citations are not permitted within the abstract. Authors bear full responsibility for the accuracy of all citations and are advised to consult a previously published JHSU article as a model. A reference-management system (e.g., EndNote, Mendeley, or Zotero) should be used throughout.

References follow the Vancouver style and are numbered consecutively in order of first appearance in the text, cited as parenthesised numbers — e.g., [1, 2] — with runs of more than two consecutive citations hyphenated, e.g., [1–3]. Journal titles should be abbreviated according to Medline convention. The reference list should be ordered numerically by citation order and formatted according to the following models:

1.    Journal article, three or more authors — Restrepo MI, Reyes LF, Anzueto A. Complication of community-acquired pneumonia (including cardiac complications). Semin Respir Crit Care Med 2016;37:897–904.

2.    Journal article, no page numbers — Rohrmann S, Overvad K, Bueno-de-Mesquita HB, et al. Meat consumption and mortality — results from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition. BMC Medicine 2013;11:63.

3.    Journal article cited by DOI — Slifka MK, Whitton JL. Clinical implications of dysregulated cytokine production. Dig J Mol Med 2000; doi:10.1007/s801090000086.

4.    Journal supplement article — Frumin AM, Nussbaum J, Esposito M. Functional asplenia: demonstration of splenic activity by bone marrow scan. Blood 1979;59(Suppl 1):26–32.

5.    Book chapter — Wyllie AH, Kerr JFR, Currie AR. Cell death: the significance of apoptosis. In: Bourne GH, Danielli JF, Jeon KW, editors. International Review of Cytology. London: Academic; 1980. p. 251–306.

6.    Complete authored book — Blenkinsopp A, Paxton P. Symptoms in the pharmacy: a guide to the management of common illness. 3rd ed. Oxford: Blackwell Science; 1998.

7.    University website — Doe J. Title of preprint. 1999. Available from: http://www.uni-heidelberg.de/mydata.html. Accessed 25 December 1999.

8.    Organisation website — ISSN International Centre. The ISSN register. 2006. Available from: http://www.issn.org. Accessed 20 February 2007.

7. Tables and Figures

7.1 Tables

Tables must be submitted as editable text, never as images, and placed directly within the manuscript text. Tables should be numbered consecutively in order of appearance, with any explanatory notes placed below the table body. Data presented in tables must not duplicate results reported elsewhere in the article, and vertical rules and cell shading should be avoided.

7.2 Figures

All figures must use the Georgia font and the JHSU colour scheme, and must be prepared at high quality; where a figure uses multiple colours, at least one should be drawn from the JHSU palette. Figures created in Microsoft Office applications (Word, PowerPoint, or Excel) should be supplied in their native format. Figures created in non-Microsoft applications should be converted to TIFF or JPEG at a minimum resolution of 300 dpi. The Editor reserves the right to request revised figures where necessary.