Submissions

INFORMATION FOR AUTHOR

Indian Journal of Clinical Psychiatry (IJOCP)

Submission Outline for Authors

About the Journal

The Indian Psychiatric Society Uttar Pradesh Branch's official journal is the Indian Journal of Clinical Psychiatry (IJCP-ISSN No 2583-8873). It is released every two years. It is an extensive publication for mental health practitioners, mental health policymakers, and related fields. Manuscripts that are submitted must be original, unpublished, under consideration elsewhere, and author-approved.
All contributions must be made electronically using the following submission portal: LINK
Submissions by email or in hard copy are not accepted.

Scope of the Journal

IJOCP publishes the most recent advancements in technology, psychological interventions that improve our clinical practice in psychiatry, and developing research of the highest calibre in psychiatry.

Editorial and Peer-Review Process

Initial Screening (within 1 week) :The Editor-in-Chief or delegate performs a quick review to assess suitability. Manuscripts deemed unsuitable are returned with brief feedback.

Technical & Formatting Check (within 1 week) : Submissions are evaluated against IJOCP formatting and style requirements. Authors may be asked to revise and resubmit before peer review.

Double-Blind Peer Review (4–6 weeks) : Two independent reviewers assess anonymized manuscripts. Final decision is made by the editorial team based on reviewers’ comments. Revision cycles may continue until satisfactory completion.

Special categories (Invited Matter, Letters, Book/Film Reviews) may not undergo full peer review but are still screened for formatting and style.

Conflict handling: Editorial Board members’ manuscripts undergo external review. Articles by the Editor-in-Chief are handled independently by Deputy Editors.

Appeals Process

Rejections can be appealed by authors by sending an email with a thorough explanation to editor@ijocp.org. The paper cannot be submitted elsewhere while appeals are being reviewed, which takes six to eight weeks. Second appeals are not allowed.

Anti-Plagiarism Policy

iThenticate is used by IJOCP to identify plagiarism. Correction may be necessary for minor overlap. Rejection, retraction, and institutional notice are possible outcomes of proven plagiarism. Use editor@ijocp.org to report plagiarism.

Clinical Trial Registry Requirements

Clinical trials registered in publically available registries, such as https://ctri.nic.in, http://clinicaltrials.gov, http://isrctn.org, and http://www.umin.ac.jp/ctr, are published by IJOCP. There must be free and unrestricted access to any other online clinical registry platform that has been utilised.

Authorship Criteria

In terms of contribution, draughting, approval, and accountability, IJOCP adheres to the ICMJE's four authorship standards. Although they shouldn't be identified as writers, contributors who don't fit all four requirements should nonetheless be thanked. A contributor statement outlining responsibilities such concept, design, data collection, analysis, paper preparation, editing, and review is required of authors. The integrity of the work must be guaranteed by at least one author.

Conflicts of Interest

Any financial or personal ties that might have an impact on the work must be disclosed by all writers. At the time of submission, declarations are necessary.

Manuscript Submission Requirements

Required Files

1. Title file: It includes Title (running title), author names, degrees, affiliations, word counts (text and abstract), trial registration (if applicable), funding information, patient consent statement (if applicable), acknowledgements, conflict of interest declarations, data availability and data sharing statements, corresponding author details, CRediT authorship taxonomy, ethics compliance statements, previous presentations or overlapping publications, if any.
2. Blinded Article File: The complete paper, from abstract to references, is contained in the blinded article file. Author identities, affiliations, acknowledgements, and identifiable metadata are prohibited.
3. Image Files: JPEG-formatted, high-quality colour images that are less than 2 MB in size. The article file concludes with legends.
4. Copyright Consent: Within seven days of submittal, all authors must provide digital consent. Scanned copyright forms are not permitted.

Manuscript Preparation Guidelines: Follow ICMJE “Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts.” Use Times New Roman, 12-point, double-spaced, 1-inch margins. American English spelling required.

Types of Manuscripts & Limits

Original Articles:

Up to 4000 words of original quantitative and qualitative research papers, omitting abstracts and references, may be submitted. The abstract must be 250 words long, contain three to six keywords, and be organised into Background/Objectives, Methods, Results, and Conclusions.

Introduction: Summarise the goal and justification of the investigation.
Materials and Methods: Clearly explain every step of the process, including sampling strategies and relevant statistical analysis.

Ethics Requirements: State adherence to the Declaration of Helsinki (2013) and institutional/regional ethics norms for human subjects research. Ethics Committee/IRB approval (name, date, reference number) must be mentioned by authors. In accordance with local and national regulations, informed consent from adults and agreement from children older than seven. The study should adhere to Helsinki criteria.

If a consent waiver was accepted, identify the committee that decided on it. Participant identities must not be revealed. For animal research, confirm adherence to national and institutional standards (such CPCSEA) and provide details on anaesthesia and analgesia. Documents related to ethical approval must be available upon request.

Study Design

Participants: Clearly state the source population, inclusion/exclusion criteria, and participant selection.
Technical information: Give enough information about techniques, tools (name and address of the maker), processes, medications (generic names, dosages, and routes), and chemicals to enable replication. Cite well-known techniques; briefly discuss less well-known or novel techniques and their drawbacks.
Trials with Randomisation: Report all necessary components (protocol, randomisation, allocation concealment, blinding) in accordance with CONSORT standards.
Checklists and Templates: The embedded reporting-guideline checklist and the journal's paper templates must be used by authors. The manuscript will be returned if the checklists are not complete. The article may also include links to reporting guidelines for various study designs.

Reporting Guidelines: Writers must adhere to the relevant EQUATOR-Network guidelines, including CARE (case reports), CONSORT (clinical trials), PRISMA (systematic reviews), and STROBE (observational). The manuscript must be provided with checklists.

Statistics: Whenever feasible, quantify results and incorporate suitable error or uncertainty metrics (such as confidence intervals). Indicate the statistical techniques used for analysis when summarising data in the Results. Give definitions for all symbols, acronyms, and statistical terms. Indicate which statistical analysis software is being utilised. Don't round P values to thresholds like <0.05 or <0.001; instead, provide exact P values. Give confidence intervals for proportions, mean differences, and relative risk metrics (such as odds ratios and hazard ratios).

Results: Present the results in a logical manner, emphasising the most significant discoveries first. Don't reiterate every table or figure in the text; instead, focus on the most important findings. To avoid interfering with the story, include any additional information or technical specifics in an appendix. Give numerical results in both derived measures (such percentages) and absolute numbers. When publishing summarised data, be sure to include statistical methodologies. Only the tables and statistics that are absolutely necessary to illustrate and bolster your position should be used. Avoid presenting the same facts in both and choose graphs over excessively huge tables. When scientifically supported, include subgroup analyses by pertinent variables (e.g., age, sex).

Discussion: Write a summary of the main conclusions, including the primary and secondary results and how they relate to the research hypothesis. Talk about the study's design, data gathering, analysis, and interpretation, as well as its advantages and disadvantages. Analyse the findings in light of the body of current evidence. Discuss any disputes or concerns brought up by the results. Make recommendations for future research avenues, such as collaborative, clinical, or mechanistic investigations. Don't reiterate specific information from previous sections.

References: Use Vancouver style as per Index Medicus. Number references in order of appearance using superscript numbers in brackets. Limit the reference list to approximately 30 sources.

Tables and Figures: Avoid data duplication from the main text. Provide numeric datasets for graphs. Obtain permissions for previously published material. Provide appropriate legends (≤40 words).

Review Articles: 6000 words is the maximum length (not including the abstract and references). A 250-word structured abstract that includes Background/Objectives, Methods, Results, and Conclusions. Give three to six keywords. Research Question, Research Protocol, Literature Search, Data Extraction, Quality Assessment, Data Analysis & Results, and Interpretation of Results are some suggested headers. Methods for finding, choosing, extracting, and synthesising data must be described in narrative reviews and summarised in both text and abstract. anticipated to be authored by specialists or those with significant experience in the topic. Provide a succinct synopsis of the contributors' earlier research on the subject. When significant developments take place, post-publication updates (as a Letter to Editor) should be sent.

Brief Communication: Preliminary data, small sample studies, replication studies, or significant negative results are all appropriate. Not for individual case reports, which go in the Letters to Editor section. 1500 words is the maximum length (not including the abstract and references). abstract with structure up to 250 words. Only one figure or one table is permitted.

Letter to the Editor: Use upto five references and a maximum word count of 1000. No figures or tables. The phrase "For publication" must be included. Letters should be submitted for intriguing cases or uncontrolled observations. Letters of criticism regarding published articles are welcome, but they must be sent within three months and include a citation to the original work. Letters that don't fit the requirements are sent back right away.

Book Review / Media Review: Reviews of current social psychiatry-related literature or films. Uninvited reviews are welcome, but they are typically invited. Suitability for publishing is determined by the editor. 1500 words is the maximum length. Up to five pertinent references may be referenced; an abstract is not necessary.

Commentary / Debate / Perspective / Viewpoint: Usually invited; may talk about a general topic in social psychiatry or discuss an article in the same issue. Strive to increase awareness, promote discussion, and foster debate. There's no word limit, although in general: Commentaries: ≤1500 words; main articles: ≤4000 words (not including references). Commentaries do not need an abstract. Debate, perspective, and viewpoint articles must include an unstructured abstract of no more than 250 words. There should be few references.

Case Reports / Case Series: Should draw attention to novel, uncommon, or clinically noteworthy instances. must provide therapeutic or diagnostic knowledge with obvious educational value. Length: up to 1500 words (not including references and an abstract). Abstract (unstructured), Keywords, Introduction, Case Report, Discussion, References, Tables, and Legends are all necessary components. Ten references are permitted.

References: Number references consecutively, in the order in which they appear in the text. Arabic numerals in superscript enclosed in square brackets after punctuation should be used for citations in text, tables, and legends. References that only occur in tables or figures should be numbered according to when they were first mentioned in the text. For formatting, use the NLM/Index Medicus style. Use Index Medicus-recommended journal title abbreviations; for non-indexed journals, use the full name. Refrain from citing abstracts. See ICMJE standards for less typical reference types (such as newspapers).

Examples: Standard articles (≤6 authors): list all authors, articles with >6 authors: list first six + et al. Supplements: cite volume supplement number. Books/monographs: include authors/editors, edition, publisher, year, pages. Electronic sources: include DOI and URL.

Tables: Must be self-explanatory and not duplicate text. Tables >10 columns or >25 rows are not allowed. Number tables sequentially with Arabic numerals; include a brief title. Use footnotes (not headings) for explanations. Explain all non-standard abbreviations in footnotes. Obtain permissions for reused/adapted tables and include a credit line. Footnote symbols sequence: *, †, ‡, §, ||, ¶, **, ††, ‡‡. Place tables (with legends) after references; cite them appropriately in the text.

Figures (Illustrations): Upload in JPEG format; maximum file size 1024 KB. Number figures sequentially based on first appearance in text. Ensure clear, uniformly sized labels, numbers, and symbols. For photomicrographs, use contrasting arrows/symbols (not pen marks). Keep titles/explanations in figure legends, not on the figure. Provide numerical data for graphs/scattergrams/histograms. Crop images to remove unnecessary areas. Written permission required for identifiable photographs. If reproduced from elsewhere, obtain copyright permission and credit source. Legends should be ≤40 words, double-spaced, explaining symbols, scale, and staining method. Upload print-quality images during submission. Journal may crop/resize figures as needed.

List of Abbreviations: Provide a list of all abbreviations with their definitions used in the manuscript.

Formatting Instructions: Use MS Word or similar software. Font: Times New Roman, size 12, black. Follow American English consistently (e.g., anemia, color, behavior). Heading styles: First-level headings: Bold, Second-level headings: Bold italics, Third-level headings: Italics (plain), followed by a new paragraph. Leave one space between paragraphs and after major headings.

Protection of Patient Privacy: Do not publish identifiable patient information unless essential and consent is obtained. Remove patient names from images even with consent. Follow ICMJE requirements.

Revised Manuscripts

Submit online with: Point-by-point response to reviewers with marked changes (colored text or underlined)

Reprints and Proofs

Page proofs are sent to the corresponding author and must be returned within 3 days.
Paid reprints are available for purchase.

Fees

There are no submission, processing, or publication charges.

Copyright

All published content is protected under national and international copyright laws. The journal offers open access with appropriate attribution requirements.

Author Checklist (Summary)

• Cover letter complete
• All authors listed with full details
• Conflicts of interest disclosed
• Ethics statements included
• Required files uploaded
• Manuscript double-spaced, correctly formatted
• References appropriately styled
• Figures/Tables compliant with guidelines
• Privacy and permissions ensured