Submissions

Author Guidelines

Please read journal's policies and guidelines at https://jmlph.net/index.php/jmlph/ethics before submitting your research for publication

Publishing Ethics and Malpractice:

Please see our information on Publishing Ethics and Malpractice here.

Article processing charges:

The journal charges no fees of any kind to authors. There is no article processing charge (APC), no submission fee, no page or colour charge, and no fee to publish. Publication is free for authors and free for readers; the journal is funded by ARETION Publishing Group and its partner institution rather than by author payments.

Authors are never asked to pay at any stage, and no request for payment is ever a condition of review, acceptance or publication. Any message asking you to pay a fee in connection with a JMLPH submission did not come from the journal — please report it to editorial.board@jmlph.net.

Reporting guidelines:

We encourage authors to adhere to the best research protocols available, including but not limited to the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses); CONSORT guidelines for reporting randomised trials; STROBE guideline for reporting observational studies; and CARE guideline for clinical case reports. Authors are expected to register their trials in one of the recognised clinical trials registries.

Preparation:

The title page should be included in the submission, and should consist of the authors’ name(s), affiliations, emails, and, if possible, the ORCID number.

Manuscripts should be prepared in Microsoft Word format, using font size 12 and Times New Roman.

The Abstract should be structured to include Background, Aims, Methods, Results, and Conclusion. The Abstract for a case report should be unstructured.

Five to seven keywords should be added after the Abstract. Each should be a one- to three-word phrase indicating a main topic of the submission, drawn from the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) vocabulary, and the list should be arranged alphabetically. 

Manuscripts should include an Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion, References and Appendices.

Case reports should be structured as follows: Introduction, Case Presentation, and Discussion. We encourage authors to include policy recommendations at the end of their manuscript.

List the abbreviations/acronyms used.

Quotations of 30 words or less are permissible within the text, provided they are enclosed in quotation marks.

Authors are permitted to include acknowledgements at the end of the paper, with a word limit of less than 30.

Figures and tables:
Figure and table captions should be positioned below and above, respectively.
Include only essential tables and figures that support the points made. To avoid lengthy explanations in the text, refrain from repeating information from the tables and figures.

All figures should be embedded in the manuscript and should not exceed half a page in size, leaving margins on both sides, with a minimum resolution of 300 dpi. Tables should also be embedded in the manuscript where applicable.

When reproducing data from a diagram or table, or copying the entire table or diagram in the paper, a reference to the source should be provided.

Word count:
Abstract: 200 words.
Manuscript: 3,000 words.
Book Review: 1000 words.

References:

Proper references are required when using another scholar's work, including paraphrased content. Additionally, the original source of information must be provided within the text. Failure to reference paraphrased text is considered academic dishonesty.

Authors should also adhere to the National Library of Medicine (NLM) citation style for references. For guidance, consult Citing Medicine: The NLM Style Guide for Authors, Editors, and Publishers, 2nd edition.

Statements required in every research article:

The journal requires each of the following, set out at the end of the manuscript before the references. These are checked at editorial triage and a manuscript missing them will be returned before review. Where a statement does not apply, say so explicitly rather than omitting it — MEDLINE, Scopus and Web of Science each assess whether a journal's authors disclose consistently, and an absent statement cannot be distinguished from an overlooked one.

• Ethical approval. Name the approving ethics committee or institutional review board and give the approval reference. State explicitly where approval was not required and why.
• Informed consent. For research involving human participants, and for every case report or clinical image, confirm that written informed consent was obtained.
• Conflict of interest. A declaration covering every author, or a statement that none exists.
• Funding. Name every funder and grant number, or state that the work received no specific funding.
• Data availability. Say where the supporting data can be obtained, or why they cannot be shared. See section 6.5 of the publication ethics policy.
• Author contributions. A statement using the CRediT taxonomy.
• Reporting guideline. Where one applies (CONSORT, STROBE, PRISMA, CARE, COREQ, ARRIVE), follow it and supply the completed checklist.
• Trial registration. Clinical trials must be prospectively registered; give the registry and number in the abstract.
• ORCID. An ORCID iD is required for the corresponding author and encouraged for all authors.
• Use of AI tools. Disclose any use, as set out in section 21 of the ethics policy. AI tools cannot be listed as authors.

Authors submitting law cases, commentaries, and legislative discussions are permitted to utilize the Oxford Standard for the Citation of Legal Authorities (OSCALA).

Footnotes should only be utilized for law case commentaries.

Submitting a book proposal:

We encourage authors to contact Mrs Joana King (Journal Manager) at Editorial.Board@JMLPH.net prior to submission.  

Publication phases:

• In the initial review stage, each paper undergoes plagiarism screening, and authors are encouraged to provide their own analysis and discussion. The referenced or cited text should not exceed 10% of the paper, and the journal has a strict policy against plagiarism.
• If the paper is approved, expert editors in the field will handle the manuscripts, and at least two independent expert reviewers will be assigned for a rigorous double-blind peer review, drawn from more than one country wherever the subject allows. Authors should be aware that their submissions will be critically evaluated for the flow of ideas, the novelty of the subject matter, and the use of recent data and publications.
• Authors will receive notification of the results of the paper review process, and if accepted or requiring revision, they will be informed of the necessary changes to their manuscript. Rejected papers will be accompanied by an explanation of the decision.
• The final stage involves proofreading for linguistic clarity and improvement. Please note that the journal uses British spellings.

This chart (here) depicts the various publication phases.

Open access policy:

All articles are published under an open access policy, ensuring they are freely available to readers. This means that readers can read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of articles, index them for search engines, use them as data for software, or utilize them for any other lawful purpose, all at no cost.

Citing this journal:

The journal's abbreviated title, as assigned by the U.S. National Library of Medicine, is J Med Law Public Health. Please use this form when citing articles from this journal, and ask others to do the same. Citations should follow NLM (Vancouver) style:

Author AA, Author BB. Article title. J Med Law Public Health. Year;Volume(Issue):FirstPage–LastPage. doi:10.52609/jmlph.vXiY.NNN

For example: Omoge AO, Kayode OO. Malaria in pregnancy: knowledge, attitudes, perceptions, and preventive practices among pregnant women in Okitipupa, Ondo State, Nigeria. J Med Law Public Health. 2026;6(4):1061–72. doi:10.52609/jmlph.v6i4.300

Further questions:

All submissions should be made through the online submission system; any technical difficulties or inquiries should be directed to Info@JMLPH.net