Submission Process:

All authors must carefully read the SMJ Submission Guidelines Document and format their paper according to the SMJ standards.  The SMJ Editorial Policies section below must also be read before submitting a paper to the Editorial Office. Please submit one document which includes separate abstract and your manuscript.

*Please note that an abstract is not required for the submission of an Editorial, Occasional Piece, Letter to the Editor, or Research Correspondence.

*A consent form is required when a paper contains identifiable images or descriptions. If no images of a patient or specific descriptions are used, then the form is not required.

When the paper is ready to submit:

Once a paper is ready for submission it should be emailed in a Word document (double spacing and Times New Roman font pt.12) to the Editorial Office at [email protected].  This email address can also be used if you have any queries regarding the preparation of your submission. An acknowledgement email will be sent with SMJ reference number when the paper has been processed.

Role of the Corresponding Author:

The corresponding author (or co-author designee) will serve on behalf of all co-authors as the primary correspondent with the editorial office during the submission and review process. If the manuscript is accepted, the corresponding author will review an edited manuscript and approve to proceed to the publication stage.

Changes in Authorship:

Authors should determine the order of authorship among themselves and should settle any disagreements before submitting their manuscript. Any requests for changes in authorship after initial manuscript submission and before publication should be explained in writing to the editor in an email from all authors.

Peer Review Process:

The Somali Medical Journal is a peer reviewed journal.  Please note that we do not send every paper for external peer review.  Papers can be accepted or rejected without invitation to revise by the Editorial Board. The stages of the peer review process are as follows:

1. The papers chosen for external peer review are sent to an expert referee. Authors are informed that their paper has progressed to the review stage of the consideration process.

• It may take time to find a reviewer to complete the report. We contact authors once we receive the referee’s comments on the paper.

• The paper and the referee comments are discussed by the editorial team. Depending on the recommendations of the expert referee, the editorial team will decide to accept and inform authors to complete the revision or reject the paper.

Furthermore, if the SMJ has made multiple attempts to secure a peer reviewer and cannot do so, the paper will be removed from consideration and the authors will be informed immediately.

Revised Papers:

Once authors have incorporated all the changes required by the referee, the revised paper must be resubmitted to the editorial team to make a final decision.  Authors are then informed whether their paper has been fully accepted or further changes need to be made.

Accepted Papers:

Authors are informed when their article has been assigned to a particular edition of the journal.

Rejected Papers:

Once an article has been rejected by the Editorial Board it cannot be resubmitted at a future date.

Editorial Policies:

The SMJ will not publish any article that has already been made available in any form of published media, either in print or online, at the time of submission. If your article is accepted for publication in another journal, you must contact us immediately so that we can withdraw the paper from consideration. Please forward any queries to the editorial office.

Duplicate/Previous Publication or Submission:

Manuscripts are considered with the understanding that they have not been published previously in print or electronic format and are not under consideration by another publication or electronic medium. Copies of related or possibly duplicative materials that have been previously published or are under consideration elsewhere must be provided at the time of manuscript submission.

Copyright:

The copyright of every article published in the Journal belongs to the SMJ.

Erratum/Correction Policy: After publication if an error comes to light due to SMJ error, an erratum will be published in the next issue to correct this.  Any author error that is brought to our attention after publication, corrections are made at the journal’s discretion.