About Journal

The Journal of Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine (J-AIM) is a peer reviewed research journal encouraging intellectual and scientific communications between professional, academic and scientific communities. Each issue of the journal can be accessed online free in its entirety at www.jaim.in. J-AIM permits authors to self-archive final accepted version of the articles, does not charge for submission, processing or publication of manuscripts, nor even for color reproduction of photographs.

Scope of the journal

As a peer reviewed research journal, J-AIM encourages and publishes critical aspects of intellectual and scientific communication concerning contemporary health knowledge systems, such as Ayurveda, biomedicine and basic sciences, to facilitate integrative approaches to global health care.

The content of J-AIM will focus on three broad themes:

1. Theoretical Research: Epistemology, Fundamental Concepts, History, Sociology and Literary studies related to Ayurveda, Yoga, modern medicine and science.
2. Experimental Research: Pharmacology, Genetics, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Drug Discovery & Development.
3. Clinical Research: Case studies and Clinical studies, Epidemiology, Public Health and Translational research.

 

Editorial Process

To be eligible for publication in J-AIM, manuscripts must not be under consideration, accepted, or published elsewhere. No substantial part of the manuscript may be under consideration by any other journal, although it may have been deposited on a preprint server. Translated manuscripts of research work produced in other language(s) form an exception to this rule. The author should ensure that permission for such translation has been obtained from the journal where the original article was published. Submitters of such articles must state the fact of prior publication explicitly, and mention the same in the abstract. In the case of multiple authors, it is requested that there be a corresponding author who is authorized by the other authors to correspond with the journal concerning all issues related to the manuscript and its approval. All manuscripts received are duly acknowledged. On submission, editors review all submitted manuscripts for suitability for formal review. Manuscripts with serious technical flaws and/or lacking originality and/or lacking significant message will be rejected even before being sent for peer review. Submission of a manuscript to J-AIM implies that all authors have read and agreed to its content. They also have to make sure that any experimental research reported in their submission has been performed with the approval of an appropriate ethics committee. Authors from pharmaceutical companies are required to adhere to Good Publication Practice guidelines for Pharmaceutical companies,which may be found here. These guidelines also apply to (i) individuals who work on industry-sponsored publications, such as freelance writers. (ii) contract research organizations (iii) communications and PR companies. References cited in the manuscript, which are "in press", should be made available to the Editor-in-chief for reviewer's assessment. Submission of a manuscript to J-AIM implies that readily reproducible materials described in the manuscript, including all relevant raw data, will be freely available to any scientist wishing to use them for non-commercial purposes.

Manuscripts deemed suitable for publication in J-AIM will be sent to two or more expert reviewers. The corresponding author is requested to provide the names of two or three qualified reviewers during submission. However, this is not mandatory. The reviewers so suggested should not be affiliated with the same institute as the contributors. Selection of reviewers is at the sole discretion of the Editor-in-chief. Every manuscript is assigned to a Senior Editor who is a member of the Editorial board, and who, based on the inputs received from the reviewers, advises the Editor-in-chief on acceptance. Comments and suggestions (acceptance/rejection/amendments) received from reviewers are conveyed to the corresponding author. Author(s) should provide a point by point response to reviewer comments when submitting revised versions of their manuscript. This process is repeated till reviewers and editors are satisfied.

After final acceptance by the Editor-in-chief, manuscripts may, if necessary, be copy edited for grammar, punctuation, print style, and format. Page proofs will be sent to the corresponding author, who is expected to return corrected proofs within three days. It may not be possible to incorporate corrections received after that period. The entire process of manuscript submission is carried-out online. To achieve faster and greater dissemination of knowledge and information, the journal publishes articles online “Ahead of Print” immediately on acceptance.

Clinical trial registry

Detailed guidelines will be available on the website.

Authorship Criteria

Authorship credit should be based only on substantial contributions to each of the three components mentioned below: 

1. Concept and design of study or acquisition of data or analysis and interpretation of data;
2. Drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content; and
3. Final approval of the version to be published.

Participation solely in the acquisition of funding or data collection does not justify authorship. General supervision of the research group is not sufficient for authorship. Each contributor should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for appropriate portions of the content of the manuscript. The order of contributors' names should be based on their relative contribution tow the study and writing the manuscript. Once submitted, the order cannot be changed without written consent of all contributors.

 

Contribution Details

Contributors should provide a description of contributions made by each tow the manuscript. Descriptions should be divided into following categories, as applicable: concept, design, definition of intellectual content, literature search, clinical studies, experimental studies, data acquisition, data analysis, statistical analysis, manuscript preparation, manuscript editing and manuscript review. Authors' contributions will be printed along with the article. The corresponding author should take responsibility for the integrity of the work as a whole, from inception to published article, and should be designated 'guarantor'. 

Conflicts of Interest/ Competing Interests

J-AIM requests corresponding authors to submit a declaration of competing interests on behalf of all authors. This should be provided as a separate section of the manuscript. In cases where the authors give no competing interests, the listing should read "The author(s) declare that they have no competing interests".

Submission of Manuscripts:

All manuscripts must be submitted on-line through the website http://www.journalonweb.com/jaim. First time users should register first. Registration is free but mandatory. Registered authors can keep track of their articles after logging onto the site using their user name and password. Authors do not have to pay for submission, processing or publication of articles. If you experience any problems, please contact the J-AIM editorial office by e-mail at editor@jaim.in.

Submitted manuscripts that are not as per the “Instructions to Authors” will be returned to the authors for technical correction, before they undergo peer-review. Manuscripts should be submitted as two separate files:

1. Main document
   
   This file should provide
   1. The main manuscript (General Article, Review, Original Research, Clinical Research, Watershed Report, Discussion Kernel, Life Profile, Vignette, Initiatives, Book Review, or Pedagogy), title of the manuscript, running title, names of all authors / contributors (with their highest academic degrees, designation and affiliations) and name(s) of department(s) and / or institution(s) to which the work should be credited, . All identifying information should be included here. Use text/rtf/doc files. Please do not zip them.
   2. Total number of pages, photographs and word counts should be given separately for both abstract and main text (excluding references and tables), and, in the case of an original article, additional word counts for the introduction and discussion sections;
   3. Source(s) of support in the form of grants, equipment, drugs, or all of these;
   4. Acknowledgement, if any. One or more statements should specify 1) contributions that need acknowledging but do not justify authorship, such as general support by a departmental chair; 2) acknowledgments of technical help; and 3) acknowledgments of financial and material support, specifying the nature of the support.
   5. If the manuscript has been presented , the organization, place, and exact date of the meeting. 
   6. A full statement about all submissions and previous reports that might be regarded as previous publication of the same or similar work. Any such work should be specifically referenced in the submitted paper. Copies of such publications should be included with the submission, to help the editor decide on the matter.
   7. In the case of a clinical trial, its registration number and where it was registered (name of the registry and its URL).
   8. Conflicts of Interest of each (co)author: a statement of financial or other relationships that might lead to a conflict of interest,
   9. Criteria for inclusion among the authors.
   10. A statement that the manuscript has been read and approved by all the authors, that the requirements for authorship as stated above have been met, and that each author believes that the manuscript represents honest work, unless the information is provided elsewhere (see below); and
   11. The name, address, e-mail, and telephone number of the corresponding author, responsible for communicating with other authors about revisions, and final approval of the proofs.
2. Images: Submit good quality color images. Each image should be less than 1024 kb (1 MB) in size. Image size can be reduced by decreasing the actual height and width of the images (keep up to 1240 x 800 pixels or 5-6 inches). Images can be submitted as jpeg files. Do not zip the files. Legends for the figures/images should be included at the end of main article file.

 

 

Preparation of Manuscripts

Manuscripts must be prepared in accordance with "Uniform requirements for Manuscripts submitted to Biomedical Journals" developed by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (October 2006). Before submitting a manuscript, contributors are requested to check for the latest available instructions. Instructions are also available from J-AIM website (http://www.jaim.in) and from the manuscript submission site (http://www.journalonweb.com/jaim). J-AIM accepts manuscripts written in American English.

Copies of any permission(s)

It is the responsibility of authors/ contributors to obtain permissions for reproducing any copyrighted material. A copy of the permission obtained must accompany the manuscript. Copies of any and all published articles or other manuscripts in preparation or submitted elsewhere that are related to the manuscript must also accompany the manuscript. The material should be sent to any of the two addresses given above.

ARTICLE DESCRIPTIONS

J-AIM welcomes submissions and correspondence for articles in the categories given here. In general J-AIM will not consider any article already under consideration by another journal, or outside its specified areas of concern. All research articles submitted will be subject to peer review; Editors' decisions will be considered binding.

J-AIM is divided according to general specifications for articles as follows. (All stated figures for words, references and other categories represent strict upper limits.)

1. Editorials: strictly by the Editorial Board, or Guest Editorials by special invitation from the Editor-in-chief. Size limits on editorials are: 1,500 words; References, 10..
   
   ‘Thought Leadership Articles’ have greater tolerances, 2000 words; References, 20.
2. Letters: are welcome from all readers on topics and issues pertaining to articles in recent editions of J-AIM, or to the worlds mainly of Ayurveda, but also including Yoga, Unani, Siddha, Homeopathy (AYUSH) or Integrative Medicine. They should be compactly expressed on a single topic so the following limits will be strictly applied: 1,000 words, Non-text item 1; References 15.
   
   If you wish to express original ideas on a pertinent topic in greater depth, please send a,
3. Short Communication: with the following limits. Text: 1,500 words including a summary first paragraph of up to 250 words in place of an abstract; Non-text items, 2; and References, 20.
4. General Articles: these report authors’ original work of a non-clinical nature, concerning topics, either within the J-AIM Vision-Mission statement’s theoretical and experimental areas, or otherwise relevant to contemporary issues in Ayurveda, and Integrative Medicine. Limits: Abstract, 250 words; Main Text, 3,000 words; Non-text items, 5; and References, 50. If you wish to send us the synopsis of a proposed article before writing it, a specialist in that topic on the editorial board will be happy to advise you. Open submission.
5. Reviews: may cover particular areas of Ayurveda or integrative medicine of relevance to contemporary issues. Limits: Abstract, 250 words; Main Text 6,000 words; Non-text items, 8 (more subject to negotiation); References, 80. The editorial board will welcome a synopsis of your proposed review for prior consideration and suggestions.
6. Original Research Articles: report authors’ original non-clinical research of a more technical and specialized nature than General Articles. Topics should normally remain within the theoretical and experimental research areas named in the JAIM Vision-Mission statement. Limits: Abstract, 250 words; Main Text, 5,000 words; Non-text items, 8; References, 70.
7. Clinical Research: report authors’ clinical research, within areas of clinical research specified in the JAIM Vision-Mission statement. JAIM publishes three levels of Clinical Research, prospective Clinical Trials, Case Series and Case Studies. All are open submission.
   
   Clinical Trials include RCT’s and Cohort studies. Limits: Abstract, 250 words; Main Text, 5,000 words; Non-text items, 8; References, 70.
   
   Case Series should concern the application of Ayurveda or IM to a specific pathology and illustrate efficacy of an unusual application of a traditional treatment, hopefully indicating a solution to some contemporary medical problem. Limits: Abstract 250 words; Main Text 3,000 words; Non-text items, 4; References, 40.
   
   Single Case Studies concern successful application of traditional treatment to a single case otherwise deemed incurable, in such a way that other physicians can apply the same method with good expectation of achieving cures. Limits: 1,500 words including 200 word summary abstract; Non-text items, 2; References, 20.
8. Review of Landmark Article: gives deep insights into a scientific paper representing a turning point in the history of any aspect of Ayurveda or Integrative Medicine. Articles will be solicited or commissioned, but suggestions including possible authors’ names are welcome. Limits: Abstract, 250 words; Main Text, 3,000 words; Non-text items, 5; References, 50.
9. Discussion Kernel: a short pithy article concerning some issue of wide potential interest, which requires, and is designed to stimulate, further discussion on the JAIM website. Suggestions are welcome, especially by possible authors, who should send proposals. Limits: 1,500 words; Non-text items, 3; References, 20.
10. Life Profile: these articles are of two kinds, Profiles and Vignettes. The former comprise short biographical sketches, the latter retell incidents in the lives of great Vaidyas , providing insight into their greatness, and of importance to Ayurveda. Normally each issue will contain Profiles of one great Vaidya of today, and one from the past, together with the reprint of a scientific paper illustrating the importance of the scientific / scholarly work of one of them. Suggestions and submissions welcomed. Limits: 2,000 words; References, 20. Photo mandatory.
    
    Vignettes: tell the story of an incident in the life of a great Vaidya, which encapsulates and illustrates an important point about the philosophy, knowledge or practice of Ayurveda, a related AYUSH system, or integrative medicine. Focused interviews are also considered. Limits: 1,200 words; Non-text items, 2; photo if available.
11. Initiatives: recount the history, philosophy, mission and activities of some important projects, institutions, organizations, associations making contributions to advance Ayurveda or Integrative Medicine healthcare, either locally or globally. Initiatives articles are strictly solicited, but suggestions will be welcomed. Limit 3,000 words, preferably with illustrative pictures and diagrams; References 30.
12. Book reviews: will be solicited by J-AIM editorial staff. Reviews can be up to 2,000 words. Readers are welcome to suggest high quality contemporary, or historically important books on Ayurveda to review. Offers to review such books will be considered.
13. News and Comment: strictly by J-AIM editorial staff. Readers are welcome to suggest articles for summary in relevant fields.
14. Pedagogy: an article by an experienced Ayurvedic scholar of relevance to contemporary issues in education, teaching methods and approaches. Suggestions will be welcomed, submissions to be checked with editorial staff before writing the article. Limit: 3,000 words; Non-text items, 5; References, 40.
15. Future Events: generally written by J-AIM’s editorial team. Please submit requests for particular events to be covered, in which case, suggestions for the person to write the report will also be welcome. Generally 1,000 word limit, but accounts of important contributions by leading figures at important events will be word counted separately.
16. Systems Ayurveda: unique logic diagrams in graphical notation representing complex relationships between Ayurveda basic concepts, accompanied by integrated descriptions. These are contributed by J-AIM editorial staff.

Tables

• Tables should be self-explanatory and should not duplicate textual material.
• Tables with more than 10 columns or 25 rows are not acceptable.
• Number tables in Hindu-Arabic numerals consecutively in the order of their first citation in the text and supply a brief title for each.
• Place explanatory matter in footnotes, not in the heading.
• Explain in footnotes all non-standard abbreviations used in each table.
• Obtain permission for all fully borrowed, adapted, and modified tables, providing credit lines for each in footnotes.
• For footnotes use a, b, c ….
• Tables with their legends should be provided at the end of the text after the references. Tables along with their number should be cited at the relevant place in the text

Illustrations (Figures)

• Upload the images in JPEG/PNG format. Uploaded file size should be less than 1024 kb . In case of a need to upload larger sized images (owing to higher resolution) you may contact the Associate Editor (Publishing) on this mail ID: publishing@jaim.in
• Figures should be numbered consecutively in the order that they have been first cited in the text.
• Labels, numbers, and symbols should be clear and of uniform size. Lettering in figures should be large enough to be legible after reduction to fit J-AIM's printed column width.
• Symbols, arrows, or letters used in photomicrographs should contrast with the background and should be marked neatly with transfer type or by tissue overlay and not by pen.
• Titles and detailed explanations for illustrations belong in legends not on the illustrations themselves.
• When graphs, scatter-grams or histograms are submitted, the numerical data on which they are based should also be supplied.
• Photographs and figures should be trimmed to remove all unwanted areas.
• If photographs of individuals are used, they must be accompanied by written permission to use the photograph.
• If a figure has been published elsewhere, acknowledge the original source and submit written permission from the copyright holder to reproduce the material. A credit line should appear in the legend for such figures.
• Legends for illustrations: Type or print out legends (maximum 40 words, excluding the credit line) for illustrations using double spacing, with Arabic numerals corresponding to the illustrations. When symbols, arrows, numbers, or letters are used to identify parts of the illustrations, identify and explain each one in the legend. Explain the internal scale (magnification) and identify methods of staining in photomicrographs.
• Final figures for print production: Send sharp, glossy, unmounted, color photographic prints, height 4 inches, and width 6 inches, at the time of submitting revised manuscripts. Print outs of digital photographs are not acceptable. If digital images are the only source of images, ensure that the image has minimum resolution of 300 dpi or 1800 x 1600 pixels in TIFF format. Send the images on a CD. Each figure should have a label pasted (avoid use of liquid gum for pasting) on its back indicating the number of the figure, the running title, top of the figure and the legends of the figure. Do not write the contributor/s' name/s. Do not write on the back of figures, scratch, or mark them by using paper clips.
• The Journal reserves the right to crop, rotate, reduce, or enlarge photographs to an acceptable size.

 

 

Protection of Patients' Rights to Privacy

Identifying information should not be published in written descriptions, photographs, sonograms, CT scans, etc., and pedigrees unless the information is essential for scientific purposes and the patient (or parent or guardian, wherever applicable) gives written informed consent for publication. Authors should remove patients' names from figures unless they have obtained written informed consent from the patients. When informed consent has been obtained, it should be indicated in the article and copy of the consent should be attached with the covering letter. 

Identifying information should not be published in written descriptions, photographs, sonograms, CT scans, etc., and pedigrees unless the information is essential for scientific purposes and the patient (or parent or guardian, wherever applicable) gives written informed consent for publication. Research done on humans should be in compliance with Helsinki Declaration and experimental research on animals should follow internationally accepted guidelines. Where articles include clinical photographs, the Executive Editor should be faxed written consent signed by each patient to publish his/her photograph. Authors should remove patients' names from figures unless they have obtained written informed consent from them. The Acknowledgements section should also include the statement, "All photographs are published with the written consent of the patient or their relative".

 

Phytochemical Standardization

Phytochemical Standardization is a prerequisite for any herbal drug research. It assures reproducibility of the herb raw material / polyherbal formulation. Various methods of phytochemical standardization are known. These are preliminary phytochemical screening, fingerprint profiling, and quantification of marker compound(s) with reference to herbal raw materials / polyherbal formulations. These can be performed using techniques such as HPTLC and HPLC and HPLC-MS-MS. Authors are requested to adopt these techniques to identify a phytomarker specific to the formulation / extract under test. As a policy, J-AIM will not accept any manuscript unless appropriate standardization is reported.

 

Sending a revised manuscript

The revised version of the manuscript should be submitted online in a manner similar to that used for its first submission. However, there is no need to submit the “First Page” or “Covering Letter” file whem submitting a revised version. When submitting a revised manuscript, contributors are requested to include referees’ remarks along with point by point clarification at the beginning of the revised file itself. In addition, they should mark all changes as underlined or colored text in the article.

Reprints and proofs

Journal provides no free printed reprints. Authors can purchase reprints, payment for which should be made at the time of submitting the proofs.

Proofs will be sent to the corresponding authors by email approximately 2 weeks before the publication date. Issues are published in last week of the previous month.

J-AIM is a free journal and approved articles can be downloaded and printed anytime by any of the authors. Proofs will be sent to the corresponding authors by email approximately 2 weeks before the publication date.

Manuscript submission, processing and publication charges

J-AIM does not charge the authors or authors’ institutions for the submission, processing and/or publications of manuscripts.

Copyrights

The entire contents of the Journal of Ayurveda Integrative Medicine are protected under Indian and international copyrights. The Journal, however, grants to all users a free, irrevocable, worldwide, perpetual right of access to, and license to copy, use, distribute, perform and display the work publicly, and to make and distribute derivative works in any digital medium for any reasonable non-commercial purpose, subject to proper attribution of authorship and ownership of the rights. The contents of J-AIM are covered by the GNU Free Documentation License. The License can be found at: http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html.

Declaration by authors:

Authors are required to submit a declaration as given below:

1. I have obtained permission from my co-authors to enter into these arrangements.
2. I warrant, on behalf of myself and my co-authors, that:
   1. The article is original and has not been published in any other peer-reviewed journal, is not under consideration by any other journal, and does not infringe on any existing copyright or any other third party rights.
   2. I am/We are the (sole) author(s) of the article and have full authority to enter into this agreement, and to grant rights to J-AIM which are not in breach of any other obligation.
   3. the article contains nothing that is unlawful, libelous, or which would, if published, constitute a breach of contract, or of confidence, or of any commitment given in secrecy;
   4. I /we have taken due care to ensure the integrity of the article. To my/our - and currently accepted scientific - knowledge all statements contained in it purporting to be facts are true, and any formula or instruction contained in the article will not, if followed accurately, cause any injury, illness or damage to the user.

And I agree to the licensing policy of J-AIM as appears on the Licensing page

 

Checklist

Covering letter

• Signed by corresponding author on behalf of all coauthors
• Previous publication / presentations mentioned
• Source of funding mentioned
• Conflicts of interest disclosed

Authors 

• Last name and given name provided along with Middle name initials (where applicable)
• Author for correspondence, with e-mail address provided

Presentation and format

• Double spacing
• Margins 2.5 cm from all four sides
• Page numbers included at bottom
• Title page contains all required information
• Running title provided (not more than 50 characters)
• Abstract page contains the full title of the manuscript
• Abstract provided according to specifications in article descriptions (structured abstract of 250 words for original articles, unstructured abstracts of about 150 words for all other manuscripts excluding letters to the Editor)
• Key words provided (three or more)
• Introduction
• Headings in Title Case (not ALL CAPITALS)
• The references cited in the text should be after punctuation marks, in superscript between square brackets.
• References according to the journal's instructions, punctuation marks checked
• Send the article file without ‘Track Changes’ activated

Language and grammar

• Write the full term for each abbreviation at its first use in the title, abstract, keywords and text separately unless it is a standard unit of measure. Numerals from 1 to 10 spelt out
• Numerals at the beginning of the sentence spelt out
• Check the manuscript for spelling, grammar and punctuation errors
• If a brand name is cited, supply the manufacturer's name and address (city and state/country).
• Species names should be in italics

Tables and figures

• No repetition of data in tables and graphs and in text
• Actual numbers from which graphs are drawn, provided
• Figures necessary and of good quality (colour)
• Table and figure numbers in Arabic letters (not Roman)
• Labels pasted on back of the photographs (no names written)
• Figure legends provided (not more than 40 words)
• Patients' privacy maintained (otherwise permission given)
• Credit note for borrowed figures/tables provided
• Full terms for abbreviations used in tables given in footnotes

 

Click here to download instructions

Click here to download copyright form

These ready to use templates are made to help the contributors write as per the requirements of the Journal.

Save the templates on your computer and use them with a word processor program. 
Click open the file and save as the manuscript file.

In the program keep 'Document Map' and 'Comments' on from 'View' menu to navigate through the file. 


Download Template for Original Articles/ABSTRACT Reports. (.DOT file)

Download Template for Case Reports.  (.DOT file)

Download Template for Review Articles.  (.DOT file)

Download Template for Letter to the Editor.  (.DOT file)