General instructions on how to prepare and submit a scientific paper
Authors of the manuscript must submit a cover letter confirming that:
a. All copyrights are transferred to the publisher if the article is published;
b. The article is original, does not infringe on other copyrights, and has not been published or submitted to other journals.
Authors must also inform about a possible conflict of interest: whether they are directly or indirectly supported by the manufacturers whose products or equipment are mentioned in the article, or are related to a competing manufacturer in this field.
Scientific articles must be written in clear, correct Lithuanian or English and meet the requirements for structure and content.
Articles are submitted in electronic format (Microsoft Word *.docx format, Times New Roman 12 font, printed at 1.5 spacing, with 2.5 cm margins). All pages must be numbered.
The electronic version of the article is sent by e-mail:
Manuscript structure
1. Title page. Indicate:
• title of the article in Lithuanian and English;
• full name(s) and surname(s) of the author(s);
• name of the institution. If the authors are from several institutions, a number is written after the surnames, which is explained accordingly by indicating the name of the institution (in Lithuanian and English);
• name and surname, work address, telephone numbers, and e-mail address of the author with whom the editorial office will maintain contact.
2. First page. Indicate:
• title of the article in Lithuanian and English;
• surnames of the authors and names of the institution are not written (from this page, the article is submitted to the reviewers);
• abstract in Lithuanian (200–250 words). The structure of the abstract must correspond to the structure of the article: purpose of the work, research material and methods, research results, conclusions, 5–6 keywords (it should not repeat the title of the article). The abstract should not contain abbreviations;
• Summary in English (200–250 words). The structure of the abstract in English: background, material and methods, results, conclusions, 5–6 keywords (should not repeat the title of the article).
3. Parts of the article (starting from the third page):
• Introduction, purpose of the work. The relevance, novelty of the article, the scope of the problem, and important works of other authors must be indicated.
• Research material and methods: the research material, experimental animals, patients, and methods must be described (human studies – in accordance with the principles of the 1975 Declaration of Helsinki, last amended in 2024, animal studies – in accordance with Directive 2010/63/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes and the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on the Welfare and Protection of Animals). Statistical data processing methods must also be indicated.
• Research results: the research results are based on statistical data analysis. The data presented in the text should not duplicate that in figures and tables.
• Discussion of the results: the results obtained in the scientific research are reviewed, the mechanisms are explained, the relationship of the studied indicators with other related factors is analyzed, the data are compared with the results of other researchers, research predictions, recommendations, etc. are provided.
• Conclusions: presented concisely, summarizing only the results of one's own research.
Note: The structure of literature reviews, clinical cases, or other articles may be different, but the article must contain the main parts described in points 1 and 2; only the structure of the main part of the article specified in point 3 may differ.
4. The reference list must be prepared in accordance with the requirements of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) “Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals”: https://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_requirements.html. The reference list must be numbered in the order of citation in the text. References to the source from this list are given in square brackets. If several sources are cited, they are separated by a comma (e.g.: [5, 6]), if they follow one another, by a dash (e.g.: [6–8]). If the author is mentioned in the article itself, the name is given first, then the surname, and in the reference list, the reverse is true – first the surname, then the name. If the source has more than six authors, the first six are listed, followed by “et al.” Journal abbreviations must be presented according to MEDLINE abbreviations. It is recommended to use publications from the past five years, unless older publications are necessary for reviewing the historical development of research or when there are few publications in the research area under consideration. The list of literature sources should not exceed sixty.
Latin and other language words must be written in italics in the Lithuanian text.
Tables and graphic illustrations
Tables must be prepared using Microsoft Word and presented in the text. They must be properly formatted, i.e., cells properly merged and split, table rows and columns aligned, and textual, numerical, and graphic information in the tables correctly presented. The table number and title in Lithuanian and English must be written before the table (e.g., Table 1. Blood serum lipoprotein spectrum in ischemic heart disease). Explanations and abbreviations must be presented at the bottom of the table.
The graphs (figures) in the article must be created in Microsoft Excel and embedded in the text. Graphs created using other programs should be presented in the *.pdf, *.jpg, or *.png formats as separate files.
Graphic illustrations, diagrams, images, and photographs must be presented in the text itself and in separate files in one of the following formats: *.tif, *.jpg, *.png, with a resolution of at least 200 dpi (300 dpi is preferred) and maximum physical dimensions (in pixels). The serial number and title in Lithuanian and English (e.g., Fig. 1. The age of operated patients) must be indicated at the bottom of the graph or illustration. If the article is published in English, the titles of illustrations and tables must be in English only.
Mathematical formulas should be prepared in the equation editor, Microsoft Equation, or be presented on a separate sheet, and their location in the text is indicated.
The integer number of decimal fractions is separated from the fractional number in the Lithuanian article by a comma, in the English article by a period.
The reference intervals and/or units of biological values should be presented according to the International System of Units (SI).
Reviewing
All the received manuscripts are reviewed by several (no less than two) members of the editors board or the specialist of the science area in question. Authors must take the remarks of the reviewer into consideration and submit a reviewed version and, if the author has enough of relevant arguments, leave the first version unchanged. Articles are rejected if they do not meet the requirements whatsoever . Thoroughly corrected article can be submitted to the journal again.
On the website of the journal http://zurnalas.llmd.lt summaries in English and Lithuanian are placed.
It is desired that the author should be subscribed to the journal.
