Guide for Authors

Guide for Authors

  1. General Information
  2. Copyright, Licensing, Publication Rights
  3. Originality and plagiarism
  4. Types of Articles
  5. Manuscript Preparation
  6. Supplementary Material
  7. Pre-submission Checklist
  8. Peer Review Process
  9. Manuscript Revision
  10. After Acceptance - Reprints/Offprints - Permissions
  11. Privacy Statement
  12. Publication Fees
  13. General Information 
  • Microbes and Infectious Diseases is the official journal of the Faculty of Medicine, Zagazig University, Egypt. Authors from other institutions are welcome. The journal welcomes manuscripts from around the world. This peer-reviewed journal covers medical/clinical/pharmaceutical microbiology, infection prevention and control, and infectious diseases. For the full aim and scope, please visit: Journal Aim and Scope.
  • The journal adheres to the ICMJE's recommendations for medical journal conduct and publishing standards, as well as best practices from other professional organizations, including principles of transparency and best practice for scholarly publications of COPE, the Open Access Scholarly Publishing Association (OASPA), the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME), and the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ).
  • Manuscripts previously published or under review elsewhere are not considered. Ethical standards prohibit plagiarism, undisclosed conflicts of interest, inappropriate authorship, and duplicate publication. Unethical publishing, such as plagiarism, undisclosed conflicts of interest, inappropriate authorship, and duplicate publication are forbidden. 
  • Ethical responsibilities of authors: Authors must disclose any financial relationship(s) at submission, and the authors must update any disclosures prior to publication. The authors must also state any Information that could be perceived as potential conflict(s) of interest that includes, but is not limited to, grants or funding, employment, affiliations, royalties, patents, honoraria, consultancies, inventions, stock options/ownership, or expert testimony (please see the publication ethicsbefore submitting the article). 
  • Manuscripts must be written in English and to be 'spell-checked' and 'grammar checked'. 
  • Publication fees are periodically reviewed and can be informed to authors by direct communication. Additional fees for colored pictures and extra pages are also applicable. 
  • Online submission: All manuscripts should be sent on line Via Microbes and Infectious diseases website (https://mid.journals.ekb.eg/), authors should first register to the Editorial system, then Please follow the hyperlink “manuscript submission” and upload all of your manuscript files following the instructions given under the title manuscript preparation. The system converts your article files to a single PDF file used in the peer-review process. Editable files (e.g., Word) are required to typeset your article for final publication. All correspondence, including notification of the Editor's decision and requests for revision, are sent by e-mail. Authors are welcomed to see the Author Guide Video in the journal homepage.  
  • Manuscript should be prepared according to Manuscript preparation (see the relevant section below). 
  1. Copyright, Licensing, Publication Rights 
  • Microbes and Infectious Diseases is published under the Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), allowing unrestricted reuse with proper attribution. Users can read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts as long as the original work is cited correctly.
  • Authors retain the copyrights and transfer only the commercial rights to the publisher (Zagazig University). For more details, please visit the journal Publication Ethics.
  1. Originality and plagiarism 
  • The authors should ensure that they have written entirely original works. If the authors have used the work and/or words of others that this has been appropriately cited or quoted.
  • To verify originality, your article may be checked by the originality detection service. All new submissions to Microbes and Infectious Diseases are automatically screened using Crossref Similarity Check (powered by iThenticate) to screen all new manuscripts for plagiarism within the editorial system.
  • Editors may also choose to run a similarity report at any other stage during the peer review process or post-publication. Authors and researchers can also use iThenticate to screen their work before submission by visiting http://www.ithenticate.com/. 
  1. Types of Articles 

The journal editorial board is considering for publication the following: 

  1. a)   Original Articles 

-    Should report relevant original research not published before, in the following format: 

  • Word limit: 3500 words (excluding the abstract and references). 
  • Abstract: structured up to 300 words to include Background, Methods, Results, and Conclusions. 
  • References: 40 or less. 
  • Tables and figures: no more than 7 Tables/Figures. 
  1. b)  Short Reports (case reports) 

-    Should describe a case or several cases presenting with an unusual clinical aspect of a disease or novel perspectives upon, or solutions to, clinically relevant issues in the following format: 

  • Word limit: 1000 words (excluding the abstract and references). 
  • Abstract: unstructured of no more than 200 words. 
  • References: 10-12 
  • Tables and figures: no more than 2 Tables/Figures 
  1. c)  Review Articles 

-    Review topics should be related to all fields of clinical and basic medical sciences and should reflect trends and progress or synthesis of data in the following format: 

  • Word limit: 4000 words (excluding the abstract and references). 
  • References: 40 or less. 
  • Abstract: Up to 150 words, unstructured. 
  • Tables/Figures: Data in the text should not be repeated extensively in tables or figures. 
  1. d)  Systematic review or meta-analysis 

- Topics should be related to all fields of clinical and basic medical sciences. The manuscript must include 5 sections following the PRISMA guidelines and should reflect trends and progress or synthesis of data in the following format: 

  • Word limit: 4000 words (excluding the abstract and references). 
  • References: 50 or less. 
  • Abstract: Up to 350 words, unstructured. 
  • Tables/Figures: Data in the text should not be repeated extensively in tables or figures. 
  1. e)   Mini-review article 

-    Review topics should be related to clinical aspects of infectious diseases, public health and infection control and should reflect trends and progress or synthesis of data in the following format: 

  • Word limit: 2000 words (excluding the abstract and references).
  • References: 20 or less. 
  • Abstract: Up to 150 words, unstructured. 
  • Tables/Figures: Data in the text should not be repeated extensively in tables or figures. 
  1. f)    Correspondence 

-    Comments by readers about articles that have been published in Microbes and Infectious Diseases within 6 months of its online posting in the following format: 

  • Word limit: 700 words. 
  • Tables/Figures: Typically, not included (A maximum of 1 figure or table).
  • References: 5 or less. 
  1. g)   Editorials 

-     Editorials are solicited by the editorial board members or those who are invited by Editor-in-Chief in the following format: 

  • Word limit: 1200 words. 
  • Tables/Figures: A maximum of 1 figure or table. 
  • References: 10 or less. 
  • Ensure that there is a clear message in the conclusion. 
  1. h)   Letter to the Editor 

These should be submitted in response to recently published articles in the journal addressing a specific issue and to introduce a focused scientific opinion or point of view, in the following format: 

  • Word limit: 500 words. 
  • Abstract: none. 
  • Tables/Figures: A maximum of 1 figure or table. 
  • References: 10 or less. 
  • No subheadings. 
  • Begin with ‘Dear Editor 
  1. Manuscript Preparation
  • The manuscript submitted to Microbes and Infectious Diseases should be word-processed and typed on one column. With the same rules, abstracts are typed on one column followed by keywords. Pages should have a margin of 2.5 cm. The text is double-spaced; uses a 12-point font in Times New Roman. 
  • The submitted manuscript should include: 

5.1. Cover Page

5.2. Title Page

5.3. Abstract

5.4. Introduction

5.5. Methods

5.6. Results

5.7. Discussion

5.8. Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest

5.9. References

5.10. Tables

5.11. Figures

5.12. Supplemental Material 

5.1. The manuscript should be submitted with a cover letter stating the following: 

  • That the manuscript is submitted for consideration for publication in Microbes and Infectious Diseases. Please specify the category of the submitted manuscript. 
  • That the research contained in the manuscript has not been published, and the manuscript is not under consideration elsewhere. 
  • That all authors have participated in the concept and design, analysis and interpretation of data, and drafting or revising of the manuscript, and they have approved the manuscript as submitted. 

5.2. Title page 

This page should include: 

  • The article type: Original article, short report, review article, etc. 
  • Title of paper: concise and informative. Avoid abbreviations and formulae where possible. (Including animal species if appropriate). 
  • Author names and affiliations. Please clearly indicate the given name(s) and family name(s) of each author and check that all names are accurately spelled. Provide the full postal address of each affiliation, including the country name and, if available, the e-mail address of each author. 
  • Corresponding author. Clearly indicate who will handle correspondence at all stages of refereeing and publication, also post-publication.  This responsibility includes answering any future queries about   Methodology and Materials. Ensure that the e-mail address is given and that contact details are kept up to date by the corresponding author. 
  • Conflict of Interest: Any financial or personal relationships with other people or organizations that could inappropriately influence (bias) the authors' actions. 
  • Financial Disclosures: Any specific financial interests, relationships and affiliations relevant to the subject of the manuscript. These can include employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership, etc. 

5.3. Abstract 

  • The Abstract should be no more than 250 words.  Abstracts are to be structured into four paragraphs as follows: a Background (including aim of the work), Methods, Results and Conclusions. References should be avoided, but if essential, then cite the author(s) and year(s). Also, non-standard, or uncommon abbreviations should be avoided, but if essential they must be defined at their first mention in the abstract itself. 
  • Keywords: Up to five keywords should be provided at the end of the Abstract using American spelling and avoiding general and plural terms and multiple concepts (avoid, for example, 'and', 'of'), separated by semicolons. 

5.4.   Introduction 

  • The Introduction should contain a clear statement of the objectives of the work and provide an adequate background, avoiding a detailed literature survey, a summary of the results, or conclusions. 

5.5.   Methods 

  • Sufficient information should be given to permit repetition of the experimental work. 
  • Informed consent and ethics committee/IRB approval: A paper describing experimental work in humans must: (1) indicate that informed consent has been obtained from patients where appropriate, (2) include a statement that the responsible ethics committee (e.g: Institutional Review Board, Faculty of Medicine, Zagazig University) has given approval. Do not use patients’ names, initials or hospital numbers, especially in illustrative material. 
  • Research involving human subjects, human material, or human data should explicitly state compliance with the Declaration of Helsinki.
  • Study design: We encourage the use of reporting guidelines such the CONSORT statement for randomized, controlled trials and the STROBE statement for observational studies. For more details, authors are encouraged to follow the international initiative for Enhancing the Quality and Transparency Of health Research (EQUATOR).
  • Informed consent: Authors are expected to have obtained approval by the appropriate institutional ethics (For example Institutional Review Board; IRB) or research committee and informed patient consent.
  • Medical research involving a vulnerable group (e.g., neonates, children, pregnant women, prisoners, etc.) is ethically justified only if it directly addresses the health needs or priorities of that group and cannot be conducted within a non-vulnerable population. Informed consent from parents or guardians of this group must be obtained. Furthermore, members of this group should anticipate benefiting from the knowledge, practices, or interventions derived from the research. See COPE guidelines.
  • The welfare of animals used in research must be upheld. Authors reporting experiments on animals should specify adherence to ARRIVE guidelines, as well as international, national, and/or institutional guidelines for animal care and use and confirm approval by a research ethics committee at the relevant institution or practice.
  • The editors reserve the right to reject manuscripts that do not comply with the above-mentioned requirements. The authors will be held responsible for false statements or for failure to fulfill the above-mentioned requirements. 
  • Equipment: Manufacturer, city, state, and country must be given. 
  • Chemical substances: must be properly identified. Except for standard laboratory chemicals, the source of supply must be given. Drugs must be identified by the generic or official name wherever possible. Proprietary names should be avoided. 
  • Genes: Italic characters should be used for gene symbols including genotypes, alleles etc. 
  • Units of measurement: Units should conform to the SI convention, except for blood pressure (which should be expressed in mmHg) and hemoglobin (g/l). Gas or pressure values should be given as mmHg with kPa in parentheses or vice versa. Where molecular weight is known, the amount of a substance should be expressed in mol or appropriate subunit (mmol etc.). Energy should be expressed in kJ. 
  • Statistical analyses: Describe statistical methods in sufficient detail to enable a knowledgeable reader with access to the original data to verify the reported results.  Computer software packages that are used for anything other than widely known standard statistical procedures should be identified by name or acronym and by author or organization of origin. When variability is expressed in terms of the SEM or SD, the number of observations (n) must also be given. Both the sample size and statistical significance with p values should be predefined.

5.6.  Results 

  • The results should be stated concisely without discussion and should not normally contain any references. The same data should not be presented in figures and tables.
  • Do not repeat all the data that are set out in the tables or figures in the text; emphasize or summarize only important observations. 
  • Authors are asked to submit their work research data. The data set includes all data, metadata, and methods used to reach the conclusions in the submitted paper, as well as any additional data necessary to replicate the study's findings.
  • Authors may be asked to provide raw data for editorial review and should retain data for a reasonable time after publication.

5.7.  Discussion 

The Discussion should deal with the interpretation of the results and not recapitulate them. We encourage authors to    write their Discussion in a structured way, as follows: 

  • Statement of principal findings 
  • Strengths and weaknesses of the study 
  • Strengths and weaknesses in relation to other studies 
  • Discussion of important differences in results; the meaning of the study 
  • Unanswered questions and future research. 
  • Conclusions: The main conclusions of the study may be presented in a short Conclusions section, which may stand alone or form a subsection of a Discussion or Results and Discussion section.  

5.8. Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest  

  • The corresponding author will include a summary statement in the text of the manuscript in a separate section before the reference list that include; Declaration of interest and Funding information. If no conflict exists, the authors should state: The authors report no conflicts of interest.  
  • Contributors: Each author is required to declare his or her individual contribution to the article: all authors must have materially participated in the research and/or article preparation, so roles for all authors may be described. The statement that all authors have approved the final article should be true and included in the disclosure.  
  • Authorship: All authors should have made substantial contributions to all of the following: (1) the conception and design of the study, or acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data, (2) drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content, (3) final approval of the version to be submitted. 

5.9.   References 

  • The authors are responsible for the accuracy and completeness of their references. References should be formatted according to the American Medical Association Manual of Style (10th ed.) Each reference should be identified in the text in numerical order and should be identified by superscript Arabic numerals. Please begin the reference list on a separate page after the acknowledgments. Do not use “Endnotes” or similar programs for entering references. 
  • When formatting references, provide all authors’ names when fewer than seven; when seven or more, list the first six and add et al. Any articles that are not in English must be translated. See Cumulative Index Medicus for abbreviating journal titles. 
  • Examples of correct forms of references are:

Journal Article

Bhatia S. Do we need a quality standard to use primers and probes from literature? Microb Infect Dis 2024; 5(1): 1-3. doi: 10.21608/mid.2023.244740.1642.

Raihen MN, Ahammed MM, Akter S. Evaluating the impact of seasonal Influenza virus: A comprehensive epidemiological forecast and analysis in Ghana from 2021 to 2023. Microb Infect Dis 2024; 5(2): 459-474. doi: 10.21608/mid.2024.258309.1734.

Ekeocha E, Nwafia A, Joy C, Ifeadike C, Okoye C, Afonne O, et al. Assessment of male partner involvement in PMTCT of HIV/AIDS among HIV-positive pregnant women attending adult HIV care in Nauth, Nnewi. Microb Infect Dis 2024; 5(2): 485-496. doi: 10.21608/mid.2023.227079.1585.

Book Chapter 

Pfaller MA. Role of Viruses in Disease. In: Murray PR, Rosenthal KS, Pfaller MA eds. Manual of clinical micro-biology handbook. Washington, DC: ASM Press; 2019: 384-391. 

Entire Book 

Murray PR, Rosenthal KS, Pfaller MA. Manual of clinical micro-biology handbook. Washington, DC: ASM Press; 2019.

Web Sites

Centers for  Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Antimicrobial Resistance: Causes and How It Spreads. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/antimicrobial-resistance/causes/index.html. Accessed June 22, 2024. 

5.10.    Tables 

  • Tables should be numbered with Arabic numerals. Tables must be submitted in Excel or Word table format and not as images. Each table should have a short informative heading which is self-explanatory without reference to the text. Footnotes should be kept to a minimum. The units in which the results are expressed should be given in parentheses at the head of each column and not repeated on each line of the table. Number tables in order of their mention in the text. 

5.11.    Figures 

  • Graphs and diagrams: Line drawings and graphs should be of a professional standard. Freehand or typewritten lettering and numbering are unacceptable. Ruled lines, curves and symbols must be sufficiently bold to withstand reduction.  Curves should not be drawn beyond the experimental points, nor should experimental points extend beyond the scales of the axes. For scatter diagrams, solid symbols are preferred. 
  • Images: Figures can be submitted as EPS, JPEG, and TIFF file types. Numbers, letters and symbols must be large enough to be read easily after reduction. If photographs of patients are used, either the subject should not be identifiable, or the picture must be accompanied by written permission to use the figure. 
  • Legends for figures: Legends should be short, self-explanatory and contain enough information to identify the figures and enable them to stand as a separate entity from the text. 
  1. Supplementary material (for online publication only) 
  • These should be submitted with the manuscript for peer-review and approval by the Editors. Supplemental material, which should be referenced in the body of the main text, can include figures, tables, movies, and animations (extra- material beyond the journal limit of tables/figures for each manuscript format). Supplemental Material will be published Online-only as submitted.
  • It will not be copyedited or formatted by the publisher in any way. The accuracy and presentation of Supplemental Material is the sole responsibility of the authors. Please submit your material together with the article and supply a concise, descriptive caption for each supplementary file. 
  1. Pre-submission checklist
  • All necessary files have been uploaded
  • A cover letter that should include the name, address, e-mail, and telephone number of the corresponding author, who is responsible for communicating with the other authors about revisions and final approval.
  • Manuscript:
    • Include keywords
    • All figures (include relevant captions)
    • All tables (including titles, description, footnotes)
    • Ensure all figure and table citations in the text match the files provided
    • Manuscript has been 'spell-checked' and 'grammar checked'
    • All references mentioned in the Reference List are cited in the text, and vice versa
    • A competing interest statement is provided, even if the authors have no competing interests to declare
    • Journal policies detailed in this guide have been reviewed.  
  1. Peer Review Process
  • All manuscripts are subject to a strict peer-review process (double-blind peer review process) involving members of the editorial board and external reviewers with expertise in the subject matter.
  • The process starts with an initial review by the Editor-In-Chief or Co-Editor-In-Chief who makes an initial assessment of suitability for Microbes and Infectious Diseases Journal.
  • All new submissions to Microbes and Infectious Diseases are automatically screened using Crossref Similarity Check (powered by iThenticate) to screen all new manuscripts for plagiarism within the editorial system. The Editor-In-Chief may also choose to run a similarity report at any other stage during the peer review process or post-publication. Authors can also use iThenticate to screen their work before submission by visitinghttp://www.ithenticate.com/.
  • If the manuscript is deemed of interest, it is then assigned to a member of the editorial board who serves as the principal reviewing editor.
  • The reviewing editor invites external reviewers (a minimum of two independent expert reviewers) who are blinded to the manuscript author(s) to further assess the manuscript, recommend any revisions, and offer their opinion on acceptability.
  • Depending on the reviewing editor/reviewers’ recommendations, the Editor-In-Chief is responsible for the final decision regarding acceptance or rejection of articles.
  • Manuscripts can be accepted, with minor or major revisions, or rejected. If the decision is ‘revision’, the authors are requested to take the remarks of the referees and editors into account. A second reviewing process can follow. Upon final acceptance, the authors will be notified by Email, and the accepted manuscript will be finally edited by the language editor for free linguistic edit service.
  • After the linguistic edit of the accepted article, the galley proof will be sent as a WORD file to the corresponding author. This proof must be carefully corrected and sent back within two working days.
  • We encourage a systematic approach to manuscript review and provide reviewers with the "COPE Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers" (available at: https://publicationethics.org/resources/guidelines-new/cope-ethical-guidelines-peer-reviewers).
  • The journal’s first decision for the first-round revision may be expected at the earliest four weeks after submission, and the final decision of acceptance or rejection is expected within 6-8 weeks. For details link to Pear Review Process.  
  1. Manuscript Revision 
  • If you are asked to revise your manuscript you will be expected to provide an author’s response to reviewers' word file that responds in detail to each point raised by reviewers or editors and to highlight new material in the text using a different color.
  • If a manuscript returned to the authors for revision is not returned to the Editorial Office within the stipulated time period (average 3-5 weeks), it may be treated as a new manuscript, which could delay your possible publication in the journal.  
  1. After Acceptance
  • Reprints/offprint 
    • The publication processing charges (for Egyptian authors only) are submitted for providing the authors with a free copy from the online published article (WORD format).
    • If the authors asked for printed copies, a minimum of 30 copies is essential with extra charge. 
  • Permissions 
    • Verbatim material or illustrations taken from other published sources must be accompanied by a written statement from the author, giving permission to Microbes and Infectious Diseases for reproduction.  
  1. Privacy Statement

The names and email addresses entered in this journal site will be used exclusively for the stated purposes of this journal and will not be made available for any other purpose or to any other party.  

  1. Publication Fees

The publication fee for Microbes and Infectious Diseases is 2500 EP for Egyptian authors only (Free for non-Egyptian authors). Publication fees will be required once the paper is finally accepted for publication. The acceptance to pay the handling fee is not a guarantee that the paper will be accepted for publication. Authors may still request (in advance) that the editorial office waive some/or all the handling fees under special circumstances.