The Ulster Medical Journal is an international general medical journal with contributions from all areas of medical and surgical specialties relevant to a general medical readership. It retains a prime focus on material relevant to the health of the Northern Ireland population. The Journal is indexed on PubMed Central and Index Medicus.
The Journal's links with the Ulster Medical Society and Queens University Belfast are reflected in regular publication of Medical History and Medical Education articles.
Papers, case reports and letters should be sent to the Editor by e-mail at >editor@ums.ac.uk<. The subject heading of the email should have "UMJ" at the very start. The preferred format is Microsoft Word. The file name should include the working title of the paper, case report, or letter.
Manuscripts should be accompanied by a covering letter signed by all the authors agreeing to publication and stating: 1) that the work has not been published elsewhere; 2) that each author has been actively involved in the preparation of the paper; and 3), in outline, what contribution each author made to the paper. Any conflict of interest should be declared.
If there is any risk, however minimal, that a patient may be identified from a case report, illustration, or paper, we would ask for the patient's signed consent for publication.
PDF copies of the printed and signed covering letter and the patient's signed consent form may be submitted electronically but you should take steps to carefully preserve the paper originals.
A Consultant or GP Principal (or equivalent) is required to act as guarantor of the manuscript (usually as a co-author) in case of any issues that may arise after publication.
If e-mail submission is not possible, a CD or memory stick containing the manuscript, tables, images and covering letter can be sent to the Editor: David Armstrong, Honorary Editor, The Ulster Medical Society, Whitla Medical Building, 97 Lisburn Road, Belfast BT9 7BL, UK
Articles submitted for consideration should be typewritten in single spacing, with wide margins, preferably in Times (New) Roman 12pt font. They should be fully corrected and alterations in proof may be disallowed or charged to the authors.
Colour images and tables are encouraged and there is currently no charge for colour reproduction.
Images and tables should be included as separate high resolution .jpg or .tif files and NOT embedded in the Word manuscript file. Images should be appropriately annotated and labelled.
The Editor will be pleased to advise on the preparation of manuscripts on request.
After editorial checks, all manuscripts are independently refereed. The editor may request revision to a manuscript before it goes to the referee, e.g., embedded images, annotation of unlabelled images or poor quality of English.
After peer review by the referee, a manuscript may either be accepted for publication, accepted with minor or major revisions requested within a deadline or rejected. The Referee's and Editor's decisions are final and not open to negotiation. A manuscript may not be re-submitted after rejection.
The journal attempts to conform to the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) and authors should consult the ICMJE website for details of policies not specifically outlined above and particularly for research on animals and other ethical considerations. In addition, the journal is a member of the Committee On Publication Ethics (COPE).