Guideline for OSIR Publication

Target audience is animal and public health practitioners, and those who understand basic epidemiologic methods.

Submission Preparation

The manuscript must be an original article and has not submitted or published in any peer-reviewed journals, without any conflict of interest. The manuscript is not published in any languages.
All co-authors of this manuscript are well informed and have approved for publication. The manuscript is approved by all relevant organizations/institutions for publication. Author and supervisor responsible for dissemination of information in the manuscript must sign the OSIR clearance form and submit to OSIR Editor in order to complete the submission process. The OSIR Editor will send the OSIR clearance form to author upon submitting of a manuscript.

Data set related to the information in manuscript should be prepared well and available upon request as author may be informed to check data during the editing and reviewing processes.

Manuscripts submitted for OSIR publication must be in Microsoft Word version 2003 file format and uploaded on the OSIR website or sent to OSIR Editor’s email at: <osireditor@osirjournal.net>.

The text is in Calibri font, single-spaced and 12-point size.

All tables, illustrations and figures are referred in the text and placed after the references. Tables should be in text rather than picture. Graphs and charts should be submitted with a separate file in Microsoft Excel version 2003 file format.

In Results, all percentage should be one decimal point with stating nominator and denominator in parentheses. However, if applicable, no decimal is used in other parts of the manuscript, especially Introduction and Discussion.

Abstract
Non-structured abstract may not exceed 200 words in length. This word count does not include the title, author list, information in the heading and keywords.

Manuscript
Manuscripts submitted to OSIR should be between total 1200 and 2200 words.

(1) Title (Suggested length: no more than 75 characters)
Your title may either describe the study or pose a question expressing your primary objective. Please include:

  • Disease or event
  • Time occurred
  • Place occurred

(2) Introduction (Suggested length: 150-300 words)

This section describes why you conducted your study.

Context

  • General information about the significance of the disease
  • Occurrence of disease in region
  • Surveillance data or other information on disease burden and risk factors (susceptible population)
  • Worldwide magnitude of disease (number of cases, rank on scale of morbidity/mortality)
      • Regional/National magnitude
      • Provincial magnitude
  • Historical Perspective (disease trend, emerging or re-emerging)
  • Typical demographics of cases
  • Prevention and control strategies currently in use (i.e., vaccination, vector control, etc)
  • Availability and type of diagnostic testing

Biological Information (great detail is not necessary)

  • Microbiology/pathophysiology
  • Natural history of an infection
  • Clinical presentation of infection
  • Seasonality of the disease
  • Mode of transmission
  • Reservoirs

 Gap in Knowledge that Made this Work Necessary

  • Information that is currently missing and the reason you needed to conduct your study.
  • Importance of your research question
  • Impact of your research

 Objective(s)

  • Verification of an outbreak
  • Determination of disease’s etiology
  • Risk factors of the disease
  • Determination/effectiveness of control measures
  • Route of transmission
  • Cite evidence that supports, refutes, or questions related hypotheses
  • Describe natural history of disease

(3) Methods (Suggested length: 350-500 words)

This section describes how you conducted your study.  A comprehensive methods section would provide enough information to allow someone in a similar situation to replicate exactly what you did.

Location and Timeframe

  • Map of the province and country
  • Urban vs. rural setting
  • Population of study area
  • Unique characteristics of population and geography
  • Duration of the study and dates of initiation, completion, other relevant dates
  • Time of year

 Study Population

  • Case definition
  • How were cases identified and recruited? 

Study Design

  • Descriptive
  • Case-control
  • Cohort
  • Cross-sectional
  • Ecologic

 Data Collection

  • Data source and survey instrument
  • Type of interview
  • Biological/chemical samples
  • Environmental samples

Analysis

  • Type of analysis
  • Statistical tests and software program
  • License of the software program if it is not a free set
  • Reference for open-source software
  • Significance level

Ethical Approval

  • Ethical approval acquired from the related organization
  • Ethical approval number if any

(4) Results (Suggested length: 250-550 words)

This section describes what your study found.  Key results from the analyses which support the conclusion should be reported.  We strongly encourage using graphics to display your findings; even more so than you would in a peer-reviewed journal.

Demographic

    • Simple demographic information

Graphics/Tables

      • Graphics and tables should be simple, clear-cut and easily understandable
      • Avoid pie charts and 3-D graphics
      • Describe the principle pattern and features without repeating all the raw data from each table/figure
      • For more information: Edward Tufte’s books, <http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/books_visex>.

Figure 1. Draft


Figure 2. Edited

Response Rate

      • Were you able to obtain information from most of your cases?
      • Define denominator 

Characteristics of Cases/Sample Population

      • Describe by person, place and time

Epi Curve

      • CDC Guidance on creating Epi Curve: <http://www.cdc.gov/cogh/dgphcd/modules/MiniModules/Epidemic_Curve/page01.htm>

Primary Outcome

      • Findings of the primary analysis you proposed in your methods section, and findings that address the objective of your work with descriptive statistics
      • Measures of association (univariate and/or multivariate analyses) and inferential statistics (confidence intervals or p-value)

Lab Results

      • Type of sample
      • Lab test used
      • Reference level
      • Sensitivity and specificity of lab tests
      • Reference for lab method

Further Analysis

      • Secondary analysis
      • Environmental result

(5) Discussion (Suggested length: 300-500 words)

This section explains the findings of your study.  All of your findings should not repeat here - just refer to them as needed to discuss them.

      • Summarize the key findings
      • Linkage of overall results with the objectives
      • Interpret each of your results
      • Compare findings with literature. Agree or disagree?
      • If disagree, explain why
      • Limitations
      • Significance of findings

(6) Public Health Action and Recommendations (Suggested length: 150-350 words)

      • This is where practical information is provided to your readers and where your work can have the greatest impact on controlling disease.
      • Data must support the action and recommendation.
      • Follow up

(7) References