Obstetrics & Gynaecology Communications (OGC) is published bimonthly and welcomes contributions in the broad field of obstetrics and gynaecology. These may fall within the categories of an original paper, invited paper, review article, case report or letter to the editor.

A copy of the manuscript together with a covering letter stating that the submitted material has not been previously published nor is under consideration for publication elsewhere should be sent to:

Dr. Manju Purohit
Managing Editor
Obstetrics & Gynaecology
Communications
No 373, Sector 14
Gurgaon, India.

The receipt of contributions will be acknowledged.

Manuscript criteria

Material submitted should adhere exactly to the stated instructions and format. Manuscripts which do not conform to the approved format will be returned without review.

For guidance on style, authors should refer to a current issue of OGC and/or to the Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals. ¹

A copy of this paper can be obtained from Dr. Manju Purohit.

Please note: All accepted papers become the permanent property of OGC and may not be published elsewhere without written permission from the journal.

Categories of Articles and Conditions

Editorials - Length should not exceed 1000 words; the number of tables or figures should not be more than two, and references not more than 10.

Original paper/articles Length should not exceed 2000 words; the number of tables, figures, or both should not be more than six, and references not more than 40. Headings for different sections should be provided.

Review articles These are in general invited papers but unsolicited reviews, if of good quality, will be considered. Length should not exceed 2000 words; the number of tables, figures, or both should not be more than six, and references not more than 40. Headings for different sections should be provided.

Case reports These should deal with a clinical problem of special interest. Length should not exceed 1000 words; the number of tables, figures, or both should not be more than two, and references not more than 10.

Letters to the editor Communications on all aspects of obstetrics and gynaecology are encouraged. Length should not exceed more than 300 words, and references should number no more than five. Letters can be faxed directly to the editorial office at (91) 11 6446150

Manuscript preparation

Manuscripts should preferably be wordprocessed. Alternatively, they may be typed doublespaced with 3 cm (1") margins on good quality A4 (21 x 30 cm) paper. Pages should be numbered consecutively.

Once a manuscript is accepted for publication, the author for correspondence will be asked to send a floppy disk (preferably a new 3.5" disk) prepared on either an IBMcompatible personal computer or on a Macintosh computer.

Please note: All papers should be written in English; spelling should comply with the Concise Oxford English Dictionary. Use Système International (SI) measurements only. Do not use abbreviations in the title or abstract and limit their use in the text. Standard abbreviations should be defined on first mention in the text unless it is a standard unit of measurement. Use Arabic numerals for numbers above nine, for designators (e.g. case 5, day 2, etc.), and for units of measure and time (e.g. 3-year, 4 days). Numbers should be spelled out if below 10, at the beginning of sentences, and for fractions below one. Use generic names of drugs, unless the specific trade name of a drug used is directly relevant to the discussion. In original articles, the maker of the study drug must be given.

Authors must give the name of the software program used (e.g. WordPerfect 5.0, Microsoft Word 5.1a).

The manuscript should be arranged as follows:

Title page
This should contain:

1. The title of the article which should be concise but informative.
   
   
2. A short running title of less than 40 characters (counting letters and spaces).
   
   
3. The first name, middle initial, and last name of each author, with their highest academic degree(s). N.B. A maximum of six authors are permitted.
   
   
4. The name of the department(s) and institution(s) to which the authors are affiliated.
   
   
5. The address, telephone and fax number of the designated author for correspondence.

Summary The purpose, procedures, main findings, and principal conclusions of the investigation should be summarised in four or five concise 'bullet-points'.

Introduction The rationale for the study should be summarised and pertinent background material outlined. This should not include findings or conclusions.

Patients and Methods These should be described in sufficient detail to leave the reader in no doubt as to how the results are derived.

Results These should be presented in logical sequence in the text, tables, and illustrations; repetitive presentation of the same data in different forms should be avoided. This section should not include material appropriate to the Discussion. Results must be statistically analysed where appropriate, and the statistical guidelines of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors should be followed.¹

Discussion Data given in the Results section should not be repeated here. Rather, this section should present the major findings and implications of the study. This may include an evaluation of methodology and of the relationship of new information to the existing body of knowledge in that field. Conclusions should be incorporated into the final paragraph and should be consistent with and completely supported by data in the text.

References Number references in the order they appear in the text; do not alphabetise. References should follow the Vancouver style and should appear in the text, tables, and legends as Arabic numerals in superscript. Journal titles should be abbreviated in accordance with Index Medicus. Authors are responsible for the accuracy of references and must verify them against the original documents. List all authors and/or editors up to six; if more than six, list the first three and 'et al.' in italics. In the case of journal citations, the journal name must appear in italics and the volume number in bold font.

Tables

	Ensure that each table is cited in the text. Number tables consecutively in the order of their first citation in the text and supply a brief title for each.
	Type or printout each table double-spaced on a separate sheet of A4 paper.
	Do not submit tables as photographs.
	Give each column a short or abbreviated heading.
	Place explanatory matter in footnotes, not in the heading.
	All non-standard abbreviations used in each table should be defined in the footnotes, in alphabetical order. For footnotes, use the following symbols, in this sequence: *,, , §, **,,,...
	Statistical measures of variations such as standard deviation (SD), standard error of the mean (SEM), or confidence interval (CI) should be identified in headings.
	Vertical and horizontal line divisions should be omitted.

Illustrations (Figures)

	Ensure that each figure is cited in the text and clearly labelled. Number illustrations consecutively in the order of their first citation in the text; supply a brief legend for each.
	Legends should be typed or printed on a separate page, double-spaced and with Arabic numerals.
	When symbols, arrows, numbers, or letters are used to identify part of an illustration, each one should be identified and clearly explained in the legend.

Please note: Illustrations can include photographs, photomicro-graphs, charts, and diagrams. Photographs of persons must be retouched to make the subject unidentifiable, and be accompanied by written permission from the subject to use the photograph.

Reference

1. International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals. JAMA 1993;269:2282-6

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