Focus and Scope

Folia Medica Facultatis Medicinae Universitatis Saraeviensis is a Journal of Faculty of Medicine, University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is an international, English-language, peer reviewed journal, publishing articles from different disciplines of medical sciences. The Journal “Folia Medica” welcomes original research articles and comprehensive reviews, as well as, case reports, books reviews and short research communications in the field of biomedicine.

Types of papers that can be submitted

Original research articles: original experimental and clinical studies should not exceed 4400 words including tables and references.

Case Reports: presentation of a clinical case which may suggest novel working hypothesis, with a short discussion on the pertinent literature. The text should not exceed 2400 words.

Correspondence: letters to the Editors should not exceed 500 words, should not be signed by more than three authors and should not have more than 5 references. Preferably, letters should refer to a Journal article published within the last 3 months or to novel hypotheses so as to stimulate comments on issues of common interest. The Editors will generally solicit replies. The Editors reserve the right to modify the text.

Current Perspectives: invited articles by recognized authorities, including position papers, reviews, and special topics of general interest. Independent submission will also be considered.

Editorials: invited articles or brief editorial comments that represent opinions of recognized leaders in biomedical research.

Fast-Track Articles: short articles or preliminary reports on laboratory or clinical findings, presenting important new insights or major advances, produced with established methods or new applications of an established or new method. The text should not exceed 2400 words.

Section Policies

Articles

• Folia Medica

Open Submissions

Indexed

Peer Reviewed

Case reports

Open Submissions

Indexed

Peer Reviewed

Indexing/Abstracting

EBSCO, Chemical abstract service, HINARI

Publication Process

Criteria for acceptance by Folia Medica include originality, validity of data, clarity of writing, strength of the conclusions, and potential importance of the work to the field of biomedical sciences.

When a research manuscript arrives, deputy editors check whether the manuscript is prepared according to the guidelines set by Folia Medica. The Deputy Editors decide whether the manuscript sufficiently meets basic criteria to warrant further consideration and peer review. Submitted manuscripts will not be included in further process if they do not conform to standard English usage and to the Instructions for authors, which comply with those formulated by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. For further details, authors should consult the following article: International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. "Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals" The complete document is available at http://www.icmje.org.

Also, a deputy editor handles each research manuscript through the editing process once it has been through review in the hands of an associate editor. 

Deputy editors with Editor-In-Chief are also the primary editors for all non-research content in Folia Medica.

Submitted manuscripts may be rejected without detailed comments after initial review by the deputy editors if the manuscripts are considered inappropriate or of insufficient scientific value for publication in Folia Medica.

Remaining papers are distributed to the relevant associate editor, who determines whether a manuscript meets basic criteria of quality, novelty, and potential clinical impact.  If so, the manuscript is sent to two peer reviewers. If the associate editor wishes to decline it without peer review, it is sent to a deputy editor for a second opinion; if the deputy editor disagrees, it is sent on for peer review. 

Using peer reviews and their own judgment, the associate editors decide whether to reject a manuscript (a decision which must be seconded by a deputy editor) or to bring it forth for discussion at the weekly editorial meeting. After discussion at the meeting, each submission is assigned to one of four categories:

• Major Revision: The Journal is interested, but the manuscript is not acceptable in its current form and needs to be revised to be considered for publication.

• Minor Revision: The manuscript requires some revisions before it can be accepted.

• Willing Rejection: The manuscript is not suitable for publication unless the authors conduct further research or collect additional data.

• Rejection: Publication is declined and the reviewers’ comments are provided to the authors.

The associate editor communicates this decision to the authors in a detailed letter that puts forth questions raised in the review process and recommends the revisions needed to meet the standards for publication. Authors respond to the associate editor with a revised manuscript and letter detailing the changes.  When the manuscript is returned by the author, the associate editor reviews the revised manuscript and decides whether further peer review or statistical review is 
needed (and often brings the revisions to another editorial meeting for discussion). 

The editor-in-chief reviews the final submission and may raise further questions. The editor-in-chief is the only person who can officially accept a paper. The editor’s formal acceptance sends an article into manuscript editing (for copyediting) and production.

Submission procedure

Covering letter - in which authors explain the importance of their study, title of the manuscript, author names with email addresses, abstract of the manuscript and the manuscript.

Submission letter - in addition to the covering letter, the authors should send scanned copy of the submission letter signed by all the authors listed in the manuscript.

Manuscript text file – information regarding manuscript preparation can be found here

Authors should NOT in addition post a hard copy of the manuscript and submission letter, unless they are supplying artwork, letters or files that cannot be submitted electronically, or have been instructed to do so by the editorial office.

For those authors who have no option but to submit by postal mail please send one copy of the article, together with an electronic version on CD or DVD to our mailing adress. 

Post acceptance

Copyediting and production

All correspondence concerning the copyediting and production of accepted manuscripts should be addressed to: folia.medica@mf.unsa.ba

After acceptance, the editorial office forwards materials to the production department which transforms the manuscript files into an article. During the copyediting process the manuscript undergoes checking for style, grammar, nomenclature, references and proper type-marking codes.

Production department outputs page proofs and notifies the author via an e-mail that the proofs are available for viewing. At this point the authors can be contacted by production department if additional corrections and clarifications are to be made. Proofs are available for the author’s review prior to online and/or print publication. This generally occurs between three to six weeks after a manuscript arrives in a journal’s production office.

Proofreading

Rough galley proofs are supplied to the corresponding author as a PDF, along with instructions. During the proofreading stage the authors are required to read through the pages carefully and mark any changes in a clear and legible fashion, either in the margin, on a separate sheet, or electronically within the PDF document if using the Notes Tool. Proofs must be returned within 48 hours. 

Publication fees and article-processing charges

This journal does not charge submission charges.
Publication fees are payable for articles upon acceptance. Authors will be informed about this when the manuscript is accepted for publication. The charges, amounting to 50EUR/100BAM, must be completed before the article is released.

The journal does not have a waiver policy (for developing country authors).

Peer Review Process

All submitted manuscripts are reviewed initially by a deputy editor. Manuscripts are evaluated according to the following criteria: material is original and timely, writing is clear, study methods are appropriate, data are valid, conclusions are reasonable and supported by the dana and topic has general medical interest. Submitted manuscripts will not be included in further process if they do not conform to standard English usage and to the Instructions for authors, which comply with those formulated by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. For further details, authors should consult the following article: International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. "Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals" The complete document is available at http://www.icmje.org.

From these basic criteria, the deputy editors send the article to an associate editor who assess a paper’s eligibility for publication and sends it to peer review. Peer review process is double blinded. Peer reviewers are required to maintain confidentiality about the manuscripts they review and must not divulge any information about a specific manuscript or its content to any third party without prior permission from the journal editors. Information from submitted manuscripts may be systematically collected and analyzed as part of research to improve the quality of the editorial or peer review process. Final decisions regarding manuscript publication are made by peer reviewers and editors. 

Publication Frequency

Folia Medica is published biannually. Additionally, supplement issues may be published upon Editorial board decision.

Open Access Policy