Caring Today

Vision

Care Today is a semi-annual scientific-specialized journal affiliated with the Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery at Lorestan University of Medical Sciences. Currently, it is published in Persian with English abstracts, aiming to become one of the reputable journals with international indexing in the field of care sciences, nursing, and midwifery. This journal provides a platform for improving clinical knowledge, developing applied research, and improving the quality of healthcare at national and regional levels.

Care Today publishes various types of articles, including:

• Original Research Articles: These articles are written based on a systematic research design and robust scientific findings and must include: Title, Abstract (Persian and English), Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion, and References.
• Review Articles (Narrative or Systematic): These articles must be prepared based on the author’s comprehensive mastery of the subject and the use of at least 20 acceptable scientific sources (3 of which must belong to the author and be related to the article’s topic). They must include: Title, Abstract, Introduction and background on the topic, purpose of the study, scientific content and studies conducted on the subject, analysis and discussion of the presented research, and a conclusion. An overall summary along with constructive suggestions for the future must also be stated.
• Case Studies: These articles are written based on the observation of a specific professional case or cases that provide a special perspective and insight. They must include: Title, Abstract (Persian and English), Introduction, Case Report, Discussion, References, and documentation.
• Other types of articles such as Short Communications: Short communications are prepared similar to research articles but in a very compact and concise manner (between 2,000 to 3,000 words).
• Letter to the Editor: Regarding up-to-date topics within the journal’s scope, as well as critiques of articles published in previous issues of the journal.
• The journal also publishes Clinical Practice Guideline (CPG) reports and Editorials.

Authors and researchers are requested to organize and compile their submitted articles according to the following method. Naturally, observing the following points will accelerate the acceptance of valuable articles and their timely publication.

• The article must not have been previously published in any other journal, nor should it be under simultaneous consideration by another journal. If the article has been previously presented at a conference or scientific assembly, the relevant information must be attached.
• The journal office reserves the right to edit, publish, or decline the publication of articles, and received manuscripts will not be returned.
• In articles with more than one author, the authors must designate one individual as the Corresponding Author.
• It is preferred that the article be prepared and organized according to the journal’s template (accessible from here).
• Articles must be typed according to the full Persian writing guidelines of the journal using Microsoft Word, with “B Nazanin” font (size 12) for Persian text and “Times New Roman” font (size 12) for English text, with standard margins, not exceeding 15 pages (the word count of the main text—excluding references, tables, and figures—should not exceed 7,000 words for review articles and 5,000 words for original research articles). All article files must be uploaded to the journal website at https://caringtoday.lums.ac.ir/.
• Tables and figures must be inserted within the text of the article. Tables should not be submitted in image format. Tables must be set with font size 10, a maximum width of 12 cm, and all numbers and signs within them must be in Persian.
• Images must be in JPEG or GIF format to ensure maximum resolution on the journal website.

Submission Procedure:

Authors are required to upload their articles on the journal website in two separate files (a Title Page file and a Blinded Manuscript file without author names). Furthermore, the Article Publication Commitment Form must be signed by all authors, and the Conflict of Interest Form must be signed and attached by the Corresponding Author.

Standard reporting guidelines for various study types—including trials, observational studies, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and qualitative research—are available at The EQUATOR Network (www.equator-network.org). It is recommended that authors prepare and submit their articles in accordance with the details of these checklists.

 

Key Checklists Based on Study Design:

1. Clinical Trials

CONSORT: Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials

Link: https://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/consort/

2. Observational Studies

STROBE: Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology

Link: https://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/strobe/

3. Systematic Reviews & Meta-Analyses

PRISMA: Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses

Link: https://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/prisma/

4. Qualitative Research

COREQ: Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research

Link: https://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/coreq/

5. Non-randomized Interventions

TREND: Transparent Reporting of Evaluations with Nonrandomized Designs

Link: https://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/trend/

6. Diagnostic Accuracy

STARD: Standards for Reporting Diagnostic Accuracy Studies

Link: https://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/stard/

7. Study Protocols

SPIRIT: Standard Protocol Items: Recommendations for Interventional Trials

Link: https://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/spirit/

8. Narrative Reviews

SANRA: Scale for the Assessment of Narrative Review Articles

Link: https://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/sanra/

9. Case Reports

CARE: Case Report Guidelines

Link: https://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/care/

10. Studies on Measurement Properties of Patient-Reported Outcome Measures

COSMIN: Consensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement Instruments

Link: https://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/cosmin/

 

 

Manuscript Organization

Research articles must include the following sections: Title, Running Title, Abstract and Keywords (English/Persian), Extended Summary of 1,000 words (in English), Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion, and References. These sections should be typed on separate pages as follows:

Title Page:

The title page must include the article title, running title, full names of the authors, their highest academic degree and institutional affiliation, along with the email address and ORCID ID of all authors. Additionally, the exact postal address, telephone number, and email of the Corresponding Author must be provided (refer to the ORCID registration guide). Furthermore, items such as financial support, author contributions, AI usage disclosure, conflict of interest, ethical considerations, data availability statement, and acknowledgments must be submitted within this file.

Abstract Page:

The abstract (in both Persian and English, up to 250 words) should include: Background and Aim, Methods, Results, Conclusion, and 3 to 5 Keywords consistent with Medical Subject Headings (MeSH). The English abstract must be exactly equivalent to the Persian abstract. Avoid using abbreviations in the title and abstract. For clinical trial research articles, it is mandatory to include the Clinical Trial Registration Code before the keywords.

Extended Summary:

The extended summary is a detailed and expanded abstract of the article that provides a more complete picture of the research compared to the short abstract. The length of the extended summary should be approximately 1,000 to 1,500 words and must include the following sections:

• Introduction: Including the problem statement, significance of the topic, brief background, research gap, and the study objective (150–200 words).
• Methodology: Including study design, population and sample, inclusion and exclusion criteria, instruments and data collection methods, and statistical analysis methods (200–250 words).
• Results: Including demographic characteristics, main results with numerical values, and analysis results (200–250 words).
• Conclusion: Including a summary of the main findings, justification of results, strengths and limitations, final summary, clinical or practical applications, and suggestions for future research (200–300 words).

 

The main body of the article must encompass the following sections:

• Introduction and Aim: In this section, the importance and necessity of conducting the research, the research background, existing knowledge on the subject, theoretical foundations, as well as the study objective should be clearly stated.
• Materials and Methods: In the methods section for quantitative studies, the following should be stated: study design, research population, study sample, inclusion and exclusion criteria, sample size estimation indices, sampling method and the process of allocation into study groups, data collection instruments and their validity and reliability, procedures or intervention stages, ethical considerations (including obtaining informed consent from research participants), data management procedures, computer software, and methods/tests used in statistical analysis.
• In qualitative studies: The method must include clear and complete information regarding:

1- Study design and its appropriateness to the research objective/question, time and location or natural setting of the study, how to access participants and their characteristics;

2- The method or manner of the researcher’s entry into the natural field of the study, a complete explanation regarding the methods and stages of data production or collection, the manner and criteria for saturation or termination of data collection, an explanation of methods used in determining data rigor (credibility, confirmability, transferability, and dependability), and ethical considerations;

3- How to manage data, computer software (if used), data analysis methods, and their appropriateness to the study method.

• Results: In this section, text, tables, charts, and photos should be used appropriately to express the findings. First, the table of characteristics of the studied individuals, then descriptive findings, and subsequently analytical findings should be presented. It is necessary to seriously adhere to relevant standards according to the type of research.
• Tables, charts, etc. must have a number and a complete, clear title. Furthermore, avoid including tables whose information is already fully provided in the text. Reporting results of response variables should be either quantitative or qualitative. Items such as frequency and percentage should be mentioned in tables as (percentage) frequency. Also, mean and standard deviation should be mentioned in the text and tables as (SD ± Mean).
• The number of tables is a maximum of 5. The title of the table should be above it, and any explanation regarding the table (e.g., name of the statistical test) should be mentioned as a footnote at the bottom. The titles of figures are placed below them. All tables and figures must be referenced in the text.
• Findings in qualitative studies include:

1- Initially, based on the algorithm and analysis method chosen in the study, a brief report of the findings in each stage should be stated.

2- Then, categories, concepts, or main themes with their subsets, along with direct quotes from participants or recorded primary data, should be stated and explained.

3- Finally, appropriate to the research question(s) (meaning or process of the phenomenon under study), the study findings should be explicated, such that the explicated meaning or the grounded theory emerging from the study data demonstrates a clear and logical connection between the concepts, themes, categories, or the main variable.

• Discussion: The interpretation of important and new findings of the research should be stated briefly and in logical order based on the study objective and hypotheses. While comparing with similar and dissimilar related literature, discuss the probable causes of similarities or differences. The limitations of the research, the generalizability of results, and suggestions for future research should also be presented in the discussion. In presenting the discussion, pay attention to these points:

1- In quantitative studies, the interpretation of findings should be without stating or repeating numerical and statistical findings.

2- How the study findings relate to other research findings (agreeing or disagreeing) conducted in Iran and the world (by citing sources) should be compared and analyzed (not just described), and the reasons for their rejection or acceptance should be discussed.

3- Unexpected findings should also be examined and interpreted.

4- If a study is conducted based on a theoretical framework or model, the findings must be interpreted in relation to it.

5- Avoid expressing opinions beyond the study findings.

• Conclusion: The conclusion should include a final and brief summary of the discussion in relation to the general objective/hypothesis/main research question. The conclusion should be clear and not exceed the study findings. The application of findings, study limitations, and the extent of its generalizability should be considered. Suggestions for conducting future studies and applying the findings should be provided in this section.

Declarations Section:

Before the references section, the article must include a section titled “Declarations” and independently include the following information:

1. Acknowledgments: In this section, express gratitude to the funding institution, individuals, and organizations that have directly or indirectly collaborated in conducting the study or writing, and whose names have not appeared in the article as authors.
2. Authors’ Contributions: The contribution of each author to the design, execution, analysis, writing, or revision of the article.
3. Availability of Data and Materials: The accessibility status of the data or documents used in the research.
4. Conflict of Interest: Official declaration regarding the existence or absence of conflict of interest.
5. Consent for Publication: In case of identifiable data, confirmation of obtaining publication consent.
6. Funding: Complete details of financial or organizational support. The project approval number in the relevant organization.
7. Ethical Approval: The name of the ethics committee and the approval code obtained from the ethics committee must be written in this section. All ethical considerations regarding subjects and other research items must be observed and regulated based on the Declaration of Helsinki and the 26 national research ethics codes.

 

References:

The maximum number of references is determined by the article type: a maximum of 50 references for review articles, 35 for original articles, and 20 for other article types. References must be numbered in the Vancouver style according to the order of their appearance in the text, and the corresponding number must be placed in parentheses within the text of the article. Given the requirement for scientific-research journals to be indexed in reputable international databases, all Persian sources must be written in English. To write the title of a Persian article, use the title from the English abstract of the same article as published in the respective journal. If it does not have an English abstract, the title of the Persian source must be transliterated into English, placed inside brackets [ ], and the word “(Persian)” added at the end of the reference in parentheses to indicate that the original source is in Persian. Journal names must be written in abbreviated form. To find the list of abbreviated journal names, you can visit http://www.nlm.nih.gov. The Digital Object Identifier (DOI) or PMID link of the articles must be provided at the end of each reference. For further explanation, the formatting of various types of references with examples is presented below:

 

Journal Article	Persian	Author’s last name, First letter of author’s first name (authors). Title of the article. Name of the journal. Year of publication; Volume(Issue): Pages. Author names are written up to six authors, and if the number exceeds six, it is followed by “et al.” (Persian)
		Amir Zadeh N, Amir Zadeh J, Khalil Zadeh H. A comparative study between two methods of health education in high school students about HIV-AIDS. Journal of Urmia Nursing and Midwifery Faculty. 2004; 3(2): 105-11
	English	Author’s last name, First letter of author’s first name (authors). Title of the article. Name of the journal. Year of publication; Volume(Issue): Pages. Author names are written up to six authors, and if the number exceeds six, it is followed by “et al.”
		Cartagena RG, Veugelers PJ, Kipp W, Magigav K, Laing LM. Effectiveness of an HIV prevention program for secondary school students in Mongolia. J Adolesc Health. 2006 Dec; 39(6): 916-925
Book	Persian	Author’s last name, Author’s first name (authors). Title of the book. Edition number. City of publication: Publisher’s name; Year of publication. Page/pages used. (Persian)
		Mortazavi H, Tabatabaeichehr M. [Handbook of children nursing: healthy child]. 2nd ed .Tehran: Salemi Publications; 2002. P. 11. (Persian)
	English	Author’s last name (authors), First letter of author’s first name (authors). Title of the book. Edition number. City of publication: Publisher’s name; Year of publication. Page/pages used.
		McKenzie JF, Pinger R, Kotecki JE. An introduction to community health.2nd ed. Boston: Jones & Bartlett; 2005. P. 207.
	Translated Book
		Akhtari AS. [Translation of Neonatal diseases]. Nelson B (Author). Tehran: Khosravi Publications; 2002. P. 244-246. (Persian)
Conference Proceedings	Negarandeh R. Nursing and patient advocacy: a grounded theory. 18th International Nursing Research Congress Focusing on Evidence-Based Practice: 2007 July 11-14: Vienna, Austria
Thesis/Dissertation	Divsalar M, Jalalpoor MR. [The effect of health education on knowledge and performance of male barbers related to prevention of HIV & hepatitis B in Kerman city]. MD Dissertation, Health Faculty of Kerman University of Medical Sciences, 2003. (Persian)
Electronic Sources	Key and critical objectives of JAMA. Available at: http://jama.amaassn.org/about_current.dtl. Accessed July 4, 2004. Weiss RA. Social and environmental risk factors in the emergence of infectious disease. 2004 Dec; 10(12 Supple): 560-70. Available from: URL: http:// www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov/ entrez/ query. fcgi? cmd= Retrieve & db= PubMed & list _ uids = 15577934 & dopt=Abstract

 

 

Furthermore, respected authors are requested to observe the following points when preparing and submitting their manuscripts:

• Language and Style: Manuscripts must be written in fluent Persian, adhering to grammatical rules. The use of foreign terms that have precise and expressive Persian equivalents must be avoided; when necessary, the Latin equivalent of such terms must be typed as a footnote at the bottom of the respective page.
• Scientific and Legal Responsibility: The responsibility for the scientific, ethical, and legal validity of the published content rests entirely with the author(s) of the manuscript.
• Funding Declaration: If the manuscript is derived from a national project or a local project approved by a university or other reputable educational and research organizations, this must also be declared.
• Authorship Order: The order of the authors’ names is determined by the author group, and all respected authors must be fully aware of it.
• Post-Submission Policy: It is noteworthy that after the manuscript has been submitted, the order of the authors in the version sent for publication cannot be altered, added to, deleted, or rearranged in any other manner.
• Editorial Prerogatives: Naturally, the final decision regarding manuscripts, based on the comments of scientific reviewers and the journal’s criteria, rests with the editorial team. The journal reserves the right to reject, accept, modify, edit, and summarize the manuscript, and will communicate corrective and advisory feedback to the author(s) when necessary.
• Reproduction Rights: The printing and publication of the journal’s content is permitted, provided that the source is explicitly cited.
• Obtaining Informed Consent: Authors must ensure that written informed consent, particularly for studies involving sensitive personal data, has been obtained from all participants (or their legal guardians, where necessary) prior to data collection. The consent form must be in a language understandable to the participants, clearly stating the research objective, procedures, potential risks, and their right to withdraw from the study at any time without any penalty.
• Privacy and Confidentiality: Authors must ensure the privacy and confidentiality of the research participants’ information. Any personal information disclosed in the research, such as names, images, or identifiable data, must only be published with the explicit consent of the individuals involved. In studies involving sensitive personal data, authors must comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) or other relevant privacy laws.
• Publication of Identifying Information: If any identifying data, including photographs, are published in the article, authors must provide a statement confirming that written consent for publication has been obtained from the participants. In the case of minors or vulnerable individuals, parental or guardian consent must be obtained and explicitly stated in the article.
• Conflict of Interest and Funding: Authors must disclose any potential conflicts of interest, including financial or personal relationships that might influence the conduct or interpretation of the research, within the “Materials and Methods” section of the manuscript.
• Use of Artificial Intelligence in Manuscripts: With the increasing prevalence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools in research and manuscript preparation, Care Today journal requires authors to be transparent about the role of AI in their research and writing processes. In accordance with ICMJE guidelines, authors are expected to disclose any use of AI or automated tools that contributed to the research, analysis, writing, or editing of the manuscript in the Materials and Methods section, the Acknowledgments, and the Cover Letter. This disclosure must specify the nature of the AI’s involvement and confirm that the authors assume full responsibility for the content of the manuscript.
• Authorship and Responsibility: Based on the ICMJE authorship criteria, AI cannot be designated as an author. If AI tools are utilized in data analysis or content creation, authors must take full responsibility for the integrity and accuracy of the manuscript. Authors must ensure that the use of AI in their research and manuscript preparation does not compromise its originality, quality, or ethical standards. For instance, AI-generated content must not be plagiarized, and AI tools must not be used to manipulate or fabricate data. Authors are expected to adhere to the ethical principles of transparency, accuracy, and integrity when using AI tools.