Contributions falling into the following categories will be considered for publication in the VJM: Original article, Case study, Review.

Studies that are of scientific quality and that are of interest to the diverse readership of the journal. Manuscripts should include abstract and appropriate experimental details to support the conclusions. Original articles should be no more than 8000 words (including abstract, main text, table, annexures and references) and should not normally include more than 6 display items (tables and/or figures).

A case study should report on specific cases that are unique, exciting, and current to exercise in the relevant fields of study. Case studies should make a distinct contribution to the scientific field. A case could be an individual or a community depending on the nature of the study. We expect most case studies to include an abstract, an introduction, a brief case report, and a discussion (should be no more than 6000 words)

Reviews have a word limit of 5000 words including abstract but excluding references, tables, and figures. Self-invited manuscripts would be considered only if the authors are highly reputable demonstrated by a track record of productivity in the relevant field being reviewed.

Before you submit your manuscript, it’s important that you read and follow the guidelines below. 

Format	Article files should be provided in Microsoft Word format. The text is single-spaced; uses a 12-point font; employs italics, rather than underlining (except with URL addresses); and all illustrations, figures, and tables are placed within the text at the appropriate points, rather than at the end.
Title page	• Title. Concise and informative. Titles are often used in information-retrieval systems. Avoid abbreviations and formula where possible. • Author names and affiliations. Please clearly indicate the given name(s) and family name(s) of each author and check that all names are accurately spelled. Present the authors' affiliation addresses (where the actual work was done) below the names. Indicate all affiliations with a lowercase superscript letter immediately after the author's name and in front of the appropriate address. Provide affiliation of all authors, including the country name and e-mail address. • Corresponding author. Clearly indicate who will handle correspondence at all stages of refereeing and publication, also post-publication. Ensure that the e-mail address given is kept up to date by the corresponding author.   *You should never include people who have not contributed to the paper or who don’t want to be associated with the research.
Abstract	All submissions must include a concise and factual abstract. The abstract should state briefly the purpose, design/methodology/approach, findings, and research implications, and have originality. The maximum length of your abstract should be 250 words in total, including keywords. Authors are invited to submit 3-5 keywords associated with their paper.
Headings	Headings must be concise, with a clear indication of the required hierarchy.  The preferred format is for first level headings to be in bold, and subsequent sub-headings to be in medium italics.
Footnotes	Footnotes should be used sparingly. Number them consecutively throughout the article. Many word processors can build footnotes into the text, and this feature may be used. Otherwise, please indicate the position of footnotes in the text and list the footnotes themselves separately at the end of the article. Do not include footnotes in the Reference list.
Figures	All figures (charts, diagrams, line drawings, webpages/screenshots, and photographic images) should be submitted electronically. Please make sure that artwork files are in an acceptable format (TIFF, EPS, or MS Office files) and with the correct resolution.
Tables	Tables should be typed and submitted in the main body of the article. Give each table a brief title. Number tables consecutively in accordance with their appearance in the text and place any table notes below the table body.
Math formula	Please submit math equations as editable text and not as images. Present simple formulae in line with normal text where possible and use the solidus (/) instead of a horizontal line for small fractional terms, e.g., X/Y. In principle, variables are to be presented in italics. Powers of e are often more conveniently denoted by exp. Number consecutively any equations that have to be displayed separately from the text (if referred to explicitly in the text).
References	All references in your manuscript must be formatted using one of the recognised APA styles. Refer APA Referencing Guide available at:  https://libguides.murdoch.edu.au/APA/home  or Refer APA Reference Guide PDF document.

VJM Manuscript Template (Doc) link:  

This journal encourages and enables you to share data that supports your research publication where appropriate and enables you to interlink the data with your published articles. Research data refers to the results of observations or experimentation that validate research findings.

Collate acknowledgments in a separate section at the end of the article before the references and do not, therefore, include them on the title page, as a footnote to the title or otherwise.

Your manuscript must reference all sources of external research funding in the acknowledgments section. You should describe the role of the funder or financial sponsor in the entire research process, from study design to submission.

Authors are required to state their contributions to the manuscript. The statement can be of several sentences, describing the tasks of individual authors referred to by their initials. Use the following format: JDE carried out the genetic studies, participated in the proteomic analysis and drafted the manuscript; JSR carried out the immunoassays and performed the statistical analysis; JMP conceived the study, and participated in its design and coordination and helped to draft the manuscript. Add a statement that all authors have read and approved the final version of the manuscript and agree with the order of presentation of the authors.

State if there is any competing interest of any sort. If there is no financial interest, use the following format: The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

VJM is committed to ensure ethical publishing of all the manuscripts submitted to the journal and accordingly VJM always informs and confirms that the content of the journal is ethically sound. Hence, VJM has developed and published guidelines for publication ethics for the authors, reviewers, editors, and readers. Also, VJM supports the development, and practical application of consistent ethical standards among the scholarly publishing community. Authors are strongly advised to read our guidelines for research and publication ethics to avoid issues in ethical publishing.

Key points:

• Any manuscript you submit to VJM should be original. That means it should not have been published before in its current form or in a similar form.
• Your work should not have been submitted elsewhere and should not be under consideration by any other publication.
• If you have a conflict of interest, you must declare it upon submission; this allows the editor to decide how to proceed with the manuscript.
• You must make sure that permission has been granted for any third-party material included in your manuscript and that consent has been obtained from any named individuals or organizations.
• Ensure that the work does not include unlawful statements.
• By submitting your work to VJM, you are guaranteeing that the work is not an infringement of any existing copyright.
• Ensure that authorship has been agreed upon prior to submission and no one has been ‘gifted’ authorship or denied credit as an author (ghost authorship).

If your research is published and we find that any of the above conditions have not been met, we may take action to remove or retract the article from our database. 

Authorship

For an individual to be considered an author, he/she must have:

• Made substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; AND
• Drafted the work or revised it critically for important intellectual content; AND
• Given final approval of the version to be published; AND
• Agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Authorship disputes occur as ghost authorship (exclusion of a contributor from the list of authors); gift/guest authorship (inclusion of someone who hasn’t contributed to the paper, or who has chosen not to be associated with the research); and disputes over the order of the authors and the level of contribution that each has made to the paper.

When authorship disputes arise, we advise you to contact the editors of VJM (vjm@sjp.ac.lk) to discuss the processes needed to be followed.

Informed consent

If your manuscript includes a name of an individual or organization, you are required to obtain written consent for studies about named organizations or people before you submit your work.

Critiques and reviews of products and services are acceptable, but comments must be constructive and not malicious. If statements made in work published by VJM are found to be offensive, a retraction notice will be published. In some cases, and when legally required, the paper will be withdrawn from VJM.

We advise all authors of case studies to inform us of the subject (person or organization) and to seek their consent. If we think the study potentially contains sensitive information, authors are required to provide written proof of consent before placing the paper in the production process.

Please note that VJM is unable to publish any article that has permissions pending. 

Citation manipulation

Citations and referencing are important when writing any research, however, researchers should be mindful of Self-citation, Coercive citation, and Citation pushing.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is denoted in various forms; verbatim copying, paraphrasing, re-using parts of a work without attribution, self-plagiarism or text recycling, and handling allegations of plagiarism. Hence, the content submitted by the authours to VJM should be based on their own research which is expressed in their own words and/or including with proper citations, unless that could be considered as plagiarism. VJM adheres to the plagiarism/similarity policy of the Faculty (https://mgt.sjp.ac.lk/about-us/student/plagiarism-policy/). To avoid plagiarism, VJM always seeks the support of the plagiarism detection service (Turnitin) and the expert opinions/comments given by our knowledgeable reviewers and editorial panel.

Manipulate data, figure or image

Data manipulation is a fundamental error and it is a breach of research integrity. VJM reserves the right to request original data files at any point as part of an investigation. If there is reason to suspect that the data is not plausible, we reserve the right to reject that manuscript.

Manipulation may include the addition or removal of elements from a figure, or adjustments to image formatting designed to make obscure or highlight a particular result. Images or figures submitted to VJM should be minimally processed. We may screen images and figures; and if there is evidence of potential manipulation, the editors will request the original data. If intentional manipulation is found, VJM reserves the right to reject the manuscript.

Dual publication

It is an unacceptable academic practice to submit a manuscript to more than one journal at the same time. Authors are expected to wait until they receive a decision from one journal before submitting the manuscript to another journal.

Attribution

Authours are required to cite any previous publication or presentation of the ideas featured in their current submission. This includes conference papers and abstract or extended abstract presentations. This ensures that a complete history of the work is well-documented.

Conflicts of interest

Conflict of interest exists when authors, reviewers and editors have an interest but not fully apparent and yet it may interfere with their judgement on what is being published. Therefore, all the authors, reviewers and editors must disclose if any conflict of interest exists. In the case of authors, you should declare anything that may have influenced your research or could influence the review process or the publication of your manuscript. Possible conflicts of interest include:

• A prior relationship between author and editor.
• A financial or personal interest in the outcomes of the research.
• Undisclosed financial support for the research by an interested third party.
• A financial or personal interest in the suppression of the research.
• A pending patent.

When submitting your work, the authour should include a note providing the background to any financial support for the research from third parties and highlight any other possible conflict of interest.

If you are concerned that the editor or reviewer handling your submission might have a conflict of interest, please inform the chief editors of VJM. If we find that there is a conflict of interest, the editor or reviewer will no longer be involved with your manuscript.

How to share your paper

VJM uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.8.3, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License.

To increase the visibility of your published paper, we encourage the use of post-publication supports through ResearchGate and Academia.edu.

Please contact us (vjm@sjp.ac.lk) if you would like any further information on our publication ethics policies.

Prior to article submission, you need to ensure you’ve applied for, and received, written permission to use any material in your manuscript that has been created by a third party. Please note, we are unable to publish any article that still has permissions pending. The rights we require are:
• Non-exclusive rights to reproduce the material in the article or book chapter.
• Print and electronic rights.
• Worldwide English-language rights.
• To use the material for the life of the work. That means there should be no time restrictions on its re-use e.g., a one-year license.