Author Guidelines

1. Presentation of the journal

The Cameroonian Annals of Laboratory Medicine is the scientific journal of the Cameroonian Society of Clinical Biology (SCBC). It publishes peer-reviewed works in clinical biology and related disciplines: biochemistry, hematology, immunology, microbiology, parasitology, molecular biology, genetics, and toxicology. It also welcomes work on the organization, quality, and management of medical biology laboratories.

The journal is published twice a year in electronic format, freely accessible on its website, and in print. Both versions have identical content; the electronic version is the authoritative version. Articles may be written in French or English.

The journal adheres to the recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) and the principles of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Its charter of ethics and scientific integrity forms an integral part of these recommendations.

2. Editorial Policy

Submitted manuscripts must be original. They must not have been previously published or be under review in another journal. If the work has already been presented at a conference, submitted as a preprint, or included in a dissertation or thesis, the authors must indicate this; it does not preclude publication.

Each manuscript undergoes a similarity check upon submission. Any manuscript that does not comply with these guidelines is returned to the authors for correction before any evaluation.

Manuscripts selected after the initial review undergo double-blind peer review by at least two reviewers. When a manuscript is submitted by a member of the editorial board, its processing is entrusted to an independent editor.

3. Sections

Within the limits indicated below, the word count refers to the main text, excluding the title page, abstract, statements, references, tables, and captions. A summary table is included in Appendix A.

3.1 Editorial

An editorial is a text written by the editorial staff, or by an author they invite, on a current topic or on an article published in the issue. It is published only by invitation. It does not exceed 1,500 words, does not include an abstract, and may be accompanied by a table or figure as well as a maximum of 15 references.

3.2 Original Article

This is an original research project: an observational study, a diagnostic performance study, a trial, a qualitative study, or a quality improvement study. The article must be no more than 5,000 words long. It must be preceded by a structured abstract of no more than 250 words and may include up to 50 references and a total of 6 tables and figures.

The text follows the IMRAD plan described in paragraph 5.4. Its drafting respects the guideline corresponding to the type of study: STROBE for observational studies, STARD 2015 for diagnostic performance studies, CONSORT 2025 for randomized trials, COREQ or SRQR for qualitative studies and SQUIRE 2.0 for quality improvement studies.

3.3 Short communication

The short communication presents an original, limited, or preliminary result whose significance warrants rapid dissemination. It is limited to 1,500 words, with a structured abstract of no more than 150 words, 10 references, and 2 tables or figures. It follows the IMRAD format in a condensed form and adheres to the same guidelines as the original article.

3.4 General Review

A systematic review, with or without meta-analysis, synthesizes the literature on a specific question using an explicit and reproducible method. It should be no more than 5,000 words, with a structured abstract of no more than 250 words, 100 references, and 6 tables and figures, including a flowchart. Its content should adhere to the PRISMA 2020 guidelines, the completed template of which must be included with the submission. Prior registration of the protocol in PROSPERO is encouraged.

The narrative review, or summary, offers a critical and up-to-date synthesis of current knowledge on a specific topic. It should be no more than 5,000 words, including an unstructured abstract of no more than 250 words, 100 recent and selected references, and 6 tables and figures. The authors briefly describe their research methodology. A section devoted to the implications of the topic for sub-Saharan Africa is strongly recommended.

3.5 Laboratory Practice

This section welcomes practical work carried out in the laboratory: verification or validation of a method, comparison of automated systems or techniques, evaluation of reagents or rapid diagnostic tests, technical development, quality assurance processes, or feedback on accreditation experiences. The article must be no more than 2,500 words, with a structured abstract of no more than 200 words, 20 references, and 4 tables and figures.

The text includes an introduction, a materials and methods section, results, a discussion, and a conclusion. The methods section specifies the materials used (manufacturer and reference), the samples, the protocol followed, and the acceptance criteria, along with their sources. When the work focuses on the performance of a diagnostic test, the STARD 2015 guideline applies.

3.6 Clinical and biological cases and case series

The clinical-biological case report describes the observation of a patient whose diagnostic approach or biological monitoring provides valuable information. Biological factors must be central to the observation. The text should be no more than 2,000 words, with an unstructured abstract of no more than 150 words, 15 references, and 4 tables and figures.

It includes an introduction, the case report, a discussion, and a conclusion. The case report presents the patient, the biological approach with reference values, the chronology of events, the management, and the outcome. Its content adheres to the CARE guidelines, the completed template of which is attached to the submission. The patient's written consent for publication is mandatory.

The case series describes at least three patients with the same characteristic. It is limited to a maximum of 2,500 words, with a summary of no more than 250 words in a single paragraph, 20 references, and 4 tables and figures. It follows the IMRAD structure and concludes with a boxed section that summarizes, in no more than three points each, what was already known and what the series adds. Its writing adheres to the CARE guideline, supplemented by relevant elements from STROBE.

3.7 Image in biology

This section presents one or two images with educational value, such as a smear, culture, electrophoresis, or cytogram. The accompanying text does not exceed 300 words; it provides context, describes the image, and highlights the key message. It may cite a maximum of three references and three authors. Magnification and colorization are specified. The images have a minimum resolution of 600 dpi and undergo no retouching other than the adjustments applied to the entire image.

3.8 Outbreak Investigation Report

The investigation report describes the study of an outbreak or cluster of cases, including healthcare-associated infections, and the control measures implemented. It is limited to 3,000 words, with a structured summary of no more than 250 words, 30 references, and 4 tables and figures, including the epidemic curve. For healthcare-associated infections, the ORION guidelines are followed.

3.9 Point of view

The viewpoint presents a reasoned position on a scientific, professional, or public health issue within the journal's scope. It should be no more than 2,500 words, with an unstructured abstract of no more than 150 words, 30 references, and 3 tables and figures. Each argument must be supported by data or references.

3.10 Letter to the Editor

The letter to the editor comments on an article published in the journal or reports a brief observation. It should not exceed 600 words, should not include an abstract, and may contain up to 10 references, the first of which must be the article being reviewed, a table or figure, and 5 authors. It must reach the editorial office within eight weeks of the publication of the article being reviewed. The authors of the article are invited to respond.

3.11 In memoriam

The In memoriam pays tribute to a recently deceased figure in the discipline. It is published with the prior agreement of the editor-in-chief, does not exceed 800 words, may be illustrated with a photograph, and is not subject to peer review.

4. Submission

Submissions must be made online only, via the journal's platform: https://jscbc-calm.cm. Submissions by post or email will not be accepted.

The manuscript is submitted by one of the authors, who becomes the corresponding author unless otherwise indicated. Upon submission, the author must provide the full name, affiliation, and a valid email address of each co-author. The ORCID identifier for each author is mandatory.

The files to be submitted are the letter of submission, the title page, the anonymized manuscript with its tables, each figure in a separate file, and the applicable guideline grid. If applicable, the authors must also include supplementary material, a copy of the ethics committee's opinion, and a copy of the administrative research authorization.

The submission letter is signed by the corresponding author. It specifies the chosen section, attests that the manuscript is original and not submitted to any other journal, confirms that all authors have approved the submitted version, and indicates any previous presentation of the work.

5. Manuscript Preparation

5.1 Format

The manuscript is submitted as a Microsoft Word file (.doc or .docx). The text is typed in Times New Roman, 12-point font, double-spaced, with 2.5 cm margins and justified alignment. Pages and lines are numbered consecutively.

To ensure the anonymity of the evaluation, the manuscript must not contain any information that could identify the authors or their institution. Names, affiliations, acknowledgments by name, and references such as "our previous work" are replaced with "[anonymized]" in the version intended for reviewers.

5.2 Title Page

The title page is submitted in a separate file. It indicates first the section in which the article is submitted, followed by the title, in both French and English. This title must be informative and concise; it should not exceed 25 words and should not contain any abbreviations. A short title of no more than 80 characters, including spaces, is also provided in both languages.

Authors are listed in the format Last Name First Name, without title or rank (e.g., VOUNDI Esther). Their affiliations are indicated by superscript numbers and specify the department or laboratory, institution, city, and country. Each author's ORCID identifier is also provided.

The title page then provides the corresponding author's contact information: postal address, email address, and telephone number. It concludes with the word count of the abstract and the main text, as well as the number of tables and figures.

5.3 Summary and keywords

Each article with an abstract is presented in two versions with the same content: one in French and the other in English. The structured abstract is organized into four parts: Background, Methods, Results, and Conclusion. The main results are presented with figures.

The abstract contains no references and uses no abbreviations, except for common units. It is followed by three to five keywords, in French and English, preferably chosen from the MeSH (Medical Subject Headings) thesaurus.

5.4 Text

Original articles and short communications follow the IMRAD plan.

The introduction reviews the current state of knowledge, highlights what remains to be established, and justifies the study. It concludes with a statement of the objective.

 The methods section describes the type of study, the location and time period, the population or samples with their selection criteria, and how the sample size was determined. It presents the laboratory techniques (principle, automated system, reagents, quality control), the variables studied, the statistical analysis and software used, and provides references for the ethical opinion. The level of detail should allow another team to replicate the work.

The results are presented in a logical order, without commentary or references. Data presented in a table or figure are not reproduced in full in the text, and the same data is not presented both in a table and in a figure.

 The discussion highlights the main finding, compares it with the literature, offers an interpretation, and outlines the strengths and limitations of the study, as well as its implications for practice and research. It does not include a detailed account of the results.

 The conclusion is brief and based strictly on the results obtained.

5.5 Declarations

The main text is followed by seven declaration sections, presented in the order below. Each must appear in the manuscript, even when the answer is "none" or "not applicable." Sample wording is provided in Appendix B.

 Acknowledgments. The authors acknowledge, with their permission, the individuals and organizations that contributed to the work without meeting the criteria for authorship. The role of any medical editor or translator is also mentioned.

Author contributions. The role of each author is described using the CRediT classification. Each author must meet the four criteria defined by the ICMJE: have contributed substantially to the study design, data acquisition or analysis; have written the manuscript or critically reviewed it; have approved the final version; and agree to be responsible for the integrity of the entire work.

Funding. Authors must indicate each source of funding, including the grant number, and specify the funder's role, if any, in the study design, data collection and analysis, writing, and publication decision. In-kind contributions, such as donations of reagents or kits, loans of equipment, or the provision of free analyses, must be declared in the same way.

 Conflicts of interest. Each author must declare any financial or other relationships they have had over the past three years that could be perceived as influencing the work. In particular, relationships with manufacturers or distributors of automated analyzers, reagents, or diagnostic devices must be declared.

Ethical approval and consent. The authors indicate the name of the ethics committee, the number and date of its opinion, and, for research conducted in Cameroon, the references of the administrative research authorization. They specify how participants' consent was obtained or if the committee granted a waiver. For clinical cases and images, they confirm having obtained the patient's consent for publication. For clinical trials, they indicate the registration number.

 Data availability. The authors specify how the analyzed data can be accessed.

Use of artificial intelligence. The authors indicate the tool used, its version and the use made of it, or declare that they did not use any.

5.6 References

References are numbered in the order of their first citation in the text and identified by square brackets, for example [1], [2,3] or [4–7]. Those cited only in tables or captions are numbered after the last reference in the text. No references are cited in titles, subheadings, or the abstract. Each cited reference appears in the list, and each reference in the list is cited in the text.

The list is presented in Vancouver style. When an article has six or fewer authors, all are cited; beyond that, only the first six are cited, followed by "et al." Journal titles are abbreviated according to the National Library of Medicine catalog, and the DOI is indicated where available. Personal communications and unpublished data are not included in the list; they are simply mentioned in parentheses within the text. The use of bibliographic management software, such as the free Zotero, EndNote, or Mendeley, is recommended.

The references are presented according to the following models:

5.7 Tables

Tables are placed at the end of the manuscript, after the references, one table per page. They are numbered with Arabic numerals in the order they appear in the text. Each table has a title and, if necessary, notes defining abbreviations, so that it can be understood without referring to the text. Tables are created using the word processing table tool and should not be inserted as images.

5.8 Figures

Each figure is submitted as a separate file in JPEG, PNG, or TIFF format. Its resolution is at least 300 dpi, and at least 600 dpi for photographs and microscopy images. Captions are grouped on a page following the tables.

A previously published image may only be reproduced with the written permission of the original publisher, which must be included with the submission. Only adjustments applied to the entire image, such as brightness or contrast, are permitted.

5.9 Abbreviations, units and nomenclatures

Abbreviations are used sparingly and defined at their first appearance in the text. Lists of abbreviations are not permitted.

Results are expressed in SI units; conventional units may be added in parentheses. Enzymes are designated according to international nomenclature, with their EC number at the first mention, and drugs by their international nonproprietary name (INN). Genus and species names, as well as gene symbols, are written in italics. Instruments and reagents are designated by their name, followed in parentheses by the manufacturer, city, and country.

5.10 Additional Equipment

Additional data, such as detailed tables, questionnaires, or research equations, are uploaded to the platform at the time of submission. They are referenced in the text (Table S1, Figure S1, etc.) and published online exactly as they were provided.

6. Ethics and Integrity

All research involving human subjects, their biological samples, or their data must comply with the Declaration of Helsinki and the regulations of the country where it is conducted. In Cameroon, it falls under Law No. 2022/008 of April 27, 2022, concerning medical research involving human subjects. It must have received the approval of an ethics committee, including in the case of retrospective studies or the use of residual samples; the committee may, where appropriate, grant an exemption from consent. For research conducted in Cameroon, administrative authorization for research issued by the Ministry of Public Health is also required.

The data is anonymized, and no information that could identify a patient should appear in the manuscript or images. Animal studies must have been authorized by the relevant authority and are reported according to the ARRIVE 2.0 guideline.

Plagiarism, self-plagiarism, redundant publication, fabrication or falsification of data, manipulation of images and the misappropriation of authorship are dealt with according to the procedures of COPE, described in the journal's code of ethics.

An artificial intelligence tool cannot be considered an author. Its use must be declared, and the authors remain responsible for all content. The creation or modification of images or data by artificial intelligence is prohibited, except when it constitutes the very purpose of the study and is described in the methods.

7. Evaluation and decision

Each manuscript is first reviewed by the editorial team, which verifies its compliance, relevance to the journal, and overall quality. If accepted, it then undergoes a double-blind peer review by at least two reviewers.

Following the evaluation, the manuscript may be accepted, undergo minor or major revisions, or be rejected. Each decision is justified.

The revised manuscript must be accompanied by a letter addressing each comment point by point. Changes are highlighted in color within the text, without using the change tracking feature. The revised manuscript must reach the editorial office within two weeks, a deadline that may be extended upon justified request.

Authors wishing to contest a decision must submit a reasoned appeal to the editor-in-chief within one month of its notification.

8. After acceptance

The editorial team may make stylistic corrections to the accepted text, without altering its meaning. The proofs are then sent to the corresponding author, who returns them within 72 hours; only typographical errors may be corrected at this stage. Each published article receives a DOI and is made available online on the journal's website.

9. Rights, license and fees

The articles are published open access under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license, also known as CC BY 4.0, and the authors retain their copyright. It is their responsibility to obtain the necessary permissions to reproduce any element, text, table, or figure from another source.

Submitting a manuscript is free. A publication fee of 50,000 FCFA, approximately 75 euros or 85 US dollars, is required after acceptance of the article. This fee is paid by the corresponding author after notification of acceptance. It is due after the editorial decision and has no bearing on that decision.

10. Contact

All correspondence should be addressed to the editorial secretariat of Cameroonian Annals of Laboratory Medicine, Société Camerounaise de Biologie Clinique, at contact@jscbc-calm.cm. In case of difficulty, authors may also write to societecamerbiologieclinique@gmail.com.

The journal's website can be accessed at https://jscbc-calm.cm and that of the Cameroonian Society of Clinical Biology at scbc-asso.cm.

Appendix A : Summary of headings

Section	Text	Summary	Ref.	Table + figure.	Guideline
Editorial (by invitation)	1,500 words	:	15	1	:
Original article	5,000 words	Structured, 250 words	50	6	STROBE, STARD 2015, CONSORT 2025, COREQ/SRQR, SQUIRE 2.0
Short communication	1,500 words	Structured, 150 words	10	2	Depending on the type of study
Systematic review / meta-analysis	5,000 words	Structured, 250 words	100	6	PRISMA 2020
Narrative Review	5,000 words	Unstructured, 250 words	100	6	:
Laboratory practice	2,500 words	Structured, 200 words	20	4	STARD 2015 if applicable
Clinical-biological case	2,000 words	Unstructured, 150 words	15	4	CARE
Case series	2,500 words	1 paragraph, 250 words	20	4	CARE + STROBE
Image in biology	300 words	:	3	2 images	:
Epidemic report	3,000 words	Structured, 250 words	30	4	ORION (healthcare-associated infections)
Point of view	2,500 words	Unstructured, 150 words	30	3	:
Letter to the editor	600 words	:	10	1	:
In memoriam	800 words	:	:	1 photo	:

 

Appendix B : Standard Declaration Forms

Section	French	English
Contributions	AB: Conceptualization, methodology, writing – initial version. CD: Investigation, data curation. EF: Formal analysis, writing – revision. All authors approved the final version.	AB: conceptualization, methodology, writing – original draft. CD: investigation, data curation. EF: formal analysis, writing – review & editing. All authors approved the final version.
Funding : none	This work received no specific funding.	This work received no specific funding.
Funding : grant	This work was funded by [organization] (grant no. [xxx]). The funder played no role in the study design, data collection, analysis and interpretation, writing, or the decision to publish.	This work was funded by [organization] (grant no. [xxx]). The funder had no role in study design, data collection, analysis and interpretation, writing, or the decision to publish.
In-kind financing	The reagents were provided free of charge by [manufacturer], who played no role in the study.	Reagents were provided free of charge by [manufacturer], which had no role in the study.
Conflicts of interest : none	The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.	The authors declare no competing interests.
Conflicts of interest : existing	EF received fees from [company] for [activity]. The other authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.	EF received fees from [company] for [activity]. The other authors declare no competing interests.
Ethics	The study received a favorable opinion from [committee] (no. [xxx] of [date]) and administrative research authorization no. [xxx] from the Ministry of Public Health. Written informed consent was obtained from each participant.	The study was approved by [committee] (no. [xxx], [date]) and received administrative research authorization no. [xxx] from the Ministry of Public Health. Written informed consent was obtained from all participants.
Ethics : exemption	This is a retrospective study on anonymized data; [committee] granted a waiver of consent (no. [xxx] of [date]).	This retrospective study used anonymized data; [committee] waived the need for consent (no. [xxx], [date]).
Consent to publication	The patient gave written consent for the publication of this observation and associated images.	Written consent for publication of this case and accompanying images was obtained from the patient.
Data	The data is available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.	Data are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Artificial intelligence	[Tool, version] was used for [use]. The authors have reviewed the content and assume full responsibility for it. / No artificial intelligence tools were used.	[Tool, version] was used for [purpose]. The authors reviewed the content and take full responsibility for it. / No AI tools were used.

 

Appendix C : Pre-submission checklist

Before submitting, the authors ensure that:

• the submission letter is signed by the corresponding author;

• the title page is complete, with titles and short titles in both languages, authors, affiliations, ORCID identifiers, contact details of the corresponding author and counts;

• the manuscript is anonymized and its pages and lines are numbered;

• The summary and keywords are provided in French and English and respect the limits of the section;

• the seven declaration sections are listed at the end of the text;

• References are in Vancouver format and all are cited in the text;

• Tables are placed at the end of the manuscript and figures are placed in separate files, at the required resolution;

• the applicable guideline grid is completed;

• the opinion of the ethics committee, the administrative authorization for research or the consent to publication are available, as applicable;

• The necessary reproduction permissions have been obtained.