About the Journal

1. Mission Statement
 
The Gazette of Medicine (TGM) is the official scholarly and professional publication of the Association of Resident Doctors, University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (ARD-UPTH). TGM exists to provide a credible, peer-reviewed platform through which resident doctors, consultants, and allied health professionals can disseminate original research, clinical experience, and professional commentary relevant to medical practice, postgraduate training, and healthcare delivery, with particular relevance to Nigeria and the wider West African subregion.
 
The journal seeks to cultivate a sustained culture of academic productivity among trainees, strengthen the evidence base underpinning clinical decision-making in a resource-constrained setting, and provide a structured, citable outlet for the scholarly output increasingly required of residents pursuing fellowship of the National Postgraduate Medical College (NPMCN) and the West African College of Physicians/Surgeons (WACP/WACS).
 
2. Core Subject Areas
 
2.1 Clinical and Biomedical Sciences
 
Original research, case reports, and reviews spanning the major clinical specialties represented at UPTH, including:
 
• Internal medicine and its subspecialties (cardiology, nephrology, endocrinology, gastroenterology, neurology, infectious diseases, haematology, oncology, rheumatology, pulmonology)
 
• Surgery and surgical subspecialties (general surgery, orthopaedics, neurosurgery, urology, plastic and reconstructive surgery, cardiothoracic surgery, paediatric surgery)
 
• Obstetrics and gynaecology, including maternal-fetal medicine and reproductive health
 
• Paediatrics and child health, including neonatology
 
• Family medicine and primary care
 
• Anaesthesia, critical care, and pain management
 
• Radiology and medical imaging
 
• Pathology and laboratory medicine (anatomic, chemical, haematological, microbiological)
 
• Psychiatry and mental health
 
• Ophthalmology
 
• Otorhinolaryngology (ENT)
 
• Dentistry and oral health
 
• Dermatology and venereology
 
• Emergency medicine and trauma care
 
2.2 Public Health and Community Medicine
 
• Epidemiological studies and disease surveillance
 
• Health systems and health services research
 
• Maternal, newborn, and child health
 
• Infectious disease control and outbreak response
 
• Non-communicable disease burden and prevention
 
• Health policy analysis with relevance to Nigeria and the Niger Delta region
 
2.3 Medical Education and Residency Training
 
• Postgraduate curriculum development and competency assessment
 
• Simulation-based and skills-based training
 
• Mentorship and supervision models in residency
 
• Examination preparedness for NPMCN and WACP/WACS fellowships
 
• The lived experiences, challenges, and welfare of resident doctors in training
 
2.4 Health Systems, Ethics, and Professional Practice
 
• Healthcare financing and hospital administration
 
• Medical ethics, law, and informed consent
 
• Doctor-patient communication and patient safety
 
• Occupational health, burnout, and mental wellbeing of resident doctors
 
• Advocacy issues affecting the medical workforce, including remuneration and working conditions
 
2.5 Innovation and Technology in Medicine
 
• Telemedicine and digital health
 
• Artificial intelligence applications in diagnosis and care
 
• Medical informatics and electronic health records
 
• Adaptation of global technological advances to resource-limited settings
 
3. Article Types Accepted
 

Article Type

Description

Original research articles

Clinical trials, cohort, case-control, and cross-sectional studies, and laboratory-based research

Case reports and case series

Detailed accounts of clinically instructive or rare presentations

Review articles

Narrative and systematic reviews of clinical or public health topics

Short communications

Research letters reporting preliminary or focused findings

Editorials and commentaries

Invited or solicited opinion on topical issues in medicine and training

Perspectives and opinion pieces

Reflections on healthcare policy, ethics, or postgraduate training

Letters to the editor

Responses to previously published articles or topical concerns

Clinical images / picture quizzes

Educational images with brief discussion

Conference proceedings and abstracts

From ARD-UPTH and affiliated scientific meetings

Book and guideline reviews

Critical appraisal of texts and clinical practice guidelines
 
4. Geographic and Institutional Scope
 
TGM is anchored at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital and prioritises scholarly work from its resident doctors and faculty. However, the journal remains open to submissions from other teaching hospitals, residency programs, and health institutions across Nigeria and West Africa. This regional orientation is intended to position TGM as a credible subregional voice in postgraduate medical scholarship, rather than a purely institutional newsletter, thereby broadening its citation potential, readership, and long-term academic standing.
 
5. Target Audience
 
• Resident doctors in clinical and surgical training programs
 
• Consultants and academic faculty in clinical departments
 
• Medical and dental students
 
• Nursing and allied health professionals
 
• Hospital administrators and healthcare managers
 
• Policymakers with interest in Nigerian healthcare delivery and postgraduate medical education
 
6. Editorial and Ethical Standards
 
TGM adheres to the recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) governing authorship, originality, and reporting standards. The following editorial principles apply:
 
1. Ethics approval: All studies involving human participants or animal subjects must include documented approval from a recognised institutional or national ethics review committee, with approval number stated in the manuscript.
 
2. Informed consent: Case reports and studies involving identifiable patient information require documented patient (or guardian) consent.
 
3. Conflict of interest: Authors must disclose all financial and non-financial conflicts of interest at submission.
 
4. Plagiarism screening: All manuscripts are screened using plagiarism-detection software prior to peer review; a similarity threshold will be defined in the author guidelines.
 
5. Peer review: Manuscripts undergo double-blind peer review by at least two qualified reviewers, reflecting the close-knit nature of a single-institution-anchored readership and the need to protect reviewer and author impartiality.
 
6. Authorship criteria: Authorship is restricted to individuals who meet ICMJE authorship criteria; all others are acknowledged appropriately.
 
7. Data availability and reproducibility: Authors are encouraged to make underlying data available upon reasonable request, subject to ethical and privacy constraints.
 
8. Corrections and retractions: TGM maintains a transparent process for issuing corrections, expressions of concern, and retractions where warranted.
 
7. Publication Frequency and Access
 
TGM is published on a regular schedule (frequency to be confirmed by the editorial board — e.g., quarterly or biannually) and is intended to be made available in both print and open-access electronic formats, consistent with global trends toward open scholarly communication and maximal visibility for resident-authored research.
 
This Aims and Scope statement is intended to guide prospective authors, reviewers, and readers, and will be reviewed periodically by the TGM Editorial Board to ensure continued relevance to the evolving academic and clinical priorities of ARD-UPTH and the broader West African medical community.