STRUCTURE OF THE PROTOCOL The submitted protocols should consist of the following sections in sequence: Title page, Supervisors' page, Introduction, Aim, Material, Methods, Results, Discussion, References, and Appendices. Every section should start on a separate page.
Title page: The title of the proposed thesis should be Concise (not more than 15 words), It should be written in both Arabic and English, Fully in capital letters in the English version and not underlined. It should be devoid of any abbreviations. It is preferable to add the type of study design to the title (prospective, randomized, etc.). After the title of the thesis, It should be clearly stated that it is "in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the scientific degree". The scientific degree for which the thesis is prepared, Should be written both in Arabic and English. The name of the candidate should be written in full triple corresponding with his official name in the faculty registry, both in Arabic and in English. The post held by the candidate, as well as the scientific degree obtained should be written both in Arabic and English. The department in which the research work will be carried out. The faculty (Faculty of Medicine). The university (University of Alexandria). The year in which the protocol has been approved. It is compulsory to have the above information all present in the title page, in the same sequence as mentioned above.
Supervisors' page: The names of the supervisors and coworkers and their posts both in Arabic (right column) and English (left column) should be written. The supervisory committee should not exceed three supervisors in the master degree and four in the doctorate degree. Lecturers, if needed for their special experience in some areas they can be added to the committee as coworkers, specifying their role between brackets. The sequence of the names in the supervisory committee should follow their seniority order as indicated in the faculty registry. The principal supervisor is indicated between brackets following his name. The names of the supervisors should be written in triple. The use of initials instead of the individual's name obliterates his identity and is confusing in Arab countries, and must therefore be avoided.
Introduction: It should be concise and to the point, and should only give strictly pertinent references. It should revise the background of the idea of the proposed research work, and be oriented to its aim. The reference of opinions that are not yours should be given. Whenever proper and possible works related to this study of Egyptian and Arabian origin should be mentioned. A good size of the introduction is one to two pages. The introduction should clearly bring to light the originality of the work proposed.
Aim: This is the essence of the protocol and the main idea of the work. The aim should be clearly defined in as concise a form as possible. It should be original, which means that the research proposed to be undertaken has not been done before. Works on well-established topics cannot be accepted as "original" on the pretext that they have not been previously performed in the country
Material: The type of study design proposed in this research should be clearly mentioned. The number of observations, experiments, subjects, patients, animals, etc. that will be used should be mentioned. The way of selection of the material: place of selection: hospital, department, village, street, school, factory, etc.; anyone of these should be specified by name and location. Period of selection: months, years, dates; if a period is preferred state why. In animal experiments: designate the animal, its strain, weight, sex, age, number Whenever relevant. State whether the selection will include all consecutive cases, alternate cases or random cases and the method of randomization. The number of subjects and observations included should be predefined on a statistical basis. Therefore early in planning a research work you need an adviser in statistics. If your material will be divided in groups and subgroups mention how, and the size of each group and subgroup. All works need control groups or experiments, and these have to be accounted for in the material. Well established data in normal individuals do not need controls. Compare them with those already regarded as standard values, but give the reference.
The topic selected should be predictably feasible within the period legally allowed for the work: 1-2 years for the master degree. Methods: The candidate should identify the methods to be used in the research work. The apparatus, including the manufacturer's name and address in parentheses should be mentioned. The procedure should be described in sufficient detail to allow other workers to reproduce the results. If a method is established, don not give its details, but give a reference to it. If a published method is not well known, give a brief description of it and a reference to it. If a method is new or substantially modified, or under trial, describe it in detail, give reasons for using it, and give its eventual limitations. When experiments on human subject are planned they must be in accord with the ethical standards. Methods should have a rule be objective, not subjective. Objective methods should be measurable and as much as possible accurately.
Results: It should be stated that "The results obtained from the work will be tabulated and statistically analyzed using the appropriate statistical methods" The statistical method to be used and the level of significance should be mentioned. The comparisons and correlations that will be made should be mentioned. Discussion: It should be stated that "The findings will be discussed in view of the achievement of the aim, their significance and their comparison with other available works and information". The discussion should emphasize the new and important aspects of the study and of its different sections. References: The system of references should be in according with the Vancouver Style and with the American National Standard for Bibliographic References.
PROTOCOL FORMATTING Paper used: The color must be White. The size of the sheets should be of the international size A4 currently referred to as "quarto size" which is 210 mm by 297mm, The Weight of the sheets should be 80 100 g / m². Typing: All protocols must be submitted in typescript form. The typescript shall not contain any typing or spelling mistakes. Only one side of the sheet should be typed using Times New Roman font size 14. Printing is done on one side of the paper. The title of the thesis and the titles of the sections should be fully written in capital letters in the middle of the line using Times New Roman font size 18. They should not be underlined. Subtitles should be written in small letters, and start at the left margin, and they may be underlined. All titles should not include any kind of abbreviations
Pagination: All pages should be serially numbered starting from the title page, and continuing through the sections of references and appendices; The page number should be put in the upper right corner. One and half spacing between lines and two spaces between paragraphs is respected throughout the text, except partly in the title page and in the supervisors' page. All sections should start on a new page. Margins: All margins should be one inch in the four directions. Signatures: All supervisors and coworkers should sign all pages of the protocol. Signatures should be put on the original typescript before producing the photocopies. Style: In general the protocol should conform to the Vancouver Style.