Instructions for Authors

The Title Page should include the following information: full names of all authors; name of the department and institution in which the work was done; affiliations of the authors; manuscript full title; running (short) title; full name, address, telephone, and/or fax number of the author responsible for manuscript preparation; e-mail address to speed contacts with authors; and source(s) of financial support in the form of grants (quote the number of the grant), equipment, drugs, etc.

For clinical studies, we require upon submission a listing of a university designate with proper authority to attest that all ethical principles involved in the research are carried out. This includes:

1. Informed consent by each subject in the clinical study
2. Usage of blood or tissue samples
3. Usage of previously deposited database

We suggest that upon submission of a manuscript, this university designate be listed along with their contact information.

For animal studies, we require upon submission a name and contact information of the university designate with proper authority to certify that all ethical principles involved with care and usage of laboratory animals are carried out. This includes proper procedures for animal euthanasia and power analysis, demonstrating that an appropriate number of animals were used in the study.

The Abstract in structured form not exceeding 250 words should consist of four paragraphs labeled: Background, Material and Methods, Results, and Conclusion. Each summary section should begin in a new line and briefly describe, in the following order, the purpose of the study, how the investigation was performed, the most important results, and the principal conclusion that the authors draw from the results.
MeSH Keywords (3 to 6) or phrases should be written at the bottom of the Summary Page. Use our MeSH term search during submission.

The text of the article should be divided to seven paragraphs labeled:

1. Background should contain scientific rationale and the aim of the study or (in case of a review) purpose of the article.

2. Material and methods should clearly describe the selection of observational or experimental subjects, including controls, such as age, sex, inclusion and exclusion criteria (the circumstances for rejection from the study should be clearly defined), randomization, and masking (blinding) method. The protocol of data acquisition, procedures, investigated parameters, methods of measurements, and apparatus should be described in sufficient detail to allow other scientists to reproduce the results. The name of and references to the established methods should be given. References and brief description should be provided for methods that have been published but are not well known, whereas new or substantially modified methods should be described in detail. The reasons for using them should be provided along with evaluation of their limitations. The drugs and other chemicals should be precisely identified, including generic name, dose, and route of administration. The statistical methods should be described in detail to enable verification of the reported results. Provide information on patient informed consent. Studies on patients and volunteers require informed consent documented in the text of the manuscript. Where there is any unavoidable risk of breach of privacy (eg, in a clinical photograph or in case details) the patient's written consent to publication must be obtained and copied to the journal. Information on approval by a Local Ethics Committee should also be provided.

3. Results should concisely and reasonably summarize the findings. Restrict tables and figures to the number needed to explain the argument of the paper and assess its support. Do not duplicate data in graphs and tables. Give numbers of observations and report exclusions or losses to observation such as dropouts from a clinical trial. Report treatment complications. The results should be presented in a logical sequence in the text, tables, and illustrations. Do not repeat in the text all the data from the tables or graphs. Emphasize only important observations.

4. Discussion should deal only with new and/or important aspects of the study. Do not repeat in detail data or other material from the Background or the Results section. Include in the Discussion the implications of the findings and their limitations, including implications for future research. The Discussion should discuss the results of other investigations, especially those quoted in the text.

5. Conclusions should be linked with the goals of the study. State new hypotheses when warranted. Include recommendations when appropriate. Unqualified statements and conclusions not completely supported by the obtained data should be avoided.

6. Acknowledgements. List all contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship, such as technical assistants, writing assistants, or head of department, who provided only general support. Financial and other material support should be disclosed and acknowledged.

Unpublished observations and personal communications cannot be used as references. If essential, such material may be incorporated in the appropriate place in the text.References must be up-to-date and must be numbered consecutively as they are cited. References selected for publication should be chosen for their importance, accessibility, and further reading opportunities. References first cited in tables or figure legends must be numbered so that they will be in sequence with references cited in the text. The style of references is that of Index Medicus. List all authors when there are six or fewer; when there are seven or more, list the first three, then “et al”. The following is a sample reference:

::  Standard journal article: Lahita R, Kluger J, Drayer DE, Koffler D, Reidenberg MM. Antibodies to nuclear antigens in patients treated with procainamide or acetylprocainamide. N Engl J Med 1979;301:1382-5.
::  Article with published erratum: Koffler D, Reidenberg MM. Antibodies to nuclear antigens in patients treated with procainamide or acetylprocainamide [published erratum appears in N Engl J Med 1979;302:322-5]. N Engl J Med 1979; 301: 1382-5.
::  Article in electronic form: Drayer DE, Koffler D. Factors in the emergence of infectious diseases. Emerg Infect Dis [serial online] 1995 Jan-Mar [cited 1996 Jun 5]; 1(1):[24 screens]. Available from: URL:http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/eid.htm
::  Article, no author given: Cancer in South Africa [editorial]. S Afr Med J 1994;84:15.
::  Book, personal author(s): Ringsven MK, Bond D. Gerontology and leadership skills for nurses. 2nd ed. Albany (NY): Delmar Publishers; 1996.
::  Book, editor(s) as author: Norman IJ, Redfern SJ, editors. Mental health care for elderly people. New York: Churchill Livingstone; 1996.
::  Book, Organization as author and publisher: Institute of Medicine (US). Looking at the future of the Medicaid program. Washington: The Institute; 1992.
::  Chapter in a book: Phillips SJ, Whisnant JP. Hypertension and stroke. In: Laragh JH, Brenner BM, editors. Hypertension: pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management. 2nd ed. New York: Raven Press; 1995. p. 465-78.
::  Conference proceedings: Kimura J, Shibasaki H, editors. Recent advances in clinical neurophysiology. Proceedings of the 10th International Congress of EMG and Clinical Neurophysiology; 1995 Oct 15-19; Kyoto, Japan. Amsterdam: Elsevier; 1996.
::  Conference paper: Bengtsson S, Solheim BG. Enforcement of data protection, privacy and security in medical informatics. In: Lun KC, Degoulet P, Piemme TE, Rienhoff O, editors. MEDINFO 92. Proceedings of the 7th World Congress on Medical Informatics; 1992 Sep 6-10; Geneva, Switzerland.

Avoid using abstracts or review papers as references.

Unpublished observations and personal communications cannot be used as references. If essential, such material may be incorporated in the appropriate place in the text.

Tables. Save each table in a separate file. Do not submit tables as printed photographs. Name table files consecutively in the order of their first citation in the text, and supply a brief title for each. Give each column a short or abbreviated heading. Place explanatory matter in footnotes, not in the heading. Explain in footnotes all nonstandard abbreviations that are used in each table. For footnotes, use the following symbols, in this sequence: *, **, etc. Identify statistical measures of variations such as standard deviation and standard error of the mean. Do not use internal horizontal and vertical rules. Be sure that each table is cited in the text. If you use data from another published or unpublished source, obtain permission and acknowledge them fully.

Figures should be professionally prepared (each in a separate file) at a preferred resolution of 300 dpi, in the following formats: jpeg, tiff, eps, psd, or pdf.
Letters, numbers, and symbols should be clear and even throughout and of sufficient size that when reduced for publication each item will still be legible. Titles and detailed explanations should be listed at the end of the text file. Figures should be numbered consecutively according to the order in which they were first cited in the text. If a figure has been published, acknowledge the original source and submit written permission from the copyright holder to reproduce the material. Permission is required irrespective of authorship or publisher, except for documents in the public domain.

Photographs should be color or black and white, saved in separate files, with numbers and descriptions at a preferred resolution of 300 dpi, in the following formats:  jpeg or tiff. Photomicrographs should have internal scale markers. Symbols, arrows, or letters used in photomicrographs should contrast with the background. If photographs of people are used, either the subjects must not be identifiable or their pictures must be accompanied by written permission to use the photograph.

Legends for Illustrations. Detailed explanations should be listed at the end of the text file with Arabic numerals corresponding to the illustrations. When symbols, arrows, numbers, or letters are used to identify parts of the illustrations, identify and explain each one clearly in the legend. Explain the internal scale and identify the method of staining in photographs.

Units of Measurement. Measurements of length, height, weight, and volume should be reported in metric units (meter, kilogram, or liter) or their decimal multiples. Temperatures should be given in degrees Celsius. Blood pressures should be given in millimeters of mercury. All hematological and clinical chemistry measurements should be reported in the metric system in terms of the International System of Units (SI). Alternative or non-SI units should be added in parenthesis.

Abbreviations and Symbols. Use only standard abbreviations. Avoid abbreviations in the Title and Abstract. The full term for which an abbreviation stands should precede its first use in the text unless it is a standard unit of measurement.