Author guidelines

Contents

Any manuscript submitted to a International Medical Publisher journal and any book published with International Medical Publisher must be original. The manuscript/book, or substantial parts of it, must not be under consideration by any other journal/publisher.

In general, the manuscript/book should not have already been formally published. However, we allow preprint publication and postacceptance peer-review.

In any case where there is the potential for overlap or duplication we require that authors are transparent. Any potentially overlapping publications should be declared on submission and, where possible, uploaded as additional files with the manuscript. Any overlapping publications should be cited. The Editors of International Medical Publisher journals reserve the right to judge potentially overlapping or redundant publications on a case-by-case basis.

 

Format

Most articles published in International Medical Publisher Journals will be organized into the following sections: title, authors, affiliations, abstract, introduction, methods, results, discussion, references, acknowledgments, and figure legends. Uniformity in format will help readers and users of the journal. We recognize, however, that this format is not ideal for all types of studies. If you have a manuscript that would benefit from a different format, please contact the editors to discuss this further. Although we have no firm length restrictions for the entire manuscript or individual sections, we urge authors to present and discuss their findings concisely.

 

Title

The title should be specific to the study yet concise, and should allow sensitive and specific electronic retrieval of the article. It should be comprehensible to readers outside your field. Avoid specialist abbreviations if possible. Titles should be presented in title case, meaning that all words except for prepositions, articles, and conjunctions should be capitalized. If the paper is a randomized controlled trial or a meta-analysis, this description should be in the title.

 

Examples:

Climate Change and Increased Spread of Malaria in Sub-Saharan Africa A Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial of a Nurse-Led Intervention after Stroke Please also provide a brief "running head" of approximately 40 characters.

 

Authors and Affiliations

Provide the first names or initials (if used), middle names or initials (if used), surnames, and affiliations—department, university or organization, city, state/province (if applicable), and country—for all authors. One of the authors should be designated as the corresponding author. It is the corresponding author’s responsibility to ensure that the author list, and the summary of the author contributions to the study are accurate and complete. If the article has been submitted on behalf of a consortium, all consortium members and affiliations should be listed after the Acknowledgments.

 

Abstract

The abstract is divided into the following four sections with these headings: Title, Background, Methods and Findings, and Conclusions. It should contain the all following elements, except for items in square brackets, which are only needed for some study types. Please use the same format for abstracts submitted as presubmission inquiries.

 

Background

This section should describe clearly the rationale for the study being done. It should end with a statement of the specific study hypotheses and/or study objectives.

 

Methods and Findings

Describe the participants or what was studied (eg cell lines, patient group; be as specific as possible, including numbers studied). Describe the study design/intervention/main methods used/What was primarily being assessed eg primary outcome measure and, if appropriate, over what period.

 

[If appropriate, include how many participants were assessed out of those enrolled eg what was the response rate for a survey.]

 

[If critical to the understanding of the paper, describe how results were analysed, ie which specific statistical tests were used.]

 

For the main outcomes provide a numerical result if appropriate (it nearly always is) and a measure of its precision (e.g. 95% confidence interval). Describe any adverse events or side effects.

 

Describe the main limitations of the study.

 

Conclusions

Provide a general interpretation of the results with any important recomendations for future research.

 

[For a clinical trial provide any trial identification numbers and names (e.g. trial registration number, protocol number or acronym).]

 

Introduction

The introduction should discuss the purpose of the study in the broader context. As you compose the introduction, think of readers who are not experts in this field. Include a brief review of the key literature. If there are relevant controversies or disagreements in the field, they should be mentioned so that a non-expert reader can delve into these issues further. The introduction should conclude with a brief statement of the overall aim of the experiments and a comment about whether that aim was achieved.

 

Methods

This section should provide enough detail for reproduction of the findings. Protocols for new methods should be included, but well-established protocols may simply be referenced. Detailed methodology or supporting information relevant to the methodology can be published on our Web site.

 

This section should also include a section with descriptions of any statistical methods employed. These should conform to the criteria outlined by the Uniform Requirements, as follows: "Describe statistical methods with enough detail to enable a knowledgeable reader with access to the original data to verify the reported results. When possible, quantify findings and present them with appropriate indicators of measurement error or uncertainty (such as confidence intervals). Avoid relying solely on statistical hypothesis testing, such as the use of P values, which fails to convey important quantitative information. Discuss the eligibility of research participants. Give details about randomization. Describe the methods for and success of any blinding of observations. Report complications of treatment. Give numbers of observations. Report losses to observation (such as dropouts from a clinical trial). References for the design of the study and statistical methods should be to standard works when possible (with pages stated) rather than to papers in which the designs or methods were originally reported. Specify any general-use computer programs used."

 

Results

The results section should include all relevant positive and negative findings. The section may be divided into subsections, each with a concise subheading. Large datasets, including raw data, should be submitted as supporting files; these are published online alongside the accepted article. The results section should be written in past tense.

 

As outlined in the Uniform requirements, authors that present statistical data in the Results section, should "...specify the statistical methods used to analyze them. Restrict tables and figures to those needed to explain the argument of the paper and to assess its support. Use graphs as an alternative to tables with many entries; do not duplicate data in graphs and tables. Avoid nontechnical uses of technical terms in statistics, such as "random" (which implies a randomizing device), "normal," "significant," "correlations," and "sample." Define statistical terms, abbreviations, and most symbols."

 

Discussion

The discussion should be concise and tightly argued. It should start with a brief summary of the main findings. It should include paragraphs on the generalisability, clinical relevance, strengths, and, most importantly, the limitations of your study. You may wish to discuss the following points also. How do the conclusions affect the existing knowledge in the field? How can future research build on these observations? What are the key experiments that must be done?

 

References

The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors offers guidance to authors in its Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals publication. The recommended style for references is based on the National Information Standards Organization NISO Z39.29-2005 (R2010) Bibliographic References as adapted by the National Library of Medicine for its databases. Details are in Citing Medicine. (Note Appendix F which covers how citations in MEDLINE/PubMed differ from the advice in Citing Medicine.) Sample references typically used by authors of journal articles are provided below.

 

Articles in Journals

  1. Standard journal article
    List the first six authors followed by et al. (Note: NLM now lists all authors.)
    Halpern SD, Ubel PA, Caplan AL. Solid-organ transplantation in HIV-infected patients. N Engl J Med. 2002 Jul 25;347(4):284-7.
    As an option, if a journal carries continuous pagination throughout a volume (as many medical journals do) the month and issue number may be omitted.
    Halpern SD, Ubel PA, Caplan AL. Solid-organ transplantation in HIV-infected patients. N Engl J Med. 2002;347:284-7.
  2. More than six authors:
    Rose ME, Huerbin MB, Melick J, Marion DW, Palmer AM, Schiding JK, et al. Regulation of interstitial excitatory amino acid concentrations after cortical contusion injury. Brain Res. 2002;935(1-2):40-6.
  3. Optional addition of a database's unique identifier for the citation: [Edited 12 May 2009]
    Halpern SD, Ubel PA, Caplan AL. Solid-organ transplantation in HIV-infected patients. N Engl J Med. 2002 Jul 25;347(4):284-7. PubMed PMID: 12140307.
    Forooghian F, Yeh S, Faia LJ, Nussenblatt RB. Uveitic foveal atrophy: clinical features and associations. Arch Ophthalmol. 2009 Feb;127(2):179-86. PubMed PMID: 19204236; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2653214.
  4. Optional addition of a clinical trial registration number: [Added 12 May 2009]
    Trachtenberg F, Maserejian NN, Soncini JA, Hayes C, Tavares M. Does fluoride in compomers prevent future caries in children? J Dent Res. 2009 Mar;88(3):276-9. PubMed PMID: 19329464. ClinicalTrials.gov registration number: NCT00065988.
  5. Organization as author
    Diabetes Prevention Program Research Group. Hypertension, insulin, and proinsulin in participants with impaired glucose tolerance. Hypertension. 2002;40(5):679-86.
  6. Both personal authors and organization as author (List all as they appear in the byline.) [Edited 12 May 2009]
    Vallancien G, Emberton M, Harving N, van Moorselaar RJ; Alf-One Study Group. Sexual dysfunction in 1,274 European men suffering from lower urinary tract symptoms. J Urol. 2003;169(6):2257-61.
    Margulies EH, Blanchette M; NISC Comparative Sequencing Program, Haussler D, Green ED. Identification and characterization of multi-species conserved sequences. Genome Res. 2003 Dec;13(12):2507-18.
  7. No author given
    21st century heart solution may have a sting in the tail. BMJ. 2002;325(7357):184.
  8. Article not in English [Edited 12 May 2009]
    Ellingsen AE, Wilhelmsen I. Sykdomsangst blant medisin- og jusstudenter. Tidsskr Nor Laegeforen. 2002;122(8):785-7. Norwegian.
  9. Optional translation of article title (MEDLINE/PubMed practice):
    Ellingsen AE, Wilhelmsen I. [Disease anxiety among medical students and law students]. Tidsskr Nor Laegeforen. 2002 Mar 20;122(8):785-7. Norwegian.
  10. Volume with supplement
    Geraud G, Spierings EL, Keywood C. Tolerability and safety of frovatriptan with short- and long-term use for treatment of migraine and in comparison with sumatriptan. Headache. 2002;42 Suppl 2:S93-9.
  11. Issue with supplement
    Glauser TA. Integrating clinical trial data into clinical practice. Neurology. 2002;58(12 Suppl 7):S6-12.
  12. Volume with part
    Abend SM, Kulish N. The psychoanalytic method from an epistemological viewpoint. Int J Psychoanal. 2002;83(Pt 2):491-5.
  13. Issue with part
    Ahrar K, Madoff DC, Gupta S, Wallace MJ, Price RE, Wright KC. Development of a large animal model for lung tumors. J Vasc Interv Radiol. 2002;13(9 Pt 1):923-8.
  14. Issue with no volume
    Banit DM, Kaufer H, Hartford JM. Intraoperative frozen section analysis in revision total joint arthroplasty. Clin Orthop. 2002;(401):230-8.
  15. No volume or issue
    Outreach: bringing HIV-positive individuals into care. HRSA Careaction. 2002 Jun:1-6.
  16. Pagination in roman numerals
    Chadwick R, Schuklenk U. The politics of ethical consensus finding. Bioethics. 2002;16(2):iii-v.
  17. Type of article indicated as needed
    Tor M, Turker H. International approaches to the prescription of long-term oxygen therapy [letter]. Eur Respir J. 2002;20(1):242.
    Lofwall MR, Strain EC, Brooner RK, Kindbom KA, Bigelow GE. Characteristics of older methadone maintenance (MM) patients [abstract]. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2002;66 Suppl 1:S105.
  18. Article containing retraction
    Feifel D, Moutier CY, Perry W. Safety and tolerability of a rapidly escalating dose-loading regimen for risperidone. J Clin Psychiatry. 2002;63(2):169. Retraction of: Feifel D, Moutier CY, Perry W. J Clin Psychiatry. 2000;61(12):909-11.
  19. Article containing a partial retraction: [Added 12 May 2009]
    Starkman JS, Wolder CE, Gomelsky A, Scarpero HM, Dmochowski RR. Voiding dysfunction after removal of eroded slings. J Urol. 2006 Dec;176(6 Pt 1):2749. Partial retraction of: Starkman JS, Wolter C, Gomelsky A, Scarpero HM, Dmochowski RR. J Urol. 2006 Sep;176(3):1040-4.
  20. Article retracted
    Feifel D, Moutier CY, Perry W. Safety and tolerability of a rapidly escalating dose-loading regimen for risperidone. J Clin Psychiatry. 2000;61(12):909-11. Retraction in: Feifel D, Moutier CY, Perry W. J Clin Psychiatry. 2002;63(2):169.
  21. Article partially retracted: [Added 12 May 2009]
    Starkman JS, Wolter C, Gomelsky A, Scarpero HM, Dmochowski RR. Voiding dysfunction following removal of eroded synthetic mid urethral slings. J Urol. 2006 Sep;176(3):1040-4. Partial retraction in: Starkman JS, Wolder CE, Gomelsky A, Scarpero HM, Dmochowski RR. J Urol. 2006 Dec;176(6 Pt 1):2749.
  22. Article republished with corrections
    Mansharamani M, Chilton BS. The reproductive importance of P-type ATPases. Mol Cell Endocrinol. 2002;188(1-2):22-5. Corrected and republished from: Mol Cell Endocrinol. 2001;183(1-2):123-6.
  23. Article with published erratum
    Malinowski JM, Bolesta S. Rosiglitazone in the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus: a critical review. Clin Ther. 2000;22(10):1151-68; discussion 1149-50. Erratum in: Clin Ther. 2001;23(2):309.
  24. Article published electronically ahead of the print version
    Yu WM, Hawley TS, Hawley RG, Qu CK. Immortalization of yolk sac-derived precursor cells. Blood. 2002 Nov 15;100(10):3828-31. Epub 2002 Jul 5.

 

Books and Other Monographs

  1. Personal author(s)
    Murray PR, Rosenthal KS, Kobayashi GS, Pfaller MA. Medical microbiology. 4th ed. St. Louis: Mosby; 2002.
  2. Editor(s), compiler(s) as author
    Gilstrap LC 3rd, Cunningham FG, VanDorsten JP, editors. Operative obstetrics. 2nd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill; 2002.
  3. Author(s) and editor(s)
    Breedlove GK, Schorfheide AM. Adolescent pregnancy. 2nd ed. Wieczorek RR, editor. White Plains (NY): March of Dimes Education Services; 2001.
  4. Organization(s) as author [Edited 12 May 2009]
    Advanced Life Support Group. Acute medical emergencies: the practical approach. London: BMJ Books; 2001. 454 p.
    American Occupational Therapy Association, Ad Hoc Committee on Occupational Therapy Manpower. Occupational therapy manpower: a plan for progress. Rockville (MD): The Association; 1985 Apr. 84 p.
    National Lawyer's Guild AIDs Network (US); National Gay Rights Advocates (US). AIDS practice manual: a legal and educational guide. 2nd ed. San Francisco: The Network; 1988.
  5. Chapter in a book
    Meltzer PS, Kallioniemi A, Trent JM. Chromosome alterations in human solid tumors. In: Vogelstein B, Kinzler KW, editors. The genetic basis of human cancer. New York: McGraw-Hill; 2002. p. 93-113.
  6. Conference proceedings
    Harnden P, Joffe JK, Jones WG, editors. Germ cell tumours V. Proceedings of the 5th Germ Cell Tumour Conference; 2001 Sep 13-15; Leeds, UK. New York: Springer; 2002.
  7. Conference paper
    Christensen S, Oppacher F. An analysis of Koza's computational effort statistic for genetic programming. In: Foster JA, Lutton E, Miller J, Ryan C, Tettamanzi AG, editors. Genetic programming. EuroGP 2002: Proceedings of the 5th European Conference on Genetic Programming; 2002 Apr 3-5; Kinsdale, Ireland. Berlin: Springer; 2002. p. 182-91.
  8. Scientific or technical report
    Issued by funding/sponsoring agency:
    Yen GG (Oklahoma State University, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Stillwater, OK). Health monitoring on vibration signatures. Final report. Arlington (VA): Air Force Office of Scientific Research (US), Air Force Research Laboratory; 2002 Feb. Report No.: AFRLSRBLTR020123. Contract No.: F496209810049.
    Issued by performing agency:
    Russell ML, Goth-Goldstein R, Apte MG, Fisk WJ. Method for measuring the size distribution of airborne Rhinovirus. Berkeley (CA): Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Environmental Energy Technologies Division; 2002 Jan. Report No.: LBNL49574. Contract No.: DEAC0376SF00098. Sponsored by the Department of Energy.
  9. Dissertation
    Borkowski MM. Infant sleep and feeding: a telephone survey of Hispanic Americans [dissertation]. Mount Pleasant (MI): Central Michigan University; 2002.
  10. Patent
    Pagedas AC, inventor; Ancel Surgical R&D Inc., assignee. Flexible endoscopic grasping and cutting device and positioning tool assembly. United States patent US 20020103498. 2002 Aug 1.

 

Other Published Material

  1. Newspaper article
    Tynan T. Medical improvements lower homicide rate: study sees drop in assault rate. The Washington Post. 2002 Aug 12;Sect. A:2 (col. 4).
  2. Audiovisual material
    Chason KW, Sallustio S. Hospital preparedness for bioterrorism [videocassette]. Secaucus (NJ): Network for Continuing Medical Education; 2002.
  3. Legal Material
    Public law:
    Veterans Hearing Loss Compensation Act of 2002, Pub. L. No. 107-9, 115 Stat. 11 (May 24, 2001).
    Unenacted bill:
    Healthy Children Learn Act, S. 1012, 107th Cong., 1st Sess. (2001).
  4. Code of Federal Regulations:
    Cardiopulmonary Bypass Intracardiac Suction Control, 21 C.F.R. Sect. 870.4430 (2002).
  5. Hearing:
    Arsenic in Drinking Water: An Update on the Science, Benefits and Cost: Hearing Before the Subcomm. on Environment, Technology and Standards of the House Comm. on Science, 107th Cong., 1st Sess. (Oct. 4, 2001).
  6. Map
    Pratt B, Flick P, Vynne C, cartographers. Biodiversity hotspots [map]. Washington: Conservation International; 2000.
  7. Dictionary and similar references
    Dorland's illustrated medical dictionary. 29th ed. Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders; 2000. Filamin; p. 675.

 

Unpublished Material

  1. In press or Forthcoming [Edited 12 May 2009]
    (Note: NLM prefers "Forthcoming" rather than "In press" because not all items will be printed.)
    Tian D, Araki H, Stahl E, Bergelson J, Kreitman M. Signature of balancing selection in Arabidopsis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. Forthcoming 2002.

 

Electronic Material

  1. CD-ROM
    Anderson SC, Poulsen KB. Anderson's electronic atlas of hematology [CD-ROM]. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2002.
  2. Journal article on the Internet [Edited 12 May 2009]
    Abood S. Quality improvement initiative in nursing homes: the ANA acts in an advisory role. Am J Nurs [Internet]. 2002 Jun [cited 2002 Aug 12];102(6):[about 1 p.]. Available from: http://www.nursingworld.org/AJN/2002/june/Wawatch.htmArticle
  3. Optional presentation (omits bracketed phrase that qualifies the journal title abbreviation):
    Abood S. Quality improvement initiative in nursing homes: the ANA acts in an advisory role. Am J Nurs. 2002 Jun [cited 2002 Aug 12];102(6):[about 1 p.]. Available from: http://www.nursingworld.org/AJN/2002/june/Wawatch.htmArticle
  4. Article with document number in place of traditional pagination:
    Williams JS, Brown SM, Conlin PR. Videos in clinical medicine. Blood-pressure measurement. N Engl J Med. 2009 Jan 29;360(5):e6. PubMed PMID: 19179309.
  5. Article with a Digital Object Identifier (DOI):
    Zhang M, Holman CD, Price SD, Sanfilippo FM, Preen DB, Bulsara MK. Comorbidity and repeat admission to hospital for adverse drug reactions in older adults: retrospective cohort study. BMJ. 2009 Jan 7;338:a2752. doi: 10.1136/bmj.a2752. PubMed PMID: 19129307; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2615549.
  6. Article with unique publisher item identifier (pii) in place of traditional pagination or DOI:
    Tegnell A, Dillner J, Andrae B. Introduction of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination in Sweden. Euro Surveill. 2009 Feb 12;14(6). pii: 19119. PubMed PMID: 19215721.
  7. 37. Monograph on the Internet [Edited 12 May 2009]
    Foley KM, Gelband H, editors. Improving palliative care for cancer [Internet]. Washington: National Academy Press; 2001 [cited 2002 Jul 9]. Available from: http://www.nap.edu/books/0309074029/html/.
  8. Homepage/Web site [Edited 12 May 2009]
    Cancer-Pain.org [Internet]. New York: Association of Cancer Online Resources, Inc.; c2000-01 [updated 2002 May 16; cited 2002 Jul 9]. Available from: http://www.cancer-pain.org/.
  9. Part of a homepage/Web site [Edited 12 May 2009]
    American Medical Association [Internet]. Chicago: The Association; c1995-2002 [updated 2001 Aug 23; cited 2002 Aug 12]. AMA Office of Group Practice Liaison; [about 2 screens]. Available from: http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/1736.html
  10. Database on the Internet [Edited 12 May 2009]
    Open database:
    Who's Certified [Internet]. Evanston (IL): The American Board of Medical Specialists. c2000 -   [cited 2001 Mar 8]. Available from: http://www.abms.org/newsearch.asp
    Closed database:
    Jablonski S. Online Multiple Congenital Anomaly/Mental Retardation (MCA/MR) Syndromes [Internet]. Bethesda (MD): National Library of Medicine (US); c1999 [updated 2001 Nov 20; cited 2002 Aug 12]. Available from:http://www.nlm.nih.gov/archive//20061212/mesh/jablonski/syndrome_title.html
  11. Part of a database on the Internet [Edited 12 May 2009]
    MeSH Browser [Internet]. Bethesda (MD): National Library of Medicine (US); 2002 -   . Meta-analysis [cited 2008 Jul 24]; [about 2 p.]. Available from: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/cgi/mesh/2008/MB_cgi?mode=&index=16408&view=concept MeSH Unique ID: D017418.
  12. Blogs [Added 12 May 2009]
    Holt M. The Health Care Blog [Internet]. San Francisco: Matthew Holt. 2003 Oct -   [cited 2009 Feb 13]. Available from: http://www.thehealthcareblog.com/the_health_care_blog/.
    KidneyNotes.com [Internet]. New York: KidneyNotes. c2006 -   [cited 2009 Feb 13]. Available from: http://www.kidneynotes.com/.
    Wall Street Journal. HEALTH BLOG: WSJ's blog on health and the business of health [Internet]. Hensley S, editor. New York: Dow Jones & Company, Inc. c2007 -   [cited 2009 Feb 13]. Available from: http://blogs.wsj.com/health/.
  13. Contribution to a blog:
    Mantone J. Head trauma haunts many, researchers say. 2008 Jan 29 [cited 2009 Feb 13]. In: Wall Street Journal. HEALTH BLOG [Internet]. New York: Dow Jones & Company, Inc. c2008 -   . [about 1 screen]. Available from: http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2008/01/29/head-trauma-haunts-many-researchers-say/.
    Campbell A. Diabetes and alcohol: do the two mix? (Part 2). 2008 Jan 28 [cited 2009 Feb 13]. In: Diabetes Self-Management Blog [Internet]. New York: Diabetes Self-Management. [2006 Aug 14] -   . 2 p. Available from:http://www.diabetesselfmanagement.com/blog/Amy_Campbell/Diabetes_and_Alcohol_Do_the_Two_Mix_Part_2
    Reider J. Docnotes: Health, Technology, Family Medicine and other observations [Internet]. [place unknown]: Jacob Reider. 1999 -   . CRP again ...; 2004 Apr 2 [cited 2009 Feb 13]; [about 1 screen]. Available from:http://www.docnotes.com/2004/04/crp-again.html

 

Acknowledgments

People who contributed to the work, but do not fit the criteria for authors should be listed in the Acknowledgments, along with their contributions. You must also ensure that anyone named in the acknowledgments agrees to being so named.

 

Details of the funding sources that have supported the work should be confined to the funding statement. Do not include them in the Acknowledgments.

 

Funding

This section should describe sources of funding that have supported the work. Please also describe the role of the study sponsor(s), if any, in study design; collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; writing of the paper; and decision to submit it for publication.

 

Competing and conflicting Interests

It is important to consider this carefully. If you don’t declare a conflict of interest and you are subsequently found to have one your paper will lose credibility. Conversely, full disclosure of conflict of interest does not prevent a paper being published but does allow you to be open with your readers. This section should list specific competing interests associated with any of the authors. If authors declare that no competing interests exist, we will print a statement to this effect. For guidelines on what is and what is not conflict of interest have a look at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/policy/coi/

 

Abbreviations

Please keep abbreviations to a minimum. List all non-standard abbreviations in alphabetical order, along with their expanded form. Define them as well upon first use in the text. Non-standard abbreviations should not be used unless they appear at least three times in the text.

 

Nomenclature

The use of standardized nomenclature in all fields of science and medicine is an essential step toward the integration and linking of scientific information reported in published literature. We will enforce the use of correct and established nomenclature wherever possible:

 

We strongly encourage the use of SI units. If you do not use these exclusively, please provide the SI value in parentheses after each value.

Species names should be italicized (e.g., Homo sapiens) and the full genus and species must be written out in full, both in the title of the manuscript and at the first mention of an organism in a paper; after that, the first letter of the genus name, followed by the full species name may be used.

Genes, mutations, genotypes, and alleles should be indicated in italics. Use the recommended name by consulting the appropriate genetic nomenclature database, e.g., HUGO for human genes. It is sometimes advisable to indicate the synonyms for the gene the first time it appears in the text. Gene prefixes such as those used for oncogenes or cellular localization should be shown in roman: v-fes, c-MYC, etc.

The Recommended International Non-Proprietary Name (rINN) of drugs should be provided.

Accession Numbers

All appropriate datasets, images, and information should be deposited in public resources. Please provide the relevant accession numbers (and version numbers, if appropriate). Accession numbers should be provided in parentheses after the entity on first use. Suggested databases include, but are not limited to:

 

ArrayExpress

BioModels Database

Database of Interacting Proteins

DNA Data Bank of Japan [DDBJ]

EMBL Nucleotide Sequence Database

GenBank

Gene Expression Omnibus [GEO]

Protein Data Bank

UniProtKB/Swiss-Prot

ClinicalTrials.gov

In addition, as much as possible, please provide accession numbers or identifiers for all entities such as genes, proteins, mutants, diseases, etc., for which there is an entry in a public database, for example:

 

Ensembl

Entrez Gene

FlyBase

InterPro

Mouse Genome Database (MGD)

Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM)

Providing accession numbers allows linking to and from established databases and integrates your article with a broader collection of scientific information.

 

Figures

If the article is accepted for publication, the author will be asked to supply high-resolution, print-ready versions of the figures. Please ensure that the files conform to our Guidelines for Figure and Table Preparation when preparing your figures for production. After acceptance, authors will also be asked to provide an attractive image to highlight their paper online. Figures may be published under a Creative Commons Attribution License, which allows them to be freely used, distributed, and built upon as long as proper attribution is given. Please do not submit any figures that have been previously copyrighted unless you have express written permission from the copyright holder to publish under the CCAL license.

 

Figure Legends

The aim of the figure legend should be to describe the key messages of the figure, but the figure should also be discussed in the text. An enlarged version of the figure and its full legend will often be viewed in a separate window online, and it should be possible for a reader to understand the figure without switching back and forth between this window and the relevant parts of the text. Each legend should have a concise title of no more than 15 words. The legend itself should be succinct, while still explaining all symbols and abbreviations. Avoid lengthy descriptions of methods.

 

Virtual Slides

Authors must include virtual slides into their manuscripts when including microscopic preparations. These will be administered by DiagnomX, scanned and hosted by Huron Technologies International, Inc, Canada, Leica Microsystems, Germany, or Motic Medical Diagnostic Systems, China. The slides will be displayed with an easy to use viewing tool and an individual image data bank for your own use. If you wish to include virtual slides in your manuscript please indicate this in the "Comments to Editor" field on submission form.

 

Tables

All tables should have a concise title. Footnotes can be used to explain abbreviations. Citations should be indicated using the same style as outlined above. Tables occupying more than one printed page should be avoided, if possible. Larger tables can be published as online supporting information. Tables must be cell-based; do not use picture elements, text boxes, tabs, or returns in tables. Please ensure that the files conform to our Guidelines for Figure and Table Preparation when preparing your tables for production.

Requirements for figures and tables

1) When you submit an article; tables and figures must be submitted as separate files

 

2) Tables must be in Word.doc format

 

3) Line Graphs should be in or tif or eps formats, and resolution of 900-1200 dpi. If you are unsure about this, please send us the graph in Microsoft excel format and we will convert it into eps or tif formats.

 

4) Photographs containing no text must be in jpg or tif formats with resolution of 500+ dpi. If you do not have tif or eps, please submit as jpg.

 

5) Images which contain a combination of text and picture elements must be jpg or tif or eps formats with resolution of 500-1200 dpi. If you do not have tif or eps, please submit as jpg.

 

**** Generally, we will NOT accept any images with resolution below 300 dpi. You must submit at least in jpg format, that way we can change it into any other format accordingly.

 

**** Please note that all images must be big (greater than the intended size) and of high resolution.

 

For more information regarding the image quality requirements, please visit: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/about/PMC_Filespec.html#Image_File_Requirements

 

Please note that we will be strictly enforcing these conditions and files which fail to conform to these requirements will not be considered for publication.

 

Multimedia Files and Supporting Information

We encourage authors to submit essential supporting files and multimedia files along with their manuscripts. All supporting material will be subject to peer review, and should be smaller than 10 MB in size because of the difficulties that some users will experience in loading or downloading files of a greater size. If your material weights more than 10 MB, please provide it by email.

 

Supporting files should fall into one of the following categories: Dataset, Figure, Table, Text, Protocol, Audio, or Video. All supporting information should be referred to in the manuscript with a leading capital S (e.g., Figure S4 for the fourth supporting information figure). Titles (and, if desired, legends) for all supporting information files should be listed in the manuscript under the heading "Supporting Information."

 

Supporting files may be submitted in a variety of formats, but should be publication-ready, as these files are not copyedited. All video files should be submitted as AVI or Quicktime files.

 

Assistance

Any other feature not stated in this guidelines should follow the Uniform Requirement for Manuscripts of the ICMJE. You can also read more at info for authors or contact us.