Instructions to Authors

Original research papers, reviews, and short research communications can be submitted to the Journal on the understanding that the work has not been published previously in whole or part and is not under consideration for publication elsewhere. There is no limit on the length of papers, except for short research communication that is restricted under 2500 words (excluding references and abstract). Authors are encouraged to be concise.

For general information about preparing biomedical manuscripts, please consult the "Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals: Writing and Editing for Biomedical Publication", available from http://www.icmje.org/.

Review/Decisions

Manuscripts (other than those that are of insufficient quality or unlikely to be competitive enough for publication) will be reviewed and a decision typically returns to the authors within one month. Manuscripts with significant results will be reviewed and published at the highest priority and speed. Possible decisions on manuscripts are: accept as is, minor revision, major revision, or reject. Revised manuscripts should be returned within 1 month in the case of minor revision, or 3 months in the case of major revision.

Author Biography

Authors can publish a biography together with the paper, with information such as MD/PhD degree, past and present positions, research interests, awards, etc. This increases the profile of the authors. Author biography can be added at the end of paper. We find that this section is very well received by readers. If you would like to publish an author biography, please submit it to the editorial team as soon as the paper is accepted for publication. See a sample of author biography.

Format for Submission

Authors can format their papers in any convenient style for submission and review purpose. Please embed figures and tables in the manuscript to become one single file for submission. Submission instructions can be found in the submission page.

Format for Publication

References

Please number the references consecutively in the paper.

Journal Paper

Please use the PubMed citation format. Journal paper should have journal name/abbreviation, year, volume and page numbers. Please use ":" to separate volume and first page number. Omit any "." in the journal abbreviations. The sequence is as:

[Author surname] [Author initials], [Other author surnames & initials]. [Article title]. [Journal name abbreviation]. [Year]; [Volume]: [First page number]-[Last page number].

Example:

1. Eknoyan G, Beck GJ, Cheung AK, et al. Effect of dialysis dose and membrane flux in maintenance hemodialysis. N Engl J Med. 2002; 347: 2010-9.

Supplement: Example:
1. Volk HD, Reinke P, Krausch D, et al. Monocyte deactivation-rationale for a new therapeutic strategy in sepsis. Intensive Care Med. 1996; 22 (Suppl 4):S474-S481.
No author given: Example:
1. [No authors listed]. Medicare program; criteria for Medicare coverage of adult liver transplants-HCFA. Final notice. Fed Regist. 1991; 56(71):15006-15018.
In press: Example:
1. Cheung TMT, et al. Effectiveness of non-invasive positive pressure ventilation in the treatment of acute respiratory failure in severe acute respiratory syndrome. Chest; in press.
Epub ahead of print: Example:
1. Li W, Chen Y, Cameron DJ, et al. Elovl4 haploinsufficiency does not induce early onset retinal degeneration in mice. Vision Res 2007; [Epub ahead of print].

It is not necessary to highlight or italicize the title, journal name, or any part of references.

Book

1. Kiloh LG, Smith JS, Johnson GF, et al. Physical treatment in psychiatry. Boston, USA: Blackwell Scientific Publisher; 1988.

Chapters in Edited Book

1. Beckenbough RD, Linscheid RL. Arthroplasty in the hand and wrist. In: Green DP, ed. Operative Hand Surgery, 2nd ed. New York: Churchill Livingstone; 1988: 167-214.

Web Site

1. [Internet] WHO: Geneva, Switzerland. Summary of probable SARS cases with onset of illness from 1 November 2002 to 31 July 2003. Revised 26 September 2003. http://www.who.int/csr/sars/country/table2003_09_23/en/

2. [Internet] Kornberg R. http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/2006/press.html

Please do not include unpublished observations, personal communications, conference abstracts or conference papers as references.

Title, Author, Abstract

The first page should include the article title, author's name(s), affiliation(s) with complete addresses, corresponding author's phone/fax number and email address. Abstract should be no more than 250 words with no citation to references. Please provide 5-6 keywords after the abstract.

Figures

Original files from the drawing software (e.g. PowerPoint, Photoshop, Microsoft Excel, ...) that was used to create the figures are acceptable. Photo images should be of high resolution - e.g. 600dpi in tiff/jpeg format.

Citation of Tables and Figures

Tables and Figures should be numbered consecutively. Citation of tables and figures in the main text should use the format: Table 1, Figure 1, or Fig. 2, Fig. 3. The abbreviation of "Table" by "Tab.", for example, "Tab. 1" should be avoided. Parts in a figure can be identified by a, b, c, d, ... . and the citations Figure 2a, Figure 2b, Figure 2c.

Math Formulas and Symbols

Simple mathematical formulas should be constructed using superscript, subscript, italic, and symbols in the Microsoft Word.

Use symbols in the Fonts: (normal text) or Symbol fonts. To insert a symbol, use Insert/symbol in the Word menu.
Use / for "divide" or "over". For example, 1/7, 5/(4+6).
Use Symbol fonts for "±"; "≤" and "≥" (avoid underline).

Ethics Committee Approval and Patient Consent

Experimental research involving human or animals should have been approved by author's institutional review board or ethics committee. This information can be mentioned in the manuscript including the name of the board/committee that gave the approval. Investigations involving humans will have been performed in accordance with the principles of Declaration of Helsinki. And the use of animals in experiments will have observed the Interdisciplinary Principles and Guidelines for the Use of Animals in Research, Testing, and Education by the New York Academy of Sciences, Ad Hoc Animal Research Committee.

If the manuscript contains photos or parts of photos of patients, informed consent from each patient should be obtained. Patient's identities and privacy should be carefully protected in the manuscript.

Conflict of Interests

Conflict of interests that might interfere with the objective presentation of the research findings contained in the manuscript should be declared in a paragraph heading "Conflict of interests" (after Acknowledgment section and before References). Examples of conflict of interests are ownership of stock in a company, grants, board membership, etc. If there is no conflict of interests, please use the statement "The authors have declared that no conflict of interest exists".

Publication Fee

The Journal charges a publication fee of 1100 US dollars (890 Euro) when an article is accepted for publication. Published articles of the Journal are open access and full texts appear in PubMed Central. This effectively removes the barriers for timely distribution of the articles and ensures that they can be read by as many people as possible. The amount of publication fee charged is lower than many other PubMed Central journals (comparing to the fees charged by BioMedCentral and PLOS). Publication fee is required to cover the cost of the publication. Payment can be made by credit card, bank transfer, money order or check.

Reprints

Reprints can be ordered at the time of publication. Reprints are of professional quality suitable for scientific corresponding.