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General information
The Journal of Chiropractic Medicine (JCM) fulfills the long-standing need for an
exchange of information relating to the practice of chiropractic all over the world. Papers on any aspect of chiropractic care and associated
adjunctive procedures will be considered for review.
The JCM is a peer-reviewed journal devoted to providing a forum for
the chiropractic profession to disseminate information dedicated to the developing primary care emphasis within the profession. The journal
focuses on providing practical and applicable information for the practicing doctor of chiropractic. Content is devoted to the presentation
of cases from a wide variety of conditions, reviews of literature, and original data reports, all of which help keep the doctor in the
field up to date with the latest trends and interests in patient care.
It is important to document the full scope of practice activities
within chiropractic. There is an increasing emphasis upon scientific evidence with respect to treatment protocols, for insurance reimbursement
and, most importantly, for better patient care. The JCM provides a place for the profession to share and disseminate this information.
The journal will consider original manuscripts on issues relevant to its mission. Submissions must be original work, not published
elsewhere, and not currently under consideration for publication in another peer-reviewed medium including both paper and electronic
formats. The JCM does not publish articles containing material that has been reported at length elsewhere. The journal follows
the standards as set forth in the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts (www.icmje.org).
MANUSCRIPT CATEGORIES
Manuscripts should fit into one of the following categories (text word limit does not include abstract,
tables, or references):
Case reports and case series
Case reports reflect accounts of the diagnosis and treatment
of unusual, difficult, or otherwise interesting cases that may have independent educational value or may contribute to better standardization
of care for a particular health problem when correlated with similar reports of others. Case series are retrospective comparative assessments
of the diagnosis and treatment of several cases of a similar condition, ie, the comparative evaluation of two or more (perhaps hundreds)
of case reports. Consent for publication in print and electronic format must be obtained from patients and be made available to the editor
upon submission. Patients must sign a case consent form giving the JCM permission to publish their case information. Authors
should include a statement in the text that the patient(s) gave consent to have personal health information published without divulging
personal identifiers. For more information about HIPAA as it relates to obtaining patient consent for publication, please refer to  http://privacyruleandresearch.nih.gov/faq.asp
or your country's legal guidelines. (text word limit, approximately 1500 words)
Narrative reviews, systematic reviews and
meta-analyses
Assessments of current knowledge of a particular subject of interest that synthesize evidence relevant to well-defined
questions about diagnosis, prognosis, or therapy with emphasis on better correlation, the demonstration of ambiguities, and the delineation
of areas that may constitute hypotheses for further study. (text word limit, approximately 4000 words)
Observational and experimental
investigations
Reports of new research findings into the enhancement factors of health, causal aspects of disease, and the
establishment of clinical efficacies of related diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. These types of studies may include: clinical trials,
intervention studies, cohort studies, case-control studies, observational studies, cost-effectiveness analyses, epidemiologic evaluations,
and studies of diagnostic tests. These reports should follow current and relevant guidelines (eg, CONSORT, MOOSE, QUOROM, STARD, TREND,
etc.) (text word limit, approximately 4000 words)
Technical reports
Reporting and evaluation of new or improved
chiropractic technique, equipment, treatment procedures, or the critical evaluation of old chiropractic technique, equipment, or treatment
procedures that have not previously been critically evaluated. (text word limit, approximately 2000 words)
Clinical guidelines
Succinct, informative, summaries of official or consensus positions on issues related to health care delivery, clinical practice, or
public policy. (text word limit, approximately 2000 words)
Commentary
Essays on matters relating to the clinical,
professional, educational, and/or politicolegal aspects of health care principles and practice and relevant to the mission of the JCM.
(text word limit, approximately 1500 words)
Letters to the editor
Communications that are directed specifically
to the editor that add to the information base or clarify a deficiency in a recently published paper (must be within the last 4 months)
and include relevant references to substantiate comments. Letters must be accompanied with a signed assignment of copyright. No unidentified
letters are accepted for publication. All letters are subject to editing and abridgement. If a letter is accepted for publication, a
blinded copy will be sent to the author of the article who will have an opportunity to provide a response and new information that will
be considered for publication along with the letter. Direct communication between the writer of a letter and the author of an article
should be avoided, because in the interest of scientific objectivity differences of opinion are best handled by a third party-the editor-who
can serve as an arbitrator if there is a dispute, thus avoiding unnecessary irritations to either party. Also, if deficiencies exist
in an article published in the JCM, all readers (and the scientific community in general) have a right to be informed. For more
information about letters to the editor please read the paper on this topic. (text word limit, 500 words, reference limit 8)
EDITORIAL
POLICIES
Authorship
All authors of papers submitted to JCM must have an intellectual stake in the
material presented for publication and must be able to answer for the content of the entire work. Authors should be able to certify participation
in the work, vouch for its validity, acknowledge reviewing and approving the final version of the paper, acknowledge that the work has
not been previously published elsewhere, and be able to produce raw data if requested by the editor. All authors are required to complete
and return an authorship copyright form.
As stated in the Uniform Requirements (www.icmje.org),
credit for authorship requires the following 1) substantial contributions to conception and design, or acquisition of data, or analysis
and interpretation of data; 2) drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content; and 3) final approval
of the version to be published. Authors should meet conditions 1, 2, and 3. Each author must sign a statement attesting that he or she
fulfills the authorship criteria of the Uniform Requirements and is included on the copyright assignment form. Authors are required to
designate their level of participation of authorship on the authorship form. A change in authorship after submission must be signed by
all authors prior to being considered.
Human subjects
The JCM endorses the ICMJE guidelines and the Declaration
of Helsinki, and all related conditions regarding the experimental use of human subjects and their informed consent will apply. Projects
that should go through approval from an ethics review board/committee or IRB should clearly include this statement in the Methods section.
Manuscripts that report the results of experimental investigations with human subjects must include a statement that informed consent
was obtained (in writing, from the subject or legal guardian) after the procedure(s) had been fully explained. Written informed consent
for publication in both paper and electronic media needs to be obtained from patients for case reports, case series, and retrospective
designs.
Patient anonymity
It is the authors' responsibility to maintain appropriate records as well as protect
patients' identity. Ethical and legal considerations require careful attention to the protection of the patient's anonymity in case reports
and other publications. Identifying information such as names, initials, actual case numbers, and specific dates must be avoided; identifying
information about a patient's personal history and characteristics should be disguised. Photographs or artistic likenesses of subjects
are publishable only with their written consent or the consent of legal guardian; the signed consent form, giving any special conditions
(ie, eyes blocked off), must accompany manuscript.
Conflict of interest
Conflict of interest exists when an author
has financial or personal interests that may influence his or her actions in regard to the authors' work, manuscript or decisions. Conflicts
of interest that exist, or that are perceived to exist, for individual authors in connection with the content of this paper should be
disclosed to the JCM in the cover letter to the editor and in the authorship form. In recognition that it may be difficult to
judge material from authors where proprietary interests are concerned, authors should be ready to answer requests from the editor regarding
potential conflicts of interest. The editor makes the final determination concerning the extent of information released to the public.
Funding sources
Sources of financial support of the project, such as grants, funding sources, equipment, and supplies,
should be clearly stated in the cover letter and in the authorship form. The role of funding organizations, if any, in the conduct of
the study should be described in the Methods section of the manuscript.
Copyright of journal contents
Material
published in the JCM is covered by copyright. No content published by the JCM (either in print or electronic) may be
stored or presented on another private site, organization's site, or displayed or reproduced by any other means, without the express
permission of the copyright holder.
Assignment of copyright
All submissions must be accompanied at the time of
submission by a properly completed authorship copyright form, signed by all authors and by employer if submission represents a "work
for hire." Upon such submission, it is accepted by all authors that no further dissemination of any part of the material contained in
the manuscript is permitted, in any manner, without prior written approval from the editor; nonobservance of this copyright stipulation
may result in removal of the submission for publication.
Assignment of copyright should be faxed to (630) 839-1792 in order to
facilitate manuscript processing for peer review. Multiple authors may fax and/or mail separate versions of the form (all signatures
do not need to be on the same form) however manuscripts will not be processed until all signatures have been received. Instead of faxing,
hard copies may be sent to:
JCM Manuscript Processing Department
200 East Roosevelt Road
Lombard, IL 60148
Permissions
It is the corresponding author's responsibility to secure all copyright permissions and permission to state names or institutions in
the acknowledgements and provide these to the JCM editorial offices. Illustrations or content from other publications (print
or electronic) must be submitted with written permission from the publisher (and author if required) and must be acknowledged in the
manuscript. For case reports, a signed consent form from the patient, guardian, or legal decision maker is required.
Clinical
trial registration
In order to reduce selective reporting and increase full transparency of reporting of clinical trials,
clinical trials should be registered in a public trials registry at or before the onset of patient enrollment as a condition of consideration
for publication. This policy applies to clinical trials starting enrollment after July 1, 2005. For trials that began enrollment before
this date, registration should be completed by September 13, 2005, before considering the trial for publication. The ICMJE (www.icmje.org)
defines a clinical trial as a study that prospectively assigns human subjects to intervention or comparison groups to evaluate the cause-and-effect
relationship between an intervention and a health outcome. Studies designed for other purposes, such as phase 1 trials, are exempt. Trial
registration numbers and the URLs for the registry should be included in the cover letter at the time of submission.
Redundant
or Duplicate Publication
The JCM does not publish articles containing material that has been reported at length
elsewhere without permission of the editor. The corresponding author must include in the cover letter a statement to the editor about
all submissions and previous materials that might be considered to be redundant or duplicate publication of similar work, including if
the manuscript includes materials on which the authors have published a previous report or have submitted a related report to another
publication. Copies of the related material may be requested by the editor in order to assist with the editorial decision of the paper.
If redundant or duplicate publication is attempted or occurs without proper disclosure to the editor, editorial action will be taken
as follows. If it is confirmed that a paper is a duplicate or redundant publication and is discovered in the prepublication phase, the
paper will be rejected, even if an accept notice has been distributed previously to the authors. If duplicate or redundant publication
is confirmed after publication, the paper will be retracted and the appropriate boards/institutions notified.
Non-compliance
with Author Instructions
Authors who do not comply with the items set forth in these instructions may have the submission
returned, rejected, or brought to higher authorities, such as ethics, licensing or institutional boards for review at the editor's discretion.
EDITORIAL PROCESS
Pre-peer review and internal review by editors
To insure that only relevant and
appropriate papers are sent to peer review, submitted manuscripts are pre-reviewed for relevance, appropriate submission format, and
basic quality before sending out to peer review. Therefore, reasons for early rejection may include: the submission does not meet the
requirements as stated in the instructions for authors, the work is of poor quality, the work is preliminary, the manuscript is incomplete,
or the topic is not relevant to the mission of journal.
The editorial staff reads each manuscript and then decides whether to send
the paper to outside reviewers. If a submission is rejected without external review, the author will be notified electronically within
2 to 3 weeks of receipt. Approximately 80% of submitted papers are sent to external peer review, which is made up of usually at least
2 reviewers.
Review process
All manuscripts are subject to blind (without author or institutional identification)
critical review by experts in the related field to assist the editor in determining appropriateness to JCM objectives, originality,
validity, importance of content, substantiation of conclusions, and possible need for improvement. Manuscripts are considered privileged
communications and should not be retained or duplicated during the review process. Reviewers' comments may be returned with manuscript
if rejected or if recommendations for improvement are made. All reviewers remain anonymous.
Criteria for editorial decisions
The JCM can publish only a portion of all papers submitted each year. Papers are selected based on the strength of the paper
in regard to scientific merit, the mission of the journal, and the potential impact on improving patient care.
Acceptance
for publication
Processing of a manuscript for peer review does not imply acceptance to publish, even though it may be found
to be within JCM editorial objectives. Submissions may receive one of 5 responses from the editor: 1) incomplete or not ready
for submission, 2) major revision, 3) minor revision, 4) accept, or 5) reject. Aside from rejection for uncorrectable faults, a well-compiled
manuscript may also be rejected because it adds little new information to work that was previously published in the literature or addresses
a new topic that deserves more in-depth reporting. In these cases, the editor will usually provide the author of a rejected manuscript
recommendations that may be helpful for submission elsewhere.
Post-acceptance copy editing
All manuscripts accepted
for publication are subject to copyediting and revision as may be necessary to ensure clarity, conciseness, correct usage, and conformance
to approved style. The primary style guide used by this journal is the AMA Manual of Style. Almost all papers that are accepted require
some editorial revision before publication. Authors will have the opportunity to approve revisions made during the copy editing process
during the reviewing of the proofs. Editors will work with authors to arrive at agreement when authors do not find the revisions acceptable,
but the JCM reserves the right to refrain from publishing a manuscript if discussion with the author fails to reach a solution
that satisfies the editors.
Publication scheduling of accepted papers and proofs
Authors will be notified when
they can expect to receive proofs by email. Authors who cannot examine email proofs by the deadline (48 hours of receipt) should email
the editor to designate a colleague who will review proofs.
Reprints and copies
Authors of papers published in
the JCM are encouraged to make reprints available to interested members of the scientific, academic, and clinical communities
so that the inherent knowledge may be more widely disseminated; a reprint order form will be provided with the proofs to facilitate ordering
quantity reprints. One complimentary copy of the JCM issue in which an author's work appears will be provided at no charge to
the corresponding author; additional copies, if desired, must be ordered at regular cost directly from the publisher. Authors are responsible
for payment of reprints or additional copies.
Reproductions
The entire content of the JCM is protected
by copyright, and no part may be reproduced (outside of the fair use stipulation of Public Law 94-553) by any means without prior permission
from the editor or publisher in writing. In particular, this policy applies to the reprinting of an original article in print or in electronic
format, in another publication and the use of any illustrations or text to create a new work.
Revisions and resubmissions
If the authors have been given the opportunity by the editor to make specific changes to a manuscript and return it for further consideration,
this is considered a "revision." The manuscript will have the same manuscript number and may be sent out to the same or different reviewers,
depending on the needs of the revision. A request for revision does not imply that the manuscript will be accepted. Manuscripts that
are revised and returned may still be rejected.
If the authors have received a rejection decision but wish the editor to reconsider
the decision, this is considered a "resubmission." A new file will be created, and the paper will receive a new manuscript number. The
cover letter must explain that the paper is being resubmitted and substantiated with explanations for why the paper should be allowed
to be resubmitted.
SUBMISSION INFORMATION
Manuscript preparation and submission
All manuscripts must be submitted through
the Journal of Chiropractic Medicine online submission and review Web site www.JournalChiroMed.com.
At this site, authors will be guided through the creation and uploading of the various files.
At the time of submission, authors
should send their completed assignment of copyright form by fax. A fax copy of the completed copyright form is required before a manuscript
will be processed.
Submission items include the following as separate items: the cover letter with comments to the editor (eg, special
instructions, suggested reviewers' names and emails), the title page showing author details, the blinded manuscript without author details
(including manuscript text, references, and table/figure legends tables), and figures. Note that original source files, not PDF files,
are required. Files should be labeled with appropriate and descriptive file names (e.g., SmithText.doc, Fig1.tif). Upload text, and graphics
as separate files. Illustrations must be submitted in electronic format. Images (200 dpi) should be provided in either TIF or EPS format.
Do not imbed figures or tables into the text document.
The author should specify a category designation for the manuscript (original
research, case report, etc.) and choose a set of classifications from the prescribed list provided online. Authors may send queries concerning
the submission process, manuscript status, or journal procedures to the Editorial Office.
Once the submission files are uploaded,
the system automatically generates an electronic (PDF) proof, which is then used for reviewing. All correspondence, including the Editor's
decision and request for revisions, will be sent by e-mail.
Authors who are unable to provide an electronic version or have other
circumstances that prevent online submission must contact the Editorial Office prior to submission to discuss alternate options. The
Publisher and Editors regret that they are not able to consider submissions that do not follow these procedures.
Revised manuscripts
should be accompanied by a unique file with responses to editor requests and reviewers' comments. The preferred order of files is as
follows: cover letter, response to reviews (revised manuscripts only), manuscript file(s), figure(s).
Authors may use Elsevier's
Author Gateway ( http://authors.elsevier.com ) to track accepted articles and set up e-mail alerts to inform you of when
an article's status has changed. Answers to questions arising after acceptance of an article, especially those relating to proofs, are
provided after registration of an article for publication.
Recommended file size
It is recommended that files no
greater than 2MB are uploaded during the submissions process.
Manuscript format
Manuscripts must be prepared in
accordance with the Declaration of Vancouver "Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals" (available from
the JCM Editorial Office or from www.icmje.org). The manuscript should
be in double-spaced format. Do not break any words (hyphenate) at the end of any line and do not insert hard page breaks.
Terminology
Standard spelling and terminology should be used whenever possible. Avoid creating new terms or acronyms for entities that already exist.
Technical terms that are used in statistics should not be used as non-technical terms, such as "random" (which implies a randomizing
device), "normal," "significant" (which implies statistical significance), and "sample."
Units of Measurement
In
most countries the International System of Units (SI) is standard, or is becoming so, and bioscientific journals in general are in the
process of requiring the reporting of data in these metric units. However, insofar as this practice is not yet universal, particularly
in the United States, it is permissible for the time being to report data in the units in which calculations were originally made, followed
by the opposite unit equivalents in parentheses; ie, English units (SI units) or SI units (English units). Nevertheless, researchers
and authors considering submission of manuscripts to the JCM should begin to adopt SI as their primary system of measurement
as quickly as it is feasible.
Abbreviations and symbols
Use only standard abbreviations for units of measurement,
statistical terms, biological references, journal names, etc. Avoid abbreviations in titles and abstracts. The full term should precede
its abbreviation for the first use in the manuscript, unless it is a standard unit of measurement. For standard abbreviations, consult
the following: 1) Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals (Ann Intern Med 1997;126:36-47); 2) American
Medical Association manual of style. 9th ed. Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins; 1997; 3) Scientific style and format, the CBE manual for
authors, editors, and publishers. 6th ed. Cambridge (UK): Cambridge University Press; 1994; 4) O'Connor M, Woodford FP. Writing scientific
papers in English: an ELSE-Ciba Foundation guide for authors. Amsterdam: Elsevier-Excerpta Medica; 1975.
SUBMISSION COMPONENTS
Cover letter
The cover letter should explain why the paper should be published in the JCM rather than
elsewhere and if the submission is original and not currently under consideration for publication in another peer-reviewed medium. The
cover letter should include a statement of intent to submit to the JCM. The cover letter may also include any special information
regarding the submission that may be helpful in its consideration for publication.
Title page
The title page should
contain the following article and author information.
Article information:
___ the title of the article (concise, but informative);
___ a short running head of no more than 40 characters (count letters and spaces);
___ the word count for the text (word count
excludes abstract, acknowledgments, figure legends, and references);
___ the number of figures;
___ the number of tables;
Author information:
___ first name, middle initial, and last name of each author, with highest academic degree(s);
___ title,
position of each author
___ names of department(s) and institution(s) to which work should be attributed of each author;
___
for the corresponding author (responsible for correspondence, proofreading, and reprint requests), the name, email, address, phone, and
fax number.
Structured abstract
The structured abstract should be no more than 250 words. Structured abstracts
are required for all original data reports, reviews of the literature, clinical guidelines, and case reports/series. The abstract should
consist of 4 paragraphs, labeled: Purpose, Methods (includes study design and statistical methods), Results, and Conclusions.
Key
words
Provide approximately 4-6 key indexing terms that will assist indexers in cross-indexing your article and that may
be published with the abstract. These terms should come from the Index Medicus Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) http://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/meshhome.html
.
Manuscript organization
The text of observational and experimental articles is usually divided into sections
with the headings Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion. Longer articles may need subheadings within some sections to clarify
or break up content. Other types of articles such as case reports, reviews, editorials, and commentaries may need other formats.
Introduction
Clearly state the purpose of the article. Summarize the rationale for the study or observation. Give only
pertinent references and do not review the subject extensively; the introduction should serve only to introduce what was done and why
it was done. State the specific purpose, research objective, or hypothesis tested by the study (typically found at the end of the introduction
section).
Methods
The selection and description of participants, technical information, and statistics used should
be reported in this section. Describe the selection of the observational or experimental subjects (patients or experimental animals,
including controls). Papers of a specific study design should follow current and relevant guidelines (e.g., CONSORT, MOOSE, QUOROM, STARD,
TREND, etc.) and include appropriate materials in the text. Identify the methods, apparatus (manufacturer's name and address in parentheses)
and procedures in sufficient detail to allow others to reproduce the work for comparison of results. Give references to establish methods,
provide references and brief descriptions for methods that have been published but may not be well known, describe new or substantially
modified methods and give reasons for using them and evaluate their limitations.
When reporting experiments with human subjects,
indicate the procedures used in accordance with the ethical standards of the Committee on Human Experimentation of the institution in
which the research was conducted and/or were done in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975. Clearly indicate the ethics review
board or IRB that approved the study. When reporting experiments on animals, indicate whether the institution's or the National Research
Council's guide for the care and use of laboratory animals was followed. Do not use patient names, initials, or hospital numbers or in
any manner give information by which the individuals can be identified. The author may be requested to provide the editor documentation
from the ethics board/IRB and methods used to review the work.
The source(s) of support in the form of funds, grants, equipment,
or other real goods should be clearly stated in the Methods section.
Statistics
Describe the statistical methods
in enough detail that would allow a knowledgeable reader with access to the original data to verify the results. Findings should include
appropriate indicators of measurement error or uncertainty, such as confidence intervals.
Examples of statistical details that should
be included in the methods section are: the eligibility of experimental subjects, details about randomization, methods for blinding,
complications of treatment, numbers of observations, dropouts from a clinical trial, the statistical programs used. In the results section,
state the statistical methods used to analyze the results. All statistical terms, abbreviations, and symbols should be defined.
Include numbers of observations and the statistical significance of the findings when appropriate. Detailed statistical analyses, mathematical
derivations, and the like may sometimes be suitably presented in the form of one or more appendixes.
Results
Present
your results in logical sequence within the text, tables, and figures. Do not repeat findings in multiple places (e.g., do not include
the same data in both text and tables). Emphasize or summarize only important observations, do not discuss findings in this section.
Discussion
The discussion should emphasize the important aspects of the study and include conclusions that follow
from these observations. Do not repeat data presented in the Results section and do not include information or work that is not directly
relevant to the study. State new hypotheses when indicated, but clearly label them as such. Statements that are unsupported, that generalize,
or that over extrapolate the findings should not be included. Limitations to the study, including bias, should be clearly stated.
Conclusions that may be drawn from the study may be included in the discussion; however, they may be more appropriately presented in
a separate section. The principal conclusions should be directly linked to the goals of the study. Unqualified statements and conclusions
not supported by your data should not be included. Avoid claiming priority or referring to work that has not been completed or published.
State new hypotheses when warranted but clearly label them as such. Recommendations (for further study, etc), when appropriate, may be
included.
Acknowledgments
Acknowledge only those who have made substantive contributions to the study itself; this
includes support personnel such as statistical or manuscript review consultants, but not subjects used in the study or clerical staff.
Clearly state what each contributor has provided. Authors are responsible for obtaining the written, signed permission (to be included
with the submission) that is required from persons, institutions, or businesses being acknowledged by name because readers may infer
their endorsement of the data and conclusions.
Funding sources and conflicts of interest
Statements about funding
sources and conflicts of interests are stated here. If there were no funding sources or identified conflicts of interest to declare,
then this should be clearly stated in this section.
References
Authors are responsible for accurate reference and
citation information, especially accuracy of author names, journal titles, volume numbers, and page numbers. References should be numbered
consecutively when they are first used in the text. Reference citation in the text should be in superscript format and after punctuation
(eg, The quick fox jumped over the dog.1). References should be listed in numeric order (not alphabetically) following the text pages.
The original citation number assigned to a reference should be reused each time the reference is cited in the text, regardless of its
previous position in the text: do not assign it another number. References should not be included in abstracts. References that are only
used in tables or figure legends should be numbered in the sequence established by the first use of the particular table or figure in
the text.
Only references that provide support for a particular statement in the text, tables, and/or figures should be used. Reference
or referring to unpublished work should be avoided. Excessive use of references should be avoided.
Authors are responsible to verify
references against the original document and not from reading the abstract alone. Care should be taken to accurately represent the original
work and not misconstrue the original meaning of the paper.
Reference sources
Using only the abstract, referring
to "unpublished observations" and "personal communications" should be avoided. Unpublished references (submitted but not accepted) should
not be listed as references. Manuscripts that are accepted but not yet published may be included in the references with the designation
"in press." The author should obtain written permission to cite these papers and may be requested by the editor to provide documentation
to verify the paper was accepted for publication. For the most part, sources of information and reference support for a bioscientific
paper should be limited to journals (rather than books) because that knowledge is generally considered more recent and (in the case of
refereed journals) more accurate.
Eeference style
The style should be in accordance with that specified by the
US National Library of Medicine. Specific examples of correct reference form for journal articles and other publications can be found
at: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_requirements.html
The format for at typical journal article is as follows:
- Last name of author(s) and their initials in capitals separated by a space with a comma separating each author. (List all authors when
6 or fewer; when 7 or more, list only the first 6 and add et al.)
- Title of article with first word capitalized and all other words
in lower case, except names of persons, places, etc.
- Name of journal, abbreviated according to Index Medicus http://www.nlm.nih.gov/tsd/serials/lji.html
; year of publication (followed by a semicolon); volume number (followed by a colon); and inclusive pages of article (with redundant
number dropped, ie, 105-10).
Tables
Include all tables at the end of the manuscript file. Tables represent data
that are displayed in rows and columns. Tables should be numbered as they appear in the text (e.g., Table 1). Identify statistical measures
of variation, such as standard deviation and standard error of mean. If data are used from another source, the author should acknowledge
the original source in the text and include the written permission from the copyright holder to reproduce the material with the submission.
Using arabic numerals, number each table consecutively (in the order in which they were listed in the text in parentheses) and supply
a brief title to appear at the top of the table above a horizontal line; place any necessary explanatory matter in footnotes at the bottom
of the table below a horizontal line and identify with footnote symbols *-->, †, ‡, §, ||, ¶, **-->, ††, ‡‡ etc.
Do not submit tables as photographs or figures. Avoid as much as possible the use of too
many tables in relation to length of the text, as this may produce difficulties in layout of the pages. Avoid the use of tables that
do not fit in the 'portrait' layout. Table contents and number of tables may be subject to editing.
Figures
Figures include charts, graphs, photographs, drawings, lists, and any text or data that are not represented as a table (tables report
data made up of more than one row and column). Figures should be numbered as they appear in the text (eg, Fig 1). Illustrations (including
lettering, numbering and/or symbols) must be of professional quality and of sufficient size so that when reduced for publication all
details will be clearly discernible; rough sketches with freehand or typed lettering are not acceptable. If figures that are charts or
graphs need to be reformatted, the editor will contact the corresponding author and request the Excel spreadsheet or raw data in order
to properly format the figure.
All illustrations (including x-rays) must be sent as at least 300 dpi resolution in TIF format. Do
not place titles or detailed explanations in the illustration; such information should be given in the figure legends. Original data
for graphs or charts may be requested by the editor if the submitted figure is not clear or of poor quality for printing.
Each figure
should be saved using the figure number in its file name (eg, Fig1) and sent as separate files. Do not imbed images in the manuscript
files and do not send in PowerPoint format. Typically no more than eight figures are acceptable (eg, Fig 1A and Fig 1B are considered
two figures).
If photographs of persons are used, their pictures must be accompanied by signed written permission to publish the
photographs.
If a figure has been previously published, acknowledge the original source and submit written permission from the copyright
holder to reproduce the material. Permission is required, regardless of authorship or publisher, except for documents in the public domain.
Articles appear in both the print and online versions of the journal, and wording of the letter should specify permission in all forms
and media. Failure to get electronic permission rights may result in the images not appearing in the paper.
The acceptance of color
illustrations is at the discretion of the editor. Costs of color printing will be incurred by the authors.
Table and figure
legends
Type legends for tables and figures at the end of the manuscript after the reference section. Identify each legend
with Arabic numerals in the same manner and sequence as they were indicated in the text in parentheses (eg, Figure 1). Do not type legends
within images or include legends within image files.
When symbols, arrows, numbers or letters are used to identify parts of the illustrations,
identify and explain each one clearly in the legend.
JCM Manuscript submission checklist
__ Cover letter
from principal or corresponding author
__ Title page including items outlined in instructions
__ Manuscript (including structured
abstract 250 words or less, body of text, references, tables, etc)
__ Figures (200 dpi TIFF) submitted as separate files
__ Signed
assignment of copyright
, authorship
attribution, conflict of interest and funding statement form from each author faxed to (630) 839-1792
__ Permission to use previously
published material and/or permission to use name in acknowledgments and/or to publish photographs of subjects, and/or patient consent to publish form
(for case reports) mailed or faxed to (630) 839-1792
Instructions
for authors updated: March 15, 2007
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