Instructions to Authors

 

The Journal publishes original research reports, authoritative reviews and case reports involving a wide variety of experimental and clinical sciences.

The Journal will accept papers that reach a high standard of scientific endeavour as judged by international peer review.

Contributions are normally published within two weeks of receiving an acceptable manuscript.

Typescripts

  1. Papers will be reproduced directly from authors' copy, which therefore must conform to a standardised house-style, be accurate, clear and well laid out. No proofs will be printed and final responsibility for accuracy rests with author(s). If manuscripts are submitted not camera ready the editorial office offers a layout service, that will be charged with 500 Euro to the corresponding author.
  2. Contributions should consist of an even number of pages. Typescripts with an odd number of pages will be returned for shortening. Pages should be numbered lightly in blue pencil only.
  3. Manuscripts should be single spaced, on good quality white paper approx 210 x 300 mm (European A4 or American Quarto). The text must be in Times (New) Roman 12-point font (this is an example) and printed on a laser printer within the area 160 x 250 mm. Manuscripts which do not conform to this specification may be returned for resetting. (In the event of difficulty in conforming to the specification, contact the editorial office for help). Electronic submission is invited, or if paper copy is submitted, it should be accompanied by an electronic disc.
  4. The title page should have:
    1. The TITLE in BOLD CAPITALS CENTRED (14-point font) with a 25 mm top margin, followed by the names of Author(s) separated from the title by a single line space, centred and indicating by an asterisk* the author to whom correspondence should be addressed. To assist information retrieval, titles and abstracts should be specific and informative.
    2. The full correspondence addresses, left adjusted, should be separated by a single line space from the author names.
    3. An informative Abstract (250 words) with centred Bold, capital heading
    4. Up to six Keywords: (heading left adjusted as shown) continuing the same line as the heading
  5. The text should normally be divided into conventional Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion and References. These headings should be BOLD, CAPITAL and CENTRED, and separated from the text by one line above and below.
  6. Acknowledgements: (heading left adjusted as shown) if any, should appear after the text continuing the same line as the heading.
  7. The text should be fully justified and continuous with no spaces between paragraphs, the first line of which should be indented approximately four spaces. Subheadings should be in lower case regular italic with Initial capital.
  8. Tables and figures (numbered Table or Figure 1…n in Regular Arial font) should be included in the text. All tables (with preceding titles, table entries, and following footnotes) and figure labels, axis labels, keys and legends (situated below the figure) should be clearly distinguished from the main text by changing to a sans-serif font such as 11-point Arial (this is an example), and separated by at least one line from the text above and below. Figures, graphs, structural formulae, etc., should be computer-generated, and line drawings should be sufficiently bold to remain clear after 10 % reduction.
  9. Photographs should be submitted either on glossy paper, or as electronic images the same size as they are to appear. Authors should note that the page size before reduction is 160 X 250 mm and the photograph plus legend must fit within that area. If at all possible, photographs should be grouped together, bearing in mind the maximum possible size. Good contrast is imperative. Labelling should be black or white according to maximum contrast. For micrographs, a scale bar indicating magnification should be shown on the print. We invite authors to particularly submit color illustrations, that will be published free of charge.
  10. Units: SI units are preferred. Consistency is essential.
  11. References should be referred to in the text by number in parenthesis (Schmitt et al., 2000) and should be arranged after the text in alphabetical order in the form indicated by the following examples (all authors should be listed; if there are more than six authors, list the first six authors followed by et al.).
    Note that, to save any redundant work for the authors, no numbering of the references is required and the punctuation strongly corresponds to the Pubmed citation style. Please follow the guidelines precisely.

    Buerke M, Murohara T, Skurk C, Nuss C, Tomaselli K, Lefer AM. Cardioprotective effect of insulin-like growth factor I in myocardial ischemia followed by reperfusion. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 1995;92:8031-5.

    Hengstler JG, Bogdanffy MS, Bolt HM, Oesch F. Challenging dogma: Thresholds for genotoxic chemicals? The case of vinyl acetate. Annu Rev Pharmacol Toxicol 2002;134:234-67 .

     Muller B, Zulewski H, Huber P, Ratcliffe JG, Staub JJ. Impaired action of thyroid hormone associated with smoking in women with hypothyroidism. N Engl J Med 1995;333:964-9.

    The Journal maintains its high standard by means of expert refereeing by an international panel. After review, if considered worthy of publication the manuscript will normally be returned for revision as recommended by the referees.


Declaration and Assignment of Rights



Submission of Manuscripts