Title page: The title page should include: a) the title of the article, which should be concise but informative; b) the name by which each author is known, together with the highest academic degree (s) and the center to which they belong; c) the name of the department or departments and the center or centers to which the work should be attributed; d) disclaimers, if any; e) the name and address of the author in charge of correspondence about the manuscript; f) the name and address of the author to whom reprint requests should be sent or a statement that reprints will not be provided through authors; g) the source or sources of support in the form of grants, equipment, drugs, or all of the aforementioned, and h) a short title for the header or footer of no more than 40 characters (including letters and spaces) in the footer of the title page. Authorship: All persons designated as authors must have the right to authorship. Each author must have participated in the work sufficiently to assume public responsibility for the content. Authorship credit must be based only on a substantial contribution in the following aspects: a) conception and design or analysis and interpretation of the data; b) preparation of the draft of the article or critical review of the article regarding important intellectual content, and c) final approval of the version to be published. All three conditions (a), b), and c) must be met. Participation solely in obtaining funding or collecting data does not justify.

 

Authorship: The general supervision of the research group was not sufficient for authorship. All parts of an article that are critical to its main conclusions should be the responsibility of at least one of the authors. Editors can ask authors to describe the contribution each has made; this information can be published.
Increasingly, multicenter trials are attributed to corporate authors. All group members who are designated as authors, either in the authorship position below the title or in a footnote, must fully meet the aforementioned criteria for authorship. Group members who do not meet these criteria should be cited with their permission in the Acknowledgments section or in the appendix (see Acknowledgments). The order of authorship must be a joint decision by the co-authors. Since the order is assigned in different ways, its meaning cannot be inferred exactly unless the authors indicate it. The authors may wish to explain the order of authorship in a footnote. When deciding the order, authors should bear in mind that many journals limit the number of authors cited in the publication index and that the National Library of Medicine includes only the first 24 in MEDLINE along with the last author when there are more than 25 authors.

 

Summary and keywords: The second page should include an abstract (no more than 150 words for unstructured abstracts or 250 words for structured abstracts). The abstract should indicate the objectives of the study or research, the basic methods (selection of individuals or laboratory animals for the study, observational and analytical methods), the main results (indicating specific data and their statistical significance, if possible), and the main conclusions. New and important aspects of the study and observations should be highlighted. Below the abstract, authors should indicate and identify as such, 3 to 10 key words or short phrases that are useful to indexers in establishing cross-indexing of the article and that can be published with the abstract. Terms from the Index Medicus Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) list should be used; if appropriate MeSH terms are not yet available for newly introduced names, current terms can be used.

 

Introduction: The objective of the article is indicated, and the justification for the study or observation is summarized. Only the references that are strictly pertinent are included and do not include the data or conclusions of the work that are presented.

 

Methods: The selection of observation or experimental subjects (patients or laboratory animals, including those used as controls) is clearly described. Age, sex, and other important characteristics of the participants are identified. The definitions and relevance of race and ethnicity are ambiguous. Authors should be especially careful about the use of these categories.

 

The methods, apparatus (indicating the name and address of the manufacturer in parentheses), and procedures are identified in sufficient detail to allow other researchers to reproduce the results. References to established methods are provided, including statistical methods (see below), and brief descriptions of methods that have been published but are not well known are given; new or substantially modified methods are described; the reasons for using them are given, and their limitations are evaluated. All drugs and chemicals used should be accurately identified, including their generic name (s), dosage, and route (s) of administration. Randomized clinical trial submissions should include information on all major study elements, including protocol (study population, interventions or exposures, results, and rationale for statistical analysis), allocation of interventions (methods of randomization, concealment of allocation to treatment groups), and the method of blinding (blinded design).

 

Authors submitting review manuscripts should include a section describing the methods used to locate, select, extract, and synthesize the data. These methods should also be summarized in the summary.

 

1. Ethics: When human experiments are presented, it must be indicated whether the methods followed complied with the ethical standards of the corresponding human experimentation committee (central or regional) and the Declaration of Helsinki of 1975, with the revision of 1983. They are not used names, initials, or hospitalization number of patients, especially on illustration material. When experiments carried out with animals are presented, it is indicated if the norms of the center or the national research council, or possible national laws, regarding the care and use of laboratory animals have been followed.

 

2. Statistics: The statistical methods will be described in sufficient detail to allow a reader familiar with the methods and who has access to the original data to verify the results presented. Where possible, the results will be quantified and presented with appropriate indicators of measurement error or uncertainty (such as confidence intervals). Relying solely on statistical hypothesis tests, such as the use of p-values, which do not convey important quantitative information, should be avoided. The eligibility of the experimental subjects should be discussed. Details will be provided regarding the method of randomization. The methods used for possible masking in the observations and their success obtained with them will be described. Treatment complications are indicated. The number of observations must be indicated. Losses for observation (such as dropouts from a clinical trial) will be reported. References regarding study design and statistical methods should correspond to standard works whenever possible (with indication of the pages) rather than to articles in which the designs or methods were initially described. The possible general-purpose computer programs used will be specified. A general description of the methods used will be included in the Methods section. When data are summarized in the Results section, the statistical methods used to analyze them should be specified. Tables and figures will be limited to those necessary to explain the argument of the article and to assess their support. Charts will be used as an alternative to tables with many entries; data should not be duplicated in graphs and tables. Non-technical uses of technical terms in statistics such as 'random' (which implies a random distribution device), 'normal', 'significant', 'correlations' and 'sample' should be avoided. Statistical terms, abbreviations, and symbols must be defined.

 

Results: The results should be presented in a logical sequence in the text, tables, and illustrations. Not all the data in the tables or illustrations will be repeated in the text; only important observations are highlighted or summarized.

 

Discussion: New and important aspects of the study and the conclusions that follow from them are highlighted. The data or other information included in the Introduction or Results sections should not be repeated in detail. The Discussion section will include the implications of the results and their limitations, including the consequences for future research. The observations should be related to other relevant studies.

 

The conclusions should be related to the objectives of the study but avoid unproven claims and conclusions that are not fully supported by the data. In particular, the authors should avoid making claims about economic benefits and costs unless their manuscript includes economic data and analysis. Statements regarding priority and allusions to work that have not been completed should be avoided. New hypotheses will be raised when justified, but clearly labeled as such.

 

Recommendations may be included, where appropriate.

​

Acknowledgements: In an appropriate place in the article (footnote on the title page or in an appendix to the text; see journal rules), the following should be specified in one or more statements: a) contributions that need to be appreciated but do not justify authorship, such as general support from a department head; b) acknowledgments for technical assistance; c) acknowledgments for financial and material support, which must specify the nature of the support received, and d) relationships that may pose a conflict of interest. People who have contributed intellectually to the realization of the article, but whose contributions do not justify their authorship, can be cited and their role or contribution can be described (eg, "scientific advisor,” "critical review of the study proposal,” 'Data collection' or 'participation in clinical trial'). These people must have given permission to be cited. Authors are responsible for obtaining the written permission of the persons quoted by name in the acknowledgments, since readers can infer their support for the data and conclusions presented. Technical assistance should be acknowledged in a separate paragraph based on the acknowledgment of other contributions.

 

Bibliography: Bibliographic citations must be numbered consecutively in the order in which they are mentioned for the first time in the text. References in the text, tables, and headings will be identified by Arabic numbers in parentheses.

 

References cited only in tables or figure headings must be numbered according to the sequence established by the first identification in the text of the specific table or figure in question. The style of the examples below will be used, which is based on the formats used by the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM) at Index Medicus. The titles of the journals should be abbreviated according to the style used in Index Medicus. See the List of Journals Indexed in Index Medicus, which is published annually as a separate library publication and in a list included in the January issue of Index Medicus. The list can also be obtained from the website http: //www.nlm. nih.gov.

 

Abstracts should be avoided as references. References to articles accepted for publication but not yet published should be designated as "in press" or "forthcoming"; Authors must obtain written permission to cite these articles, as well as confirmation that they have been accepted for publication. Information for manuscripts submitted for publication but not yet accepted should be cited in the text as "unpublished observations" after obtaining written permission from the source. References must be verified by the author or authors with the original documents.

The "Uniform Requirements" style (the Vancouver style) is largely based on the style of the ANSI standards adapted by the NLM for its databases. Notes have been added where the Vancouver style differs from the style currently used by the NLM.

​

​

The "Uniform Requirements" style (the Vancouver style) is largely based on the style of the ANSI standards adapted by the NLM for its databases. Notes have been added where the Vancouver style differs from the style currently used by the NLM.

​

Journal articles

 

(1) Standard journal articles.

 

The first six authors are indicated, followed by et al. (Note. The NLM currently cites up to 25 authors; if there are more than 25, the NLM cites the first 24, followed by the last author, and then et al.)

 

Vega KJ, Pina I, Krevsky B. Heart transplantation is associated with an increased risk for pancreatobiliary disease. Ann Intern Med 1996; 124 (11): 980-3.

 

Optionally, if a journal runs a continuous pagination for an entire volume (as many medical journals do), the month and issue of the journal can be omitted. (Note. For greater consistency, this option is used in all examples of " consistency requirements." NLM does not use this option.)

 

Vega KJ, Pina I, Krevsky B. Heart transplantation is associated with an increased risk for pancreatobiliary disease. Ann Intern Med 1996; 124: 980-3.

 

More than six authors:

 

Parkin DM, Clayton D, Black RJ, Masuyer E, Friedl HP, Ivanov E, et al. Childhood leukemia in Europe after Chernobyl: 5 year follow-up. Br J Cancer 1996; 73: 1.006-12.

 

(2) Organization as author

 

The Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand. Clinical exercise stress testing. Safety and performance guidelines. Med J Aust 1996; 164: 282-4.

 

(3) Volume with supplement

 

Shen HM, Zhang QF. Risk assessment of nickel carcinogenicity and occupational lung cancer. Environ Health Perspect 1994; 102 Suppl 1: 275-82.

 

(4) Number with supplement

 

Payne DK, Sullivan MD, Massie MJ. Women's psychological reactions to breast cancer. Semin Oncol 1996; 23 (1 Suppl 2): 89-97.

 

(5) Volume with part

 

Ozben T, Nacitarhan S, Tunces N. Plasma and urine sialic acid in non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus. Ann Clin Biochem 1995; 32 (Pt 3): 303-6.

 

(6) Part number

 

Poole GH, Mills SM. One hundred consecutive cases of flap lacerations of the leg in aging patients. N Z Med J 1994; 107 (986 Pt 1): 377-8.

 

(7) Number without volume

 

Turan I, Wredmarck T, Fellander-Tsai L. Arthroscopic ankle arthrodesis in rheumatoid arthritis. Clin Orthop 1995; (320): 110-14.  

 

(8) Absence of number and volume

 

Browell DA, Lennard TW. Immunologic status of the cancer patient and the effects of blood transfusion on antitumor responses. Curr Opin Gen Surg 1993; 325-33.

 

(9) Item type indicated as required

 

Enzensberger W, Fischer PA. Metronome in Parkinson's diasese [letter]. Lancet 1996; 347: 1,337.

 

Clement J, De Bock R. Hematological complications of hantavirus nephropathy (HVN) [abstract]. Kidney Int 1992; 42: 1,285.

 

(10) Article containing retraction

 

Garey CE, Schwsarzman AL, Rise ML, Seyfried TN. Ceruloplasmin gene defect associated with epilepsy in EL mice [retraction of Garey CE, Schwarzman AL, Rise ML, Seyfried TN. In: Nat Genet 1994; 6: 426-31]. Nat Genet 1995; 11: 104.

 

(11) Article retraction

 

Liou GI, Wang M, Matragoon S. Precocious IRBP gene expression during mouse development [retraction in Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 1994; 35: 3.127]. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 1994; 35: 1083-8.

 

(12) Books and other monographs

 

Ringsven MK, Bond D. Gerontology and leadership skills for nurses. 2nd ed. Albany (N /): Delmar Publishers, 1996.

 

(13) Organization as the author and editor.

 

Institute of Medicine (US). Looking at the future of the Medicaid program Washington (DC): The Institute, 1992.

 

(14) Chapter of Book

 

Phillips SJ, Whisnant JP. Hypertension and Stroke In: Laragh JH, Brenner BM, directors. Hypertension: pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management 2nd ed. New York: Raven Press. 1995. p. 465-78.

 

(15) Conference proceedings

 

Kimura J, Shibasaki H. Directors. 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.

 

(16) Congress Article:

 

Bengtsson S, Solheim BG. Enforcement of data protection, privacy, and security in medical informatics In: Mon KC, Degoulet P, Piemme TE, Rienhoff O, directors. MEDINFO 92. Proceedings of the 7th World Congress on Medical Informatics; 1992 Sept 6-10; Geneva, Switzerland. Amsterdam: North Holland; 1992. p. 1,561-5.

 

(17) Scientific or technical reports  

 

Smith P, Golladay K. Payment for durable medical equipment billed during skilled nursing facility stays. Final report. Dallas (TX): Department of Health and Human Services (US), Office of Evaluation and Inspections, 1994 Oct. Report number: HHSIGOEI69200860

 

(18) Dissertation

 

Kaplan SJ. Post-hospital home health care: The elderly's access and utilization [dissertation] St. Louis (MO): Washington University; 1995.

 

(19) Journal article in electronic format

 

Morse SS. Factors in the emergence of infectious diseases Emerg Infect Dis [online periodical] 1995 Jan-Mar [cited 1995 Jun 5]; 1 (1): Available at: URL:http: //cdcgov/ncidod/EID/eid. html.

 

(20) Monograph in electronic format

 

CDI, clinical dermatology illustrated [monograph on CD-ROM]. Reeves JRT, Maibach H. CMEA Multimedia Group, Producers, 2nd edition. Version 2.0. San Diego: CMEA. 1995.

 

Tables:  Each table is double-spaced or printed on a separate sheet of paper. Tables are not presented in the form of photographs. The tables are numbered consecutively in the order in which they are cited for the first time in the text and a brief title is included for each one. Each column should have a short or abbreviated heading. Explanatory questions are to be placed in footnotes, not in the heading. Explain in footnotes all non-standard abbreviations used in each table. The following symbol * is used for footnotes. Statistical measures of variation, such as the standard deviation and standard error of the mean, will be identified. Horizontal and vertical internal rulers should not be used. We must ensure that all tables are cited in the text. If data from another published or unpublished source is used, permission must be obtained to do so and the source must be indicated in full. The use of too many tables in relation to the length of the text can cause difficulties in the composition of the pages. When accepting an article, the publisher may recommend that tables containing important but too large supporting data be deposited with an archiving service, such as the National Auxiliary Publications Service in the United States, or that these tables can be requested by the authors. In this case, the corresponding indication must be added to the text. These tables will be submitted for review of the article.

 

Illustrations (figures): The required number of complete series of figures must be submitted. Figures must be professionally drawn and photographed, and the use of handwritten or typed captions is not acceptable. Instead of the originals of the drawings, radiographs, and other materials, photographic copies should be sent in black and white, contrasting and on glossy paper, generally 125 × 179 mm, but no larger than 203 × 254 mm. Letters, numbers, and symbols must be clear and uniform throughout the figure, with a sufficient size so that when reduced for publication, all elements continue to be legible. Titles and detailed explanations should go in the headings of the figures, and not in the figures themselves. If photographs of people are used, the subjects must not be identifiable or their photographs must be accompanied by written permission to use them (see "Protection of patients' rights to privacy"). Figures must be numbered consecutively according to the order in which they are cited for the first time in the text. If a figure has already been published, acknowledgment of the original source will be included and written permission from the copyright holder will be provided to reproduce the material. Permission is required regardless of who the author or publisher is, except for documents in the public domain. For the color illustrations, will not be charged. This must be accompanied by illustration headings. The captions of the illustrations are typed or printed double-spaced, starting on a separate page, with Arabic numerals corresponding to the illustrations.

 

Measurement units. Measurements of length, height, weight, and volume must be presented in metric units (meter, kilogram, or liter or their decimal multiples). Temperatures must be stated in degrees Celsius. Blood pressure is indicated in millimeters of mercury. All hematology and clinical chemistry determinations must be presented in the metric system using the International System of Units (SI). Editors may require authors to add alternative non-SI units prior to publication.

 

Abbreviations and symbols. Only the standard abbreviations should be used. Abbreviations in the title and abstract should be avoided. The full term to which an abbreviation corresponds must precede its first use in the text unless it is a standard unit of measure.

 

Sending the manuscript to the journal The manuscript in both word format and PDF must be sent to: Angel.vaillant@sta.uwi.edu