Instructions to Authors

Original research papers, short research communications, reviews or mini-reviews, letters to the editor can be submitted to the Journal on the understanding that the article has not been previously published in any other form and is not under consideration for publication elsewhere.

Research Paper: should have a set of keywords (up to 6) and an abstract (under 250 words, unreferenced), followed by Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, Acknowledgments, Conflict of Interests, and References (the order of sections may be arranged differently). There is no limit on the length of research papers; however, authors are urged to be concise.

Short Research Communication: It presents a concise study, or timely and novel research finding that might be less substantial than a research paper. The manuscript length is limited to 2500 words (excluding references and abstract). It should have a set of keywords and an abstract (under 200 words, unreferenced), containing background of the work, the results and their implications. Results and Discussion Section should be combined followed by Conclusion. Materials and Methods will remain as a separate section. The number of references is limited to 40 and there should be no more than 4 figures and/or tables combined.

Letters to the Editor: This is the place for discussing controversial and/or interdisciplinary topics, viewpoints and commentaries, brief description of novel finding that might not be suitable for a regular research paper or short research communication, and any other issues that might be of interest to our readers. It is limited to a maximum of 800 words (two print pages maximum). Letter can have one figure/table and a maximum of 10 references.

Reviews or mini-reviews should be authoritative and of broad interest. Please keep the number of references to the minimum.

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

Review Process

The Journal aims at rapid publication of research results while maintaining rigorous peer review process. Manuscripts (other than those that are of insufficient quality or unlikely to be competitive enough for publication) will be peer-reviewed by two or more experts in the fields, and a decision returns to the authors in about one month. If due to special circumstance the review process takes longer, authors will be notified by email. Manuscripts with significant results will be reviewed and published at the highest priority and speed. Possible decisions on a manuscript are: accept as is, minor revision, major revision, or reject. If minor revision is required, authors should return a revised version as soon as possible within 1 month. If major revision is required, authors should return a revised version within 3 months.

Formatting 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.

Formatting for Publication

References

Please number references consecutively in the order they appear in the text. Cite references in square brackets, e.g. [1, 2, 5, 6-8].

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 give enough information about the paper with the purpose to bringing up reader's interest. Abstract should be no more than 250 words where references, acronyms and complex abbreviations are not used. Please provide 5-6 keywords after the abstract.

Figures

Original files from any drawing software (e.g. PowerPoint, Photoshop, Microsoft Excel, ...) 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 only those 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 "≥" (do not underline the symbols).

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".

Author Biography (optional)

One or two paragraphs for each author with information such as MD/PhD degree, past and present positions, research interests, awards, etc., may be published. If there are more than 6 authors, a group description of research interests, achievements, or key authors' information, may be given.

Publication Fee

The Journal charges a publication fee of $US 950 when an article is accepted for publication. Published articles of the Journal are open access and full texts appear in PubMed Central (abstracts in PubMed). 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 by our journal is much 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.