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Guide for Authors
Manuscripts should be submitted online at:  http://www.ees.elsevier.com/trstmh/
Address
for Correspondence
Managing Editor
Transactions Editorial Office
Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
50 Bedford Square
London WC1B 3DP
UK
Tel: +44 (0)20 7580 2127
Fax: +44 (0)20 7436 1389
e-mail: journals@rstmh.org
Article types
The Transactions publishes:
Original Articles - 3500 words, abstract 200 words, 30 references;
Short Communications - 800 words, 1 table or figure, abstract 100 words, 5 references;
Leading Articles - 800 words, abstract 100
words, 5 references;
Reviews - 3500 words, abstract 200 words, 30-40 references;
Mini-reviews - 800 words, abstract 100 words,
5 references;
Correspondence - 500 words, 3 references;
Images - a picture and 300 words, 3 references.
General
Authors are advised to consult the
Submission checklist
(below)to guide their writing and submission.
Submission of
an article implies that the work described has not been published previously (except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published
lecture or academic thesis), that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, that its submission and potential publication
is approved by all authors and tacitly or explicitly by the responsible authorities where the work was carried out, and that, if accepted,
it will not be published elsewhere in the same form, in English or in any other language, without the written consent of the copyright-holder.
Authors are advised to consult Appendix 1
(Special Subject Repositories)
if their funding agency has a public access
policy.
Authors are required to consult Appendix 2
(Proofs)
to ensure that they understand their role in the processing
of their manuscript after acceptance.
The detailed requirements for
Manuscripts
are set out in sections 1-6 below.
Submission checklist
It is hoped that this list will be useful during the final checking of an article prior to sending
it to the journal's editor for review.
Ensure that the following items are present:
• One author designated as corresponding
author
• e-mail address
• Full postal address
• Telephone and fax numbers
• One or more contributors
designated as guarantors of the paper
Statements on the following are included:
• Authors' contributions
• Acknowledgements
• Funding
• Conflicts of interest
• Ethical clearance
All necessary files have been uploaded in the following
order:
• Manuscript file (containing title page, summary, keywords, the main text of the manuscript, references, tables and
figure legends; tables can be attached as separate files if necessary)
• Figure file(s)
• Cover letter
• Authors'
agreements
Article written in good English
Manuscript has been 'spellchecked'
References are in the correct format for
this journal
All references mentioned in the Reference list are cited in the text, and vice versa Permission has been obtained for
use of copyrighted material from other sources (including the Web)
Colour figures are clearly marked as being intended for colour
reproduction or to be reproduced in black-and-white
For further information please contact the Author Support Department at authorsupport@elsevier.com
Editorial process
On receipt in the Editorial Office your manuscript will be subject to detailed scrutiny with respect
to both format and content. The Editors will assign the article to subject experts for peer review. The purpose of this review is to
guide the editors in their decisions. If it is considered appropriate the comments will be made available to the authors and will guide
in any revision.
Should authors be requested by the Editor to revise the text, the revised version should be submitted within the
proscribed period. After this period, the article will be regarded as a new submission.
1. Article content
Original
Articles and Short Communications
These provide accounts of original investigations in all aspects of tropical medicine and international
health including:
• Chemotherapy and chemoprophylaxis
• Clinical tropical medicine
• Epidemiology
•
Infectious diseases
• Immunology and vaccines
• Laboratory studies
• Microbiology and virology
•
Noncommunicable and chronic disease
• Parasitology and entomology
• Public health and social medicine
• Qualitative
and quantitative studies
Animal studies and in vitro studies will be considered only in so far as the results are directly relevant
to human health.
Short Communications
These are similar to original articles but do not include sufficient new information
to warrant a full-length article. The Results and Discussion sections can be combined if appropriate.
Leading Articles
These set in context and illustrate the significance of articles published in the Transactions and are usually written as a result of
a specific invitation. The Editor may invite Leading Articles on other topics that highlight developments in tropical medicine and international
health.
Reviews
These give an authoritative account of an aspect of tropical medicine and international health. The intention
is that these reviews will provide the readers with an insight into topics of current interest and to widen the scope of the journal
to bring to the attention of readers emerging diseases and other developing aspects of International Health. Reviews do not recapitulate
material found in postgraduate textbooks.
Mini-reviews
These do
not
reiterate accepted ideas and information
but rather challenge the reader with new thoughts that will stimulate debate; lead to the emergence of new ideas and approaches that
may change policy in International Health and Tropical Medicine The purpose of a mini-review may be: -
• To highlight and set
in context a recent discovery
• To critically appraise and cast in a new light established information and ideas
•
To illustrate how information and ideas established in one place or at one time can be relevant in a new context
• To suggest
ways in which insights from other disciplines may be of value in the understanding of International Health and Tropical Medicine
• To show how established policy in International Health and Tropical Medicine may have unintended consequences.
Correspondence
The Transactions accepts correspondence from readers related to published papers and from Society Fellows on other matters of current
concern. Authors will be asked to respond to comments on their papers and letters will be published together.
Images
The Transactions will publish images that illustrate all aspects of tropical medicine and international health. An author submitting
an image will provide an explanation of its significance. Copyright of the image will become the property of the Transactions and it
may be used by the Society as it sees fit. A detailed guide on electronic artwork is available on the website http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions
2. Presentation of manuscript
2.1. General
We expect documents to be prepared in Microsoft (MS) Word. Always
keep a backup copy of the electronic file for reference and safety. Save your files using the default extension of Word. Files should
not be saved as 'read-only'.
Manuscripts must be written in good English and the spelling should follow that in the Oxford English
Dictionaries. Italics should not be used for expressions of Latin origin, for example, in vivo, et al., per se. A single 12-point font
should be used for the whole of the manuscript, preferably Arial. The text should be in single-column format and the pages should be
numbered consecutively. Double spacing should be used throughout including the references, tables and legends to figures. Punctuation
should be consistent and only a single space should be inserted between words and after punctuation. Each new paragraph should be clearly
indicated (use two hard returns at the end of each paragraph). The whole text, including headings and references, should be aligned left
and ragged right. Formatting should be kept to an absolute minimum as most formatting codes will be removed and replaced on processing
the article, in particular, do not use the Word options to hyphenate words. However, do use bold face, italics, subscripts, superscripts,
etc. where appropriate. Do not embed 'graphically designed' equations or tables.
Authors in Japan kindly note that, upon request,
Elsevier Japan will provide authors with a list of people who can check and improve the English of their paper (before submission). Please
contact our Tokyo office: Elsevier K.K., 4F Higashi-Azabu, 1-Chome Bldg, 1-9-15 Higashi-Azabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-0044, Japan, tel.:
(+81) (3) 5561 5037; fax: (+81) (3) 5561 5047, e-mail: jp.info@elsevier.com
2.2. Title page (should include
the following in the order given)
Title. Concise and informative. Titles are often used in information-retrieval systems.
Avoid abbreviations and formulae where possible.
Author names and affiliations. The forename(s) or initial(s) and surname(s)
should be included for all the authors. Where the family name may be ambiguous (e.g. a double name), please indicate this clearly. The
authors' affiliation addresses (where the actual work was done) should be listed below the names. Indicate all affiliations with a lowercase
superscript letter immediately after the author's name and in front of the appropriate address. Provide the full postal address of each
affiliation, including the country name.
Corresponding author. The post-publication corresponding author should be indicated
by an asterisk after the author's name and before 'Corresponding author' in the footnote. In the footnote, include the full postal address
if it is different from that in the affiliation or the author has more than affiliation, telephone and fax numbers (with country and
area code) and e-mail address.
Present/permanent address. If an author has moved since the work described in the article
was done, or was visiting at the time, a 'Present address' (or 'Permanent address') may be indicated as a footnote to that author's name.
The address at which the author actually did the work must be retained as the main, affiliation address. Superscript Arabic numerals
are used for such footnotes.
Running title. A short informative running title of no more than 50 characters.
2.3.
Summary
A concise and factual summary is required (maximum length 200 words). Summaries for short communications, mini-reviews
and leading articles are limited to 100 words. Do not use subheadings. The summary should state briefly the purpose of the research,
the principal results and major conclusions. A summary is often presented separate from the article, so it must be able to stand alone.
No references should be included in the summary.
Non-standard or uncommon abbreviations should be avoided, but if essential they
must be defined at their first mention in the summary.
Keywords
Immediately after the summary, provide six keywords,
avoiding general and plural terms and multiple concepts (avoid, for example, 'and', 'of'). Be sparing with abbreviations: only abbreviations
firmly established in the field may be eligible. Authors are recommended to use keywords from the National Library of Medicine's Medical
Subject List, wherever possible. The suitability of keywords can be checked on the NLM MeSH Browser at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/
Choosing keywords in this manner may help increase citation of your paper by making it more readily searchable.
2.4. Arrangement
of the article
When appropriate divide your article into clearly defined sections. Mini-reviews and letters are not subdivided.
Each subsection should be given a brief heading. Each heading should appear on its own separate line in bold type. Subsections should
be used as much as possible when cross-referencing text: refer to the subsection by heading as opposed to simply 'the text'. The subdivisions
set out below relate to original articles, the subdivision of reviews is dictated by the subject matter and will be suggested by the
author.
Introduction. State the objectives of the work and provide an adequate background, avoiding a detailed literature
survey or a summary of the results.
Experimental/Materials and methods. Provide sufficient detail to allow the work to
be reproduced. Methods already published should be indicated by a reference: only relevant modifications should be described.
Theory
and/or calculation. A Theory section should extend, not repeat, the background to the article already dealt with in the Introduction
and lay the foundation for further work. In contrast, a Calculation section represents a practical development from a theoretical basis.
Results. The results should be precisely presented once in the text, tables or figures without discussion of their significance.
When results are presented in tables or figures the text should comment only on the important points. Tables and figures with legends
should be able to stand alone.
Discussion. This should explore the significance of the results, not repeat them. The limitations
of the study should be highlighted where relevant.
The main conclusions of the study should be presented in a short concluding paragraph
at the end of the Discussion section.
Declarations. Statements on the authors' contributions, acknowledgements, funding,
conflicts of interest and ethical approval must be placed after the Discussion section (see paragraphs below for more detail).
If
you have no declaration to make for funding, conflicts of interest and ethical approval please insert the following statements:
Funding: None.
Conflicts of interest: None declared.
Ethical approval: Not required.
Please note the
statement that ethical approval is not required, should not reflect the authors' opinion but indicate that advice has been properly sought
and that the approval has been deemed unnecessary.
2.5. References
Responsibility for the accuracy of bibliographic citations
lies entirely with the authors. The style of citation and referencing was changed in June 2008. Authors may find it helpful to refer
to a copy of the Lancet to familiarize themselves with the new style. This will be similarly helpful to those using a reference manager
system.
Citations in the text. Please ensure that every reference cited in the text is also present in the reference list
(and vice versa). Unpublished results and personal communications should not be in the reference list, but may be mentioned in the text.
Citation of a reference as 'in press' implies that the item has been accepted for publication.
Text. Indicate the references
by superscript numbers in the text. The actual authors can be referred to, but the reference number(s) must always be given.
List.
Number the references in the list in the order in which they appear in the text.
Examples:
Reference to a journal publication:
1.Van der Geer J, Hanraads JAJ, Lupton RA. The art of writing a scientific article. J Sci Commun 2000, 163: 51-9.
Reference to a book:
2.Strunk Jr W, White EB. The Elements of Style. 3rd ed. New York: Macmillan; 1979.
Reference
to a chapter in an edited book:
3.Mettam GR, Adams LB. How to prepare an electronic version of your article. In: Jones BS, Smith
RZ. Introduction to the Electronic Age. New York: E-Publishing Inc; 1999, p 281-304.
Please note the shortened form of
the last page number e.g., 51-9 and that for more than 6 authors the first 6 should be listed followed by 'et al'. For further details
you are referred to "Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts submitted to Biomedical Journals" (J Am Med Assoc 1997, 277:
927-34). See also http:/www.nlm.nih.gov/tsd/serials/terms_cond.html
Online references
Such article citations should
include DOI (digital object identifier). The DOI is a persistent identifier, which remains with the article even after it is published
in print. See http://www.dx.doi.org
For example:
4.Boutayeb A, Twizell EH, Achouayb K, Chetouani A. A mathematical
model for the burden of diabetes and its complications. Biomed Eng Online 2004, DOI: 10.1186/1475-925X-3-20.
2.6. Tables
Number tables consecutively in accordance with their appearance in the text. Each table must have a self-explanatory title and abbreviations
that are not standard in this field must be defined. Place footnotes to tables below the table body and indicate them with lowercase
superscript letters. Avoid vertical and horizontal rules apart from the horizontal rules above and below the Table, and one below the
column headings extending over the full width of the Table. Be sparing in the use of tables and ensure that the data presented in tables
do not duplicate results described elsewhere in the article. Tables must be prepared using a spreadsheet or the Tables function of Microsoft
Word, i.e. they must be cell based [tabs and hard returns must not be used to separate columns and rows].
2.7. Figure legends
Number figures consecutively in the order in which they are referred to in the text. Subdivided figures should be marked A, B, C, etc.
and referred to in the text as 1A, 1B, 1C, etc. Each figure must have a self-explanatory legend which should comprise a brief title and
description of the figure. Keep text in the figures themselves to a minimum but explain all symbols and abbreviations used. Figure legends
should be listed on a separate page of the end of the manuscript file, not attached to the figure(s).
2.8. Figures
See
detailed note below.
3. Specific journal style
Abbreviations. Define abbreviations that are not standard
in this field at their first occurrence in both the summary and the main text. Ensure consistency of abbreviations throughout the article.
Mathematical formulae. Present simple formulae in the line of normal text where possible. In principle, variables are to be
presented in italics. Use the solidus (/) instead of a horizontal line, e.g. Xp/Ym.
Powers of e are often more conveniently denoted
by exp.
Number consecutively any equations that have to be displayed separate from the text (if referred to explicitly in the text).
Nomenclature and units. Follow internationally accepted rules and conventions: use the international system of units (SI).
If other quantities are mentioned, give their equivalent in SI. You are urged to consult IUB: Biochemical Nomenclature and Related Documents
http://www.chem.qmul.ac.uk/iupac/bibliog/white.html for further information.
Organisms should be referred to by their
scientific names according to the Linnaean binomial system.
Italics must be used for generic and specific names and for genes.
Generic names should be given in full and in italics when first used and subsequently abbreviated to a single letter in italics followed
by a full stop and a space, e.g. Plasmodium vivax and P. vivax. The full generic name should always be used at the
beginning of a sentence or in a heading or subheading. Use one letter for genus abbreviation except when a two letter abbreviation is
needed to avoid confusion, e.g. when Aedes and Anopheles, are mentioned in same paper. However, when several unusual
genera are being discussed with only a few references to each spread throughout the manuscript it is better to use the whole generic
name.
Numbers one to nine are spelt unless they are measurements, e.g. 5 mg. Numbers (and units if appropriate) are spelled out
if they begin a sentence, e.g. Five microlitres. Large numbers should be set without commas, i.e. 10 000 not 10,000. Decimal points must
be indicated by a full point on the line (not commas). Decimal fractions should always be preceded by a zero, e.g. 0.05.
When reporting
percentages in the text both the numerator and denominator should be included. When the sample size is greater than 100 percentages should
be reported to no more than one decimal place. When the sample size is 100 or less, percentages should be reported in whole numbers.
Statistical methods with which readers may not be familiar should be fully referenced and details of any statistical software packages
used should be given, e.g. Epi Info (CDC, Atlanta, GA, USA). Precise values of P should be given where possible, to no more than two
significant figures, but P less than 0.001 should be used instead of smaller values.
Drug names. Generic names of drugs
should be used. The proprietary name may be used together with the generic name where it is first mentioned in the text and details of
the manufacturer should be given (name, city, state, country).
DNA sequences and GenBank Accession numbers. Gene accession
numbers refer to genes or DNA sequences about which further information can be found in the databases at the National Center for Biotechnical
Information (NCBI) at the National Library of Medicine. Authors wishing to enable other scientists to use the accession numbers cited
in their papers via links to these sources, should type this information in the manner set out below.
For each and every accession
number cited in an article, authors should type the accession number in bold, underlined text. Letters in the accession number should
always be capitalised. (See Example below). This combination of letters and format will enable Elsevier's typesetters to recognize the
relevant texts as accession numbers and add the required link to GenBank's sequences.
Example: '(GenBank accession nos.
AI631510
,
AI631511
,
AI632198
and
BF223228
), a B-cell tumor from a chronic lymphatic leukemia (GenBank
accession no.
BE675048
), and a T-cell lymphoma (GenBank accession no.
AA361117
)'.
Authors are encouraged
to check accession numbers very carefully. An error in a letter or number can result in a dead link. In the final version of the printed
article, the accession number text will not appear bold or underlined. In the final version of the electronic copy, the accession number
text will be linked to the appropriate source in the NCBI databases enabling readers to go directly to that source from the article.
Preparation of supplementary data. We welcome submission of electronic supplementary material to support and enhance your
scientific research. Supplementary files offer the author additional possibilities to publish supporting applications, movies, animation
sequences, high-resolution images, background datasets, sound clips and more. Supplementary files supplied will be published online alongside
the electronic version of your article in Elsevier web products, including ScienceDirect at http://www.sciencedirect.com.
In order to ensure that your submitted material is directly usable, please ensure that data are provided in our recommended file formats.
Authors should submit the material in electronic format together with
the article and supply a concise and descriptive caption for each
file. For more detailed instructions please visit http://www.elsevier.com/authors
4. Preparation of electronic
illustrations
Submitting your artwork in an electronic format helps us to produce your work to the best possible standards,
ensuring accuracy, clarity and a high level of detail.
General points
• Make sure you use uniform lettering,
symbols and sizing in your original artwork
• Arial font should be used in illustrations if possible
• Where possible
figures should be designed to fit a single column (80 mm width) with the degree of reduction to be determined by the Publisher
•
The axes of graphs should be carefully chosen so as to occupy the space available to the best advantage
• Line drawings should
be as simple as possible: many computer-generated figures, e.g. three-dimensional graphs, fine lines, gradations of stippling and unusual
symbols, cannot be reproduced satisfactorily when reduced
• The lettering and symbols, as well as other details, should have
proportionate dimensions, so as not to become illegible or unclear after reduction
• Number the illustrations according to
their sequence in the text
• Use a logical naming convention for your artwork files
• Provide all illustrations as
separate files
• Provide legends to illustrations separately
A detailed guide on electronic artwork is available on our
website:
http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions
You are urged to visit this site; some excerpts from the detailed
information are given here.
Formats
Regardless of the application used, when your electronic artwork is finalized,
please 'save as' or convert the images to one of the following formats (note the resolution requirements for line drawings, halftones,
and line/halftone combinations given below):
• EPS: Vector drawings. Embed the font or save the text as 'graphics'
•
TIFF: Colour or greyscale photographs (halftones): always use a minimum of 300 dpi
• TIFF: Bitmapped line drawings: use a minimum
of 1000 dpi
• TIFF: Combinations bitmapped line/half-tone (colour or greyscale): a minimum of 500 dpi is required
•
DOC, XLS or PPT: If your electronic artwork is created in any of these Microsoft Office applications please supply 'as is'
Please
do not: • Supply embedded graphics in your document
• Supply files that are optimised for screen use (like GIF, BMP,
PICT, WPG); the resolution is too low
• Supply files that are too low in resolution
• Submit graphics that are disproportionately
large for the content
Colour illustrations
If, together with your accepted article, you submit usable colour figures
then Elsevier will ensure, at no additional charge, that these figures will appear in colour on the web (e.g. ScienceDirect and other
sites) regardless of whether or not these illustrations are reproduced in colour in the printed version. For colour reproduction in print,
you will receive information regarding the costs from Elsevier after receipt of your accepted article.
Please note: Because of technical
complications that can arise by converting colour figures to 'grey scale' (for the printed version should you not opt for colour in print)
please submit in addition usable black and white illustrations corresponding to all the colour illustrations.
5. Online submission
to the journal
These instructions apply to all articles submitted to the journal. Variations applicable to some types of
article are noted in the appropriate sections.
Authors should upload their article via the journal's homepage ( http://ees.elsevier.com/trstmh/),
where you will be guided stepwise through the creation and uploading of the various files. Once the uploading is done, the system generates
an electronic (PDF) version of the article which is used for the reviewing process. Authors, Reviewers and Editors send and receive all
correspondence by e-mail and no paper correspondence is necessary.
The above represents a very brief outline of online submission.
It can be advantageous to print this 'Guide for Authors' section from the site for reference in the subsequent stages of article preparation.
Please submit, with the manuscript, the names and e-mail addresses of two potential referees. You may also mention persons who you
would prefer not to review your paper.
6. Formal requirements
These matters relate to the integrity of the publication
process. You need to be aware of these matters.
6.1. Authorship
For articles published in this journal, a person listed
as an author must have made a substantial contribution to:
• the conception and design of the study, or the analysis and interpretation
of data
• drafting the article or revising it critically for intellectual content
• giving final approval of the version
to be published
ALL these conditions must be met.
Acquisition of funding, collection of data, or general supervision of the
research group, alone, does not justify authorship.
Designation as an author infers a responsibility for the integrity and accuracy
of all the data published. One or more of the authors should be listed as guarantors of the paper. The guarantor accepts full responsibility
for the conduct of the study, had access to the data and controlled the decision to publish. Normally the corresponding author will be
a guarantor but this must be explicitly stated.
At the end of each paper the contributions of each author to the study and its publication
must be listed. We encourage intending authors to discuss this amongst themselves and agree the precise nature of each person's contribution.
Authors must ensure that all authors listed meet the above criteria for authorship and that there is no one else who fulfils the criteria
but has not been included as an author.
When a large, multi-centre group has conducted the work, the group should identify the individuals
who accept direct responsibility for the manuscript. These individuals should fully meet the criteria for authorship defined above.
It is the duty of the corresponding author/guarantor to ensure that each author has signed a declaration concerning his or her individual
contribution. Any consequences that result from failure to do so will be the sole responsibility of the author/guarantor who is advised
to keep copies of these declarations on file in case of dispute.
The following format is suggested "I declare that in this article entitled
{title of article} I participated in {here list contributions made to the study} and that I have seen and approved the final version.
I have the following competing interests {here list competing interests}." You will be required to send us signed copies of these statements.
These signatures need not be dated and the documents must be submitted via the online submission system.
Authors' contributions.
The contributions of each author to the study and its publication must be listed (see detailed note above). We suggest the following
format (please use initials to refer to each author's contribution): BJA and CJ designed the study protocol; BJA and HGM carried out
the clinical assessment; CJ and FT carried out the immunoassays and cytokine determination, and analysis and interpretation of these
data. BJA and CJ drafted the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. BJA and CJ are guarantors of the paper.
Acknowledgements. You should acknowledge here anyone who has contributed towards the study by providing study materials or
helped in data acquisition or analysis, or helped care for patients, but who does not meet the criteria for authorship. Persons providing
purely technical help or writing assistance should be listed in this section.
Authors should obtain permission to acknowledge from
all those named in the Acknowledgements.
Alterations to authorship or acknowledged contributors. All authors must approve
any change in authors and acknowledged contributors after initial submission. This applies to additions, deletions, change in order of
authors, or contributions being attributed differently. The editor may contact any of the authors or contributors to ascertain whether
they have agreed to any alteration.
6.2. Funding
Please list the source(s) of funding for the study and for each author,
and for the manuscript preparation. If the funding body contributed in any way to study design, or the collection, analysis, and interpretation
of data, or the writing of the manuscript, and/or the decision to submit the manuscript for publication, this should be explicitly stated.
Full details of the funding bodies must be given, i.e. name, city, state, country and any grant/reference numbers or other identifiers
included.
6.3. Conflicts of interest
A competing interest arises when a professional judgment concerning a primary interest
(such as the conduct of a trial, a patient's welfare or the validity and interpretation of the research) tends to be unduly influenced
by financial gain or other self-interested motive which may be at odds with professional obligations. Authors should disclose at the
time of submission information on financial competing interests that may influence the manuscript and summarise these interests under
the competing interests declaration in the final manuscript. Authors must declare other interests that could influence the results of
the study or the conclusions of the manuscript (e.g. employment, academic links, family relationships, political or social interest group
membership, deep personal conviction, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications/registrations,
and grants or other funding). For further information, see the web site of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors at
http://www.icmje.org/sponsor.htm.
6.4. Ethical issues
Work on human beings that is submitted to Transactions
should comply with the principles laid down in the Declaration of Helsinki; Recommendations guiding physicians in biomedical research
involving human subjects. Adopted by the 18th World Medical Assembly, Helsinki, Finland, June 1964, amended by the 29th World Medical
Assembly, Tokyo, Japan, October 1975, the 35th World Medical Assembly, Venice, Italy, October 1983, and the 41st World Medical Assembly,
Hong Kong, September 1989. The manuscript should contain a statement that the work has been approved by the appropriate ethical committees
related to the institution(s) in which it was performed and that subjects gave informed consent to the work. Studies involving experiments
with animals must state that their care was in accordance with institution guidelines.
Studies on patients or volunteers require ethics
committee approval and informed consent which should be documented in your paper.
Patients have a right to privacy. Therefore identifying
information, including patients? images, names, initials, or hospital numbers, should not be included in videos, recordings, written
descriptions, photographs, and pedigrees unless the information is essential for scientific purposes and you have obtained written informed
consent for publication in print and electronic form from the patient (or parent, guardian or next of kin where applicable). If such
consent is made subject to any conditions, Elsevier must be made aware of all such conditions. Written consents must be provided to Elsevier
on request.
Even where consent has been given, identifying details should be omitted if they are not essential. If identifying characteristics
are altered to protect anonymity, such as in genetic pedigrees, authors should provide assurance that alterations do not distort scientific
meaning and editors should so note.
If such consent has not been obtained, personal details of patients included in any part of the paper
and in any supplementary materials (including all illustrations and videos) must be removed before submission.
6.5. Clinical trials
registration
All randomised controlled trials submitted for publication in Transactions should include a completed Consolidated
Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) flow chart. Please refer to the CONSORT statement website at http://www.consort-statement.org
for more information. Transactions has adopted the proposal from the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) which
require, as a condition of consideration for publication of clinical trials, registration in a public trials registry. Trials must register
at or before the onset of patient enrolment. The clinical trial registration number should be included at the end of the summary and
in the Materials and Methods section of the text. For this purpose, a clinical trial is defined as any research project that prospectively
assigns human subjects to intervention or comparison groups to study the cause-and-effect relationship between a medical intervention
and a health outcome. Studies designed for other purposes, such as to study pharmacokinetics or major toxicity (e.g. phase I trials)
would be exempt. Further information can be found at www.icmje.org.
Which trial registries are acceptable to the Transactions?
Acceptable registries must:
• be accessible to the public at no charge
• open to all prospective registrants, i.e.
investigators are able to register without restriction by geographic location, academic affiliation, patient demographics, or clinical
condition
• managed by a not-for-profit organization
• have a mechanism to ensure the validity of the registration
data
• be electronically searchable
• include the required data elements
The following registries have been reviewed
by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) and met their criteria as of January 2006. These are currently the
registries which are acceptable to the Editor of the Transactions. This list will be updated when the ICMJE revises its list of registries
in April 2007.
1. http://www.actr.org.au
2. http://www.clinicaltrials.gov
3. http://www.ISRCTN.org
4. http://www.umin.ac.jp/ctr/index/htm
5. http://www.trialregister.nl
The World Health Organization
is also working towards the implementation of an international trials registration process. Its most recent statement (May 2006) can
be accessed at http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2006/pr25/en/index.html
Registration of clinical trials
Publication of the results of trials beginning on or after 1 July 2005 will only be considered if registration occurred before the first
patient was enrolled.
What do we do about trials that began before 1 July 2005?
Investigators wishing to publish their work
in the Transactions should register trials that began enrolling patients before 1 July 2005 as soon as possible. We will accept retrospective
registration of trials that began before 1 July 2005, i.e. registration occurred after patient enrolment began.
A trial will be
considered as ongoing if investigators were still collecting, cleaning or analysing data as of 1 July 2005. All ongoing trials require
registration before being submitted to the Transactions.
6.6. Copyright
Upon acceptance of an article, authors will be
asked to sign a "Journal Publishing Agreement'' (for more information on this and copyright see http://www.elsevier.com/authorsrights).
Acceptance of the agreement will ensure the widest possible dissemination of information. An e-mail (or letter) will be sent to the corresponding
author confirming receipt of the manuscript together with a 'Journal Publishing Agreement' form.
If excerpts from other copyrighted
works are included, the author(s) must obtain written permission from the copyright owners and credit the source(s) in the article. Elsevier
has preprinted forms for use by authors in these cases : contact Elsevier's Rights Department, Philadelphia, PA, USA: Tel. (+1) 215 238
7869; Fax (+1) 215 238 2239; e-mail healthpermissions@elsevier.com. Requests may also be completed online via the Elsevier
homepage ( http://www.elsevier.com/locate/permissions).
Appendix 1
Funding body agreements
and policies
Elsevier has established agreements and developed policies to allow authors whose articles appear in journals
published by Elsevier, to comply with potential manuscript archiving requirements as specified as conditions of their grant awards. To
learn more about existing agreements and policies please visit http://www.elsevier.com/fundingbodies
Appendix
2
Proofs
One set of page proofs in PDF format will be sent by e-mail to the corresponding author,
to be checked for typesetting/editing. No changes in, or additions to, the accepted (and subsequently edited) manuscript will be allowed
at this stage. Proofreading is solely your responsibility. A form with queries from the copyeditor may accompany your proofs. Please
answer all queries and make any corrections or additions required. Return corrections within 5 days of receipt of the proofs. Should
there be no corrections, please confirm this. The Publisher reserves the right to proceed with publication if corrections are not communicated.
When the edited manuscript is received by the Publisher it is considered to be in its final form. Proofs are not to be regarded as 'drafts'.
Elsevier will do everything possible to get your article corrected and published as quickly and accurately as possible. In order to do
this we need your help. When you receive the (PDF) proof of your article for correction, it is important to ensure that all of your corrections
are returned to Elsevier in one communication. Subsequent corrections will not be possible, so please ensure your first sending is complete.
Note that this does not mean you have any less time to make your corrections just that only one set of corrections will be accepted. |
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