EDITORIAL AND CONTENT CONSIDERATIONS

Aims and Scope

The Romanian Journal of Military Medicine (RJMM) publishes peer-reviewed original papers, reviews, meta-analyses, systematic reviews, and editorials concerned with clinical practice and research in the fields of medicine. Papers cover the medical, surgical, radiological, pathological, biochemical, physiological, ethical, and historical aspects of the subject areas. Clinical trials are afforded expedited publication if deemed suitable. RJMM also deals with the basic sciences and experimental work, particularly that with clear relevance to disease mechanisms and new therapies. 

Case reports and letters to the Editor may not be considered for publication.

Editorial Review and Acceptance

The acceptance criteria for all papers and reviews are based on the quality and originality of the research and its clinical and scientific significance to our readership. All manuscripts are peer-reviewed under the direction of a Handling Editor. The Executive Editor and the Editor-in-Chief reserve the right to refuse any material for review that does not conform to the submission guidelines detailed throughout this document, including ethical issues, completion of an Exclusive License Form, and stipulations as to length. 

ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS

Principles for Publication of Research Involving Human Subjects

Manuscripts must contain a statement to the effect that all human studies have been reviewed by the appropriate Ethics Committee and have therefore been performed following the ethical standards laid down in an appropriate version of the Declaration of Helsinki (as revised in Brazil 2013), available at http://www.wma.net/en/30publications/10policies/b3/index.html. It should also state clearly in the text that all persons gave their informed consent before their inclusion in the study. Details that might disclose the identity of the subjects under the study should be omitted. Photographs need to be cropped sufficiently to prevent human subjects from being recognized (or an eye bar should be used). 

Registration of Clinical Trials

We strongly recommend, as a condition of consideration for publication, registration in a public trials registry. Trials register at or before the onset of patient enrolment. This policy applies to any clinical trial. We define a clinical trial 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 1 trials) are exempt. 

We do not advocate one particular registry, but registration with a registry that meets the following minimum criteria: 

– Accessible to the public at no charge; 

– Searchable by standard, electronic (Internet-based) methods; 

– Open to all prospective registrants free of charge or at minimal cost; 

– Validates registered information; 

– Identifies trials with a unique number; and 

– Includes information on the investigator(s), research question or hypothesis, methodology, intervention and comparisons, eligibility criteria, primary and secondary outcomes measured, date of registration, anticipated or actual start date, anticipated or actual date of last follow-up, target number of subjects, status (anticipated, ongoing or closed) and funding source(s). 

Plagiarism Detection

The journal employs a plagiarism detection system. By submitting your manuscript to this journal, you accept that your manuscript may be screened for plagiarism against previously published works. 

Committee on Publication Ethics

The Journal subscribes to the principles of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). 

MANUSCRIPT CATEGORIES AND SPECIFICATIONS

All articles, except for Editorials, must contain an abstract of no more than 200 words. Abstracts for original articles should be formatted as detailed in the word form. Titles must not be longer than 120 characters (including spaces). In every article there must be three to ten pertinent keywords specific to the article yet reasonably common within the subject discipline. 

Editorials

These are invited by the Editor-in-Chief or the Executive Editor and should be a brief review of the subject concerned, regarding and commentary about one or more articles published in the same issue of RJMM. Editorials are generally 1200–1500 words, may contain one table or figure, and cite up to 15 references, including the source article. This should be cited as Rom J Mil Med year; vol: (issue). 

Review Articles

RJMM welcomes reviews of important topics across the scientific basis of medicine and advances in clinical practice. Most published reviews are in response to the editorial invitation, including thematically related “miniseries” of reviews. Authors considering submitting a review for RJMM are advised to canvas their possible review with the Editor-in-Chief or Executive Editor; this avoids early rejection if the subject matter is not deemed a high priority for the Journal at the time of submission. Reviews are suggested to be limited to 3500–5000 words, with an abstract of up to 200 words and up to 100 references and figures or tables. 

Meta-Analyses or Systematic Reviews

RJMM particularly welcomes the submission of Meta-Analyses and Systematic Reviews, which underpin evidence-based medicine. Guidelines for the preparation of Meta-Analysis and Systematic Reviews are similar to other reviews, and articles are subject to the usual peer review process. Meta-analyses and Systematic Reviews are suggested to be limited to 3500–5000 words, with an abstract of up to 200 words and up to 100 references and figures or tables. 

Original Articles (including clinical trials)

RJMM welcomes original articles concerned with clinical practice and research in the fields of medicine. Papers can cover the medical, surgical, radiological, pathological, biochemical, physiological, ethical, and/or historical aspects of the subject areas. Clinical trials are afforded expedited publication if deemed suitable. RJMM also deals with the basic sciences and experimental work, particularly that with clear relevance to disease mechanisms and new therapies. Original articles are suggested to be limited to 3000 words, with an abstract of up to 200 words and up to 100 references and figures or tables. 

Education and Imaging

The Editors welcome contributions to the Education and Imaging section. The purpose is to present imaging for the evaluation of unusual features of common conditions or diagnosis of unusual cases. Contributions will be reviewed by the Executive Editors. The format of the Images pages involves two parts, each of which will occupy up to one journal page. In Part 1, a case will be described briefly, including a summary of the presentation, clinical features, and key laboratory results. One to two key images will then be presented. It is helpful to the reader if the author responds to questions that follow from the images of the case, such as ‘What is your diagnosis? What are the features indicated on the CT scan? What is the differential diagnosis?’ Part 2 will briefly describe the imaging features, particularly those that lead to a diagnosis or which are critical for management. Differential diagnosis should be mentioned. It will be useful to include either further images or pathological details that validate the imaging diagnosis. Occasionally, the presentation of analogous cases or related images from a similar case might be appropriate. Please include between one and three references to definitive studies and appropriate reviews of the subject. The format of the Images page involves a brief background and description of the disorder of interest together with two figures of high quality. Colored photographs are encouraged. The submission may take the form of a case report or may illustrate particular features from more than one patient. 

MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION

Style

Manuscripts should follow the style of the Vancouver agreement detailed in the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors revised ‘Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals: Writing and Editing for Biomedical Publication’, as presented at https://www.ICMJE.org/. 

Spelling

The journal uses US spelling and authors should, therefore, follow the latest edition of the Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. 

Units

All measurements must be given in SI units as outlined in the latest edition of Units, Symbols, and Abbreviations: A Guide for Biological and Medical Editors and Authors (Royal Society of Medicine Press, London). 

Abbreviations

Abbreviations should be used sparingly and only where they ease the reader’s task by reducing the repetition of long technical terms. Initially use the word in full, followed by the abbreviation in parentheses. Thereafter use the abbreviation. 

Trade names

Trade names should not be used. Drugs should be referred to by their generic names, rather than brand names. 

Parts of the Manuscript

The manuscript should be submitted in one file, according to the word model.

Disclosure statement

The source of financial grants and other funding should be acknowledged, including a frank declaration of the authors’ industrial links and affiliations. In the case of clinical trials or an article describing the use of a commercial device, therapeutic substance or food must state whether there are any potential conflicts of interest for each of the authors: failure to make such a statement may jeopardize the article being sent out for peer-review. 

Acknowledgements

The contribution of colleagues or institutions should also be acknowledged. Thanks to anonymous reviewers is not allowed. 

Main text

As papers are double-blind peer-reviewed, the manuscript should be presented according to the word model. Figures and supporting information should be submitted as separate files. Footnotes to the text are not allowed and any such material should be incorporated into the text as parenthetical matter. 

Abstract and keywords

Original articles must have a structured abstract that states in 200 words or less the purpose, basic procedures, main findings, and principal conclusions of the study. If appropriate, divide the abstract with the headings: Background and Aim, Methods, Results, and Conclusions, but keep them as a single paragraph. The abstracts of reviews need not be structured. The abstract should not contain abbreviations or references. Three to ten keywords should be supplied below the abstract and should be taken from those recommended by the US National Library of Medicine’s Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) browser—(http://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/meshhome.html). 

Text

Authors should use the word form in editing the submitted material. 

References

The Vancouver system of referencing should be used. In the text, references should be cited using Arabic numerals in square parentheses in the order in which they appear. If cited only in tables or figure legends, number them according to the first identification of the table or figure in the text. In the reference list, the references should be numbered and listed in order of appearance in the text. Cite the names of all authors when there are five or fewer; when six or more list the first five followed by et al. Names of journals should be abbreviated in the style used in MEDLINE. Reference to unpublished data and personal communications should appear in the text only. Use Index Medicus as the style guide for references and other journal abbreviations. 

Tables

Tables should be self-contained and complement, but not duplicate, information contained in the text. Number tables consecutively in the text in Arabic numerals. Type tables on a separate page with the legend above. Tables must be typed to respect page formatting, and that is the authors’ responsibility; all pages must remain in portrait orientation and preserve their margins. If necessary, tables may be inserted rotated, with the head row on the left. All tables should be typed in European style, not Arabic or Hebrew or other ways. Legends should be concise but comprehensive – the table and legend must be understandable without reference to the text. Column headings should be brief, with units of measurement in parentheses; all abbreviations must be defined in footnotes. Footnote symbols: †, ‡, •, ‣ should be used (in that order) and *, **, *** should be reserved for P-values. Statistical measures such as SD or SEM should be identified in the headings. 

Figure legends

Type figure legends in their respective place in the text. Legends should be concise but comprehensive – the figure and its legend must be understandable without reference to the text. Include definitions of any symbols used and define/explain all abbreviations and units of measurement Indicate the stains used in histopathology. Identify statistical measures of variation, such as standard deviation and standard error of the mean. 

Figures

All illustrations (line drawings and photographs) are classified as figures. Figures should be numbered using Arabic numerals, and cited in consecutive order in the text. Each figure should be supplied as a separate file, with the figure number incorporated in the file name. 

Preparation of Electronic Figures for Publication:

Although low-quality images are adequate for review purposes, publication requires high-quality images to prevent the final product from being blurred or fuzzy. 

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

Manuscripts should be submitted online at office@rjmm.ro. A cover letter containing an authorship statement should be included. The cover letter should include a statement covering each of the following areas: 

– Confirmation that all authors have contributed to and agreed on the content of the manuscript, and the respective roles of each author. It is not accepted the idea of equal contribution. 

– Confirmation that the manuscript has not been published previously, in any language, in whole or in part, and is not currently under consideration elsewhere. 

– A statement outlining how ethical clearance has been obtained for the research, particularly concerning studies involving human subjects, and animal experimentation. The institutional ethics committees approving this research must comply with acceptable international standards (such as the Declaration of Helsinki) and this must be stated. 

– For research involving pharmacological agents, devices, or medical technology, a clear Conflict of Interest statement concerning any funding from or pecuniary interests in companies that could be perceived as a potential conflict of interest in the outcome of the research. 

– For clinical trials, these have been registered in a publicly accessible database (see more under ‘ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS (Further Information)’ later in these guidelines). 

If the above items are not included in the cover letter, manuscripts cannot be sent for review. Please also note that the cover letter does not require a detailed or lengthy description of the content or structure of the manuscript itself. 

The text file should be prepared using the word model. If not complying with the required model, the manuscript will be returned to the author. 

Each figure should be supplied as a separate file, with the figure number incorporated in the file name. For submission, high-resolution figures (at least 300 d.p.i.) saved as .eps, .jpg, or .tif files are required. 

PUBLICATION PROCESS AFTER ACCEPTANCE

Accepted Articles

Accepted Articles are published online after final acceptance, and appear in PDF format only. 

Proofs

Once the paper has been typeset, the corresponding author will receive an e-mail alert containing the proof of acceptance. It is therefore essential that a working e-mail address is provided for the corresponding author. 

COPYRIGHT, LICENSING AND ONLINE OPEN

Details are on the Copyright Agreement Form that must be completed and signed when the Article is submitted.