[divider divider_type=”type1″][/divider]Thank you for your interest in Military Medicine Today. Please read the complete Author Guidelines carefully prior to submission, including the section on copyright. To ensure fast peer review and publication, manuscripts that do not adhere to the following instructions will be returned to the corresponding author for technical revision before undergoing peer review. Note that submission implies that the content has not been published or submitted for publication elsewhere except as a brief abstract in the proceedings of a scientific meeting or symposium. Once you have prepared your submission in accordance with the Guidelines, manuscripts should be submitted online at: rjmilmed@yahoo.com.

We look forward to your submission.

Copywright agreement          Peer Review

EDITORIAL AND CONTENT CONSIDERATIONS

Aims and Scope

Military Medicine Today (MMT) is the official journal of the Romanian Association of Military Physicians and Pharmacists. The Journal publishes peer-reviewed original papers, reviews, metaanalyses and 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. MMT also deals with the basic sciences and experimental work, particularly that with a clear relevance to disease mechanisms and new therapies. Case reports and letters to the Editor will 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 an Editor. The Editor reserves 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 in accordance with 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 prior to 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 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:

1. accessible to the public at no charge;
2. searchable by standard, electronic (Internet-based) methods;
3. open to all prospective registrants free of charge or at minimal cost;
4. validates registered information;
5. identifies trials with a unique number; and
6. 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, with the exception of Editorials, must contain an abstract of no more than 250 words. Abstracts for original articles should be formatted into subheadings, as detailed below. Titles must not be longer than 120 characters (including spaces).

Editorials

These are invited by the Editor-in-Chief or their delegated editor, and should be a brief review of the subject concerned, with reference to and commentary about one or more articles published in the same issue of MMT. 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 Military Med. Today (year); (vol): [this issue].

Review Articles

MMT welcomes reviews of important topics across the scientific basis of medicine, and advances in clinical practice. Most published reviews are in response to editorial invitation, including thematically related “miniseries” of reviews. Authors considering submitting a review for MMT are advised to canvas their possible review with the Editor-in-Chief or a colleague 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 limited to 3500–5000 words, with an abstract of up to 250 words and up to 75 references and 3–7 figures or tables.

Meta-Analyses or Systematic Reviews

MMT particularly welcomes submission of Meta-Analyses and Systematic Reviews, which underpin evidencebased medicine. Guidelines for 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 have a word limit of 3500–5000 words, with an abstract of up to 250 words and up to 75 references and 3–7 figures or tables.

Original Articles (including clinical trials)

MMT 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. MMT also deals with the basic sciences and experimental work, particularly that with a clear relevance to disease mechanisms and new therapies. Original articles are limited to 3000 words, with an abstract of up to 250 words and up to 50 references and 3–7 figures and 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 Education and Imaging Coordinating 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 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, 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 to 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 athttp://www.ICMJE.org/.

Spelling

The journal uses US spelling and authors should therefore follow the latest edition of the MerriamWebster’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 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 separate files: title page; main text file; figures.

Title page

The title page should contain (i) a short informative title that contains the major key words. The title should not contain abbreviations; (ii) the full names of the authors (if possible, not more than 5 authors per title); (iii) the author’s institutional affiliations at which the work was carried out; (iv) the full postal and email address, plus telephone number, of the author to whom correspondence about the manuscript should be sent; (v) disclosure statement; and (vi) acknowledgements. The present address of any author, if different from that where the work was carried out, should be supplied in a footnote.

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 any article describing 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.

Acknowledgments

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

Main text

As papers are double-blind peer reviewed the main text file should not include any information that might identify the authors. The main text of the manuscript should be presented in the following order: (i) abstract and key words, (ii) text, (iii) references, (iv) tables (each table complete with title and footnotes), (vii) figure legends. 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 250 words or less the purpose, basic procedures, main findings and principal conclusions of the study. Divide the abstract with the headings: Background and Aim, Methods, Results, Conclusions. The abstracts of reviews need not be structured. The abstract should not contain abbreviations or references. Three to five 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 subheadings to divide the sections of their manuscript: Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, Acknowledgments and References.

References

The Vancouver system of referencing should be used. In the text, references should be cited using superscript Arabic numerals 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 six or less; when seven or more list the first three 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. References should be listed in the following form: Number references in the order cited as Arabic numerals in parentheses on the line. Only literature that is published or in press (with the name of the publication known) may be numbered and listed; abstracts and letters to the editor may be cited, but they must be less than 3 years old and identified as such. Refer to only in the text, in parentheses, other material (manuscripts submitted, unpublished data, personal communications, and the like) as in the following example: (Chercheur X, unpublished data). If the owner of the unpublished data or personal communication is not an author of the manuscript under review, a signed statement is required verifying the accuracy of the attributed information and agreement to its publication. Use Index Medicus as the style guide for references and other journal abbreviations. List all authors up to six, using six and “et al.” when the number is greater than six.

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. Legends should be concise but comprehensive – the table, legend and footnotes must be understandable without reference to the text. Vertical lines should not be used to separate columns. 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 on a separate page. 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 being blurred or fuzzy.

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

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

1. Confirmation that all authors have contributed to and agreed on the content of the manuscript, and the respective roles of each author.
2. Confirmation that the manuscript has not been published previously, in any language, in whole or in part, and is not currently under consideration elsewhere.
3. A statement outlining how ethical clearance has been obtained for the research, particularly in relation to 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.
4. For research involving pharmacological agents, devices or medical technology, a clear Conflict of Interest statement in relation to any funding from or pecuniary interests in companies that could be perceived as a potential conflict of interest in the outcome of the research.
5. For clinical trials, that these have been registered in a publically 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.

Two Word-files need to be included upon submission: A title page file and a main text file that includes all parts of the text in the sequence indicated in the section ‘Parts of the manuscript’, including tables and figure legends but excluding figures which should be supplied separately.

The main text file should be prepared using Microsoft Word, doubled-spaced. The top, bottom and side margins should be 30 mm. All pages should be numbered consecutively in the top right-hand corner, beginning with the first page of the main text file.

Each figure should be supplied as a separate file, with the figure number incorporated in the file name. For submission, low-resolution figures saved as .jpg or .bmp files should be uploaded, for ease of transmission during the review process. Upon acceptance of the article, high-resolution figures (at least 300 d.p.i.) saved as .eps or .tif files will be required.

PUBLICATION PROCESS AFTER ACCEPTANCE

Accepted papers will be passed to production team for publication. The author identified as the formal corresponding author for the paper will receive an email, being asked to complete an electronic license agreement on behalf of all authors on the paper.

Accepted Articles

The accepted ‘in press’ manuscripts are published online very soon after acceptance, prior to copy-editing or typesetting. Accepted Articles are published online a few days after final acceptance, appear in PDF format only, are given a Digital Object Identifier (DOI), which allows them to be cited and tracked. After print publication, the DOI remains valid and can continue to be used to cite and access the article. Given that copyright licensing is a condition of publication, a completed copyright form is required before a manuscript can be processed as an Accepted Article.

Proofs

Once the paper has been typeset, the corresponding author will receive an e-mail alert containing instructions on how to provide proof corrections to the article. It is therefore essential that a working e-mail address is provided for the corresponding author. Proofs should be corrected carefully; the responsibility for detecting errors lies with the author. The proof should be checked, and approval to publish the article should be emailed to the Publisher by the date indicated; otherwise, it may be signed off on by the Editor or held over to the next issue.

Offprint

A PDF reprint of the article will be supplied free of charge to the corresponding author. Additional printed offprint may be ordered for a fee.

COPYRIGHT, LICENSING AND ONLINE OPEN

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