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Manuscript Submission
We encourage authors to submit manuscripts
as e-mail attachments to the Editorial Office at:tcmj@tzuchi.com.tw
If you are unable to submit your manuscript by
e-mail, you may submit it on a CDR and post it,
together with 3 hard copies of your manuscript
(that match the disk file exactly), to the Editorial
Office:
Hann-Chorng Kuo, MD
Editor-in-Chief
Tzu Chi Medical Journal
Buddhist Tzu Chi General Hospital
707, Section 3, Chung-Yang Road,
Hualien 970, Taiwan
Tel: (+886) 3-8561825 ext. 2113
Please note that manuscripts submitted by e-mail
should not also be submitted by mail or fax.
Which ever method you choose to submit
your
manuscript, please ensure that the following documents
are also included, where applicable.
- A brief cover letter should accompany
all manuscript
submissions and include your name, address,
telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail address,
and state that all authors
have contributed to the
paper and have never submitted the manuscript to
other medical journals.
- Articles covering the use of human
samples in
research and human experiments must be accompanied
by a letter of approval from the relevant
review committee.
- Articles covering the use of vertebrates in scientific
application planning must be accompanied
by a letter of approval from
the animal experiment
management team of the relevant authorities.
- Where material has been reproduced from other
copyrighted sources,
the letter(s) of permission
from the copyright holder(s) to use the copyrighted
sources must be supplied.
Important Information
• Articles submitted by e-mail or on disk should be
in Microsoft Word document format and prepared
in the simplest form possible.
We will add in the
correct font, font size, margins and so on according
to the journal's style.
• You may use automatic page
numbering, but avoid
other kinds of automatic formatting such as footnotes,
endnotes, headers and footers.
• Please put text,
references, tables, figures, and
legends in one file, with each table and figure on a
new page.
• Figures that are line drawings
or photographs must
also be submitted separately as high resolution
picture files, in *.EPS or *.TIFF format. Please ensure
that files
are supplied at the correct resolution of a
minimum of 600 dpi.
- If you are unable to submit such figures by
e-mail, please post
3 sets of the original figures
to the Editorial Office at the above address. They
will not be returned.
- Please note that the cost
of color illustrations
will be charged to the author, at US$200 for one
or more color figures per article.
Disclosure of Conflicts
of Interest
All authors are required to sign and submit the following
financial disclosure statement at the time of
manuscript
submission:
-
I certify that all my affiliations with or financial
involvement in, within the past 5 years and
foreseeable
future, any organization or entity
with a financial interest in or financial conflict
with the subject matter or materials discussed
in the manuscript are completely disclosed (e.g.
employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock
ownership or options, expert testimony,
grants
or patents received or pending, royalties).
Authors who have no relevant financial interests
should provide
a statement indicating that they have no financial interests related to the material in the
manuscript.
Identification of Patients
in Descriptions,
Photographs and Pedigrees
A signed statement of informed consent to publish
(in print and online) patient descriptions,
photographs
and pedigrees should be obtained from all subjects
(parents or legal guardians for minors) who can be
identified (including
by the subjects themselves) in
such written descriptions, photographs or pedigrees.
Such persons should be shown the manuscript before
its submission. Omitting data or making data less specific
to de-identify patients is acceptable, but changing
any such data is not acceptable.
Previous Publication or Duplicate
Submission
Submitted manuscripts are considered with the
understanding that they have not
been published
previously in print or electronic format (except in
abstract or poster form) and are not under consideration
by another
publication or electronic medium.
Basic Criteria
Articles should be written in English (using American
English spelling)
and meet the following basic criteria:
the material is original, the information is important,
the writing is clear (clinical or laboratory
jargon is to
be avoided), the study methods are appropriate, the
data are valid, and the conclusions are reasonable
and supported by
the data.
Categories of Articles
The categories of articles that are published are
described below. The maximum length of
an article
is 3000 words, inclusive of tables and figures, but
not including references.
Review Articles
These should aim
to provide the reader with a balanced
overview of an important and topical subject
in medicine, and should be systematic and critical
assessments of literature and data sources, emphasizing
factors such as cause, diagnosis, prognosis,
therapy, or prevention. All articles
and data sources
reviewed should include information about the specific
type of study or analysis, population, intervention,
exposure,
and tests or outcomes. All articles or
data sources should be selected systematically for
inclusion in the review and critically evaluated.
The following are given as examples of possible
section headings: Introduction (to include a definition
of the disease to be discussed,
its incidence
and relationship to age, sex and geography), Etiology,
Pathology (macroscopic and microscopic), Diagnosis,
Clinical Features/Complications,
Prevention, Treatment,
Prognosis, Conclusion or Summary. Figures, tables,
algorithms and other forms of illustration should be
included
as appropriate.
Original Articles
These may be randomized trials, intervention studies,
studies of screening and
diagnostic tests, laboratory
and animal studies, cohort studies, cost-effectiveness
analyses, case-control studies, and surveys with
high
response rates, that represent new and significant
contributions to medical science.
Each manuscript should state the objective/
hypothesis, design and methods (including the study
setting and dates, patients/participants with inclusion
and exclusion criteria, or
data sources and how these
were selected for the study), the essential features of
any interventions, the main outcome measures, the
main results, discussion placing the results in context
with the published literature, and conclusions.
Section headings should be: Abstract,
Introduction,
Methods, Results, Discussion.
Case Reports
These are short discussions of a case or case series
with
unique features not previously described. Section
headings should be: Abstract, Introduction, Case
Report, Discussion.
Manuscript
Preparation
Text should be typed double-spaced on one side
of A4 (297 x 210 mm) paper, with outer margins of
3 cm. Each section
of the manuscript should begin
on a new page. Pages should be numbered consecutively,
beginning with the title page.
Title
Page
The title page should contain the following
information:
• category of paper
• manuscript title
•
the names (spelled out in full) of all the authors
and their institutions
• corresponding author details (e-mail address, mailing
address, telephone and fax numbers
• short running title not exceeding 50 characters
• declaration of any source of
financial support
Abstracts
The first page following the title page should contain a
concise English abstract of
no more than 300 words
and up to 5 relevant key words/index terms in alphabetical
order. A brief Chinese version of the abstract
should
follow the English abstract (with Chinese key
words that match the English key words). A Chinese
abstract is not required from non-Chinese
authors,
but the Editors are authorized to translate the abstract
into Chinese for them. Abstracts should be structured,
with the section
headings:
• Objectives: describe the rationale for the study
• Methods: briefly introduce the methods used to
perform
the study
• Results: briefly present the significant results
• Conclusion: state your conclusions concisely
Units
Système International (SI) units must be used, with
the exception of blood pressure values which are to
be reported in mmHg. Please
use the metric system
for the expression of length, area, mass, and volume.
Temperatures are to be given in degrees Celsius.
Drug
Names
Use the Recommended International Non-proprietary
Name for medicinal substances, unless the specific
trade name of
a drug is directly relevant to the
discussion.
Abbreviations
Where a term/definition will be continually referred
to, it must be written in full, followed by the subsequent
abbreviation in brackets, when it first
appears in the text. Thereafter, the
abbreviation may
be used.
References
• References should be limited to those cited in the
text.
•
Each reference citation within the main body of
the text should be an Arabic numeral enclosed in
square parentheses.
• References
must be numbered consecutively in order
of appearance in the text, and listed in number
order in the reference list: do not alphabetize.
• References cited in tables or figure legends should
be included in sequence at the point where the
table or figure is first
mentioned in the text.
• Abstracts should not be cited unless the abstract is
the only available reference to an important concept.
• Do not cite uncompleted work or work that has not
yet been accepted for publication as references.
• References should
include the complete title of
the article and the last names and initials of all the
authors up to 6. If there are 7 or more authors,
include the last names and initials of the first 3
authors only, followed by "et al".
• Abbreviations for journals should conform
to those
used in MEDLINE.
• Always give the last page number as well. If there is
only 1 page, state if the article is an abstract
or letter.
• If citing a website, please provide the author information,
article title, the website address and the
date you
accessed the information.
• Reference to an article that is in press must state the
journal name and, if possible, the year
and volume.
• Use the "Vancouver" style, as described in: "International
Committee of Medical Journal Editors.
Uniform requirements
for manuscripts submitted to
biomedical journals. JAMA 1997;277:927-34."
• Authors are responsible for the accuracy
and completeness
of their references and for correct text citation.
Examples are given below
Journal articles:
1.
Chuang MH, Lin CL, Wang YF, Chung MI, Cham
TM. Southern Taiwan findings from the Institute
for Safe Medication Practices Medication Safety
Self Assessment for Hospitals survey. Tzu Chi
Med J 2007;19:74-83.
2. Chen SC, Teo BT, Yen PS. Isolated intrascranial Rosai-
Dorfman
disease—report of 2 cases and review of
the literature. Tzu Chi Med J 2007;19:90-3.
3. Hofele C, Schwager-Schmitt M, Volkmann
M. Prognostic
value of antibodies against p53 in patients
with oral squamous cell carcinoma—five years survival
rate. Laryngorhinootologie
2002;81:342-5.
[In German]
Books:
1. Stevens J. Applied Multivariate Statistics for
the Social Sciences, 3rd edition.
New Jersey:
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1996.
2. Jones CJ, Smith TH. Kidney Disease. Boston:
Little Brown ? Company, 1973:50-3.
3. Lin HC, Lee FY, Lee SD. Cirrhosis and portal hypertension.
In: Sung JJY, Wong LKS, Li PKT, Sanderson
J, Kwok TCY, eds. Principles
and Practice of Clinical
Medicine in Asia. Treating the Asian Patient. Hong
Kong: Lippincott Williams ? Wilkins, 2002:312-23.
Tables
Tables should supplement, not duplicate, the text.
They should be labeled in Arabic numerals and titled concisely.
Number all tables in the order of their
citation in the text. Tables should be typed doublespaced
in as simple a form as possible. Information
requiring explanatory footnotes should be denoted
using these symbols (in order of appearance): *,†, ‡, §, ||, ¶, #, **, ††, ‡‡, §§.
Figures
The number of figures should be
restricted to the
minimum necessary to support the textual material.
Figures must be submitted as high resolution picture
files, in *.EPS
or *.TIFF format, at a minimum resolution
of 600 dpi.
If you are unable to submit such figures by
e-mail, please post 3 sets of the
original figures to the
Editorial Office. They will not be returned. The figures
should be in the form of unmounted, unretouched
glossy
prints (no larger than 4 x 6 inches in size), and
marked on the back with the figure number, top of
the figure, and the principal author's
name, using a
soft lead pencil or stick-on labels. Patient identification
should be obscured. Do not mark directly on the
prints. Indicators/arrows
and labels may be marked
on a photocopy of the original print to indicate subtle
but salient points. Include internal scale markers
in
photomicrographs and electron micrographs.
All figures must be labeled in Arabic numerals in
order of their citation in the text,
and accompanied
by legends and indicate the anatomic area and/or
pathologic condition shown. For photomicrographs,
include the type of
specimen, original magnification,
and stain. All symbols and abbreviations not defined
in the text should be defined in the legend.
Statistical Requirements
• Statistical analysis is essential for all research
papers except case reports.
•
Use correct nomenclature of statistical methods
(e.g. two sample t test, not unpaired t test).
• All p values should be presented
to the third decimal
place for accuracy, unless they are less than 0.001.
• Descriptive statistics should follow the scales
used in data description. Inferential statistics are
important for interpreting results and should be
described in detail.
Editorial
and Peer Review
Submitted manuscripts are reviewed initially by the
Editorial Board, whose members will determine which
articles
will be published based on their scientific
merit, readability and interest. Manuscripts with insufficient
priority for publication are
rejected promptly.
Rejected manuscripts will not be returned to authors
unless requested. All other manuscripts are sent to
2 or more
recognized experts on the subject for blinded
peer review, where the reviewers will not know the
identity of the authors. When relevant,
a biostatistician
(a member of the editorial board) will also review the
submitted manuscript.
Preparation for Publication
Once a manuscript has been accepted for publication, the authors should submit the final version of
their manuscript (in MS Word format)
by e-mail to:
tcmj@tzuchi.com.tw
(Or, the manuscript may be saved on a CDR and posted,
together with 1 paper copy
of the manuscript that
matches the disk file exactly, to the Editorial Office.)
Accepted manuscripts are copyedited according
to the
journal's style and the galley proofs in the
form of a PDF file are emailed to the corresponding
author for final approval. Authors are
responsible for
all statements made in their work, including changes
made by the copy editor. All authors must sign a statement
of authorship
responsibility and copyright transfer
prior to publication of their paper. This form will
be provided by the Publisher, together with
the galley
proofs.
Reprints
Authors receive 25 stapled offprints of their articles
free of charge. Additional professional
reprints with
a cover page may be ordered at terms based on the
cost of production. A reprint order form is provided
by the Publisher,
together with the galley proofs.
Unauthorized Use
Published manuscripts become the permanent property
of the Buddhist Compassion
Relief Tzu Chi
Foundation and may not be published elsewhere
without written permission. However, the following
rights of the authors
are reserved: (i) the right to use,
free of charge, all or part of their article in future
works of their own, such as books and lectures;
(ii)
the right to reproduce the article for their own noncommercial
and educational purposes. |
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