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INSTRUCTIONS TO CONTRIBUTORS
Contributions to Pediatric Neurology must be original and not have been published
elsewhere except in abstract form. It is understood that no manuscript will be submitted to another publication during its review for Pediatric Neurology. All persons designated as authors must have had an active role in the design or conduct of the study, analysis
of data, and writing or revising the article for scientific content. Collecting data, supporting the project, or having a relationship
based on position alone are not sufficient for author designation. For multi-author contributions, up to three authors can be designated
as jointly first author status if they have shared equally in the work.
Editorial review will be accorded all submissions within
the scope of the journal and its readership, unless language revision is necessary before the manuscript can be properly reviewed. In
that case, the corresponding author will be notified and allowed to resubmit after appropriate revision. Most submissions are reviewed
by two or more members of the editorial board or by specially qualified ad hoc reviewers. The editor's decisions are final.
All accepted manuscripts are subject to copyediting. Before publication, page proofs are sent to the corresponding author, who will bear responsibility
for the final manuscript contents, including all copyediting changes. Costs for changes or additions made by the author that exceed 10%
of article length will be charged to the author.
Scope
Materials reviewed for publication in Pediatric Neurology
include the following.
Review articles. Reviews document and synthesize current information on timely subjects. Limits: must
not exceed 7000 words, up to 100 references. Under special circumstances, longer reviews may be published.
Original articles.
Original articles report clinical or laboratory investigation of clinical subjects, as concisely as possible. Limits: must not exceed
5000 words, up to 50 references. If the number of authors exceeds 10, the editor reserves the right to print a portion of the names and
affiliations separately, preceding the acknowledgment section.
Case reports. Case reports embody new and noteworthy information
or understanding. Limits: must not exceed 2000 words, up to 15 references, and no more than 3 tables or figure images total. (A 3-part
figure, for example--Figure 1a, 1b, and 1c--counts as 3 figure images.) With rare exceptions, case reports have no more than 5 authors.
Brief communications. Brief communications accommodate reports that merit rapid dissemination. Limits: must not exceed 1200
words, up to 12 references, and no more than 2 tables or figure images total.
Notes. Brief notes highlight a specific point
of reader interest. Limits: must not exceed 500 words, up to 5 references, and no more than 1 table or figure image.
Images in
Child Neurology. One or 2 high-impact images, with concise annotation, illustrate some important and unique aspect of a neurologic
examination or investigation.
Patient photos are acceptable provided there are no identifiers and they are accompanied by appropriate
written permission from parent or legal guardian. Limits: must not exceed 1000 words, up to 5 references.
Letters. Letters
to the editor (1) respond to material printed in Pediatric Neurology during the past 12 months or (2) introduce brief ideas
or points. Limits: must not exceed 400 words, up to 3 references; no tables or illustrations.
Mechanics of submission
Manuscripts may be submitted by either physical or electronic mail. For physical shipment, include the original manuscript, a disk or
CD of manuscript materal in Microsoft Word format, three manuscript copies, and four sets of figures. Facsimile transmission (faxed manuscripts)
will not be accepted.
Send mail contributions by first-class mail (airmail, for international contributions) or equivalent to: Kenneth
F. Swaiman, M.D., Editor, Pediatric Neurology, 1821 University Avenue West, Suite N-188, St. Paul, MN 55104, USA.
Send e-mailed
contributions as attachments in Microsoft Word format to pncomm@qwestoffice.net. Figures may be appended at the end of
the manuscript or sent as separate JPG attachments for review purposes. Figures must be sized to print on a standard sheet of paper.
With e-mail submission, there is no need to send duplicate paper copies to the editorial office.
A cover letter should include (1)
an explanation by the author of the special merits of the manuscript; (2) a statement that all coauthors have read and agreed to the
content of the manuscript; (3) either a disclaimer or an explicit statement of any financial or commercial involvement or other conflicts
of interest by any author; and, as applicable; (4) explicit statements of any contribution of industry-sponsored research or of corporate
participation in preparing the manuscript.
The corresponding author of each submission will receive a letter or e-mail acknowledging
receipt of the manuscript and notice of the journal tracking number assigned to the manuscript. For questions regarding manuscripts,
contact Arlene Carpenter, Editorial Office Administrative Manager: telephone (651) 645-4319, fax (651) 645-4349, or e-mail: pncomm@qwestoffice.net.
Transfer of copyright to Elsevier, Inc., is required before publication. A form to be signed and returned to Elsevier is sent to
the corresponding author with the proofs.
Manuscript preparation
Manuscripts should be written in scientific and
appropriate English. Authors whose native language is not English should seek assistance from a native English-speaking colleague or
one who is proficient in scientific English for help with spelling, syntax, and style issues. Journal style is based on AMA style [1,2],
supplemented by CSE style [3] and common sense. Consult recent issues of Pediatric Neurology for examples of style and format
in practice, especially for figures, tables, and references. Manuscripts can be submitted in electronic form. Microsoft Word is the preferred
format. Authors should retain a complete copy of the manuscript. Although great precaution will be taken to protect material from loss, Pediatric Neurology is not responsible for loss of submitted material.
Manuscripts should be double-spaced throughout, including
references, tables, and figure legends, and formatted for letter size (8½ x 11 inches) or A4 (210 x 297 mm) paper, with margins
of at least 1.5 inches on all sides. Set a header at the upper right corner of each sheet with the first author's surname and consecutive
page numbers. The sequence of elements is title page, abstract, text, acknowledgments, references, figure legends, and tables.
Title
page. The title page includes the title (must not exceed 75 letters and spaces), a short running title (must not exceed 35 letters
and spaces), authorship (first name, middle initials, and last name for each author, with highest academic degrees-no nonacademic titles
or degrees), and affiliations (the departments and institutions to which the work should be attributed, regardless of present address).
Link the authors to their affiliations with the symbols *,†, ‡, §, ||, ¶, #, **, ††, ‡‡.
Designate the corresponding author for reader communications, giving complete mailing and e-mail addresses. For communication
during review and before publication, provide also the telephone and facsimile numbers.
For seven or more authors, to conserve space
only the first three names may be printed on the cover and table of contents page, with "and others" added.
Abstract. The
abstract summarizes the article, the investigational approach, the results, and relevant conclusions. The abstract is a single paragraph,
without headings or abbreviations, no longer than 200 words for full-length articles and appropriately shorter for brief communications
and case reports.
Text. The text is typically organized under a sequence of headings: Introduction, either Materials and Methods
or Study Design and Methods or Case Reports, and Discussion. Figures, tables, and references are cited in numerical order. Footnotes
are discouraged, but if used must appear on the manuscript page where cited.
Abbreviations. Journal style uses very few abbreviations.
Some common abbreviations (e.g., MRI, EEG, and CNS) are acceptable if spelled out at first use, but otherwise most terms are spelled
out in full throughout the manuscript.
Human subjects and animal subjects. Experimental studies with human subjects require
that the protocol has received prior approval by the appropriate institutional body and informed consent obtained from each subject or
legal guardian. Animal experimentation must also receive institutional approval. Report such review and approval explicitly in the methods
or case report section of the manuscript.
References. Only material accessible to the public is included in the reference
list. Forthcoming or "in press" material may be included only if it has been accepted for publication. Other material is cited in the
text, as either unpublished data (if the authors' own work) or personal communication (unpublished data of others). For review purposes,
the authors may submit a copy of a related article submitted but not yet accepted.
References must be double-spaced, numbered in
order of citation. In both text citations and the list itself, the reference number is encased in square brackets.
For journal articles,
reference style largely follows that in the National Library of Medicine PubMed database (available from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez
), except as follows: (1) list all authors (2) omit period after journal title abbreviation; and (3) omit issue number. Use Index Medicus
title abbreviations [4]. For books, provide all authors, chapter title, all editors, book title, edition number (if there is more than
one), city of publication, publisher, year of publication, volume number (if appropriate), and initial and last page numbers. For online
databases, include both your access date and the date of the most recent build, revision, or update at that time.
Extensive examples
of both print and online references are available from the National Library of Medicine [5,6].
Figures. Number figures in
order of citation. Provide figure legends, double-spaced, on separate, consecutively numbered sheets.
Illustrations submitted with
the original manuscript must be adequate for review, but may be less than final publication quality. If submitting hard copy photographs
with your original submission, four sets are required. Hard copy of figures may also be requested when an article has been accepted for
publication. Figures submitted digitally (highest quality JPG format preferred) should be at least 300 dots per inch in resolution. If
not in digital form, all figures, including photographs, should be camera-ready: unmounted and untrimmed; four sets are required. Provide
pertinent information (i.e., figure number, author name, and up-oriented arrow) on an adhesive label affixed to the back of the illustration.
Color illustrations or photographs will be accepted if appropriate. The author will bear the cost of color publication ($650
for the first color illustration on each page and $100 for every additional color illustration on the same page.)
Pediatric
Neurology will not be responsible for redrawing or improving submitted drawings.
Tables. Provide a concise title for
each table, numbering in order of citation. Column heads provide a summary description of the data, including units. If units or data
types must differ down a column, specify this in the row heads at each change. Unlike figures, tables must not have separate sections;
for complete change of structure, start a new table. Footnotes follow the table body, in this order: general notes, abbreviations (one
per line, with equal sign), and specific notes (keyed to the table with symbols in order of citation, across columns and down rows: *,
†, ‡, §, ||, ¶, #, **, ††, ‡&Dagger).
To keep the entire manuscript double-spaced
and in Microsoft Word format, you may need to convert or copy data from statistical or spreadsheet software into Word. Number table pages
consecutively with the rest of the manuscript. If a table extends to more than one manuscript page, repeat the column heads at the top
of each additional page.
Data presented in tables should not be repeated in figures, and vice versa.
Permissions. Submitted
material published elsewhere (i.e., illustrations, tables, or narrative of 100 words or more) must be accompanied by a written permission
for publication from both the publisher and the author.
Whether for "Images in Child Neurology" or in other articles, photographs
of identifiable subjects must be accompanied by signed permission from patient or legal representative authorizing publication. Photographs
in which faces or eyes are covered are not acceptable.
Reprints
Reprints may be ordered prior to publication on
the form provided by Elsevier. The designated reviewing author will be responsible for ordering reprints for all authors. Reprints ordered
after publication of the journal can be ordered at increased
cost by special arrangement.
This version of "Instructions to Contributors"
was updated in January 2008 and supersede all previous versions.
References
[1] Iverson C; American
Medical Association. American
Medical Association manual of style: a guide for authors and
editors, 9th ed. Baltimore: Williams &
Wilkins, 1998.
[2] Iverson C; American Medical Association. AMA manual
of style: a guide for authors and editors, 10th ed.
New York:
Oxford University Press, 2007.
[3] Council of Science Editors, Style Manual Committee.
Scientific style and format:
the CSE manual for authors, editors,
and publishers, 7th ed. Reston, VA: Council of Science
Editors, in cooperation with the Rockefeller
University Press,
2006.
[4] National Library of Medicine (U.S.). List of journals
indexed for MEDLINE, 2007. Updated January
1, 2007. Available
at: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/tsd/serials/lji.html.
[5] ICMJE. International Committee of Medical
Journal
Editors Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to
Biomedical Journals: sample references. Last updated: April 25,
2007.
First published: July 9, 2003. Available from:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_requirements.html
[6] Patrias K;
National Library of Medicine (U.S.), Reference
Section.. National Library of Medicine recommended formats
for bibliographic citation.
Supplement: Internet formats. Bethesda,
MD: U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, Public
Health Service, National Institutes of Health,
National Library
of Medicine, Reference Section, 2001. Available from: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/formats/internet.pdf. |
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