Author Guidelines
Our requirements for submitted manuscripts are in accordance with the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals. For general information about the structure and content of a biomedical manuscript, authors should get familiar with the ICMJE Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts before reading the instructions for Journal of Medical Cases below.
General Requirements
Important notes: If you submit manuscripts via the online submission system, the first step is to register as a user of this site, make sure to check to register as Author, then you may add yourself as a Reader or/and a Reviewer as you like. When you upload your files, the manuscript main text is uploaded as the SUBMISSION FILE, and all other files are uploaded as SUPPLEMENTAL FILES, such as figures, cover letter, etc.
All manuscripts should be submitted electronically via our website (www.journalmc.org), submissions via regular mail are not acceptable at the moment. Manuscripts should be double-spaced (including references, tables, and figure legends). Journal of Medical Cases does not enforce a word limit for the manuscript, neither has a word limit for figures, tables, legends and references.
Before submitting online, authors are asked to have their manuscript saved in word file and each figure saved as a separate electronic file, preferably named as "figure 1.tif," "figure 2.jpg," etc.
Manuscripts are accepted for consideration with the understanding that they have been submitted solely to Journal of Medical Cases and that they have not been previously published, either in whole or in part. Journal of Medical Cases is a fully peer-reviewed journal. The editors reserve the right to make editorial changes in all matter published in the Journal.
Preparation of Manuscripts
The manuscript should be written in English and the editors reserve the right to make appropriate corrections in grammar and style.
Title Page
Should include title, authors, departments, institutions, corresponding address, grant, conflict of interest, short title.
Title: Use no abbreviations. Limit: 150 characters with spaces.
Short Title: Limit: 60 characters.
Authors
Include first and last names of all authors, and include the name and full location of department and institution where the work was performed.
Grant Support
List grant support and other assistance if applicable.
Correspondence
Provide name, complete address, e-mail address, telephone number, and fax number of corresponding author.
Abstract
Limit: 350 words. Organized as non-structured abstract. Do not use footnotes, or references.
Keywords
Provide up to 10 keywords.
Introduction
Should be brief and set out the purposes why the case is worthing published, the background, its uniqueness, rarity, and potential contribution to the current knowledge of the relevant disease.
Case Report
In this section, the details of the case should be described, from demographic data to symtoms, signs, diagnosis, treatment, prognosis, follow-up, and the laboratory and imaging findings.
Discussion
Discussion should be directly related to the case being reported, comment the novel findings and their clinical significance, and the clinical experiences obtained from the case. Do not include a general review of the topic only. An in-depth and insightful discussion in regarding to the new findings is encouraged.
Tables
Tables should be prepared without the use of tabs; most table editor programs can be uploaded successfully. Tables can be prepared using Word Table tool.
Figures
Images: Images can be clinical, pathologic (gross or microscopic), or radiographic. They should be of high quality (300 dpi or greater, clear, and in good focus). Color files should be submitted in the CMYK color space. Authors are encouraged to present color figures in a manner that will allow the data to be interpreted by colorblind readers.
Accepted figure file formats: We support the following fileformats: .bmp, .gif, .jpg, .png, .tif, .eps. When sending image files, please do not embed them in Word or PowerPoint. You may submit mixed file formats such as image1.jpg, image2.tif, image3.eps. Preferred figure file formats: .tiff, .psd .eps and .jpg.
File naming convention: Figures should be named consecutively such as "figure 1.tif," "figure 2.jpg," etc., with the file extension appended (.tif, .jpg, .eps, etc). Each figure should be saved as a separate electronic file. Authors must be aware of that color figure printing fee will be incurred. If the manuscript is reviewed with color figures, and the author does not wish to pay for printing color figures, the authors may choose to have their color figures printed in grayscale or black-and-white. Color figures are always free online.
References
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. Other materials, such as manuscripts submitted, unpublished data, personal communications, and the like, should not be cited.
List all authors up to seven, using "et al." when the number is greater than seven.
Zargar SA, Javid G, Khan BA, Yattoo GN, Shah AH, Gulzar GM, Singh J, et al. Endoscopic ligation compared with sclerotherapy for bleeding esophageal varices in children with extrahepatic portal venous obstruction. Hepatology. 2002;36(3):666-672.
Tan PC, Hou MC, Lin HC, Liu TT, Lee FY, Chang FY, Lee SD. A randomized trial of endoscopic treatment of acute gastric variceal hemorrhage: N-butyl-2-cyanoacrylate injection versus band ligation. Hepatology. 2006;43(4):690-697.
Figure and table legends
Please do not embed or flatten the text into the image files. Legends should be in Word file and start from a new page, and numbered corresponding to the appearing order in the text.
Ethics
Published research must comply with the guidelines for human studies.
Review Process
Reviewers provide comments for the editor and for the authors. The Journal expects reviewers to treat manuscripts as confidential communications and not to use the content for their own purposes or make copies of the manuscripts. Reviewers are also expected to declare to the editor any possible conflicts of interest. Details for peer-review process.
Decisions
The single most important criterion for acceptance is the originality of the work. However, a decision to accept a manuscript is not based solely on the scientific validity of its content. Other factors may affect decisions, such factors are, the extent and importance of new information in the paper compared with that in other papers being considered, the Journal's need to represent a wide range of topics, and the overall suitability for Journal of Medical Cases. Decisions on peer-reviewed papers are sent to the authors via email within an average of 3 weeks from the date of submission.
Editing
Accepted papers are subject to copyediting according to the style of Journal of Medical Cases, authors will be sent galleys (HTML and PDF) for proofreading. The authors need to approve all the statements contained in the article including the changes the copyeditor has made before publication.
Disclaimer
The statements and opinions contained in this journal are solely those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the editors or the publisher. The appearance of advertisements in the Journal is not a warranty, endorsement or approval of the products or services advertised or of their safety. The Editor-in-Chief and the Publisher disclaim responsibility for any injury to persons or property resulting from any ideas or products referred to in the articles or advertisements.
Open Access Publishing
This is an open access journal, an open access publishing fee of CAD300 is required for each accepted article.
Corrections and Retractions
If serious error or scientific misconduct occurs, the article will be retracted during any stage of publishing. If the paper with error has been published, and the error is minor without affecting the overall results and conclusions of the study, a correction statement will be published in the next available issue. If errors occur during the editing/copyediting or proofreading because of the publisher, a correction will be published as erratum.
