incorporating
Edinburgh Medical Journal (founded 1805) and The Glasgow Medical Journal (founded 1828)
Guidance
notes for contributors
The Scottish Medical Journal is published four times per year and is devoted to the publication of original investigations in all branches of medicine, review articles, historical subjects of medical interest, and clinical memoranda. Papers are accepted for publication on condition that they are offered to this journal alone and that they become the property of the Scottish Medical Journal.
Manuscripts
should be submitted as:
One copy on paper sent to:
Professor
R Carachi, Editor, Scottish Medical Journal,
Department
of Surgical Paediatrics, Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Yorkhill, Glasgow G3
8SJ
AND
An email attachment
in Word or Text to submit@smj.org.uk.
Papers
should be
written in clear concise English. Manuscripts should be typed, double spaced
including title page, abstract, text, acknowledgements,
references, figures, tables and legends. Number pages consecutively beginning
with the title page. Total word
count should not exceed 2500 words.
The title page should include the name(s) and address(es) of all author(s) and a word count. The corresponding author’s email address should be included. Authors should include any declaration of any financial or commercial interest. Proofs will be sent to the corresponding author’s address unless otherwise stated.
The second page should carry an abstract of not more than 200 words (Background and Aims, Methods and Results and Conclusion). Below the abstract include three to five key words or short phrases for indexing.
The description of methods and results should be in sufficient detail to allow repetition by others. Data should not be repeated unnecessarily in text, tables and figures. The discussion should simply repeat the results, but should present their interpretation against the background of existing knowledge.
References should be numbered consecutively in the order in which they appear in the text. Identify references in text, tables and legends by arabic numerals in superscript e.g. 3 or 2-4. Use the style of references adopted by Index Medicus. The titles of journals should be abbreviated and when there are more than six authors, it should be abbreviated to three authors followed by et al. The title of article, abbreviated name of journal, year, volume, first and last page numbers. ‘Personal communications’ and ‘unpublished observations’ (including information from manuscripts submitted but not yet accepted) should be so identified in parenthesis in the text and not included as references. Reference to books should include surname and initials of author(s), title of chapter, editor(s), title of book, place of publication, name of publisher, year, volume and page numbers.
Tables numbered in roman numerals should be submitted on separate sheets and should be designed to appear in either one column or across
the whole page. Omit internal horizontal and vertical rules and do not submit tables as photographs.
Illustrations both half tone and line, should be referred to as ‘Figures’ and should be numbered in arabic numerals. They should be technically excellent. Each figure and table should be accompanied on a separate sheet by a short legend as a heading with explanatory matter in footnotes. The name(s) of the author(s) should be written on the reverse side of the paper copy.
Case Reports will be summarised in the Journal and full text will be available on the Journal website. The authors should not include names, initials or hospital numbers of patients, which might lead to their recognition. A patient must not be recognisable in any photograph unless written consent has been obtained.
Subscriptions
The Scottish Medical Journal is sponsored by:
The
Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow
The Royal Medico-Chirurgical Society of Glasgow, The Scottish Society for Experimental Medicine,
The Aberdeen Medico-Chirurgical Society, The Scottish Society of Physicians,
The
Scottish Intensive Care Society, The
Scottish Renal Association,
The Scottish Thoracic Society
and
with the generous support of Roche Products Ltd
The annual subscription for other interested parties is £50 (USA $100): Single copies cost £15 (USA $25)
All subscription enquiries should be addressed to:
Mr
K Burnside, 12 Buccleuch Drive, Bearsden, Glasgow G61 3LW