INSTRUCTIONS TO AUTHORS

• Scope and policy
• Article’s selection process
• Form and preparation of manuscripts
• Sending of manuscripts

The Revista Ciencias de la Salud publishes original articles, revisions, clinical cases, and historical notes, in Spanish or English, that contribute to the advances of knowledge in any area of human and/or animal health, like medicine, biological sciences, and clinical psychology, as well as of all disciplines related to the fields of physical rehabilitation (phonoaudiology, physiotherapy, occupational therapy and ergonomics).

For a peer evaluation, authors should send the document in original and two copies to the editor; this should also include a statement in which it is declared that the document, the way it is presented, has been read and approved by all its authors (including the list of authors), that the work has not been published partially nor complete elsewhere, and that has not been simultaneously delivered to another editor. The statement should also contain a declaration about the possible conflicts of interest (financial or similar).

The publishing committee evaluates the pertinence of the submitted documents and verifies if all requirements asked for in the section How to Publish – Instructions for Authors, are fulfilled. If this first examination has a positive result, the next stage consists in starting the process of peer review in which it is evaluated by other specialists in the topic. This is a double-blind peer review process and also an anonymous procedure; the only one who knows the identities of the author and of the examiner is the journal's editor, who is in charge of sending the correspondence.

1. The Revista Ciencias de la Salud , being the authorized organ of the Faculties of Medicine and of Rehabilitation and Human Development of the Universidad Colegio Mayor de Nuestra Señora del Rosario, stays within the agreement on Uniform Requirements for preparing the manuscripts submitted to the biomedical journals, created by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (The New England Journal of Medicine 1997, 336: 309-15), that can be consulted at: http://www.msc.es/salud/epidemiologia/resp/199702/requisitos.htm and that publishes articles on health sciences, with previous approval of the Publishing Committee. The Committee can make some form modifications in order to present the article in a convenient way.

All manuscripts sent to the journal are submitted to a peer review process in which they are evaluated by other specialists in the corresponding field. This process is accomplished in an anonymous way and the only person who knows the identities of the author and of the examiner is the journal editor, who is in charge of sending the correspondence.

2. The works should have not being published, that is, neither the full article, nor parts of it, or of its essence; tables or illustrations that have been published or that are in process of being published elsewhere can be used. Ulterior publishing or its full or partial reproduction should be approved by the editor and credits and references should be given to the original publication on the journal. If the article has been published in another country, in the same country or in another language, it can be accepted for publication, provided that the authors have the approval of the editors of both journals.

3. Works should be sent to the Revista Ciencias de la Salud , Calle 63D No. 24-31, Bogotá, Colombia; tels.: (571) 3474570, Ext. 213 or 214, or should be delivered personally to the editor. Works should be submitted in original and two copies, written in Microsoft Word®, double space, on bond paper, letter, printing only on one side of the paper, with upper and left-hand margins of 3 cm, and in diskette format 3. As an attachment, a statement of the main author should be enclosed in which it is clearly declared that the paper has been read and approved by all authors and in which it should be informed if the paper has been partially or fully submitted to study with another journal. The author should keep a copy of the sent documents.

4. When the paper reports researches done with human subjects, it is required to have an approval of the Ethics Committee of the institution where the study has been carried out, the study should be in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration of 1964 and its subsequent emendations (the most recent of these being the one corresponding to the 52 nd General Assembly of Edinburgh, Scotland, in October 2000; http://www.wma.net/s/policy/17-c_s.html). The names of the patients, their initials, the numbers of the clinical records or, in general, that information that could make it possible, in some circumstances, that their identity is disclosed, should not be used.

5. In the presentation of the manuscript, every component should be started on a new page, according to the following sequence: title page, abstract and key words in Spanish and English, text (usually not longer than ten pages), acknowledgements, bibliography, tables, illustrations and complete charts (in a separated page each, with their corresponding titles and footnotes). Pages should be consecutively numbered starting with the title page, numbers in the upper right-hand corner.

6. Title Page: This page contents: (a) the article's title (in Spanish and English); (b) the first and last names of each author, together with their main academic degrees and their institutional affiliation; (c) name of the department and the institution to which the study should be conferred to, and (d) name and address of the author in charge of the correspondence related to the manuscript.

In this title page it is necessary to include a paragraph with the disclaimer and the information about financing sources, if there has been any (for instance, contributions of the national institute for the sciences, Colciencias, or the Banco de la República , or of the pharmaceutical industry, suppliers of equipment, drugs or instruments, etc.)

The manuscript should be as succinct as possible, abbreviations should not be used. If the topic has been already presented in any meeting, an indication of its nature, as well as the city and the date of the presentation should be given.

Authorship: According to the Uniform Requirements, in order to be considered the author of a work, it is necessary that he/she has made essential contributions to: (a) the conception and design of the project, to the gathering of information or analysis and interpretation of the data; (b) planning of the article or the review of the intellectually significant contents; and (c) the final approval of the version to be published. Authors have to fulfill the conditions (a), (b) and (c) simultaneously. The “courtesy authorship” is unacceptable. Contributing with samples or recruiting patients, for example, even though being essential for research, do not constitute per se an authorship. A mention in the acknowledgements is enough for this kind of contribution.

7. Abstract and Key Words: The abstract should not be over 150 words long, or 250 words if it is structured. The abstract should indicate the objectives of the work, the basic procedure (specific data and the statistic significance), the main results and main conclusions. It has to be written in a concrete and impersonal style. The key words are added beneath the abstract, they are three to ten words or short phrases that should be contained in the list of the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) of the Medicus Index. If recently developed terms are not included in the MeSH, common expressions can be used.

8. Abstract in English and Key Words: Here are the corresponding summary and key words in English language.

9. Text: Its development and scheme depend on the type of work and on the section to which they are addressed to.

Original Article : This is a work of observation and clinical or experimental research that contains following sections: (a) Introduction: Here the objectives of the work are specified and the reasons for the observation or the study are summarized; (b) Subjects and Methods: In this section it is indispensable to make mention of the ethic considerations according to the type of research (not only for the experimental studies) and to specify the approval by the ethic committee of the corresponding institution, if this procedure has taken place. It is also important to add in this section the considerations about animal research (if there is a committee for animal research or not, the actions and precautions considered in the procedures, etc.); (c) Findings: These are presented in a logic sequence in the text, no repetitions of the findings within the text of the data presented in the tables, charts and/or illustrations; and should be made; and (d) Discussion: Here the new and important aspects of the study are underlined, the conclusions derived from them and the implications of the findings. These observations should be related to other relevant studies.

Presentation of the Case : This is the review and presentation of clinical cases of medical interest that are of not frequent appearance. It should contain an introduction, the case report and a discussion. It is necessary to write a paragraph with the ethical considerations and with the particular cautions observed for the protection of the patient's confidentiality.

Review of the Theme : It involves the study and the critical analysis of the recent as well as the medical literature that is relevant to a particular topic, together with the author's points of view around this theme.

Articles for a review will only be accepted under following conditions :

- When articles have expressly been submitted by the editor or a researcher with acknowledged proficiency on a specific theme.

- When articles have been sent by an author with a large research trajectory in the proposed theme.

- When previously the author or authors have sent a letter to the editor proposing the theme for a review, stating its relevance and implications, in a summary not over 500 words long. In this case, the publishing committee will decide on the convenience of accepting the work.

Fostering Knowledge Dissemination : Works that make a contribution to the integral education of the physician and/or the rehabilitation specialist.

History : Historical aspects of any area of medicine or rehabilitation.

Letters to the Editor : Brief commentaries that should not be over 400 words long, and five references to some work published in the journal, or narratives of general interest of the health field.

Idioms, medical jargon, regionalisms or any other idiomatic variations that are against the proper use of language should not be used. The formulas and mathematical expressions should be in accordance with the International System of Units. The meaning of all abbreviations should be presented at the beginning, before using them in the text.

10. Acknowledgements: These include contributions that deserve an acknowledgement but do not justify authorship, like the general support given by the director of a particular department. Other examples are scientific advisors, reviewers, data collectors, typists, etc.

11. References: The Revista de Ciencias de Salud suggests to the authors to cite at least two Colombian or Latin American references. These should be identified with Arabic numerals in parentheses, and should be numbered according to the order of occurrence in the text. The scheme and punctuation, as well as the abbreviations of the titles of the journals should be in accordance with the format of the Index Medicus. Summaries and abstracts will not be used as a reference. Following examples show the correct way to write references:

•  Articles in Journals:

Vega KJ, Pina I, Krevsky B. Heart transplantation is associated with an increased risk for pancreatobiliary disease. Ann Intern Med 1996; 124(11):980-3.

Parkin DM, Clayton D, Black RJ, Masuyer E, Friedl HP, Ivanov E, et al. Childhood leukaemia in Europe after Chernobyl : 5 year follow-up. Br J Cancer 1996; 73:1006-12.

•  Books and Monographs:

Ringsven MK, Bond D. Gerontology and leadership skills for nurses. 2nd ed. Albany (NY): Delmar Publishers; 1996.

Norman IJ, Redfern SJ, editors. Mental health care for elderly people. New York : Churchill Livingstone; 1996.

Phillips SJ, Whisnant JP. Hypertension and stroke. In: Laragh JH, Brenner BM, editors. Hypertension: pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management. 2nd ed. New York : Raven Press; 1995. p. 465-78.

•  Conference Papers:

Kimura J, Shibasaki H, editors. Recent advances in clinical neurophysiology. Proceedings of the 10th International Congress of EMG and Clinical Neurophysiology; 1995 Oct 15-19; Kyoto , Japan . Amsterdam : Elsevier; 1996.

•  Electronic Material

Morse SS. Factors in the emergence of infectious diseases. Emerg Infect Dis [serial online] 1995 Jan-Mar [cited 1996 Jun 5]; 1(1): [24 screens]. Available from: URL: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/eid.htm

12. Tables: Tables and charts are called tables, and should be numbered with Arabic numbers, according to the order of occurrence. The corresponding title should be in the upper part of the page, and the notes in the lower part (no explanations should be added in the heading but in the notes in the lower part of the paper). The symbols of the units should appear in the heading of the columns.

Pictures, graphics, illustrations and other schemes are called figures, they should be numbered in the order of occurrence and should be written, together with their legends, in separated papers. Each illustration should have a label in the back side that indicates its number, the author's name, and which side is the top of the figure. At the end of the legend of the photomicrographs, the used color technique and zoom should be indicated. Black and white photographs should be delivered in paper and should have enough sharpness and contrast to make a good reproduction. Color photographs should be delivered in properly identified and oriented transparencies.

In the case of graphics or drawings, they have to be presented in white fine cardboard or in vegetable-fiber paper with India ink, and should be identified with its sequence order number in the lower part.

If a figure or a table has been previously published, the written permission of the corresponding editor is required, as well as the complete acknowledgement of the original publication. If photographs of persons are included, a written permission should be added to use them.

The Publishing Committee reserves the right to limit the number of figures and tables.

13. Abbreviations: The use of abbreviations is not recommended, except for the units of measurement. If abbreviations or acronyms are used, the first time they appear in the text should be preceded by the full words that give origin to the abbreviation.

14. Measurements: All measurements should be expressed in the units of the International System of Units and, in parenthesis, the conventional units of measurement. For the units of length, height, weight, and volume the metric system should be used (meters, kilograms, or liters) or the corresponding multiples of ten. Temperature measurement unit is the Celsius grade. The arterial pressure is measured in millimeters of mercury. All values of hematology or chemical tests should be given in the metric system within the terms of the International System of Units (SI). Tables and illustrations should also be expressed in the units of the International System of Units and the corresponding legends or notes of the tables should indicate the conversion factors to the conventional units.

15. Legal Terms: The responsibility of the concepts expressed in the article resides fully on the author and the Revista de Ciencias de la Salud does not assume any responsibility for them. Authors waive the control and the copyrights of their manuscripts and cede them to the Revista de Ciencias de la Salud , including also publishing in Internet and in magnetic media. All texts included in the Revista de Ciencias de la Salud are protected by the copyrights. In accordance with law, reproduction in any other means, mechanical or electronic, is forbidden if it is done without the written permission of the author and the publishers. The author has the right to have an original copy of the journal.

Summary of the Technical Requirements to Submit Manuscripts

a. The manuscript should be written on double-spaced lines.

b. Each section should begin in a new page.

c . The manuscript should follow this sequence: title page, abstract and key words, texts, acknowledgements, references, tables, legends.

d . Original and two copies should be enclosed.

e. A statement expressing that the study has not been partially or fully published elsewhere should be included.

f. A declaration about possible conflicts of interests (financial or others) should be enclosed.

g. A statement expressing that the work, the way it is presented (including the full authors list) has been read and approved by all the authors of the manuscript.

h. Copies of the permissions (if required) for reproducing the material published previously by others should be enclosed, as well as permissions of the patients to publish their photographs, and permissions to mention persons that have made contributions.