Submissions

Author Guidelines

Author guidelines

REVIEW AND ACCEPTANCE PROCESS

Once received, articles are registered with a reference number after which the following steps are taken:

• The article is received by the Editor who performs the initial review. Term 15 days.
• Review by external academic peers: it is sent to two specialists in the area after a review of the conflict of interest. The revision is made according to the indications of the Format for evaluation of articles of publication delivered to the pair. Term: three months. At least 50% of the evaluators will have external affiliation to the Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana (publishing entity). In the evaluation process: The authors of the manuscript do not knows the identity of the peers, but the peers do know the identity of the authors.
• Acceptance or rejection of the articles: the Editor and the Editorial Committee decide the publication according to the peer evaluation. The three possible options are: acceptance without changes, acceptance with modifications according to the indications of the peers and rejection. The Editor and the Committee define, in case of controversy between peer evaluations, whether they accept the manuscript without the need for modifications, if the article is sent to the authors with instructions on which guideline to follow for the submission of a revised version of the manuscript, or if they send the article to a third pair that allows to take the decision (to accept, accept with modifications or reject). In any case, the authors will always receive a written notification of the editorial decision.
• When an article requires corrections for publication, such corrections must be made between 48 hours and one month after receiving the notification. If the article is not corrected within this time frame, it will be considered withdrawn.
• Review by the Editorial Committee of the accepted articles: to evaluate that they complies with the requirements defined according to the type of article and the methodology used. The Committee reserves the rights to edit the style of the articles according to the criteria of the journal, always respecting the meaning of the article defined by the authors. Term: 20 business days. The average time elapsed since the manuscript was sent for the first time by the authors and the final publication is six months.
• The MEDICINA U.P.B. journal assumes no responsibility for the ideas put forward by the authors.
• Total or partial reproduction of articles that fail to respect copyright laws is prohibited. To make a copyright claim, please write to joseg.franco@upb. edu.co
• Following the editorial board’s final review of the journal, the process at U.P.B. Editorial begins. This process includes proofreading, layout, and printing.

PERMISSION TO USE PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED MATERIAL

The author will be responsible for obtaining the permission to use text, figures, or tables from other publications. In order for a previously published article to be republished in the MEDICINA U.P.B. journal, a written approval must be obtained from the original journal and attached to the article sent to the MEDICINA U.P.B. journal.

DETAILED EXPLANATION OF ARTICLE CONTENTS

Please adhere to the following sequence when preparing and submitting your article to MEDICINA U.P.B.:

• Identify the type of article: editorial,  research article (original), case report, review article, letter to the editor.
• Title in Spanish must be in Arial font, size 14, justified, and in sentence form (e.g., Características clínicas y epidemiológicas de una población de pacientes con enfermedad intestinal en la ciudad de Medellín).
• The title in English must be in Arial font, size 12, justified, and in sentence form (e.g., Clinical and epidemiological characteristics of a population of patients with bowel disease in the city of Medellin).
• The authors’ names, abstract in English and Spanish, body, and references must be in Arial font, size 12, single spaced. Keep in mind that the article must be written in the third person (e.g., The authors recommend...)
• Authors’ names: use full names, including first and last name(s). Following the author’s name, include a footnote indicating his/her profession, institutional affiliation, city, and country (e.g., Juan Ignacio Marin Zuluaga¹. ¹Internal Medicine Doctor. School of Medicine at the Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana. Medellín, Colombia).
• The abstract in Spanish must not exceed 250 words, and each item should be separated by a single space. It should adhere to the following structure (please do not include references or abbreviations): Abstract – Objective – Methods – Results –Conclusion
• It should have a maximum of five keywords, all in lowercase (except for proper names), separated by semicolons, and must follow the health sciences descriptors found on this page: http://decs.bvs.br/E/homepagee.htm. This webpage contains the descriptors in Spanish, English, and Portuguese. Hence, the keywords in English and Spanish may be taken directly from this page.
• The abstract in English must not exceed 250 words and should adhere to the following structure, (please do not include references or abbreviations): Abstract – Objective – Methods – Results –Conclusion
• It should have a maximum of five English keywords, all in lowercase, separated by semicolons, and must follow the health sciences descriptors found on this page: www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/MBrowser.html.
• Include only one e-mail address indicating the author’s full name. Make sure not to include a hyperlink (e.g., send to: Juan Ignacio Marin Zuluaga e-mail: marinji@hotmail.com).
• Insert a page break and include the body of the article (original) as follows: INTRODUCTION – METHODS – RESULTS – DISCUSSION. Items must be bold and capitalized.
• Case report items should be presented as follows: INTRODUCTION – CASE REPORT – DISCUSSION – CONCLUSION. Items must be bold and capitalized..
• General recommendations for all articles: I. Decimals should be separated by periods rather than commas. II. The names of all microorganisms should be italicized. The first letter of the name should be in uppercase and the first letter of the second name in lowercase. Also, the full name of the microorganism should appear the first time it is mentioned (e.g., “Treponema pallidum”). Every time it appears after that, short form should be used (e.g., “T. pallidum”). III. All names of medicines or laboratory kits should appear using the generic name and in lowercase. IV. Numbers like thousands or millions should be separated by spaces rather than periods or commas (e.g., 2 900 000). V. When numbers ten or smaller are mentioned, they should be spelled out (e.g., six, nine). Numbers greater than ten should be expressed in figures (e.g., 45). This rule does not apply for percentages. VI. When a molecular biology test or statistical package is used (e.g., a dextrometer), cite manufacturer’s name and place of manufacture (city and country). For example: “A 2030 Dextrometer was used (Phoenix Inc., Los Angeles, USA)” or “SPSS® version 15.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, Illinois, USA)”. VII. All abbreviations should be spelled out in full the first time they appear in the text (e.g., Hypertension (HTN)). Unit abbreviations should follow the International System of Units, which can be found at: http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/index.html. VIII. When an author is cited in the body of the article, include the first author’s name, then write “et al.” in italics (e.g., According to Gonzalez et al., in his article...). IX. References cited within the article must appear in sequential order as superscript before punctuation. If there are two references, they should be separated by commas; if there are three or more consecutive references, they should appear as follows: 1-4 (e.g., Numerous studies suggest a bimodal distribution, with a second peak between ages 50 and 80 ^1,2. While women are more likely to develop intestinal disease, men are more prone to develop coronary disease ^3-6). X. All original articles must mention that the study was approved by the ethics committee of the institutions where the patients were recruited and by the corresponding educational institutions. XI. At the end of case reports, please include a statement such as: “The author obtained patients’ informed consent for this article’s publication. This informed consent form is available for review by the editorial board of the MEDICINA U.P.B. journal”. XII. For case reports, the discussion must include a review about the topic. XIII. Review articles (also known as “Topic reviews”) resulting from an investigation should include the title of the project from which the topic review derived in the article. XIV. Review articles are characterized by having a thorough bibliographic review and should cite at least 50 references in the body of the article.
• State whether the authors have conflicts of interest. This applies for all articles sent to the MEDICINA U.P.B. journal. A conflict of interest refers to any financing obtained from the pharmaceutical industry or from companies that could be affected or benefited from the results of the study; or when the authors act as conference speakers, counselors, or advisors for pharmaceutical companies or as laboratory representatives. If there is no conflict of interest, please include the following statement: STATEMENT OF CONFLICT OF INTREST: The authors state that there are no conflicts of interest.
• The authors must include the sources of funding that were approved for the study, and the contract number or the project-code of the respective institution (e.g., RESEARCH FUNDING: Administrative Department of Science, Technology, and Innovation, Colciencias contract number 111499988).
• If they wish, the authors may include acknowledgements (e.g., AKNOWLEDGEMENTS: To nurse (name) for his/her help with patient recruitment).
• The title for REFERENCES must be bold and capitalized. Please do not use the terms “Bibliography” or “Bibliographic references”. When an article has seven or more authors, please include the first six authors followed by et al.

REFERENCES

• References should be numbered consecutively, in order of appearance in the text, tables, and legends, and should be identified by superscript Arabic numerals. References cited only in tables and illustrations will be numbered following the sequence established by the table or figure’s first appearance in the text.
• The examples shown below will be used for the style, based on the NLM (National Library of Medicine). Please abbreviate journal titles based on the style of the “List of Journals Indexed in Index Medicus” (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/tsd/serials/lji.html).
• Avoid citing abstracts. References of accepted originals which have not yet been published will be identified by expressions such as “in press” or “forthcoming”.  Authors must obtain a written authorization and have proof that their publication has been accepted. The information about manuscripts submitted to a journal which have not yet been accepted, should be cited in the text as “unpublished observations”, and requires previous written authorization from the source.
• Do not cite “personal communications” except when it facilitates essential information not available in accessible sources. In such cases, the name of the person and date of the communication should be included in parentheses within the text. In scientific articles, authors citing  personal communications should obtain written authorization.
• Authors should verify references by checking them against the original documents. References are based on the ICMJE Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals. The style of these is largely based on the ANSI (American National Standards Institute), adopted by the NLM for its databases. Notes have been added where the Vancouver style differs from the style used by the NLM.

Examples:

• Standard journal article: Author(s). Title of the article. International abbreviation of the magazine, year; volume (number): first and last page of the article. Diez JL, Cienfuegos M, Suarez E. Ruidos adventicios respiratorios: factores de confusión. Med Clin. 1997; 109(16): 632-634.
• More than six authors: The first six authors are mentioned followed by et al. Martin C, Cordoba R, Jane C, Nebot M, Galan S, Aliaga M, et al. Med Clin 1997; 109 (19): 744-748.
• Organization as author: Working group of the SEPAR. Regulations on the management of threatening hemoptysis. Arch Bronconeumol 1997; 33: 31-40.
• No author given: Cancer in South Africa (editorial). S Afr Med J 1994; 84:15.
• Volume with supplement: Bonfill X. Medicine based     on evidence. The Cochrane Collaboration. Arch Bronconeumol 1997, 33 Suppl 1: 117.
• Issue with supplement: Leyha SS. The role of Interferon Alfa in the treatment of metastatic melanoma. Semin Oncol 1997; 24 (1 Suppl 4): 524-531.
• Issue with no volume: Turan I, Wredmark T, Fellander-Tsai L. Arthroscopic ankle arthrodesis in rheumatoid arthritis. Clin Orthop 1995 ;(320):110-4.
• No volume or issue: Browel DA, Lennard TW. Immunologic status of the cancer patient and the effects of blood transfusion on antitumor responses. Curr Opin Gen Surg 1993:325-33.

• Books and other monographs:

Individual authors: Author(s). Title of the book. Edition. Place of publication: Editorial; year. Note: It is not necessary to record the first edition. The edition is always written in Arabic numerals and is abbreviated (e.g., 2^nd ed.) If the work is made up of multiple volumes, the respective volume should be cited after the book’s title: Vol. 3. Jiménez C, Riaño D, Moreno E, Jabbour N. Advances in abdominal organ transplantion. Madrid: Cuadecon;1997

Editor(s) or compiler(s). Gallo FJ, León FJ, Martínez-Cañavate J, Tonío Duñantez J. Editors. Manual for Family and Community Medicine Residents 2^nd ed. Madrid: SEMFYC; 1997.

Organization as author and editor: Ministry of Health and Consumption. Health Plan 1995. Madrid: Ministry of Health and Consumption; 1995

Chapter in a book: Chapter author(s). Title of the chapter. In: Book director/compiler. Book title. Edition. Place of publication. Editorial; year. First and last page of the chapter.

Buti M. Acute viral hepatitis. In: Rodes J, Guardia J dir. Internal medicine. Barcelona: Masson; 1997. pg. 1520-1535.

• Conference proceedings: Kimura J, Shibasaki H, editors. Recent advance in clinical neurophysiology. Proceedings of the 10^th International Congress of EMG and clinical neurophysiology; 1995 Oct 15-19; Kyoto, Japan. Amsterdam: Elsevier; 1996
• Conference paper: Bengtsson S, Solheim BG. Enforcement of data protection, privacy and security in medical informatics. In: Lun KC, Degoulet P, editors. MEDINFO 92. Proceedings of the 7^th World Congress on Medical Informatics; 1992 Sep 6-10; Geneva, Switzerland. Amsterdam: North Holland; 1992. P. 1561-5.
• Scientific or technical report: Author(s). Title of the report. Place of publication. Editing organism/agency; year. Report number or serial ID. World Health Organization. Cardiovascular disease risk factors: New areas for research. Report of a WHO scientific group. Geneva: WHO; 1994. Technical Report Series: 841.
• Dissertation: Author. Thesis title. [Doctoral Thesis]. Place of edition: Editorial; year. Muñiz J. Transversal study on the cardiovascular risk factors in children in the rural area of Galicia. [Doctoral thesis] Santiago: services of publication and scientific exchange, Universidad de Santiago; 1996.
• Legal material: Title of the law. Name of the official gazette, (date, year of publication). Act approved. Act 31 of 8^th November 1995 on Prevention of Occupational Risks (Official State Gazette, Number 269,of 10-11-95)
• In press or Forthcoming: Leshner Al. Molecular mechanisms of cocaine addiction. N Engl J Med. In press 1997.
• Journal article on the internet: Author. Title. Abbreviated title of the journal. [Type of support] year [date of access]; volume (number): pages or extension indicator. Available from: Morse SS. Factors in the emergence of infectious diseases. Emerg Infect Dis [serial online] 1995 [cited 1996 Jun 5]; 1(1): [24 screens]. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/htm
• Monograph on the internet: Author, director, or editor. Title. [Type of support]. Edition. Version. Place of publication: Editorial; year. Duane’s ophthalmology on CD-ROM, User Guide. [Monograph on CD-ROM]. Tasman W, Jaeger E editors 2^nd edition. Version 2.0. Hagerstown: Lippincott-Raven; 1997.
• Computer file: Author. Title. [Type of support]. Version. Place: Editorial; year. Hemodynamics III: the ups and downs of hemodynamics [computer program]. Version 2.2 Orlando (FL): Computerized Educational Systems; 1993.

TABLES

Include them as you mention them in the article. Keep in mind that tables must be clear, self-explanatory, and should not duplicate information already in the written text.

•  Number the tables consecutively (using Arabic numerals), according to their first appearance in the text, and assign each table a clear title.
• The title of the table should be included at the top, beginning at the left-hand margin.
• Do not present tables in photograph format.
• Each column will have a brief heading.
• Abbreviations and precise explanations should be included in footnotes under the table, rather than above the table. These notes should explain the abbreviations used in each table. Please use the following symbols in the sequence indicated below to refer readers to footnotes: *, †, ‡, ¶,**, † †, ‡ ‡, etc.
• Identify the statistical measures used.
• Make sure each table is cited in the text.
• Including an excessive amount of tables with respect to the length of the text can make page design more difficult.
• If the table contains data from another source (published or not), the authorization to reproduce it must be mentioned on the table.

FIGURES

Include them as you mention them in the article. Photographs should be sent as a jpg. file. The resolution of the figure must be: 300 dpi for unlabeled black and white or color figures, and 600 dpi for labeled color figures. Graphs should be sent in Excel format.

•  The term figure includes: graphs, photographs, and maps.
• The name of the figures should be included at the bottom, beginning at the left-hand margin.
• Number the figures consecutively (using Arabic numerals), according to their first appearance in the text, and assign each figure a clear title.
• Titles and detailed explanations should be included in figure legends rather than in the illustrations.
• Letters, numbers, and symbols must be clear and uniform in all figures.
• Measurements of length, height, weight, and volume must be expressed in metric units (meter, kilogram, liter) or their decimal multiples, in lowercase and without using abbreviations.
• Temperatures should be expressed in degrees Celsius and blood pressure in millimeters of mercury.
• When using photographs of people, they should not be identifiable; otherwise, written permission must be attached.