ISSN 2341-4545
[Printed version]

INSTRUCTIONS TO AUTHORS

• Scope and policy
• Form and preparation of manuscripts

PUBLICATION TYPES

GE - Portuguese Journal of Gastroenterology accepts the following publication types:

a) Original articles reporting clinical or basic research;

b) Review articles (including systematic reviews and meta-analyses) of clinical or basic-science topics;

c) Clinical case studies;

d) Editorials, which are written at the invitation of the Editor and consist of commentary on articles published in the journal or on subjects of particular relevance;

e) Letters to the Editor, which consist of concise opinions on recently published articles;

f) Images in gastroenterology and hepatology;

g) Endoscopic snapshots; and

h) Guidelines.

Please ensure that you select the appropriate article type from the list of options when making your submission.

Articles must be written in English. Articles written in Portuguese and in English may also be submitted for review. Submitted manuscripts are subject to peer review to ensure that the journal only contains papers of the highest standard.

BEFORE YOU BEGIN

Ethics in publishing

For information on Ethics in publishing and Ethical guidelines for journal publication see http://www.elsevier.com/publishingethics and http://www.elsevier.com/journal-authors/ethics.

Ethical responsibilities

All authors must accept the responsibilities defined by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (see www.icmje.org).

Manuscripts submitted for publication in GE - Portuguese Journal of Gastroenterology must comply with international recommendations for clinical research (Declaration of Helsinki of the World Medical Association, recently revised) and the use of laboratory animals (American Physiological Society). Randomised trials should follow the CONSORT standards.

The journal adheres to the guidelines on adequate data reporting that were established by The Enhancing the Quality and Transparency Of health Research (EQUATOR) network (http://www.equator-network.org).

Registration of randomized clinical trials.

Any manuscript submitted to the Journal that concerns the design or results of a randomized clinical trial must include the registration site (such as www.clinicaltrials.gov) and the registration number in the Methods section.

Human research.

Authors should identify that informed consent was obtained when applicable. The manuscript should also include the notation that the study was approved by the institutional committee on human research. Photographs of identifiable persons must be accompanied by signed releases showing informed consent. These should be included at the time of manuscript submission.

Authorisations, Privacy and Informed Consent

Authors must omit from their text, tables, figures, and supplemental data any identifying details regarding patients and study participants, including names, initials, date of birth, Social Security numbers, dates, or medical record numbers. If there is a possibility that a patient may be identified in text, tables, figures, or video, authors must obtain written informed permission from the patient, guardian, or next of kin.

Copies of the permission must be provided to GE prior to publication.

The publication of photographs or patient data must not allow their identification. For all articles involving patients, the authors must submit written permission from the patient(s) authorising the publication, reproduction, and dissemination of the data in print and in GE - Portuguese Journal of Gastroenterology follows a rigorous single-blind peer review. Similarly, the authors are responsible for obtaining the relevant authorisations to republish any previously pub­lished material (text, tables, or figures) in GE - Portuguese Journal of Gastroenterology follows a rigorous single-blind peer review. Such authorisations must be requested from the author and editor of the previous publication.

Acknowledge the source in the legend of the figure/table with a numbered reference.

Provide the full citation in the reference list.

Prior to the submission of the manuscript, authors must ensure all necessary consents to the publication of the material submitted.

Conflict of interest

All authors must disclose any financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that could inappropriately influence (bias) their work. Examples of potential conflicts of interest include employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications/registrations, and grants or other funding. See also http://www.elsevier.com/conflictsofinterest. Further information and an example of a Conflict of Interest form can be found at: http://help.elsevier.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/286/p/7923.

Submission declaration and verification

Submission of an article implies that the work described has not been published previously (except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture or academic thesis or as an electronic preprint, see http://www.elsevier.com/ postingpolicy), that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, that its publication is approved by all authors and tacitly or explicitly by the responsible authorities where the work was carried out, and that, if accepted, it will not be published elsewhere in the same form, in English or in any other language, including electronically without the written consent of the copyright-holder. To verify originality, your article may be checked by the originality detection service CrossCheck http://www.elsevier.com/editors/plagdetect.

Authorship

GE - Portuguese Journal of Gastroenterology follows the “IC­MJE Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals” and defines “author” as a person who has participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for all portions of the content. Specifically, an author is a person who meets the following four criteria:

1. Has made substantial contributions to conception and design, or acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data;

2. Has drafted the submitted article or revised it critically for important intellectual content;

3. Has provided final approval of the version to be published;

4. Has agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Any person who does not meet all four of the listed criteria does not qualify as an author and should not be designated as an author. The final author lineup and order should be determined by all authors before submission and may not be changed without a written explanation and signed permission of all authors post-submission.

Each manuscript must have a “Corresponding Author”. The corresponding author must assume full responsibility for the integrity of the submission as a whole, from inception to published article. GE reserves the right to clarify each author’s role, based upon information collected from authors in connection with their submission.

The names of individuals who contribute to a manuscript but do not qualify for authorship should be listed (with their written permission) in an Acknowledgments section with a description of their individual contributions. This requirement covers any and all editorial or authorship contributions made on behalf of outside organizations, persons, funding bodies, or persons hired by funding bodies. When a medical writer or editing service was used, their activities and the funding source for these services should be noted.

Changes to authorship

This policy concerns the addition, deletion, or rearrangement of author names in the authorship of accepted manuscripts: Before the accepted manuscript is published in an online issue: Requests to add or remove an author, or to rearrange the author names, must be sent to the Journal Manager from the corresponding author of the accepted manuscript and must include: (a) the reason the name should be added or removed, or the author names rearranged and (b) written confirmation (e-mail, fax, letter) from all authors that they agree with the addition, removal or rearrangement. In the case of addition or removal of authors, this includes confirmation from the author being added or removed. Requests that are not sent by the corresponding author will be forwarded by the Journal Manager to the corresponding author, who must follow the procedure as described above. Note that: (1) Journal Managers will inform the Journal Editors of any such requests and (2) publication of the accepted manuscript in an online issue is suspended until authorship has been agreed. After the accepted manuscript is published in an online issue: Any requests to add, delete, or rearrange author names in an article published in an online issue will follow the same policies as noted above and result in a corrigendum.

Copyright

Upon submission of an article, authors will be asked to complete a ‘Journal Publishing Agreement’ (for more information on this and copyright, see http://www.elsevier.com/copyright).

Retained author rights

As an author you (or your employer or institution) retain certain rights. For more information on author rights for:

Subscription articles please see http://www.elsevier.com/journal-authors/author-rights-and-responsibilities. Open access articles please see http://www.elsevier.com/OAauthoragreement.

Role of the funding source

You are requested to identify who provided financial support for the conduct of the research and/or preparation of the article and to briefly describe the role of the sponsor(s), if any, in study design; in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; and in the decision to submit the article for publication. If the funding source(s) had no such involvement then this should be stated.

Funding body agreements and policies

Elsevier has established agreements and developed policies to allow authors whose articles appear in journals published by Elsevier, to comply with potential manuscript archiving requirements as specified as conditions of their grant awards. To learn more about existing agreements and policies please visit http://www.elsevier.com/fundingbodies.

Language (usage and editing services)

Please write your text in good English (American or British usage is accepted, but not a mixture of these). Authors who feel their English language manuscript may require editing to eliminate possible grammatical or spelling errors and to conform to correct scientific English may wish to use the English Language Editing service available from Elsevier’s WebShop (http://webshop.elsevier.com/languageediting/) or visit our customer support site (http://support.elsevier.com) for more information.

Submission

Submission to this journal proceeds totally online. Use the following guidelines to prepare your article. Via the online submission site of this journal (http://ees.elsevier.com/ge) you will be guided stepwise through the creation and uploading of the various files. The system automatically converts source files to a single Adobe Acrobat PDF version of the article, which is used in the peer-review process. Please note that even though manuscript source files are converted to PDF at submission for the review process, these source files are needed for further processing after acceptance. All correspondence, including notification of the Editor’s decision and requests for revision, takes place by e-mail and via the author’s homepage, removing the need for a hard-copy paper trail. If you are unable to provide an electronic version, please contact the editorial office prior to submission.

Additional Information

Tables and figures may be presented with captions within the main body of the manuscript; if so, figures should additionally be uploaded as high resolution files.

Peer Review

GE - Portuguese Journal of Gastroenterology follows a rigorous single-blind peer review and it will send manuscripts to outside reviewers selected from an extensive database.

The acceptance criteria for all papers are the quality and originality of the research and its significance to our readership. Except where otherwise stated, manuscripts are single-blind peer review by at least two anonymous reviewers and the Editor. Final acceptance or rejection rests with the Editor-in-Chief, who reserves the right to refuse any material for publication.

Manuscripts should be written so that they are intelligible to the professional reader who is not a specialist in the particular filed. They should be written in a clear, concise, direct style. Where contributions are judged as acceptable for publication on the basis of content, the Editor and the Publisher reserve the right to modify typescripts to eliminate ambiguity and repetition and improve communication between author and reader. If extensive alterations are required, the manuscript will be returned to the author for revision.

All manuscripts are reviewed by the chief editor that can refuse at this stage, without recourse to the opinion of the reviewers.

In the evaluation, the articles can be:

a) Accepted without changes

b) Accepted after modifications suggested by scientific advisors

c) Rejected

Upon receipt of the manuscript, the editor-in-chief sends it to at least two reviewers if the manuscript is in accordance with the instructions to authors and meets the editorial policy.

Within four weeks, the reviewer should respond to the chief editor indicating their comments on the manuscript subject to revision, and suggestion regarding acceptance, revision or rejection of the work. Within 10 days the Editorial Board will make a decision which may be: accept the manuscript without modifications; sending reviewers’ comments to authors proceed in accordance with the stated; rejection.

When changes are proposed Authors have 15 days (which period may be extended at the request of the authors) to submit a new revised version of the manuscript, incorporating the comments of the reviewers and of the editorial board.

Answering all the questions and a revised version of the article, with the amendments inserted highlighted with a different color.

The editor- in- Chief has 10 days to make the decision on the new version: reject or accept the new version, or refer it to a new appreciation for one or more reviewers.

In case of acceptance, in any of the previous phases, the same will be communicated to the Corresponding Author.

In the authors proof revision phase will not be accepted substantive changes to manuscript. The inclusion of these changes can motivate the rejection of the manuscript by decision of the Editor-in-Chief.

In all cases the opinions of the reviewers will be fully communicated to authors within 6-8 weeks from the date of receipt of the manuscript.

4. PREPARATION

Manuscripts that are not submitted in accordance with the following instructions will be returned for modification according to the guidelines before being reviewed by the members of the Scientific Council.

FAST-TRACK PUBLICATION - Fast-track publication system is available in GE for urgent and important manuscripts that meet the GE requirements for the Fast-track system.

a) Authors may apply for a fast-track publication through manuscript submission, clearly indicating why the manuscript should be considered fast track

b) The Editorial Board will take the decision as regards the suitability of the request for fast or regular publication

c) The Editorial Board will communicate their decision within 48 hour period. If the Editor-in-Chief finds the manuscript unsuitable for Fast-Track evaluation, the manuscript may be proposed for the normal revision process. The author(s) will be allowed to withdraw their submission. For manuscripts that are accepted for Fast-track evaluation, an editorial decision will be made available within five working days.

d) If the manuscript is accepted for publication, an effort will be made to publish online within a maximal period of 8-12 weeks after acceptance.

Use of word processing software

It is important that the file be saved in the native format of the word processor used. The text should be in single-column format. Keep the layout of the text as simple as possible. Most formatting codes will be removed and replaced on processing the article. In particular, do not use the word processor’s options to justify text or to hyphenate words. However, do use bold face, italics, subscripts, superscripts etc. When preparing tables, if you are using a table grid, use only one grid for each individual table and not a grid for each row. If no grid is used, use tabs, not spaces, to align columns. The electronic text should be prepared in a way very similar to that of conventional manuscripts (see also the Guide to Publishing with Elsevier: http://www.elsevier.com/guidepublication). Note that source files of figures, tables and text graphics will be required whether or not you embed your figures in the text. See also the section on Electronic artwork.

To avoid unnecessary errors you are strongly advised to use the ‘spell-check’ and ‘grammar-check’ functions of your word processor.

Files to be included

Cover letter

The cover letter should be addressed to the Editor and should include a short summary of the article stating why the authors believe that it is suitable for publication in the Journal.

Title page

I. Title

The title should be given in both Portuguese and English and should be concise, contain no abbreviations and not exceed 120 characters. The title may include a subtitle with a maximum of 40 characters (including spaces).

II. Author names and affiliations

Where the family name may be ambiguous (e.g., a double name), please indicate this clearly. Present the authors’ affiliation addresses (where the actual work was done) below the names. Indicate all affiliations with a lower-case superscript letter immediately after the author’s name and in front of the appropriate address. Provide the full postal address of each affiliation, including the country name and, if available, the e-mail address of each author

III. Sponsors

All entities that sponsored the work should be listed.

IV. Corresponding author.

Clearly indicate who will handle correspondence at all stages of refereeing and publication, also post-publication. Ensure that phone numbers (with country and area code) are provided in addition to the e-mail address and the complete postal address. Contact details must be kept up to date by the corresponding author.

Present/permanent address. If an author has moved since the work described in the article was done, or was visiting at the time, a ‘Present address’ (or ‘Permanent address’) may be indicated as a footnote to that author’s name. The address at which the author actually did the work must be retained as the main, affiliation address. Superscript Arabic numerals are used for such footnotes.

Abstract and keywords

A concise and factual abstract is required. The abstract should state briefly the purpose of the research, the principal results and major conclusions. An abstract is often presented separately from the article, so it must be able to stand alone. The abstract must be written in both Portuguese and English and should not exceed 350 words for original articles. The abstract should be organised into the following sections: Introduction, Objectives, Methods, Results, and Conclusions. It should not contain abbreviations, references, or footnotes.

If the manuscript is a clinical case study, the abstract must not exceed 180 words. At the end of the abstract, a maximum of five keywords must be included, using the terminology appearing in Index Medicus list “Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)” (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/meshhome.html).

Text

I. ORIGINAL ARTICLES

Original articles should include the following sections: Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion and Conclusions, Acknowledgements (if applicable), References, Tables and Figures. Original articles should not exceed 4 000 words, excluding references and illustrations.

Word count: up to 4 000

Structured abstract: Yes, up to 350 words

Tables/Figures: up to 6

References: up to 60

II. CLINICAL CASE STUDIES

Clinical case studies should include the following sections: Introduction, Clinical Case, and Discussion. Clinical case studies should not exceed 2 000 words and 25 references.

It is strongly recommended that the CARE guidelines (http://www.care-statement.org/) be used. For original articles and clinical case studies, approval by the institutional Ethics Committee should be stated. All drugs should be referred to by their generic names. For references to trade names, the name, city, and country of the manufacturer should be given in a footnote. Abbreviations, which are not recommended, should be defined at the first use.

Parameters must be expressed in International Units, and their normal values should be indicated. Figures and tables should be identified using Arabic numerals in the order in which they appear in the text.

Word count: up to 2 000

Structured abstract: not required, up to 150 words

Tables/Figures: up to 6

References: up to 25

III. EDITORIALS

Editorials may be submitted by invitation from the Editor. Editorials are normally commissioned and relate to original research papers. Editorials should not exceed 1 500 words and 20 references and may include 1 table and 1 figure. The text should be double-spaced.

Word count: up to 1 500

Structured abstract: not required

Tables/Figures: up to 1

References: up to 20

IV. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

A letter to the Editor should consist of critical comments on an article published in the Journal or a short note on a particular topic or clinical case. Letters to the Editor should not exceed 600 words and 10 references and may contain one figure or table.

Word count: up to 600

Structured abstract: not required

Tables/Figures: up to 2

References: up to 10

V. REVIEW ARTICLES

Review articles may be submitted preferably by invitation from the Editor. However, authors who are interested in publishing a review article may contact the Editor to discuss the topics to be addressed.

Review articles should not exceed 4 000 words, 100 references, and 6 tables and/or figures.

Systematic Reviews. Systematic Reviews can be presented in the Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion format. The subject must be clearly defined. The objective of a systematic review should be to produce an evidence-based conclusion. The Methods should give a clear indication of the literature search strategy, data extraction, grading of evidence and analysis.

Systematic Reviews should not normally exceed 4 000 words and up to 100 references.

It is strongly recommended that the PRISMA statement (http://www.prisma-statement.org/) be used. PRISMA stands for Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses. The aim of the PRISMA Statement is to help authors improve the reporting of systematic reviews and meta-analyses.

Should be up to 6 000 words, a maximum of six figures and 100 references.

Word count: up to 4 000

Structured abstract: Yes, up to 3500 words

Tables/Figures: up to 6

References: up to 100

Narrative Reviews. Review Articles are comprehensive papers that synthesize older ideas and suggest new ones. They cover broad areas. They may be clinical, investigational, or basic science in nature.

Although usually commissioned, we do occasionally accept unsolicited review articles on important and topical subjects with a particular focus on recent advances. Before submitting a review, we ask that you send the editors a brief outline (no more than 500 words) indicating the importance and novelty of the subject, and why you are qualified to write it. These will be peer reviewed. An invitation to submit will in no way guarantee acceptance. Reviews should not normally exceed 4 000 words.

Word count: up to 4 000

Structured abstract: Yes, up to 350 words

Tables/Figures: up to 6

References: up to 100

VI. IMAGES IN GASTROENTEROLOGY AND HEPATOLOGY

This section is intended for the publication of clinical, radiological, histological, and surgical images related to gastroenterological or hepatological cases. Submissions must meet the following guidelines:

1. The title page should list the title (no more than eight words), authors (no more than three), and agency or institution.

2. Images should be of high quality and educational value and may be in colour or black and white. Up to four figures will be published. Captions should be brief and informative. Arrows or other symbols should be included as needed to facilitate understanding of the image(s).

3. The text should not exceed 500 words, with no tables or plots, and should include a short clinical history and relevant data from the physical examination, laboratory tests, and clinical progression as appropriate.

4. Up to five references may be listed on a separate page in the order of their citation in the text and following the GE reference-formatting guidelines (below).

5. The corresponding author, address, telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail address should be given on a separate page.

VII. ENDOSCOPIC SNAPSHOTS

This section is intended for the publication of rare or educational cases or novel techniques in digestive endoscopy. Submissions must meet the following guidelines:

1. The title page should list the authors and agency or institution.

2. The text should not exceed 500 words.

3. Up to three figures with brief captions may be included. Figures may be in colour.

4. Up to five references may be listed on a separate page in the order of their citation in the text and in following the GE reference-formatting guidelines.

5. The corresponding author and address should be given on a separate page.

VIII GUIDELINES

In general, published statements intended to guide clinical care (e.g., Guidelines, Practice Parameters, Recommendations, Consensus Statements and Position Papers) should describe:

- The clinical problem to be addressed

- The mechanism by which the statement was generated

- A review of the evidence for the statement (if available), and

- The statement on practice itself

To minimize confusion and to enhance transparency, such statements should begin with the following bulleted phrases, followed by brief comments addressing each phrase:

What other guideline statements are available on this topic?

Why was this guideline developed?

How does this statement differ from existing guidelines?

Why does this statement differ from existing guidelines?

Word count: up to 4 000

Structured abstract: not required, up to 350 words

Tables/Figures: up to 6

References: up to 100

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements should be placed at the end of the article.

References

I CITATION IN TEXT

Please ensure that every reference cited in the text is also present in the reference list (and vice versa). The references should be listed using Arabic numerals in the order in which they are cited in the text. Original and review articles have no pre-established limit for references; clinical case studies should not exceed 25 references.

References to personal communications and unpublished data should be made directly in the text and should not be numbered. Journal names should be abbreviated according to Index Medicus (Medline).

References to articles published in journals should include the first author’s name (surname and given name) followed by the names of the remaining authors, the article title, the journal name, and the publication year, volume, and pages.

Increased discoverability of research and high quality peer review are ensured by online links to the sources cited. In order to allow us to create links to abstracting and indexing services, such as Scopus, CrossRef and PubMed, please ensure that data provided in the references are correct. Please note that incorrect surnames, journal/book titles, publication year and pagination may prevent link creation. When copying references, please be careful as they may already contain errors. Use of the DOI is encouraged.

The bibliography should be added as part of the regular text, never as a footnote. Specific codes from reference-management software are not acceptable.

II FORMAT.

A detailed description of the formats of different reference types can be found in the “Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals” (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_requirements.html). Selected examples are given below.

Journals: List all authors if there are six or fewer; et al. should be added if there are more than six authors. Article title, journal name, year, volume, and pages.

Examples:

Conrad K, Roggenbuck D, Laass MW. Diagnosis and classification of ulcerative colitis. Autoimmun Rev. 2014;13(4-5):463-6.

Koelink PJ, Overbeek SA, Braber S, Morgan ME, Henricks PA, Roda MA, et al. Collagen degradation and neutrophilic infiltration: a vicious circle in inflammatory bowel disease. Gut. 2014;63:578-87.

Books: Name(s) of the author(s), title, city and name of the publisher, year of publication, and page number(s).

Example: Sherlock S. Diseases of the liver and biliary system. 9th ed. London: Blackwell Scientific Publications; 1989. p.145.

Book chapters: Name(s) and initials of the author(s) of the article or chapter, title or number of the article or chapter, name(s) and initials of the editor(s), book title, city and name of the publisher, edition number, publication year, and first and last pages of the article.

Example: Hotz J, Goebell H. Epidemiology and pathogenesis of gastric carcinoma. In: Hotz J, Meyer HJ, Schmoll HJ, editors. Gastric carcinoma. Classification, diagnosis and therapy. 1st edition. New York: Springer-Verlag; 1989. p.3-15.

Electronic material: Journal article in electronic format.

Example: Abood S. Quality improvement initiative in nursing homes: the ANA acts in an advisory role. Am J Nurs. [serial on the Internet]. 2002 Jun. Cited: Aug 12, 2002:102(6): [approx. 3 p]. Available at: http://www.nursingworld.org/AJN/2002/june/Wawatch.htm.

Web references. As a minimum, the full URL should be given and the date when the reference was last accessed. Any further information, if known (DOI, author names, dates, reference to a source publication, etc.), should also be given. Web references can be listed separately (e.g., after the reference list) under a different heading if desired, or can be included in the reference list.

Artwork

I GENERAL POINTS

- Make sure you use uniform lettering and sizing of your original artwork.

- Embed the used fonts if the application provides that option.

- Aim to use the following fonts in your illustrations: Arial, Courier, Times New Roman, Symbol, or use fonts that look similar.

- Number the illustrations according to their sequence in the text.

- Use a logical naming convention for your artwork files.

- Provide captions to illustrations separately.

- Size the illustrations close to the desired dimensions of the printed version.

- Submit each illustration as a separate file.

A detailed guide on electronic artwork is available on our website: http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions

You are urged to visit this site; some excerpts from the detailed information are given here.

II FORMATS

If your electronic artwork is created in a Microsoft Office application (Word, PowerPoint, Excel) then please supply ‘as is’ in the native document format.

Regardless of the application used other than Microsoft Office, when your electronic artwork is finalized, please ‘Save as’ or convert the images to one of the following formats (note the resolution requirements for line drawings, halftones, and line/halftone combinations given below):

EPS (or PDF): Vector drawings, embed all used fonts.

TIFF (or JPEG): Color or grayscale photographs (halftones), keep to a minimum of 300 dpi.

TIFF (or JPEG): Bitmapped (pure black & white pixels) line drawings, keep to a minimum of 1000 dpi.

TIFF (or JPEG): Combinations bitmapped line/half-tone (color or grayscale), keep to a minimum of 500 dpi.

Please do not:

- Supply files that are optimized for screen use (e.g., GIF, BMP, PICT, WPG); these typically have a low number of pixels and limited set of colors;

- Supply files that are too low in resolution;

- Submit graphics that are disproportionately large for the content.

III COLOR ARTWORK

Please make sure that artwork files are in an acceptable format (TIFF (or JPEG), EPS (or PDF), or MS Office files) and with the correct resolution. If, together with your accepted article, you submit usable color figures then Elsevier will ensure, at no additional charge, that these figures will appear in color on the Web (e.g., ScienceDirect and other sites) regardless of whether or not these illustrations are reproduced in color in the printed version.

Captions

Captions should be numbered using Arabic numerals in the order in which they appear in the text (e.g., Table 1, Figure 1) and must provide sufficient information to enable their interpretation without consulting the text.

Ensure that each illustration and table has a caption. Supply captions separately, not attached to the figure. A caption should comprise a brief title (not on the figure itself) and a description of the illustration. Keep text in the illustrations themselves to a minimum but explain all symbols and abbreviations used.

Tables

Tables should be numbered using Arabic numerals in the order in which they appear in the text. Tables should not be included within the body of the manuscript but should be placed after the reference list on separate pages, identified by number, with the title centred above the table. Informative notes (abbreviations, statistical significance, etc.) should be placed below the table. Place footnotes to tables below the table body and indicate them with superscript lowercase letters.

Vertical and horizontal lines should be avoided within tables and should serve only as header and subheader separators.

Be sparing in the use of tables and ensure that the data presented in tables do not duplicate results described elsewhere in the article.

Figures

Figures should be numbered using Arabic numerals in the order in which they appear in the text. Figures should not be included within the body of the manuscript but should be submitted as separate documents according to the ESS Artwork Guidelines (http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/authors.authors/authorartworkinstructions). Each figure should be identified by number and title.

Video data

Elsevier accepts video material and animation sequences to support and enhance your scientific research. Authors who have video or animation files that they wish to submit with their article are strongly encouraged to include links to these within the body of the article. This can be done in the same way as a figure or table by referring to the video or animation content and noting in the body text where it should be placed. All submitted files should be properly labeled so that they directly relate to the video files content. In order to enure that your video or animation material is directly usable, please provide the files in one of our recommended file formats with a preferred maximum size of 50 MB. Video and animation files supplied will be published online in the electronic version of your article in Elsevier Web products, including ScienceDirect: http://www.sciencedirect.com. Please supply stills with your files: you can choose any frame from the video or animation or make a separate image. These will be used instead of standard icons and will personalize the link to your video data. For more detailed instructions please visit our video instruction pages at http://www.elsevier.com/art­workinstructions. Note: since video and animation cannot be embedded in the print version of the journal, please provide text for both the electronic and the print version for the portions of the article that refer to this content.

AudioSlides

The journal encourages authors to create an AudioSlides presentation with their published article. AudioSlides are brief, webinar-style presentations that are shown next to the online article on ScienceDirect. This gives authors the opportunity to summarize their research in their own words and to help readers understand what the paper is about. More information and examples are available at http://www.elsevier.com/audioslides. Authors of this journal will automatically receive an invitation e-mail to create an AudioSlides presentation after acceptance of their paper.

Supplementary data

Elsevier accepts electronic supplementary material to support and enhance your scientific research. Supplementary files offer the author additional possibilities to publish supporting applications, high-resolution images, background datasets, sound clips and more. Supplementary files supplied will be published online alongside the electronic version of your article in Elsevier Web products, including ScienceDirect: http://www.sciencedirect.com. In order to ensure that your submitted material is directly usable, please provide the data in one of our recommended file formats. Authors should submit the material in electronic format together with the article and supply a concise and descriptive caption for each file. For more detailed instructions please visit our artwork instruction pages at http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions.

5. REVIEW OF ARTICLES

Reviewers have a maximum of 21 days to submit their evaluations after agreeing to review an article. They have a maximum of 5 days to accept.

If the acceptance of an article is conditioned upon revisions, the authors will have four weeks to make any necessary changes. After this period, the article will no longer be considered for publication.

The authors must review the proofs prior to publication. The deadline for returning the reviewed proofs will be clearly specified. Non-compliance with the deadline implies the authors acceptance of the proofreading performed by the Journal or its contracted editorial services.

Abbreviations

Define all abbreviations except those approved by the International System of Units for length, mass, time, temperature, amount of substance, etc. Do not create new abbreviations for drugs, procedures, experimental groups, etc.

Abbreviations or acronyms should not be used in the title and abstract, but only in the text and in a limited way.

Abbreviations should be defined at first use, in full, followed by the abbreviation in parentheses. Excessive and unnecessary use of acronyms and abbreviations should be avoided.

Drug Names and Equipment

Use generic names. If a brand name must be used, insert it in parentheses after the generic name. Provide manufacturer’s name, city, and country. Be careful about the use of trademarked.

In parentheses, lowercase, followed by the symbol featuring trademark in superscript (®).

Units of Measurement

Use metric units.

Measurements of length, height, weight and volume should be reported in metric units (meter, kilogram, or liter) or their decimal multiples.

Temperatures should be given in degrees Celsius (° C) and blood pressure in millimeters of mercury (mm Hg).

All hematological or biochemical measurements will be referred to the metric system in accordance with the International System of Units (SI).

The precision and accuracy of references is a responsibility of the Author

Style and Usage

GE follows the American Medical Association Manual of Style1 (10th ed) in matters of editorial style and usage. All accepted manuscripts are subject to copyediting for conciseness, clarity, grammar, spelling, and GE style. The corresponding author will receive page proofs to review before publication. If requests for changes are made after the authors have returned corrected proofs. Care should be exercised in this stage of review so as to avoid publication of errata or retractions.

Proofs

If the Authors don´t state otherwise proofs will be a responsibility of the Editorial Board. In this case they should be made within the period specified by the Editorial Board, depending on the needs of the journal editorial. The authors will receive proofs for publication in PDF format for correction and these should be corrected and returned to the publisher by email within 48 hours receipt.

Corrections

GE publishes amendments or retractions to an article previously published. After publication, further changes can only be made in the form of an erratum.

If the errors are noted in an article published in an issue, and these require publication of a correction, the corrections will appear on a numbered page and be listed in the Table of Contents.

Retractions

The reviewers and the editors initially assume that authors are reporting work based on honest observations. However, if substantial doubt arises about the honesty or integrity of work, either submitted or published, the editor will inform the authors of the concern, seek clarification, and pursue the issue with the authors sponsoring body and/or employing authority. Consequently, if the sponsoring body and/or employers find a published paper to be fraudulent, the journal will print a retraction. If, however, this method of investigation does not result in a satisfactory conclusion, the editor may choose to conduct his or her own investigation, and may choose to publish an expression of concern about the aspects of the conduct or integrity of the work. The validity of previous work by the author of a fraudulent paper cannot be assumed. Editors may ask the author’s institution to assure them of the validity of earlier work published in their journal or to retract it. If this is not done, editors may choose to publish an announcement expressing concern that the validity of previously published work is uncertain.

Final Note

For a better clarification of all matters it is advisable to read the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly work in Medical Journals (International Committee of Medical Journal Editors), available at http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/

Submission checklist

The following list will be useful during the final checking of an article prior to sending it to the journal for review. Please consult this Guide for Authors for further details of any item.

Ensure that the following items are present:

One author has been designated as the corresponding author with contact details:

- E-mail address

- Full postal address

- Phone numbers

All necessary files have been uploaded, and contain:

- Keywords

- All figure captions

- All tables (including title, description, footnotes) Further considerations - Manuscript has been ‘spell-checked’ and ‘grammar-checked’

- References are in the correct format for this journal - All references mentioned in the Reference list are cited in the text, and vice versa

- Permission has been obtained for use of copyrighted material from other sources (including the Web)

- Color figures are clearly marked as being intended for color reproduction on the Web (free of charge) and in print, or to be reproduced in color on the Web (free of charge) and in black-and-white in print

- If only color on the Web is required, black-and-white versions of the figures are also supplied for printing purposes

For any further information please visit our customer support site at http://support.elsevier.com.

AFTER ACCEPTANCE

Use of the Digital Object Identifier

The Digital Object Identifier (DOI) may be used to cite and link to electronic documents. The DOI consists of a unique alpha-numeric character string which is assigned to a document by the publisher upon the initial electronic publication. The assigned DOI never changes. Therefore, it is an ideal medium for citing a document, particularly Articles in press because they have not yet received their full bibliographic information. Example of a correctly given DOI (in URL format; here an article in the journal Physics Letters B): http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.physletb.2010.09.059 When you use a DOI to create links to documents on the web, the DOIs are guaranteed never to change.

Proofs

One set of page proofs (as PDF files) will be sent by e-mail to the corresponding author (if we do not have an e-mail address then paper proofs will be sent by post) or, a link will be provided in the e-mail so that authors can download the files themselves. Elsevier now provides authors with PDF proofs which can be annotated; for this you will need to download Adobe Reader version 9 (or higher) available free from http://get.adobe.com/reader. Instructions on how to annotate PDF files will accompany the proofs (also given online). The exact system requirements are given at the Adobe site: http://www.adobe.com/products/reader/tech-specs.html. If you do not wish to use the PDF annotations function, you may list the corrections (including replies to the Query Form) and return them to Elsevier in an e-mail. Please list your corrections quoting line number. If, for any reason, this is not possible, then mark the corrections and any other comments (including replies to the Query Form) on a printout of your proof and return by fax, or scan the pages and e-mail, or by post. Please use this proof only for checking the typesetting, editing, completeness and correctness of the text, tables and figures. Significant changes to the article as accepted for publication will only be considered at this stage with permission from the Editor. We will do everything possible to get your article published quickly and accurately – please let us have all your corrections within 48 hours. It is important to ensure that all corrections are sent back to us in one communication: please check carefully before replying, as inclusion of any subsequent corrections cannot be guaranteed. Proofreading is solely your responsibility. Note that Elsevier may proceed with the publication of your article if no response is received.

Offprints

The corresponding author, at no cost, will be provided with a PDF file of the article via e-mail (the PDF file is a watermarked version of the published article and includes a cover sheet with the journal cover image and a disclaimer outlining the terms and conditions of use). For an extra charge, paper offprints can be ordered via the offprint order form which is sent once the article is accepted for publication. Both corresponding and co-authors may order offprints at any time via Elseviers WebShop (http://webshop.elsevier.com/myarticleservices/offprints). Authors requiring printed copies of multiple articles may use Elsevier WebShops Create Your Own Book service to collate multiple articles within a single cover (http://webshop.elsevier.com/myarticleservices/offprints/myarticlesservices/booklets).

AUTHOR INQUIRIES

For inquiries relating to the submission of articles (including electronic submission) please visit this journal’s homepage. For detailed instructions on the preparation of electronic artwork, please visit http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions. Contact details for questions arising after acceptance of an article, especially those relating to proofs, will be provided by the publisher. You can track accepted articles at http://www.elsevier.com/trackarticle. You can also check our Author FAQs at http://www.elsevier.com/authorFAQ and/or contact Customer Support via http://support.elsevier.com.