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Instructions to authors

The International Journal of Respiratory Care (IJRC) is published four times a year in English.

The journal includes clinical reviews and original papers dealing with the whole field of intensive care and emergency medicine. In addition to such articles, the IJRC prints comments, case reports, meeting reports and letters to the editor.

Prior publication and co-author approval

Copyright

Peer review

Statement of interest

Manuscript preparation

Short Reports and Case Studies

Correspondence

Proofs

Prior publication and co-author approval

Authors submitting a paper do so on the understanding that neither the work nor any part of its essential substance, tables or figures have been or will be published by or submitted to another scientific journal or is being considered for publication elsewhere. This must be stated in the covering letter. This restriction does not apply to abstracts, but includes work published in any other language.

All work must have been approved by all co-authors.

Copyright

Submission of the manuscript implies that if and when it is accepted for publication, the authors automatically agree to transfer the copyright to the publisher. The copyright protection implies that the publisher holds the exclusive right to reproduction in any form (including publication in another language) and distribution of any of the articles in the journal. Material published in the IJRC may be stored on microfilm, video discs, in an electronic database or in any other electronic format, etc ., and be reproduced photographically with prior written permission of the publisher.

One copyright transfer form should be completed by the corresponding author on submission of any manuscript to the IJRC .

Peer review

Each manuscript will be reviewed by the Editor and/or one or more Reviewers. Authors who have submitted a manuscript will be notified by e-mail of any queries or requests for revision.

Statement of interest

Authors should acknowledge all financial support for the work and other financial or personal connections to the work. A statement will then be added to the manuscript at publication.

Manuscript preparation

Presentation of manuscripts should conform to the updated Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals (see http://www.icmje.org).

All manuscripts must be submitted electronically to the commissioning editor at Greycoat Publishing, c.tighe@greycoatpublishing.co.uk. If there has been previous contact with another Greycoat Publishing commissioning editor, the message and attachments should be copied to that address too. If any problems are experienced, please contact the office on +44 (0)20 7730 7995.

Before submitting an article, please read and carefully follow the instructions below.

General

• The manuscript file you submit must be saved as .doc (MS Word document) or . rtf (rich text format) .
• Original articles are recommended not to exceed a 3,500 word limit. This does not include the abstract, references, tables and legends. However, if your manuscript does exceed this limit, please state the final word count and explicit reasons for exceeding the limit in your covering letter.
• Reviews are requested at a length of approximately 2,500 words, not including abstract, references, tables and legends.
• Figures and/or tables should be limited to eight altogether.
• Abbreviations or unusual terms should be set in full and/or defined at the first time of use.
• Système International (SI) units are recommended.
• Equations should be created as normal text.

Title page

• Please provide a concise and informative title, limited to 80 characters , including spaces between words.
• Include a list of all contributing authors and all of their affiliations, with a clear indication of who is associated with each institution.
• Supply the full correspondence details for the corresponding author, including email address and fax number.
• Provide a short title for the manuscript, limited to six words .

Abstract

• Please provide an abstract of 200 words or fewer, which is easily understood without reference to the text
• For an original paper, the abstract must have four separate paragraphs , which correspond to the question of the study, materials/patients and methods, results, and the answer to the question. One or two sentences of background information can be included before the question if necessary.
• Include only a few important values.
• Avoid using abbreviations and reporting statistics.

Keywords

• Please provide a list of 6 keywords or fewer, listed alphabetically, in full without abbreviations.

Introduction

• For an original paper, state the question you asked (or hypothesis to be tested) and your considerations leading to the formulation of the question. Give only pertinent references.
• For a clinical review, outline the background to the topic and make clear the boundaries of what is to be covered in the review.

(Original papers should be set out according to the sections described below, i.e. Material and methods, Results, Discussion. Review articles may include different subheadings to sections, according to the topic, and usually end with a Conclusion section which will include implications for clinical practice. Notes below on Acknowledgements and References refer to both types of article).

Material and methods

Study subjects

• Describe the selection of subjects.
• All work involving studies on human subjects is expected to have received approval from local ethical committees.
• The Editor reserves the right to refuse work which does not conform to acceptable ethical criteria.

Study design

• Provide a brief overview of the tests or experiments used for answering the questions.
• In this subsection, include the independent variables manipulated, the dependent variables measured and all controls. Do not include details of methods.

Methods

• Describe methods and apparatus in sufficient detail to allow other workers to evaluate or reproduce the tests/experiments.
• For methods that have been published, provide only a reference or a reference and a brief description.
• Identify drugs and chemicals, including generic name, dosage and route of administration.
• Please provide manufacturer and manufacturer's address for equipment, drugs and chemicals, as necessary, but not in a separate section.

Analysis

• Define the variables clearly.
• Use statistical analysis that is appropriate for the study.
• Give sample size estimation, particularly if a type II error may be involved.
• Describe the statistical methods you used for each analysis clearly and give references for tests that are not well known. For guidance, see BMJ 1983; 286: 1489–1493, BMJ 1986; 292: 746–750 and BMJ 1986; 292: 810–812. Use proper analysis for repeatability ( Lancet 1986; 1: 307–310).

Results

• Keep the Results section brief.
• Include only important results that help answer the question.
• Present most data in figures or tables, not in the text. In the text, emphasise or summarise the most important observations.
• Describe the pre-study condition of patients or animals in the Methods section, not in the Results section.

Discussion

• At the beginning of the Discussion, summarise the main results, the answer to the question asked in the introduction (check that the results answer the question) and briefly support the answer with the relevant results.
• As necessary, explain or defend the answer, explain contradictory or unexpected results and discrepancies with previous findings, describe limitations of the methods, and discuss possible implications.
• Emphasise the new and important aspects of the study.
• Make sure that the conclusions at the end are pertinent to the question and the answer.

Acknowledgements

• All acknowledgements should be grouped into one paragraph placed immediately before the list of references.
• Only acknowledge persons who have made substantial contributions to the study.

References

• References should be numbered consecutively in the order in which they first appear in the text. The citation number in the text is an Arabic numeral, set in superscript style, immediately following any punctuation mark used (e.g. ‘ … the study carried out by Smith.²).
• All authors must be included in the reference list.
• For original articles, the number of references should be limited to 30, and for reviews, to 40.
• References should conform to the style used in Index Medicus (Vancouver Style) as shown in the following examples:
  • 1. Bannerjee D, Khair OA, Honeybourne D. Impact of sputum bacteria on airway inflammation in and health status in clinical stable COPD. Eur Respir J 2004; 23: 685–692.
  • Bourbon J, Henrion-Caude A, Gaultier C. Molecular basis of lung development. In : Gibson GJ, Geddes DM, Costable U, Sterk PJ, Corrin B, eds. Respiratory Medicine . 3rd Ed. Edinburgh/Philadelphia: Elsevier Science, 2002.
• Websites should be listed in the reference list, not in the text, and only used when an original citation is unavailable; citations should be listed as follows:
  • WHO. Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). www.who.int/csr/sars/en/index.html. Date last updated: June 1 2004. Date last accessed: June 1 2004.
  • Work which has not yet been accepted for publication and personal communications should not appear in the reference list.

Tables

• Tables should be cited in the text and placed at the end of the article, following the references; DO NOT supply tables in a separate file.
• Tables should be numbered consecutively with Arabic numerals.
• Large tables should be avoided due to space restrictions, and if used may be split between pages.
• Please provide a clear footnote for all tables, making sure all abbreviations and symbols used are defined.
• Any references in tables should run on in numerical order from the text where the table is cited.

Figures

• Figures constitute a key element of manuscripts submitted to the IJRC . However, figures should be limited to those required to show the essential features described in the manuscript. Redundant or excessive figures will not be published due to space restrictions.
• Line drawings can be supplied as .jpeg, .eps, or .tif and will be redrawn into IJRC house style.
• All submitted figures must be named and numbered. If labelling is necessary, see a recent issue of the IJRC for the degree of labelling required.
• Whether for images, drawings, or graphs, we recommend that no more than four components be used for a given figure ( e.g. a, b, c, d).
• Images embedded in the .doc or .rtf file will not be accepted.
• The IJRC strongly discourages the use of previously published figures unless absolutely essential. Use of such figures is problematic because permission has to be obtained by yourself from the copyright owner, which is usually the publisher and NOT the original author, and this may involve a fee payable to the original publisher. Please note that some publishers will not provide permission for publication, which precludes these figures from being displayed in the IJRC .

Photographic Images

• All photographic images should be provided with a minimum resolution of 300 dots per inch (dpi) .
• Figures should preferably be supplied in .jpeg, .tif or eps format.
• The image mode for colour photographic images should be cyan-magenta-yellow-black ( CMYK ). For black-and-white photographic images, it should be greyscale.
• An image-editing programme such as Adobe Photoshop is recommended for saving images.
• Due to space restrictions, it is essential that each submitted figure show only the areas of interest with enough surrounding area for orientation purposes.
• Radiographic images should be of high quality and combined into one array, such as posteroanterior and lateral views. They should also be sized the same to facilitate reproduction.
• Image size should be submitted as close as possible to print size; one column width is 85 mm, two-column-width is 177 mm .
• When several images of a given type are being shown, please reproduce each specific type at the same magnification.
• Photomicrographs must have internal scale markers (linear scale), since the size and magnification may be altered by the publisher.
• Images should correspond in appearance to the tonal relations of the original radiograph ( i.e. showing the bones white on a dark background, with the patient's right to the observer's left. CT scans and MR images should employ the internationally-accepted ‘view from below'.
• Please label your images such that all important details are clearly visible.
• If an image has been enhanced electronically, please explain the alterations that have been made and send in the original image along with the enhanced one.

Legends

• Please provide a clear legend for each figure.
• Legends should be brief and nonrepetitive of information given in the text.
• They should include the imaging technique used, the body part imaged and any noteworthy details.
• ALL abbreviations should be expanded.
• Use of internal scales should always be mentioned in the legend.

Short Reports and Case Studies

The general presentation should follow the same pattern as full papers but the total length should not exceed 1,500 words, not including figures, tables and the reference list.

‘Case Studies' should provide new knowledge on aetiology, mechanism, diagnosis or treatment of a disease.

Correspondence

Letters to the Editor are welcomed but they should be limited to 700 words and no more than 10 references

Proofs

A proof will be sent by e-mail (pdf file) to the corresponding author.

Corrections should be returned to the Production Department as promptly as possible by fax, email or express mail. Late return may delay publication. Modification to proofs should be limited to typographical errors only.