Submission Guidelines
Manuscript Preparation
General
Authors must strictly follow the guidelines, as manuscripts that do not conform to the journal’s format may be rejected without review. Editors reserve the right to adjust style to maintain uniformity. Use spell-check and grammar-check tools to minimize errors.
Manuscript Organization and Structure
The manuscript should be organized in the following order (with the abstract not included in the section numbering): Title, Authors, Affiliations, Abstract, Keywords, Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results and Discussion, Conclusions, Acknowledgements, References, and then Figure Captions, Tables and Figures, each on a separate page at the end. The corresponding author should be identified with an asterisk and a footnote, and other footnotes should be avoided except for table footnotes. Acknowledgements must be placed in a separate Acknowledgements section at the end of the article, not on the title page or as a footnote.
Text Formatting and Layout
The main text must be in 12-point Times New Roman, with 1-inch margins on all sides and double line spacing; each new paragraph should be clearly indicated, and tables and figure legends should appear on separate pages at the end of the manuscript.
Page length
Page length limits are: Original articles up to 15 pages in total (text, references, tables, and figures); Short Communications up to 5 pages; and Review papers up to 20 pages. Each figure and table must be placed on a separate page.
Sectioning and Numbering
Subdivision-numbered sections are required, and the abstract is not included in the numbering. A typical sequence of numbered sections would be 1. Introduction, 2. Materials and Methods, 3. Theory/Calculation (where applicable), 4. Results and Discussion, 5. Conclusions, 6. Acknowledgements, 7. References, with Appendices labelled A, B, etc., and corresponding separate numbering for their equations, tables, and figures.
Subdivision-numbered sections
Divide your article into clearly defined and numbered sections. Subsections should be numbered 1.1 (then 1.1.1, 1.1.2, ...), 1.2, etc. (the abstract is not included in section numbering).
Introduction
State the objectives and provide adequate background, but avoid an exhaustive literature review or a detailed summary of results.
Material and methods
Provide sufficient detail to allow the work to be reproduced. Methods already published should be indicated by a reference: only relevant modifications should be described.
Theory/calculation
A Theory section should extend, not repeat, the background to the article already explained within the introduction and provide the foundation for further work. In contrast, a calculation section represents a practical application grounded in theoretical foundations.
Results and Discussion
Present findings clearly in a single section, and discuss their significance without repeating results and without an extensive literature review.
Conclusions
Present the main findings succinctly, capped at 100 words.
Appendices
Appendices, if present, should be labeled A, B, etc., with separate numbering for equations (Eq. (A.1), Eq. (A.2), etc.), and similarly for tables and figures (Table A.1, Fig. A.1, etc.).
Essential title page information
Title
Provide a concise and informative title free of abbreviations and most formulas.
Author names and affiliations
List full author names with clearly identifiable family names, and link affiliations to authors using superscript letters. Include full postal addresses and, if available, e-mail addresses.
The corresponding author must be identified and provide a complete contact package, including telephone numbers with country/area codes, e-mail, and postal address, with up-to-date details. If an author has moved since the work was completed, a Present or Permanent Address may be indicated as a footnote to that author’s name, while retaining the work site address as the main affiliation.
Abstract
The abstract should be concise and factual (about 150–200 words), stating the purpose, key results, and major conclusions. It should stand alone without references; if essential, citations to author/year may be included briefly, and non-standard abbreviations should be defined at first mention.
Graphical abstract
A Graphical Abstract is optional and should summarize the work pictorially. If provided, it must be submitted as a separate file, with a minimum size of 531 × 1328 pixels.
Highlights
Highlights must be 3–5 bullet points (maximum 85 characters per bullet, including spaces) and submitted as a separate file with “Highlights” in the file name.
Keywords
Provide up to five keywords immediately after the abstract, using American spelling and avoiding general terms, plurals, and multiple concepts. Abbreviations should be limited to those widely established and defined at first use.
Abbreviations
Use standard abbreviations; define non-standard abbreviations at first use. Standard abbreviations may be retained if appropriate to the field.
Acknowledgements
Place acknowledgements before the References and after the main body, thanking individuals, institutions, or funding bodies that contributed but do not meet authorship criteria.
Units
Follow SI units throughout, and provide SI equivalents for any non-SI units mentioned.
Math and Formulae
Present simple formulae inline when possible; use the solidus (/) for fractions. Variables should be in italics. Displayed equations should be numbered sequentially if referenced in the text.
Footnotes
Footnotes should be used sparingly and numbered consecutively. If the word processor supports footnotes, use that feature; otherwise, indicate their positions in the text and place the footnotes at the end of the article. Do not place footnotes in the References list.
Table Footnotes
Indicate table footnotes with superscript lowercase letters.
Electronic Artwork and Figures
Ensure uniform lettering and sizing in figures, embed fonts where possible, and use fonts such as Arial, Courier, Times New Roman, Symbol (or similar). Number figures in the order they are cited, use descriptive file names, provide captions separately, and size figures close to the printed dimensions; submit each figure as a separate file.
References
The Vancouver style uses a numeric citation system, in which sources are cited with numbers in brackets (X). Maximum 20, 35 and 45 references for short communication, original research paper/case study and review papers, respectively. Each source is given a unique number and this number is used to cite the source in the text. Sources are numbered in the order in which they appear in the text. If you cite the same source more than once in the text, the same citation number that was originally assigned to the source should be used.
For Example:
A simple approach to treat obesity is to cut food intake (1).
(or)
A recent study (1) has proposed a simple approach to treating obesity by cutting food intake.
(or)
According to Smith (1), a simple and more effective approach to treating obesity is to cut food intake.
(or)
Mobile diet apps available widely in app stores can help accelerate weight loss (1, 3, 6-9).
Reference list
A reference list should be provided at the end of the text. The list should include all the sources cited in the text. The references should be numbered in the order in which they were cited in the text.
The example below shows a list of references formatted in Vancouver style. The following reference list includes a journal, a book, a website, and a conference proceeding. If you use a good citation tool, the reference list will be automatically generated. If you choose to format the references manually, you will find formatting rules for various sources.
Book
#. Surname Initial. Title of book. X ed. Place: Publisher; year.
1. Cooper A. Biophysical chemistry. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Royal Society of Chemistry; 2011.
Chapter in edited book
#. Surname Initial. Title of chapter. In: Surname Initial, editor. Title of book. Place: Publisher; year. p. #-#
1. Taylor G. Principles of molecular genetics. In: Bishop T, Sham P, editors. Analysis of multifactorial disease. Oxford: BIOS Scientific Publishers; 2000. p. 1-14.
Edited book
#. Surname Initial, editor. Title of book. Place: Publisher; year.
1. Browse NL, Black J, Burnard KG, Corbett SA, Thomas WEG, editors. Browse's introduction to the investigation and management of surgical disease. London: Hodder Arnold; 2010.
Journal article / paper (print copy)
#. Surname Initial. Title of article / paper. Name of journal. year;volume(issue):page range
1. Pimentel ECG, König S. Genomic selection for the improvement of meat quality in beef. Journal of Animal Science. 2012;90(10):3418-26.
Journal article / paper (electronic copy)
#. Surname Initial. Title of article / paper. Name of journal. [Internet] year Mon day [cited year Mon day];volume(issue). Available from: URL
1. Sinzinger H, Berent R. Platelet function in the postprandial period. Thrombosis Journal [Internet]. 2012 Sep 3 [cited 2012 Oct 29]; 10(19). Available from: http://www.thrombosisjournal.com/content/10/1/19
If the journal article / paper uses a DOI you can include this at the end of the reference instead of the web address.
1. Sinzinger H, Berent R. Platelet function in the postprandial period. Thrombosis Journal [Internet]. 2012 Sep 3 [cited 2012 Oct 29]; 10(19). doi:10.1186/1477-9560-10-19
Normally this format is used only for journals that do not have a print publication, and that are published only online. For journals that have both print and online publication, use the referencing format for 'Journal article / paper (print copy)', even if you obtained your copy of the article / paper electronically.
Website with author
#. Surname, Initial. Title of specific webpage [Internet]; year Mon day [cited year Mon day]. Available from: URL
1. Riley C, Campbell D. The maths that made Voyager possible [Internet]; 2012 Oct 23 [cited 2012 Nov 15]. Available from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20033940
Website with no author
#. Organisation. Title of specific webpage [Internet]; year Mon day [cited year Mon day]. Available from: URL
1. Royal Society of Chemistry. Business skills for chemists [Internet]; 2012 [cited 2012 Nov 15]. Available from: http://www.rsc.org/learn-chemistry/resource/res00000952/business-skills-for-chemists
Submission checklist
The following list will be useful during the final check of an article before sending it to the journal for review.
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)
Colour figures are clearly marked as being intended for colour reproduction on the Web and in print, or to be reproduced in colour on the Web
