期刊名称：AMYOTROPHIC LATERAL SCLEROSIS AND FRONTOTEMPORAL DEGENERATION
 期刊简介(About the journal)
投稿须知(Instructions to Authors)
编辑部信息(Editorial Board)
About the journal
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Frontotemporal Degeneration is an exciting new initiative. It represents a timely expansion of the journal Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis in response to the clinical, imaging pathological and genetic overlap between ALS and frontotemporal dementia. The expanded journal provides outstanding coverage of research in a wide range of issues related to motor neuron diseases, especially ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) and cognitive decline associated with frontotemporal degeneration. The journal also covers related disorders of the neuroaxis when relevant to these core conditions. The Editorial Board comprises key opinion leaders in ALS and FTD. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Frontotemporal Degeneration aims to disseminate information on new developments in the pathogenesis and management of ALS and FTD, and enhance awareness of these devastating and often under-recognised disorders.
The Editors encourage submission of original research, case reports and short reports on all aspects of ALS, frontotemporal dementia and related conditions, including basic science, genetics, new treatments, clinical trials, epidemiology, clinical neurophysiology, and other clinical and scientific aspects.
Features include:
- In-depth reviews
- Original research
- Basic science
- Epidemiology
- Clinical trials
- Care issues
- Ethics and legal issues
- Health economics
- Case reports
- Point-counterpoint debate
- Correspondence
- Book reviews
- ALS centre reports
Read More: http://informahealthcare.com/page/afd/Description
Abstracting and Indexing
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Frontotemporal Degeneration is currently noted in Chemical Abstracts; CML NEUROLOGY; Current Contents; Excerpta Medica/EMBASE; Index Medicus/Medline; Neuroscience Citation Index and Science Citation Index.
Read More: http://informahealthcare.com/page/afd/Description
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Frontotemporal Degeneration is an exciting new initiative. It represents a timely expansion of the journal Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis in response to the clinical, imaging pathological and genetic overlap between ALS and frontotemporal dementia. The expanded journal provides outstanding coverage of research in a wide range of issues related to motor neuron diseases, especially ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) and cognitive decline associated with frontotemporal degeneration. The journal also covers related disorders of the neuroaxis when relevant to these core conditions. The Editorial Board comprises key opinion leaders in ALS and FTD. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Frontotemporal Degeneration aims to disseminate information on new developments in the pathogenesis and management of ALS and FTD, and enhance awareness of these devastating and often under-recognised disorders.
The Editors encourage submission of original research, case reports and short reports on all aspects of ALS, frontotemporal dementia and related conditions, including basic science, genetics, new treatments, clinical trials, epidemiology, clinical neurophysiology, and other clinical and scientific aspects.
Features include:
- In-depth reviews
- Original research
- Basic science
- Epidemiology
- Clinical trials
- Care issues
- Ethics and legal issues
- Health economics
- Case reports
- Point-counterpoint debate
- Correspondence
- Book reviews
- ALS centre reports
Read More: http://informahealthcare.com/page/afd/Description
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Frontotemporal Degeneration is an exciting new initiative. It represents a timely expansion of the journal Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis in response to the clinical, imaging pathological and genetic overlap between ALS and frontotemporal dementia. The expanded journal provides outstanding coverage of research in a wide range of issues related to motor neuron diseases, especially ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) and cognitive decline associated with frontotemporal degeneration. The journal also covers related disorders of the neuroaxis when relevant to these core conditions. The Editorial Board comprises key opinion leaders in ALS and FTD. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Frontotemporal Degeneration aims to disseminate information on new developments in the pathogenesis and management of ALS and FTD, and enhance awareness of these devastating and often under-recognised disorders.
The Editors encourage submission of original research, case reports and short reports on all aspects of ALS, frontotemporal dementia and related conditions, including basic science, genetics, new treatments, clinical trials, epidemiology, clinical neurophysiology, and other clinical and scientific aspects.
Features include:
- In-depth reviews
- Original research
- Basic science
- Epidemiology
- Clinical trials
- Care issues
- Ethics and legal issues
- Health economics
- Case reports
- Point-counterpoint debate
- Correspondence
- Book reviews
- ALS centre reports
Read More: http://informahealthcare.com/page/afd/Description
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Frontotemporal Degeneration is an exciting new initiative. It represents a timely expansion of the journal Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis in response to the clinical, imaging pathological and genetic overlap between ALS and frontotemporal dementia. The expanded journal provides outstanding coverage of research in a wide range of issues related to motor neuron diseases, especially ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) and cognitive decline associated with frontotemporal degeneration. The journal also covers related disorders of the neuroaxis when relevant to these core conditions. The Editorial Board comprises key opinion leaders in ALS and FTD. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Frontotemporal Degeneration aims to disseminate information on new developments in the pathogenesis and management of ALS and FTD, and enhance awareness of these devastating and often under-recognised disorders.
The Editors encourage submission of original research, case reports and short reports on all aspects of ALS, frontotemporal dementia and related conditions, including basic science, genetics, new treatments, clinical trials, epidemiology, clinical neurophysiology, and other clinical and scientific aspects.
Features include:
- In-depth reviews
- Original research
- Basic science
- Epidemiology
- Clinical trials
- Care issues
- Ethics and legal issues
- Health economics
- Case reports
- Point-counterpoint debate
- Correspondence
- Book reviews
- ALS centre reports
Instructions to Authors
Original articles, reports and reviews is accepted up to 3,000 words in length. Illustrations are welcomed (see separate instruction below). Case reports and other short reports should be approximately 750 words long, with no more than 10 references. Correspondence items should be no more than 750 words in length, with 1 figure or table. Point-counterpoint items and book reviews will normally be commissioned by the Editor, but suggestions are welcomed.
Submission of papers
Submissions to the journal must from April 1st, 2008 be made through an online submission service. Please direct your browser to the following address: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/als.
For first time users, start by creating a new account, and then follow the instructions provided. For existing users, log into your account and then enter your ‘Corresponding Author Centre’. For additional assistance, contact the Editorial Office via e-mail at: gerd.halvorsen@informa.com.
Preparation of manuscripts
Manuscripts should be arranged according to rules stated in the “Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals”; see also: Ann Intern Med 1997;126:36-47, or JAMA 1997;277:927-34. The full document is available at www.icmje.org. The journal specific requirements are detailed below. Manuscripts files should be typed double-spaced in a PC or Mac-compatible text format (preferably in Microsoft Word).
Language - manuscripts should be written in clear and concise scientific English. British spelling is recommended to be used throughout. It is the responsibility of authors to ensure the quality of the language for submitted articles. Colloquial English may not be sufficient and is not necessarily the same as scientific English, for which professional services may be needed (see for example www.internationalscienceediting.com and www.writescienceright.com). A brief language overview will be carried out for articles accepted for publication, but no major changes are accepted at that stage (see also note about author proofs below).
Abbreviations and symbols used must be standard and SI units used throughout. Acronyms should be used sparingly and must be fully explained when first used. Whenever possible, drugs should be given their approved generic name. When a proprietary (brand) name must be used, it should begin with a capital letter and the manufacturer's address details should be given. Statistical analyses must explain the methods used.
Manuscripts should be structured as follows:
1) Title page, 2) Abstract, 3) Keywords, 4) Main text, including; a) Introduction, b) Materials (or patients) and Methods, c) Results d) Discussion; 5) Acknowledgments and/or Disclosure of Interest; 6) References, 7) Legends of Figures and Tables, 8) Tables, 9) Figures.
- Title page - should include: a) Full title (avoid abbreviations or proprietary names in the title) b) Running title (for page heading, max 50 characters), c) All contributing authors with full first and last name, title and affiliation, d) Corresponding author details (to whom all decision letters and page proofs will be communicated, as well as to be noted in the printed manuscript). The title page can be included in the main manuscript file.
- Abstract - A structured abstract of no more than 200 words is required for main research articles, subdivided into the following sequential sections: Objective, Methods, Results and Conclusions. Short Reports, Non-systematic Reviews, Commentaries and Case Reports require a maximum 150-word “block” style, non-structured abstract.
- Keywords - Include in the manuscript file 3-5 keywords representative of your article. These may be used for indexing services and other search facilities for published material.
- Main text - The text for articles and short communications should be structured with the following headings: Introduction, Material and Methods (including statistics, ethics and consent issues), Results and Discussion. The Introduction should assume that the reader is knowledgeable in the field and should, therefore, be as brief as possible. In the Materials and methods section, methods that have been published in detail elsewhere should not be described in detail. Commentaries, Short Reports and Reviews should have headings appropriate for each article type.
- Acknowledgements - Include only those who have made a valuable contribution to the work presented but who do not qualify as authors, with their contribution described. This may include a patient population and funding bodies. Use plain language and avoid adjectives. If appropriate, funding for publication, for writing or editorial assistance may be added. Disclosure of interests (see details below).
- References - in Vancouver style (see details below).
- Table and figure legends - Clearly marked with the heading of each table/figure. The legends should be included last in the main manuscript file.
- Tables – should be included in the main document and created with the table tool in the word processing software. The number of tables and figures should be kept to a minimum. There should preferably not be repetition/overlap of information given in tables/figures/text.
- Figures – should be submitted as separate files in the best possible quality. Please note that you should name the figure files with the same number as they are noted in the text. Read more about accepted formats and quality requirements below.
A Cover Letter should be provided, where authors vouch for the accuracy of the manuscript according to the guidelines given here. This is also the place where authors may inform the Editors of any special circumstances or details regarding the submitted material, including prior publication of the material/parts of the material in a minority language.
References
Only articles closely related to the author's work should be quoted. Exhaustive lists should be avoided. References should follow the ‘Vancouver’ format. In the text they should appear as numbers within brackets i.e. - (1). At the end of the paper they should be listed (double-spaced) in numerical order corresponding to the order of citation in the text. All authors should be quoted for papers with up to six authors; for papers with more than six authors, cite the first six followed by followed by 'et al'. Abbreviations for titles of medical periodicals should conform to those used in the latest edition of Index Medicus. The first and last page numbers for each reference must be provided. Abstracts and letters must be identified as such. Articles that have been accepted for publication but not yet published should be listed as 'in press'.
Examples:
Journal article:
1. Swash M, Leigh PN. Criteria for diagnosis of familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Neuromuscul Disord 1992;2:7-9.
Complete book:
2. Brown R, Meininger V, Swash M, editors. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. London: Martin Dunitz, 1999.
Chapter in book:
3. Parry GJ. Motor neuropathy with multifocal conduction block. In: Dyck PJ, Thomas PK, Griffin JW, et al, editors. Peripheral Neuropathy. 3rd edn. Philadelphia: WB Saunders Co., 1993: 1518-23.
For more detailed instructions, please turn to the uniform guidelines for biomedical journals at the following link: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_requirements.html.
Figures & Tables
Appropriate black-and-white illustrations will be reproduced free of charge. Colour illustrations will be accepted when deemed necessary by the Editor, and the printing costs of these must be borne by the author. Currently, that fee is USD 575 per article.
Graphic elements and illustrations are accepted if providing unique data that cannot be described in the text, and should be clearly marked with Arabic numbers as they appear in the text. To ensure correct placement in the journal layout, note the figure reference (abbreviated) within brackets when referring to the figure in text, e.g. (Fig. 1).
Figure files should be kept as separate files, in TIF, EPS, PDF or JPG format. Providing these formats will guarantee that the quality of the graphics is good throughout the publishing process, if provided with sufficient resolution. Photographic illustrations should be rendered with at least 300 DPI; please use CMYK colour conversion if possible. Graphs made with Office software such as Microsoft Excel, can be provided in their original format to facilitate conversion into printable format with preserved quality. Any other line graphs/illustrations should preferably be provided in EPS format with a resolution of at least 600 DPI to prevent ragged lines when printed.
Tables should be made as few as possible and should present only essential data. They should be created with the ‘Draw Table’ tool in the word processing software, and included on separate sheets, with a title or caption, within in the main manuscript file. Tables should be specifically referred to in the text using Arabic numerals e.g. (Table 3).
Statistic validity
If statistical data are provided the authors are requested to submit an official statement issued by a certified statistician (with a proper affiliation) regarding the validity of methods used.
Ethics and consent
When reporting experiments on human subjects, a statement is required that the procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 1983. Do not use patients' names, initials, or hospital numbers, especially in illustrative material. Papers including animal experiments or clinical trials must be accompanied by an approval by the local ethics committee and, in the case of animal experiments of any relevant local Licensing Authority. Please give date of issue and registration number in a covering letter. Identifying information should not be published in written descriptions, photographs, and pedigrees unless the information is essential for scientific purposes and the patient (or parent or guardian) gives written informed consent for publication. Informed consent for this purpose requires that the patient be shown the manuscript to be published.
Disclosure of Interests
Authors are responsible for recognising and disclosing financial and other conflicts of interest that might affect their work. State relevant financial (e.g. patent or stock ownership, consultancies, speaker's fees), personal, political, intellectual or religious interests, and add as a paragraph at the end of the main manuscript file, before the references. Funding for any type of publication, for example by a commercial company, charity or government department, should be stated. This applies to all types of papers (including, for example, research papers, review papers, letters, editorials and commentaries). A conflict of interest should not prevent someone from being listed as an author if they qualify for authorship. Even if you do not have any interests to disclose, please insert the subheading anyway and just state 'None' in that section.
Contribution to Authorship
A paragraph in the Cover letter explaining each author's contribution is required. To qualify for authorship an individual should meet the following criteria: (a) substantial contributions to conception and design or acquisition of data or to analysis and interpretation of data; (b) drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content, and (c) final approval of the version to be published. Authors should meet conditions (a), (b), and (c). Contributors who do not qualify for authorship should be included in the Acknowledgments section.
Peer review
The Editor-in-Chief and/or Editorial Board members will screen and decide on suitability of submitted manuscripts with reference to the main aims of the journal. A manuscript may be declined/rejected before a peer-review process, if deemed out of scope or if it does not meet general standards of the journal. This may include reasons such as lack of scientific originality and poor design or execution. All other articles will be subject to peer-review by the Editor-in-Chief, someone from the Editorial Board and/or selected experts within each field of expertise. This will ensure the quality and importance of published research. Usually, two reviewers will be invited to evaluate each manuscript and the Editor will take their comments under consideration when making a final decision. The review process is single-blinded, which means that the reviewers know the identity of the authors, but the authors will not know the identity of the reviewers. Letters to the Editor are not peer-reviewed but subject to the Editors´ approval. Manuscript handling times will be kept as short as possible.
Author proofs - final approval
Authors will be notified via e-mail when a manuscript is ready for final approval before publication. This e-mail provides instructions on how to log on to the online author service, where the final version of the manuscript can be downloaded as a printer ready PDF file.
To avoid delays of publication, proofs should be checked immediately and returned electronically through the online service, following the instructions given. Corrections submitted via the telephone are not accepted. Authors are advised that they are responsible for proof-reading of the text, references, tables and figures for absolute accuracy. Additional material or major corrections cannot be accepted at this stage, nor is substantial rewriting of paragraphs permitted. Such extensive changes may result in a delay or withdrawal of the article from publication. Any costs arising from major additional changes may also be charged to the authors.
Copyright
It is a condition of publication that authors assign copyright or license the publication rights of the contents of their articles, including abstracts, to Informa Healthcare. This enables full copyright protection and dissemination of the article and the Journal, to the widest possible readership in electronic and print formats. A document to verify this will be sent upon acceptance for publication. This document should be signed by the corresponding author and returned to the publisher for archiving. To read more about Informa Healthcare’s policy and guidelines regarding copyright, consult the online author service pages: http://informahealthcare.com/page/resources/authors.
Disposal of material
On publication of a paper, all files, artwork and correspondence will be archived for six months before disposal. Authors should contact the Publishers if they wish the material to be returned
Read More: http://informahealthcare.com/page/afd/Description
Original articles, reports and reviews is accepted up to 3,000 words in length. Illustrations are welcomed (see separate instruction below). Case reports and other short reports should be approximately 750 words long, with no more than 10 references. Correspondence items should be no more than 750 words in length, with 1 figure or table. Point-counterpoint items and book reviews will normally be commissioned by the Editor, but suggestions are welcomed.
Submission of papers
Submissions to the journal must from April 1st, 2008 be made through an online submission service. Please direct your browser to the following address: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/als.
For first time users, start by creating a new account, and then follow the instructions provided. For existing users, log into your account and then enter your ‘Corresponding Author Centre’. For additional assistance, contact the Editorial Office via e-mail at: gerd.halvorsen@informa.com.
Preparation of manuscripts
Manuscripts should be arranged according to rules stated in the “Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals”; see also: Ann Intern Med 1997;126:36-47, or JAMA 1997;277:927-34. The full document is available at www.icmje.org. The journal specific requirements are detailed below. Manuscripts files should be typed double-spaced in a PC or Mac-compatible text format (preferably in Microsoft Word).
Language - manuscripts should be written in clear and concise scientific English. British spelling is recommended to be used throughout. It is the responsibility of authors to ensure the quality of the language for submitted articles. Colloquial English may not be sufficient and is not necessarily the same as scientific English, for which professional services may be needed (see for example www.internationalscienceediting.com and www.writescienceright.com). A brief language overview will be carried out for articles accepted for publication, but no major changes are accepted at that stage (see also note about author proofs below).
Abbreviations and symbols used must be standard and SI units used throughout. Acronyms should be used sparingly and must be fully explained when first used. Whenever possible, drugs should be given their approved generic name. When a proprietary (brand) name must be used, it should begin with a capital letter and the manufacturer's address details should be given. Statistical analyses must explain the methods used.
Manuscripts should be structured as follows:
1) Title page, 2) Abstract, 3) Keywords, 4) Main text, including; a) Introduction, b) Materials (or patients) and Methods, c) Results d) Discussion; 5) Acknowledgments and/or Disclosure of Interest; 6) References, 7) Legends of Figures and Tables, 8) Tables, 9) Figures.
- Title page - should include: a) Full title (avoid abbreviations or proprietary names in the title) b) Running title (for page heading, max 50 characters), c) All contributing authors with full first and last name, title and affiliation, d) Corresponding author details (to whom all decision letters and page proofs will be communicated, as well as to be noted in the printed manuscript). The title page can be included in the main manuscript file.
- Abstract - A structured abstract of no more than 200 words is required for main research articles, subdivided into the following sequential sections: Objective, Methods, Results and Conclusions. Short Reports, Non-systematic Reviews, Commentaries and Case Reports require a maximum 150-word “block” style, non-structured abstract.
- Keywords - Include in the manuscript file 3-5 keywords representative of your article. These may be used for indexing services and other search facilities for published material.
- Main text - The text for articles and short communications should be structured with the following headings: Introduction, Material and Methods (including statistics, ethics and consent issues), Results and Discussion. The Introduction should assume that the reader is knowledgeable in the field and should, therefore, be as brief as possible. In the Materials and methods section, methods that have been published in detail elsewhere should not be described in detail. Commentaries, Short Reports and Reviews should have headings appropriate for each article type.
- Acknowledgements - Include only those who have made a valuable contribution to the work presented but who do not qualify as authors, with their contribution described. This may include a patient population and funding bodies. Use plain language and avoid adjectives. If appropriate, funding for publication, for writing or editorial assistance may be added. Disclosure of interests (see details below).
- References - in Vancouver style (see details below).
- Table and figure legends - Clearly marked with the heading of each table/figure. The legends should be included last in the main manuscript file.
- Tables – should be included in the main document and created with the table tool in the word processing software. The number of tables and figures should be kept to a minimum. There should preferably not be repetition/overlap of information given in tables/figures/text.
- Figures – should be submitted as separate files in the best possible quality. Please note that you should name the figure files with the same number as they are noted in the text. Read more about accepted formats and quality requirements below.
A Cover Letter should be provided, where authors vouch for the accuracy of the manuscript according to the guidelines given here. This is also the place where authors may inform the Editors of any special circumstances or details regarding the submitted material, including prior publication of the material/parts of the material in a minority language.
References
Only articles closely related to the author's work should be quoted. Exhaustive lists should be avoided. References should follow the ‘Vancouver’ format. In the text they should appear as numbers within brackets i.e. - (1). At the end of the paper they should be listed (double-spaced) in numerical order corresponding to the order of citation in the text. All authors should be quoted for papers with up to six authors; for papers with more than six authors, cite the first six followed by followed by 'et al'. Abbreviations for titles of medical periodicals should conform to those used in the latest edition of Index Medicus. The first and last page numbers for each reference must be provided. Abstracts and letters must be identified as such. Articles that have been accepted for publication but not yet published should be listed as 'in press'.
Examples:
Journal article:
1. Swash M, Leigh PN. Criteria for diagnosis of familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Neuromuscul Disord 1992;2:7-9.
Complete book:
2. Brown R, Meininger V, Swash M, editors. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. London: Martin Dunitz, 1999.
Chapter in book:
3. Parry GJ. Motor neuropathy with multifocal conduction block. In: Dyck PJ, Thomas PK, Griffin JW, et al, editors. Peripheral Neuropathy. 3rd edn. Philadelphia: WB Saunders Co., 1993: 1518-23.
For more detailed instructions, please turn to the uniform guidelines for biomedical journals at the following link: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_requirements.html.
Figures & Tables
Appropriate black-and-white illustrations will be reproduced free of charge. Colour illustrations will be accepted when deemed necessary by the Editor, and the printing costs of these must be borne by the author. Currently, that fee is USD 575 per article.
Graphic elements and illustrations are accepted if providing unique data that cannot be described in the text, and should be clearly marked with Arabic numbers as they appear in the text. To ensure correct placement in the journal layout, note the figure reference (abbreviated) within brackets when referring to the figure in text, e.g. (Fig. 1).
Figure files should be kept as separate files, in TIF, EPS, PDF or JPG format. Providing these formats will guarantee that the quality of the graphics is good throughout the publishing process, if provided with sufficient resolution. Photographic illustrations should be rendered with at least 300 DPI; please use CMYK colour conversion if possible. Graphs made with Office software such as Microsoft Excel, can be provided in their original format to facilitate conversion into printable format with preserved quality. Any other line graphs/illustrations should preferably be provided in EPS format with a resolution of at least 600 DPI to prevent ragged lines when printed.
Tables should be made as few as possible and should present only essential data. They should be created with the ‘Draw Table’ tool in the word processing software, and included on separate sheets, with a title or caption, within in the main manuscript file. Tables should be specifically referred to in the text using Arabic numerals e.g. (Table 3).
Statistic validity
If statistical data are provided the authors are requested to submit an official statement issued by a certified statistician (with a proper affiliation) regarding the validity of methods used.
Ethics and consent
When reporting experiments on human subjects, a statement is required that the procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 1983. Do not use patients' names, initials, or hospital numbers, especially in illustrative material. Papers including animal experiments or clinical trials must be accompanied by an approval by the local ethics committee and, in the case of animal experiments of any relevant local Licensing Authority. Please give date of issue and registration number in a covering letter. Identifying information should not be published in written descriptions, photographs, and pedigrees unless the information is essential for scientific purposes and the patient (or parent or guardian) gives written informed consent for publication. Informed consent for this purpose requires that the patient be shown the manuscript to be published.
Disclosure of Interests
Authors are responsible for recognising and disclosing financial and other conflicts of interest that might affect their work. State relevant financial (e.g. patent or stock ownership, consultancies, speaker's fees), personal, political, intellectual or religious interests, and add as a paragraph at the end of the main manuscript file, before the references. Funding for any type of publication, for example by a commercial company, charity or government department, should be stated. This applies to all types of papers (including, for example, research papers, review papers, letters, editorials and commentaries). A conflict of interest should not prevent someone from being listed as an author if they qualify for authorship. Even if you do not have any interests to disclose, please insert the subheading anyway and just state 'None' in that section.
Contribution to Authorship
A paragraph in the Cover letter explaining each author's contribution is required. To qualify for authorship an individual should meet the following criteria: (a) substantial contributions to conception and design or acquisition of data or to analysis and interpretation of data; (b) drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content, and (c) final approval of the version to be published. Authors should meet conditions (a), (b), and (c). Contributors who do not qualify for authorship should be included in the Acknowledgments section.
Peer review
The Editor-in-Chief and/or Editorial Board members will screen and decide on suitability of submitted manuscripts with reference to the main aims of the journal. A manuscript may be declined/rejected before a peer-review process, if deemed out of scope or if it does not meet general standards of the journal. This may include reasons such as lack of scientific originality and poor design or execution. All other articles will be subject to peer-review by the Editor-in-Chief, someone from the Editorial Board and/or selected experts within each field of expertise. This will ensure the quality and importance of published research. Usually, two reviewers will be invited to evaluate each manuscript and the Editor will take their comments under consideration when making a final decision. The review process is single-blinded, which means that the reviewers know the identity of the authors, but the authors will not know the identity of the reviewers. Letters to the Editor are not peer-reviewed but subject to the Editors´ approval. Manuscript handling times will be kept as short as possible.
Author proofs - final approval
Authors will be notified via e-mail when a manuscript is ready for final approval before publication. This e-mail provides instructions on how to log on to the online author service, where the final version of the manuscript can be downloaded as a printer ready PDF file.
To avoid delays of publication, proofs should be checked immediately and returned electronically through the online service, following the instructions given. Corrections submitted via the telephone are not accepted. Authors are advised that they are responsible for proof-reading of the text, references, tables and figures for absolute accuracy. Additional material or major corrections cannot be accepted at this stage, nor is substantial rewriting of paragraphs permitted. Such extensive changes may result in a delay or withdrawal of the article from publication. Any costs arising from major additional changes may also be charged to the authors.
Copyright
It is a condition of publication that authors assign copyright or license the publication rights of the contents of their articles, including abstracts, to Informa Healthcare. This enables full copyright protection and dissemination of the article and the Journal, to the widest possible readership in electronic and print formats. A document to verify this will be sent upon acceptance for publication. This document should be signed by the corresponding author and returned to the publisher for archiving. To read more about Informa Healthcare’s policy and guidelines regarding copyright, consult the online author service pages: http://informahealthcare.com/page/resources/authors.
Disposal of material
On publication of a paper, all files, artwork and correspondence will be archived for six months before disposal. Authors should contact the Publishers if they wish the material to be returned
Read More: http://informahealthcare.com/page/afd/Description
Original articles, reports and reviews is accepted up to 3,000 words in length. Illustrations are welcomed (see separate instruction below). Case reports and other short reports should be approximately 750 words long, with no more than 10 references. Correspondence items should be no more than 750 words in length, with 1 figure or table. Point-counterpoint items and book reviews will normally be commissioned by the Editor, but suggestions are welcomed.
Submission of papers
Submissions to the journal must from April 1st, 2008 be made through an online submission service. Please direct your browser to the following address: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/als.
For first time users, start by creating a new account, and then follow the instructions provided. For existing users, log into your account and then enter your ‘Corresponding Author Centre’. For additional assistance, contact the Editorial Office via e-mail at: gerd.halvorsen@informa.com.
Preparation of manuscripts
Manuscripts should be arranged according to rules stated in the “Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals”; see also: Ann Intern Med 1997;126:36-47, or JAMA 1997;277:927-34. The full document is available at www.icmje.org. The journal specific requirements are detailed below. Manuscripts files should be typed double-spaced in a PC or Mac-compatible text format (preferably in Microsoft Word).
Language - manuscripts should be written in clear and concise scientific English. British spelling is recommended to be used throughout. It is the responsibility of authors to ensure the quality of the language for submitted articles. Colloquial English may not be sufficient and is not necessarily the same as scientific English, for which professional services may be needed (see for example www.internationalscienceediting.com and www.writescienceright.com). A brief language overview will be carried out for articles accepted for publication, but no major changes are accepted at that stage (see also note about author proofs below).
Abbreviations and symbols used must be standard and SI units used throughout. Acronyms should be used sparingly and must be fully explained when first used. Whenever possible, drugs should be given their approved generic name. When a proprietary (brand) name must be used, it should begin with a capital letter and the manufacturer's address details should be given. Statistical analyses must explain the methods used.
Manuscripts should be structured as follows:
1) Title page, 2) Abstract, 3) Keywords, 4) Main text, including; a) Introduction, b) Materials (or patients) and Methods, c) Results d) Discussion; 5) Acknowledgments and/or Disclosure of Interest; 6) References, 7) Legends of Figures and Tables, 8) Tables, 9) Figures.
- Title page - should include: a) Full title (avoid abbreviations or proprietary names in the title) b) Running title (for page heading, max 50 characters), c) All contributing authors with full first and last name, title and affiliation, d) Corresponding author details (to whom all decision letters and page proofs will be communicated, as well as to be noted in the printed manuscript). The title page can be included in the main manuscript file.
- Abstract - A structured abstract of no more than 200 words is required for main research articles, subdivided into the following sequential sections: Objective, Methods, Results and Conclusions. Short Reports, Non-systematic Reviews, Commentaries and Case Reports require a maximum 150-word “block” style, non-structured abstract.
- Keywords - Include in the manuscript file 3-5 keywords representative of your article. These may be used for indexing services and other search facilities for published material.
- Main text - The text for articles and short communications should be structured with the following headings: Introduction, Material and Methods (including statistics, ethics and consent issues), Results and Discussion. The Introduction should assume that the reader is knowledgeable in the field and should, therefore, be as brief as possible. In the Materials and methods section, methods that have been published in detail elsewhere should not be described in detail. Commentaries, Short Reports and Reviews should have headings appropriate for each article type.
- Acknowledgements - Include only those who have made a valuable contribution to the work presented but who do not qualify as authors, with their contribution described. This may include a patient population and funding bodies. Use plain language and avoid adjectives. If appropriate, funding for publication, for writing or editorial assistance may be added. Disclosure of interests (see details below).
- References - in Vancouver style (see details below).
- Table and figure legends - Clearly marked with the heading of each table/figure. The legends should be included last in the main manuscript file.
- Tables – should be included in the main document and created with the table tool in the word processing software. The number of tables and figures should be kept to a minimum. There should preferably not be repetition/overlap of information given in tables/figures/text.
- Figures – should be submitted as separate files in the best possible quality. Please note that you should name the figure files with the same number as they are noted in the text. Read more about accepted formats and quality requirements below.
A Cover Letter should be provided, where authors vouch for the accuracy of the manuscript according to the guidelines given here. This is also the place where authors may inform the Editors of any special circumstances or details regarding the submitted material, including prior publication of the material/parts of the material in a minority language.
References
Only articles closely related to the author's work should be quoted. Exhaustive lists should be avoided. References should follow the ‘Vancouver’ format. In the text they should appear as numbers within brackets i.e. - (1). At the end of the paper they should be listed (double-spaced) in numerical order corresponding to the order of citation in the text. All authors should be quoted for papers with up to six authors; for papers with more than six authors, cite the first six followed by followed by 'et al'. Abbreviations for titles of medical periodicals should conform to those used in the latest edition of Index Medicus. The first and last page numbers for each reference must be provided. Abstracts and letters must be identified as such. Articles that have been accepted for publication but not yet published should be listed as 'in press'.
Examples:
Journal article:
1. Swash M, Leigh PN. Criteria for diagnosis of familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Neuromuscul Disord 1992;2:7-9.
Complete book:
2. Brown R, Meininger V, Swash M, editors. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. London: Martin Dunitz, 1999.
Chapter in book:
3. Parry GJ. Motor neuropathy with multifocal conduction block. In: Dyck PJ, Thomas PK, Griffin JW, et al, editors. Peripheral Neuropathy. 3rd edn. Philadelphia: WB Saunders Co., 1993: 1518-23.
For more detailed instructions, please turn to the uniform guidelines for biomedical journals at the following link: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_requirements.html.
Figures & Tables
Appropriate black-and-white illustrations will be reproduced free of charge. Colour illustrations will be accepted when deemed necessary by the Editor, and the printing costs of these must be borne by the author. Currently, that fee is USD 575 per article.
Graphic elements and illustrations are accepted if providing unique data that cannot be described in the text, and should be clearly marked with Arabic numbers as they appear in the text. To ensure correct placement in the journal layout, note the figure reference (abbreviated) within brackets when referring to the figure in text, e.g. (Fig. 1).
Figure files should be kept as separate files, in TIF, EPS, PDF or JPG format. Providing these formats will guarantee that the quality of the graphics is good throughout the publishing process, if provided with sufficient resolution. Photographic illustrations should be rendered with at least 300 DPI; please use CMYK colour conversion if possible. Graphs made with Office software such as Microsoft Excel, can be provided in their original format to facilitate conversion into printable format with preserved quality. Any other line graphs/illustrations should preferably be provided in EPS format with a resolution of at least 600 DPI to prevent ragged lines when printed.
Tables should be made as few as possible and should present only essential data. They should be created with the ‘Draw Table’ tool in the word processing software, and included on separate sheets, with a title or caption, within in the main manuscript file. Tables should be specifically referred to in the text using Arabic numerals e.g. (Table 3).
Statistic validity
If statistical data are provided the authors are requested to submit an official statement issued by a certified statistician (with a proper affiliation) regarding the validity of methods used.
Ethics and consent
When reporting experiments on human subjects, a statement is required that the procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 1983. Do not use patients' names, initials, or hospital numbers, especially in illustrative material. Papers including animal experiments or clinical trials must be accompanied by an approval by the local ethics committee and, in the case of animal experiments of any relevant local Licensing Authority. Please give date of issue and registration number in a covering letter. Identifying information should not be published in written descriptions, photographs, and pedigrees unless the information is essential for scientific purposes and the patient (or parent or guardian) gives written informed consent for publication. Informed consent for this purpose requires that the patient be shown the manuscript to be published.
Disclosure of Interests
Authors are responsible for recognising and disclosing financial and other conflicts of interest that might affect their work. State relevant financial (e.g. patent or stock ownership, consultancies, speaker's fees), personal, political, intellectual or religious interests, and add as a paragraph at the end of the main manuscript file, before the references. Funding for any type of publication, for example by a commercial company, charity or government department, should be stated. This applies to all types of papers (including, for example, research papers, review papers, letters, editorials and commentaries). A conflict of interest should not prevent someone from being listed as an author if they qualify for authorship. Even if you do not have any interests to disclose, please insert the subheading anyway and just state 'None' in that section.
Contribution to Authorship
A paragraph in the Cover letter explaining each author's contribution is required. To qualify for authorship an individual should meet the following criteria: (a) substantial contributions to conception and design or acquisition of data or to analysis and interpretation of data; (b) drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content, and (c) final approval of the version to be published. Authors should meet conditions (a), (b), and (c). Contributors who do not qualify for authorship should be included in the Acknowledgments section.
Peer review
The Editor-in-Chief and/or Editorial Board members will screen and decide on suitability of submitted manuscripts with reference to the main aims of the journal. A manuscript may be declined/rejected before a peer-review process, if deemed out of scope or if it does not meet general standards of the journal. This may include reasons such as lack of scientific originality and poor design or execution. All other articles will be subject to peer-review by the Editor-in-Chief, someone from the Editorial Board and/or selected experts within each field of expertise. This will ensure the quality and importance of published research. Usually, two reviewers will be invited to evaluate each manuscript and the Editor will take their comments under consideration when making a final decision. The review process is single-blinded, which means that the reviewers know the identity of the authors, but the authors will not know the identity of the reviewers. Letters to the Editor are not peer-reviewed but subject to the Editors´ approval. Manuscript handling times will be kept as short as possible.
Author proofs - final approval
Authors will be notified via e-mail when a manuscript is ready for final approval before publication. This e-mail provides instructions on how to log on to the online author service, where the final version of the manuscript can be downloaded as a printer ready PDF file.
To avoid delays of publication, proofs should be checked immediately and returned electronically through the online service, following the instructions given. Corrections submitted via the telephone are not accepted. Authors are advised that they are responsible for proof-reading of the text, references, tables and figures for absolute accuracy. Additional material or major corrections cannot be accepted at this stage, nor is substantial rewriting of paragraphs permitted. Such extensive changes may result in a delay or withdrawal of the article from publication. Any costs arising from major additional changes may also be charged to the authors.
Copyright
It is a condition of publication that authors assign copyright or license the publication rights of the contents of their articles, including abstracts, to Informa Healthcare. This enables full copyright protection and dissemination of the article and the Journal, to the widest possible readership in electronic and print formats. A document to verify this will be sent upon acceptance for publication. This document should be signed by the corresponding author and returned to the publisher for archiving. To read more about Informa Healthcare’s policy and guidelines regarding copyright, consult the online author service pages: http://informahealthcare.com/page/resources/authors.
Disposal of material
On publication of a paper, all files, artwork and correspondence will be archived for six months before disposal. Authors should contact the Publishers if they wish the material to be returned。
All manuscripts should be submitted through the online submission service:
http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/als
Editorial Board
Editorial Office address:
Informa Healthcare, Attn: Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Frontotemporal Degeneration
P.O. Box 3255, SE-103 65 Stockholm, Sweden
Tel: +46 8 440 80 40
Fax: +46 8 440 80 50
E-mail: gerd.halvorsen@informa.com
Editor:
Orla Hardiman - Dublin, Ireland
Associate Editors:
Thomas Bak - Edinburgh, UK
Denise Figlewicz - Toronto, Canada
Leonard van den Berg - Utrecht, The Netherlands
Editorial Advisory Board:
Sharon Abrahams - Edinburgh, Scotland
Ammar Al-Chalalbi - London, UK
Peter Andersen - Umeå, Sweden
Stanley H Appel - Houston, USA
Carmel Armon - Tel Aviv, Israel
Rick Bedlack - Durham, USA
Ettore Beghi - Milan, Italy
Gian D Borasio - Munich, Germany
Robert H Brown Jr. - Boston, USA
Adriano Chiò - Turin, Italy
Merit Cudkowicz - Boston, USA
Mamede de Carvalho - Lisbon, Portugal
Reinhard Dengler - Hannover, Germany
M Gourie-Devi - New Delhi, India
Vivienne Drory - Tel Aviv, Israel
Linda Greensmith - London, UK
Murray Grossman - Philadelphia, USA
John Hodges - Sydney, Australia
Jean-Pierre Julien - Montreal, Canada
Edward J Kasarskis - Lexington, USA
Matthew Kiernan - Sydney, Australia
Albert C Ludolph - Ulm, Germany
Vincent Meininger - Paris, France
Garth Nicholson - Sydney, Australia
John Ravits - Seattle, USA
Wim Robberecht - Leuven, Belgium
Jeffrey Rosenfeld - Fresno, USA
Jeffrey Rothstein - Baltimore, USA
Pamela J Shaw - Sheffield, UK
Jeremy Shefner - Syracuse, USA
Teepu Siddique - Chicago, USA
Vincenzo Silani - Milan, Italy
Zac Simmons - Hershey, USA
Gen Sobue - Nagoya, Japan
Julie Snowden - Salford, UK
Zorica Stevic - Belgrade, Serbia
Michael Strong - London, Canada
Kunio Tashiro - Sapporo, Japan
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