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INSTRUCTIONS FOR AUTHORS
The Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology is a journal of biological and biomedical aspects of psychiatry, behavioral aspects of pediatrics and child neurology, and developmental aspects of the neurosciences and medicine. The Journal publishes papers encompassing investigative research, treatment techniques, basic sciences, health policy and education, focused reviews, clinical case reports or conferences, and book reviews.
EDITORIAL OFFICE
Send manuscripts by first-class mail to Audrey Shepard, Editorial Coordinator, 67-29 215th Street, Bayside, NY 11364. Telephone: (718) 224-0334; fax: (718) 631-5218.
FORMATS
The Journal will consider original research papers, short communications, reviews, and letters to the editors.
Original research papers should have an Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, Acknowledgments, References, Tables and Figures, and Legends. One subsection level is allowed.
Short communications should have no sections, no more than 6 manuscript pages, and no more than two tables (or figures).
Reviews published in Special Departments are usually invited, but papers of 6-10 manuscript pages will be considered.
Letters can discuss recent Journal papers, provide new information or commentary, or describe a single case report. Letters that are critical of a published paper will be sent to the author(s) for a response. Letters should not exceed 600 words, contain at most one figure or table, and may be subject to editing, abridgment, and peer review. Author(s) will only be informed of acceptance or rejection, and will not be able to review the edited letter before publication. Specific permission to publish should be cited in a cover letter or appended in a postscript.
Book reviews are usually assigned by the Editors, but a contributor interested in preparing a review should write the Editorial Office.
Poems and cartoons will be subject to peer review. Poems may be abridged or edited, in consultation with the author. Cartoons should follow the guidelines for illustrations.
GUIDELINES
Deviations from these Instructions for Authors will generally result in a delay in publication or a return of the manuscript.
MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION AND REVIEW
Send an original plus four copies of the manuscript (including abstract, text, tables and figures and captions, references), plus two sets of camera-ready prints of figures (e.g., glossies). A cover letter should identify the person who will correspond with the Journal, and should state explicitly that the final manuscript has been read and approved for submission by all authors. A submitted manuscript (or any essential part) must not be published or simultaneously submitted to other publications prior to its appearance in this Journal (except for abstracts or press reports from scientific meetings).
Submissions to the Journal will undergo peer review. Manuscript review will generally be completed within 30 days, and publication time is usually expected within 6 months of submission. Manuscripts may be edited for clarity, conciseness, grammar, and conformity to Journal style. Authors will receive page proofs before publication.
Accepted manuscripts become the permanent property of the Journal, and may be republished elsewhere only with the written permission of the publisher. There are no page charges. The Journal is not responsible for lost manuscripts.
PREPARATION OF MANUSCRIPTS
Type or print double-space manuscripts on one side only of white bond paper with ample margins on all sides (at least 1 inch or 2.5 cm). The text should be accompanied by a diskette of the manuscript if possible, or otherwise must be optically scannable. Documents on computer disk should preferably be sent using Macintosh Microsoft Word or MacWrite, but 5.25 inch disks using IBM WordPerfect, Microsoft Word, or Multimate are acceptable. If a diskette cannot be sent, then the manuscript must be able to undergo optical scanning. Dot-matrix printing cannot be optically scanned, but laser-print or letter-quality type can be scanned. If text is word-processed, do not use proportional spacing or compress the printed characters (keep the individual letters from touching each other), and do not justify the right margins (the right edge should be irregular). Do not use footnotes or appendices, but incorporate this information into the text or illustrations.
First Pages
On the first page, give the full title of the paper, full name(s) and highest academic degree(s) of all author(s), the name of the department and institution where the work was done, and other institutional affiliation(s) and title(s). State the names and affiliations of statistical consultants. Support received from any grant, funding source, or commercial interest should be indicated. Also, give name, address, telephone, and fax number of the corresponding author and of the author who will receive requests for reprints. Provide a running title (<45 characters) and a Table of Contents title (<75 characters) if the full title is longer than these limits. To allow a blinded reading by manuscript reviewers, please do not display the authors' name except on this first page, and avoid explicit identifying statements in the text (e.g., "In our prior study, we found...") On the second page, an abstract should appear. The regular text should begin on the third page. Please number all pages consecutively.
Titles
Whenever possible, the titles of papers should provide specific information rather than merely suggest a general topic. Many readers who scan the medical literature in indexing sources see only the titles, and should receive information by scanning. Titles in the Journal should be self-explanatory and self-contained. Rather than a title such as "Conduct Disorder and ADHD," use "Conduct Disorder Is Present in 70% of Children with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder." Please avoid two-part titles and abbreviations.
Abstracts
All submissions, except letters, must be accompanied by an abstract of less than 200 words (or less than 60 words for short communications). The abstract should present the reasons, main findings, key data and statistics, and major conclusions. The abstract should be capable of being fully understood on its own, without any reference to the text itself. Statements that give generalized accounts, such as "Implications will be discussed," are not helpful: Indicate concisely what are seen as the most important implications.
Tables and Illustrations
Each table and figure should be able to stand alone; i.e., contain all explanatory information in the caption. A title and a double-spaced caption, not exceeding 50 words, should be provided for each table and figure. If a figure consists of more than one part, individual parts should have similar dimensions. Tables and figures should be numbered in order of appearance, using Arabic numerals. A list of all tables and figures should be attached at the end of the manuscript.
Each table should appear on a separate sheet. If a table exceeds one manuscript page, then repeat the title on the next page followed by "continured." When percentages are stated, the absolute numbers must also be indicated.
Figures should be professionally drawn and photographed. Computer-drawn figures that do not meet publishing standards will be returned for revision. Lettering and symbols should be clear and large enough to remain legible after the figure has been reduced. Photocopied or dot-matrix figures are unacceptable.
Glossy black-and-white photographs are requested, but color illustrations can be printed by special arrangement with the Editors. On the back of each figure, attach a label indicating the author, title of the paper, figure number, and the top edge. Do not mount the figure on cardboard or expose it to paper clips. Electron photomicrographs should contain internal scale markers.
If photographs of patients are used, either the subjects should not be identifiable or written permission to publish the photograph (for children, from both parents) must accompany the submission. Permission forms are available from the Editors.
Original pen drawings and charts (drawn and lettered in India ink) should be supplied with the manuscript. Illustrations will be returned if requested.
Statistics
In research involving statistical analysis, please include the following: (a) the hypotheses in clearly stated form, (b) the statistical tests used, cited by name, for each data set, (c) the use of either one-tailed or two-tailed tests, and (d) the test value, degree(s) of freedom, and probability for every significant and important nonsignificant result. Use standard deviations rather than standard errors of the mean. For novel or not well-known tests, provide a citation.
References
Authors maintain responsibility for the accuracy of their citations. Text citations will appear preferably at the end of sentences, and will indicate first (A 1990), first and second (A and B 1990), or first plus (A et al. 1990) authors, with year of publication and without a comma. The reference list should identify all coauthors, be alphabetized rather than numbered, and multiple citations to one author should be placed in chronological sequence; the list should be double spaced, with each reference separated by a single line of space. Credit for figures and illustrations should be given in captions and/or text. Personal communications, unpublished data, and manuscripts "in preparation" or "submitted for publication" may be incorporated into the text but not in the reference list. Abbreviations will follow the style of lndex Medicus. Please follow the style of these examples:
Riddle MA, Hardin MT, King R, Scahill L, Woolston JL: Fluoxetine treatment of children and adolescents with Tourette's and obsessive compulsive disorders: Preliminary clinical experience. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 29:45-48, 1990
Courchesne E, Yeung-Courchesne R: Event-related brain potentials. In: Assessment and Diagnosis in Child Psychopathology. Edited by Rutter M, Tuma AH, Lann IS. New York, Guilford Press, 1988, pp 264-299
Adams GR, Montemayor R, Gullotta TP (eds): Biology of Adolescent Behavior and Development. Newbury Park (California), Sage Publications, 1989
Geller B: A double-blind placebo-controlled study of nortriptyline in adolescents with major depression. Washington (DC), National Institute of Mental Health, New Clinical Drug Evaluation Unit (NCDEU) Annual Meeting, 1989 (abstract)
Abbreviations and Medication Names
Most abbreviations are discouraged, except for measurement units. When an abbreviation first appears in the text, it should appear in parentheses and be preceded by the full wording. For standard abbreviations, consult the Style Manual for Biologic Journals, 4th edition (American Institute of Biological Sciences, 1401 Wilson Blvd, Arlington, VA 22209).
Identify medications by generic name. A brand name may also be placed in parentheses; but since brand names are generally used only in a single country, specify the locale in which the proprietary name is used. Proprietary names, but not generic or chemical names, should have initial capital letters. For materials and devices, describe by nonproprietary name, and then indicate (in parentheses) brand name, manufacturer's name, city, state, and country. Be certain to use the brand names of medications or products that are experimental or that are crucial to the replication or interpretation of the study.
Permissions
Materials taken from other sources must be accompanied by written statements from both author and publisher giving permission for reproduction to the Journal. If clearance is also required by the author's institution, these statements should be provided with the manuscript. For papers in press, unpublished data, and personal communications, submit written permission from the first author along with the manuscript.
Patient Confidentiality
Strict anonymity of patients must be maintained. Do not use actual names, initials, dates, or hospital numbers. In describing the personal characteristics of a patient, disguise any potentially identifying information. [The only exception is a photograph of an identifiable patient, for whom written permission for publication has been obtained.]
Informed Consent and Assent
For clinical reports, an explicit description of the informed consent procedures involving both parents, as well as the assent provided by younger adolescents and children, is required in the Methods section. Agreement is required both for consent to research and permission to publish.
Human or Animal Experimentation
Reports of research involving experimental subjects should be accompanied by a statement indicating approval by the Institutional Review Board (or Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee).
Conflict of Interest
All authors are expected to disclose any institutional or commercial affiliations that might pose a conflict of interest regarding the publication of a manuscript. Institutional affiliations, as indicated on the title page, should include all corporate affiliations and any funding sources that support the work. Other types of affiliation, including consultantships, stock ownership, equity interests, arrangements regarding patents, or other vested interests should be disclosed to the Editors in a cover letter at the time of manuscript submission. This information will be held confidentially during the manuscript review process, and will not influence the editorial decision.
If the manuscript is accepted, the readers will need sufficient information to allow them to form their own conclusions, and this may include data concerning affiliations, support, or other special circumstances. Following discussion with the responsible author, the Editors will determine a method for disclosing any relevant information.
Acknowledgments
Thanking individuals involved in the scientific or technical aspects of manuscript preparation should not exceed four typed lines.
REPRINTS
Reprints may be ordered by using the special reprint forms that will accompany the proofs. Reprints ordered after the issue is printed will be charged at a higher rate.
DISCLAIMER
The originality and accuracy of data, statements, and opinions in the Journal are the responsibility and liability of the individual contributors (and advertisers). These statements do not necessarily represent the views of the editors, the publisher, or the Journal.
PUBLISHER
The Journal is published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., 2 Madison Avenue, Larchmont, NY 10538. Telephone: (914) 834-3100; fax: (914) 834-3771; e-mail: info@liebertpub.com |
