期刊名称：INTERNAL MEDICINE JOURNAL
 期刊简介(About the journal)
投稿须知(Instructions to Authors)
编辑部信息(Editorial Board)
About the journal
The Official Journal of the Adult Medicine Division of The Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP)
Edited by:
Edward Byrne
This major scientific medical journal publishes original medical research, both laboratory and clinical, relating to the study and research of human disease. Papers will be considered from all areas of medical practice and science. The Journal also has a major role in continuing medical education and publishes review articles relevant to physician education. Formerly known as the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Medicine, the new title reflects the Journal's international focus, which is supported by a team of subspecialty Editors who actively recruit influential and topical material in all fields.
Instructions to Authors
Author Guidelines
The Internal Medicine Journal (IMJ) is the official journal of internal medicine of The Royal Australasian College of Physicians. Its purpose is to publish high quality, peer-reviewed, original medical research, both laboratory and clinical, relating to the study and research of human disease. Papers will be considered from all areas of medical practice and science. The Journal also has a major role in continuing medical education and publishes review articles relevant to physician education.
Research work relating exclusively to paediatrics may be best submitted to the College's paediatric publication: Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health.
Types of Manuscript
Original Articles should not exceed 3000 words and should be arranged under the usual headings of Abstract (less than 250 words), Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion and References.
Fast track publications should report research findings of international significance which give new insights into the mechanism of a particular disease or have a potential to alter medical practice. Author's may request consideration for fast tracking. Papers not accepted for fast tracking will be considered as standard publications at the author's request.
Brief Communications should be between 1000 and 1500 words, have no more than 20 references, have a short unstructured abstract no longer than six lines and have no more than two tables or figures. It is possible that articles submitted as full length articles may be considered to be more appropriate as Brief Communications.
Letters to the Editor should not exceed 500 words. Short relevant comments on medical and scientific issues, particularly controversies, are encouraged. Where letters refer to an earlier published paper, authors will be offered right of reply (no more than 500 words).
Case Reports are published only if the report is of exceptional interest (i.e. makes a unique point). They should be restricted to 500 words plus six references, with only one figure or table, and will be subjected to editorial review. The subspecialty editor will decide whether the case study can be upgraded to a Brief Communication, which would include the case study and review of the literature (e.g. highlighting 20 case examples). Case reports may not be subject to review if considered not of sufficient interest by the editor.
Reviews will usually be solicited. The Editorial Board is open to suggestions for appropriate topics to consider and these should be directed to the relevant subspecialty editor or the Assistant Editor-in-Chief. The policy of the Journal is to publish high quality review material covering both medical research and practice. Comprehensive and short reviews are considered. Categories include:
(i) Comprehensive Reviews of up to 3500 words and 35 references,
(ii) Short Reviews of up to 1500 words and 20 references,
(iii) Clinical Perspectives: practical updates of management in major medical disorders of up to 2000 words and 20 references and
(iv) short Systematic Reviews with a maximum length of 3500 words. Authors wishing to submit them should check with the subspecialty editor first for suitablity of the proposed topic. Papers in this category will be considered as Original Research articles.
(v) Current Controversies are of up to 1500 words plus 20 references. In this section attempts will be made to present opposing viewpoints.
A short, unstructured abstract and key words are required for all categories of review.
Position Papers: major management issues from authoritative specialist societies. These will usually be condensed versions or extracts of larger published statements and will run to a maximum of 1500 words plus 20 references. Background material relating to specific recommendations should, as far as possible, appear as explanatory notes after each recommendation rather than in a separate background statement.
Images in Medicine will be published on a regular basis. These short contributions should focus around a single illustration which may be a clinical photograph, histological section or investigation (including but not limited to imaging). Discussion should be brief (no more than 500 words) and up to four references may be included.
Reports of clinicopathological conferences and hypotheses will be considered if of outstanding merit.
Point of view and historical material: articles of up to 2000 words describing historical aspects of medicine or point-of-view articles pertaining to current aspects of medical practice not suitable for publication as scientific articles.
Critically appraised articles (CAA) are appraisals of published articles about diagnostic and screening tests, therapeutic interventions, prognostic and aetiological factors, economic evaluations of health care and quality of care. The CAA format comprises: (1) a one-sentence title of no more than 150 characters, (2) author and institution, (3) Clinical Question(s), a four-part question that details: (i) the population of relevance, (ii) the study factor being assessed, (iii) the comparator against which the intervention/test/exposure is being compared and (iv) the primary outcome measures, (4) Evidence Search (if relevant), describing the databases searched and the literature search strategy used, (5) Study Details, including the study citation followed by a listing of the: (i) design, (ii) setting, (iii) patients, including inclusion and exclusion criteria and (iv) interventions being compared or other study factors being assessed, (6) Results, presenting chief study results in tabular form, (7) Discussion of study limitations and caveats, (8) Clinical Message, a 'bottom-line' summary of study results and (9) Commentary, detailing the implications of study results in light of current knowledge provided by a series editor or solicited expert. Templates for writing CAA can be downloaded from the Journal website. Use of CATmaker software (accessible at http://www.jr2.ox.ac.uk/cebm/docs/catmaker.html) is recommended in calculating outcome results. CAA should not exceed 750 words (excluding expert commentary).
Copyright
Manuscripts will be reviewed for possible publication with the understanding that neither the article nor any part of it has been submitted for publication or will be submitted for publication elsewhere. Papers accepted for publication become the copyright of the journal and all authors will be asked to sign a Transfer of Copyright form. In signing the transfer of copyright it is assumed that authors have obtained permission to use any copyrighted material.
Signed covering statement
Each article should be accompanied by a covering letter, signed and dated by all authors, which states the following. 'This work is not under active consideration for publication, has not been accepted for publication, nor has it been published, in full or in part (except in abstract form). I confirm that the study has been approved by (name of committee) an institutional ethics committee.'
All investigations on human subjects must include a statement that the subject gave informed consent and patient anonymity should be preserved. Any experiments involving animals must be demonstrated to be ethically acceptable and where relevant conform to Australian National Guidelines for animal usage in research. A statement should be presented to that effect.
Authors should declare any financial support or relationships that may pose conflict of interest.
Please note that review of articles cannot proceed until the complete, signed statement is received.
Except where otherwise stated, articles are peer reviewed. The Editor and Publisher reserve the right to modify manuscripts to eliminate ambiguity and repetition, and to improve communication between author and reader.
The Editorial Board reserves the right to refuse any material for publication and advises that authors should retain copies of submitted manuscripts and correspondence as material cannot be returned.
Submission of Manuscripts
All articles submitted to the journal must comply with the following instructions. Failure to do so will result in return of the manuscript and possible delay in publication.
The original plus three copies must be submitted. Submissions should be typed, double-spaced, on one side only of A4 paper. The top, bottom and side margins should be 30 mm. Laser or near-letter quality print is essential. All pages should be numbered consecutively in the top right-hand corner, beginning with the title page.
The manuscript should be presented in the following order: (i) title page, abstract and key words, (ii) text, (iii) acknowledgements, (iv) references, (v) figure legends, (vi) tables (each table, complete with title and footnotes, on a separate page), (vii) figures, (viii) appendices. A word count of the main text and abstract must be included on the title page.
The following guidelines apply to all manuscripts submitted.
Preparation of Manuscripts
Manuscripts should follow the style of the Vancouver agreement detailed in the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals, as presented in JAMA 1997; 277: 927-34. Spelling should conform with the Concise Oxford Dictionary.
Measurements and Abbreviations
All measurements must be given in SI units as outlined in the latest edition of Units, Symbols and Abbreviations: A Guide for Medical and Scientific Editors and Authors (Royal Society of Medicine Press, London). Statistics and measurements should always be given in numerals (i.e. 10 mm), except where the number begins a sentence. When a number does not refer to a unit of measurement it is spelt out, except where the number is greater than nine.
Abbreviations should be used sparingly and only where they ease the reader's task by reducing repetition of long, technical terms. Initially use the word in full, followed by the abbreviation in parentheses. Thereafter use the abbreviation. Abbreviations such as e.g. and i.e. should only be used in parentheses.
Drugs should be referred to by their generic names, rather than brand names.
Title page
The title page should contain (i) title of paper; (ii) short title not exceeding 40 characters (including spaces); (iii) authors' full names, institutions and positions they hold at the time of submission of manuscript; (iv) the name and full postal address, (including telephone, facsimile and email numbers) of the author to whom all correspondence should be sent.
Acknowledgement of grants and other funds of sources should appear after each article, including a frank declaration of the authors' industrial links/affiliations. In keeping with the latest guidelines of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, each author's contribution to the paper is to be quantified. Authors should state the contribution of each author to the intellectual planning of the project, carrying out of the exprimental work, intellectual analysis of the data and writing of the paper. In keeping with College policy, research sponsored directly by tobacco companies will not be considered.
Abstract and key words
Each manuscript should carry a structured abstract of not more than 250 words presented in the following form. Background: Brief statement of relevant work or clinical situation, and hypothesis, if applicable. Aims: Brief statement of the overall aim.Methods: Laboratory or other techniques used, including statistical analysis. Outcome measures clearly stated. Results: Statistically significant results and relevant negative data cited. Conclusions: Referable to the aims of the study and may include suggestions for future action.
Five key words should be supplied below the abstract and should be taken from those recommended by the Index Medicus Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) list.
Text
Authors should consider the use of appropriate subheadings to label sections of their manuscript. The Methods section should carry a statement confirming clearance of the study by an approved institutional ethics committee. Statistical methods used must be specified.
References
In the text, references should be cited using superscript Arabic numerals in the order in which they appear. If cited only in tables or figure legends, number them according to the first identification of the table or figure in the text.
In the reference list, the references should be numbered and listed in order of appearance in the text. Cite the names of all authors when there are six or less; when seven or more list the first six followed by et al. Names of journals should be abbreviated in the style used in Index Medicus.
Reference to unpublished data and personal communications should appear in the text only.
References should be listed in the following form.
Journal article
1 Soter NA, Wasserman SI, Austen KF. Cold urticaria: release into the circulation of histamine and eosinophil chemotactic factor of anaphylaxis during cold challenge. N Engl J Med 1976; 294: 687-90.
Book
2 Kaufmann HE, Baron BA, McDonald MB, Waltman SR (eds). The Cornea. New York: Churchill Livingstone; 1988.
Chapter in a Book
3 McEwen WK, Goodner IK. Secretion of tears and blinking. In: Davson H (ed.). The Eye, Vol. 3, 2nd edn. New York: Academic Press; 1969; 34-78.
Website References
Websites should be treated as any other reference would, according to Vancouver reference style.At the first textual citation, a superscript number should be inserted in the text.The details of that Website, online article or online report should then be recorded in the reference list, in correct numerical order.
Information stored on Websites frequently changes. We require the full Website address wherever possible: including the prefix "http://".
Authors should give as much information as possible. For instance:
author name(s)
editor name(s)
date of 'publication' (when it was written)
date of citation
full URL address
name of online journal (if possible)
Most importantly, apart from the full and correct URL address, is the date of citation.
We advise authors to test each address before submitting an article.
Acknowledgements
The source of financial grants and the contribution of colleagues or institutions should be acknowledged.
Tables
Tables should be self-contained and complement, but not duplicate, information contained in the text. Tables should be numbered consecutively in Arabic numerals, with a descriptive, self-explanatory title above the table. Column headings should be brief, with units of measurement in parentheses. All abbreviations should be explained in a footnote. Tables should be double-spaced and vertical lines should not be used to separate columns.
Footnotes should be designated by symbols in the following order: +, +, , etc; significance values should be indicated by *, **, ***, etc.
Figure legends
Legends should be self-explanatory and typed on a separate sheet. The legend should incorporate definitions of any symbols used and all abbreviations and units of measurement should be explained. Provide a letter stating copyright authorisation if figures have been reproduced from another source.
Figures
Each figure should be on a separate page and lightly labelled on the back (in soft pencil or marker) with the figure number, orientation (noted with an arrow) and name of first author. Adhesive labels should not be used. Figures should be sized to fit within the column (81 mm), intermediate (110 mm) or the full text width (170 mm). Figures should be numbered consecutively in Arabic numerals.
Line figures should be supplied as sharp, black and white graphs or diagrams, drawn professionally or with a computer graphics package; lettering should be included. Photographs should be supplied as glossy, black and white photographic prints or as electronic files. Photographs need to be cropped sufficiently to prevent the subject being recognized, otherwise written permission to publish must be obtained.
If supplied electronically, graphics should be supplied as high resolution (at least 300 d.p.i.) files, saved as EPS or TIFF format. A high-resolution print-out should also be provided. Digital images supplied only as low-resolution print-outs cannot be used.
Colour figures
The cost of reproducing colour figures will be charged to authors. When colour illustrations are preferred, please submit high-quality, glossy colour prints.
Manuscripts on disk
Authors are required to provide their manuscripts on disk; however, disks should not be sent until the manuscript has been accepted.
Authors should use a new disk rather than a reformatted disk and the disk should contain the relevant file(s) only. Authors should supply their accepted paper as formatted text. It is essential that the hardware and the word processing package are specified on the disk (e.g. IBM, Word 7), as well as the first author's surname, the journal title and the manuscript number.
The entire article - including tables - should be supplied as a single file; only electronic figures should be supplied as separate files. The following instructions should be adhered to.
It is essential that the final, revised version of the manuscript and the file saved on disk are identical.
Do not use the carriage return (enter) at the end of lines within a paragraph.
Turn the hyphenation option off.
Do not use l (ell) for 1 (one) or O (upper case oh) for 0 (zero) or o(German esszett) for (beta).
Include all figure legends and tables with their legends, if possible.
Use a tab, not spaces, to separate data points in tables.
If you use a table editor function, ensure that each data point is contained within a unique cell; do not use carriage returns within cells.
Specify any special characters used to represent non-keyboard characters.
On-line guidelines
Authors might want to visit the Blackwell Science website for authors which details further information on the preparation and submission of articles and figures and gives access to the Blackwell House Style guide.
Proof and Offprints
Alterations to the proofs must be limited to misprints or error of fact; major alterations of wording cannot be accepted at this stage. Authors will be charged for excessive corrections. Proofs should be returned to the production office at Blackwell Science Asia within 3 days of receipt. Proofs not returned in this time will be assumed to be acceptable.
Offprints can be ordered at preferential rates when the proofs are returned; the minimum number is 50 copies. The publisher cannot accept responsibility for non-receipt of returned proofs or offprint orders.
Editorial Correspondence
Manuscripts and enquiries should be addressed to:
The Editor-in-Chief,
Internal Medicine Journal,
The Royal Australasian College of Physicians,
145 Macquarie Street,
Sydney,
New South Wales 2000,
Australia.
Receipt of the manuscript will be acknowledged.
Editorial Board
Editorial Information
Editor-in-Chief
Edward Byrne, Melbourne
Continuing Education Deputy Editor-in-Chief
Drew Fitzpatrick, Sydney
Emeritus Editor-in-Chief
Graham MacDonald, Sydney
Assistant Editors-in-Chief
Joseph G. McCormack, Brisbane
Jeffrey Szer, Melbourne
Subspecialty Editors
Intensive Care
Anthony Bell, Hobart
Neurology
William Carroll, Perth
Clinical Pharmacology
Charles Denaro, Brisbane
Nephrology
Zoltan Endre, Brisbane
Geriatric Medicine
Leon Flicker, Perth
Paediatrics
Margaret Harris, Brisbane
Nuclear Medicine
Frederick A. Khafagi, Brisbane
Gastroenterology
Geoffrey McCaughan, Sydney
Infectious Diseases
Joseph G. McCormack, Brisbane
Endocrinology
Stella Milsom, Auckland
Respiratory Medicine
Matthew Naughton, Melbourne
Palliative Medicine
Susan Newton, Newcastle
Continuing Education (Clinical Perspectives)
Christopher Pokorny, Sydney
Internal Medicine
Ian Scott, Brisbane
Haematology
Jeffrey Szer, Melbourne
Oncology
Damien Thomson, Brisbane
Emergency Medicine
John Vinen, Sydney
Immunology
Denis Wakefield, Sydney
Public Health Medicine
David Whiteman, Brisbane
Cardiology
Michael Williams, Dunedin
Rheumatology
John York, Sydney
Honorary Advisory Board
Peter Doherty, Melbourne
Kar Neng Lai, Hong Kong
Richard Larkins, Melbourne
Greg Mundy, San Antonio
Sir Gustav Nossal, Melbourne
Lawrie W. Powell, Brisbane
Nicholas Sauders, Melbourne
John Shine, Sydney
Chorh Chuan Tan, Singapore
Sir David Weatherall, Oxford
Judith Whitworth, Canberra
Chair, Communications and Publications Committee
Peter G. Procopis, Sydney
Manager
Virginia Savickis, Sydney
Editorial Correspondence
Editor-in-Chief
Internal Medicine Journal
The Royal Australasian College of Physicians
145 Macquarie Street
Sydney
NSW 2000
Australia
Tel: +61 2 9256 5431
Fax: +61 2 9252 3310
Email: virginia.savickis@racp.edu.au
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