Instruction for Authors

MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION

Papers should be prepared in accordance with the American Medical Association Manual of Style and/or CBE Style Manual: A Guide for Authors, Editors, and Publishers in the Biological Sciences. For additional instructions, please visit http://www.jppt.org. Arrange the manuscript as follows:

Title Page This page should be concise, specific, and should contain the key points of the work. Include the full names, degrees, and academic affiliations of all authors. Provide a running title that consists of fewer than 50 characters. No more than 5 keywords should be placed in alphabetical order and according to the Medical Subject Heading. Indicate the corresponding author, and his/her address, phone, fax, and e-mail.

Abstract The second page should contain the Abstract. With the exception of Editorials, Commentaries, Position Statements, Therapeutic Dilemmas and Bibliographies, all manuscripts require an abstract of less than 250 words. Abstracts for original research manuscripts should be arranged into four paragraphs: Objectives, Methods, Results, and Conclusions. Footnotes and references are not acceptable for an abstract. Abbreviations are given on a separate sheet after the Abstract page.

Text Original Articles should contain 5 subtitles: Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion and References. For experimental investigations of human or animal subjects, the “Methods” section should include a statement regarding appropriate institutional review board (IRB) approval of the project. For those investigators who do not have formal ethics review committees, include a statement indicating that the principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki were followed. For human subject research, a statement should be included that written informed consent was obtained or was not required by the IRB. Patients should be referred to by number; hence, real names/initials should not appear in the text, tables, or illustrations. The manuscript should include appropriate indicators of measurement error or uncertainty (e.g., statistical methods). Results should be presented in a logical sequence. Ideally, results of randomized controlled trials should be reported according to guidelines from the CONSORT statement (www.consort-statement.org). The Discussion should commence with the major findings of the study and conclude with the implications and/or applications of the findings. Review Articles, Case Reports, and Editorials are structured more freely.

References Number references in consecutive numerical order (not alphabetically) as they are first mentioned in the text, tables, and legends with Arabic numerals that are superscripted. If a reference is used more than once, all subsequent citations should use the original reference number. Cite all references in the text or tables. The reference style should be consistent with the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals (http://www.icmje.org/index.html). References should include: 1) author(s) (list all authors and/or editors up to 3; if more than 3, list “et al” after the sixth name); 2) title; 3) journal name as abbreviated in Index Medicus; 4) year; 5) volume number; and 6) inclusive page numbers—in that order. References to books should include: 1) author(s) (list all authors and/or editors up to 3; if more than 3, list “et al” after the third name); 2) chapter title (if any); 3) editor (if any); 4) title of book (italics); 5) city of publication; 6) publisher; and 7) year. Volume and edition numbers, specific pages, and name of translator should be included when appropriate. Web references should include the URL and the date on which information was obtained. Keep a print copy of any reference to Web information. If the URL changes or disappears, readers may contact the corresponding author for a copy of the information.
The reference numbers should be keystroked. The word processing program should not generate the reference numbers, using such features as automatic footnotes or endnotes. The author is responsible for the accuracy and completeness of the references and for their correct text citation. References to personal communication are discouraged; however, authors who name an individual as a source for information in a personal communication be it through conversation, letter, e-mail message, or telephone call, should obtain written permission from the named individual.

Tables These elements should be numbered in the order of their citation in the text. Include a brief, succinct caption and footnotes for each table and figure. Each table should be placed in separate page or file from the manuscript. If a table must be continued, repeat the title on a second page, followed by “cont.”

Illustrations Send illustrations electronically in digital format, EPS or TIFF files; Resolution: 1200 for black and white images, 600 dpi grayscale mode for image blots, and 300 dpi CMYK mode for color images. A figure should be no larger than 16 cm in height at the appropriate resolution. Figure legends should be typed double-spaced on a separate sheet and should be numbered consecutively in the text. The authors will assume the full cost for color illustrations.

Acknowledgments Indicate if an abstract or any portion of the manuscript has been presented at a meeting. Please include the name of the organization, place, and date of presentation. List all persons who have made substantial contributions to the work reported in the manuscript, but who are not authors.

Disclosure Each author must submit a statement that specifies whether he/she has financial or proprietary interest in the subject matter/materials discussed in the manuscript. For reports containing original data, one author should indicate that he/she had full access to all the data in the study and takes responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis. If no conflicts are present the author(s) should use the following statement: The author(s) declare no conflicts or financial interest in any product or service mentioned in the manuscript, including grants, equipment, medications, employment, gifts, and honoraria.

Abbreviations and Units A phrase is spelled out when used for the first time, followed by an appropriate abbreviation. Terms must be spelled out in figure legends and footnotes of tables. If the article contains non-standard abbreviations, a separate list with explanations must be provided. Conventional units are preferred. International System of Units (SI) units given in parentheses or conversion factors may be included in the text/legends.

Drug Names Generic names should be used. However, when brands are used, the brand name and manufacturer name should be noted in parentheses.

MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION

All submissions should be submitted electronically to editor@jppt.org.  The manuscript must be typed double-spaced on standard-sized white bond paper with 1-inch margins and with pages numbered consecutively beginning with the title page.  The file should use the wrap around end-of-line feature (i.e., returns at the end of paragraphs only).  Place two returns after every element, such as title, headings, paragraphs, and figure captions. Manuscript Checklist/Guidelines. In addition, please submit the disclosure and copyright release forms  with submission of the article.

Please use the following guidelines when preparing your manuscript: 1) be consistent—the same elements should be keyed in exactly the same way throughout the manuscript; 2) do not break words at the end of lines—use a hyphen only to hyphenate compounds; 3) enter only one space after the full stop at the end of a sentence; 4) do not justify text—use a ragged right-hand margin; 5) use a double hyphen (-) to indicate a dash in text; 6) do not use the lowercase letter I for 1 (one) or the uppercase letter O for 0 (zero); and 7) the space bar should only be used as a word separator—use TAB when indenting a paragraph or separating columns in a table.

PEER-REVIEW AND ACCEPTANCE

The Editor will assign all articles to individuals with an expertise in the manuscript area. The authors may suggest the names and addresses of several individuals who, in the authors’ views, could provide objective and informed reviews of their work. The Editor reserves the right of final selection of manuscript reviewers. The corresponding author will be contacted regarding the manuscript’s acceptability for publication and suggested revisions. All accepted manuscripts are copyedited, and galley proofs are sent to the author for final approval. Author(s) are responsible for all statements in the work, including the copyeditor’s changes.

COPYRIGHT RELEASE

A copyright release letter will be sent at the time the paper is accepted or may be found at www.ppag.org.

PERMISSIONS

Permission must be obtained from the copyright holder for any figures or tables which have been published earlier.