Journal Details
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
Instructions for Authors
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
Original arrticles, reports and reviews is accepteed up to 5,000 words in length. Illustrations are welcomed (see below). Case reports and other short reports should be approximately 1,500 words long, with no more than 15 references. Correspondence items should be no more than 1,000 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.
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 Center'. For additional assistance, contact the Editorial Office via e-mail at: als@informa.com.
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.
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.
Examples:
Journal article:
For more detailed instructions, please turn to the uniform guidlelines for biomedical journals at the following link: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_requirements.html
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 750 per printed page.
Graphic elements and illustrations are accepted if providing unique data that can not 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 color 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).
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
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.
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.
Editorial Office address:
