Manuscript Submission and Editorial Review Policy

The scope of The American Journal of Emergency Medicine is asbroad as the definition of emergency medicine itself, encompassing allactivities concerned with acute medical care. AJEM invites the submissionof original research, reports, correspondence, and opinion relating toacute adult and pediatric medicine and surgery and the related fieldsof trauma, toxicology, critical care, resuscitation, emergency medicalservices, behavioral emergencies, and environmental medicine.

Original contributions will be accepted on the basis of significance,validity, and clarity. Authors will be expected to justify conclusions bythe data presented, maintain a lucid prose style, and describe methodologyin sufficient detail for readers to evaluate results accurately. AJEM,in turn, is committed to a confidential, expeditious, and professionaleditorial process. Reviews will be objective, rigorous, and responsible.

Articles published in AJEM are indexed and abstracted in IndexMedicus, Excerpta Medica, Current Contents/Clinical Medicine,ISI/BIOMED, and BIOSIS.

For the convenience of prospective authors, AJEM is a participatingjournal in the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors'"Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to BiomedicalJournals" (N Engl J Med 1997;336:309-315). This agreement providesfor a standardized manuscript format, allowing authors to submitarticles to any one of over 500 scholarly medical publications withoutrevision simply to accommodate the vagaries of any individual journal'stechnical and stylistic requirements.

REVIEW POLICY

All original contributions, investigations, and reports will be subjectedto multiple-peer review. To protect the integrity and anonymity of thereview process, all reviews will be conducted in double-blinded fashion.To promote quality composition and investigation, legible commentsfrom all referees will accompany returned manuscripts. To encouragecriticism, correspondence, and open discussion of controversial issues,letters to the editor will be printed promptly. As a courtesy to contributorsand to ensure the timeliness of AJEM's content, authors will routinelybe notified of the action taken upon their manuscripts within 10 weeksof submission. Case reports will receive expedited in-house review and will be accepted or rejected without specific comments. All submissions must be reviewed and edited by a native English speaker before submission to AJEM or the manuscript will be returned without review.

GUIDE FOR AUTHORS

We invite submissions on clinical and laboratory research and topicspertinent to adult and pediatric emergency medicine including emergencymedical and health services, trauma, toxicology, resuscitation, behavioralemergencies, critical care, and environmental medicine. In generalAJEM does not publish surveys, papers that focus on patient satisfaction,quality assurance, or didactics. The following are journalfeatures for which we invite submissions:
ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTIONS: Reports of new clinical and laboratoryinvestigations and research. Original Contributions should contain a power analysis to ensureadequate sample size.
BRIEF REPORTS: Short papers, series of cases, and preliminary reportsof work in progress; studies with small numbers pointing to the need forfurther investigation. Brief reports should be limited to 2,000 words of text(exclusive of tables, references, and figure legends).
RESEARCH SEMINARS: Discussions of the history, methodology, andfuture of a particular area or subject in emergency medicine research.

REVIEWS: Definitive, in-depth, state-of-the-art reviews of clinical andresearch subjects. Unsolicited reviews are not generally published inAJEM. Before submitting any unsolicited reviews, please forward anoutline to the Editor for consideration.
THERAPEUTICS: Detailed reviews of important devices and drugsused in the practice of emergency medicine.
DIAGNOSTICS: Concise articles guiding clinical practice, with referencesto additional, authoritative sources.
CONTROVERSIES: Editorial viewpoints on current controversies.
CLINICAL NOTES: Descriptions of new techniques and procedures inemergency medicine practice and investigation.
CORRESPONDENCE: Letters to the editor are limited to 800 wordsof text (exclusive of references, tables, and figure legends). Thesesubmissions should not contain an abstract.
CASE REPORTS: Single case reports must be <800 words and include an abstract of <250 words. Case reports now require abstracts for publication in the journal alone. Full reports appear online only.

Cover Letter

A scanned (pdf) cover letter accompanying all submitted manuscripts must (1) be signed by all authors, and (2) contain the following language: "Themanuscript, as submitted or its essence in another version, is not underconsideration for publication elsewhere, and will not be publishedelsewhere while under consideration by AJEM. The authors have nocommercial associations or sources of support that might pose aconflict of interest. All authors have made substantive contributions tothe study, and all authors endorse the data and conclusions." Authorswith a potential conflict of interest should cite it in the cover letter.

Author Responsibility

Submissions are reviewed for possible publication with the understandingthat they are original and not simultaneously under considerationby another journal. Accepted manuscripts become the propertyof AJEM and may not be published elsewhere without the written permissionof AJEM. Any material previously published elsewhere mustbe accompanied by written consent of its author and publisher whensubmitted to AJEM. Photographs of an identifiable subject should beaccompanied by a release signed by the subject or responsible partyauthorizing publication. If required, institutional clearance to publishshould be submitted with the manuscript. AJEM is not responsible forstatements made by any contributor. Authors should keep copies ofall submitted materials. Photographs and figures are not returned,even if a manuscript is not accepted.

Repetitive Publication

Authors submitting papers to this journal must confirm that the paper,as submitted or its essence in another version, has not been publishedelsewhere, is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, and willnot be published elsewhere while under consideration by AJEM. Priorpublication of some content of the paper may not preclude the paper'spublication in AJEM. Authors must provide full information in thecover letter sent with the submitted manuscript on any possiblyrepetitive publication of content, including: (1) reworked data alreadyreported; (2) cases or subjects in a study cohort already described in apublished report; (3) previously reported single or multiple cases; (4)content already published or to be published in another format such as theproceedings of a meeting or symposium, a chapter in a book, or a letter tothe editor; (5) content published in a language other than English.

Conflict of Interest

Authors are expected to disclose any commercial associations orsources of support that might pose a conflict of interest in connection withthe submitted article. All funding sources supporting the work must beacknowledged in a footnote on the title page. All affiliations with orfinancial involvement in any organization on entity with a direct financialinterest in the subject matter or materials of the research discussed (eg,employment, consultancies, stock ownership or other equity interest,patent-licensing arrangements) should be cited in the cover letter.

Human Research and Informed Consent
When appropriate, manuscripts reporting the results of experimentalinvestigations on human subjects should include a statement indicatingapproval by the institution's Human Research Committee.

Author Approval

All accepted manuscripts are subject to copyediting. Authors willreceive page proof of their article before publication.

Manuscript Submission

As of September 1, 2005, all manuscripts (including figures) mustbe submitted to AJEM through our Web site (http://ees.elsevier.com/ajem/ ). Submission items should include separate files for a cover letter,title page, abstract, manuscript text, references, legends for table/figure,tables, and figures. Revised manuscripts should also be accompanied bya unique file (separate from the covering letter) with responses toreviewers' comments.The preferred order of files for electronics submission is as follows:cover letter, response to reviews (revised manuscripts only), title page,manuscript file(s), table(s), figure(s). Files should be labelled withappropriate and descriptive file names (e.g., SmithText.doc, Fig1.eps, Table3.doc). Upload text, tables and graphics as separate files. Do notimport figures or tables into the text document; submit them as separatefiles. Complete instructions for electronic artwork submission can befound on the Author Gateway, accessible through the journal home page.

All manuscripts must be submitted double-spaced in English. Please visit http://ees.elsevier.com/ajem to submit your manuscript electronically. The website guides authors stepwise through the creation and uploading of the various files. Note that original source files, not PDF files, are required (except for the scanned version of letter with author signatures). Once the submission files are uploaded the system automaticallygenerates electronic (PDF) proof, which is then used for reviewing.All correspondence, including the Editor's decision and request forrevisions, will be by e-mail.

Copyright

A copyright transfer agreement will be sent to corresponding authorsof each manuscript accepted for publication. Authors are responsiblefor applying for permission for both print and electronic rights for allborrowed materials and are responsible for paying any fees related tothe application of these provisions.

Title Page

On the title page include (1) the title (no more than 100 characters); (2) a short running head offewer than 50 characters/spaces placed at the foot of the page; (3)author(s) names (no more than 10 authors), highest degrees, department(s) and institution(s); (4)name and address of author to whom reprint requests should be sent;(5) source(s) of support in the form of equipment, drugs, or grants(including grant numbers); (6) the name of organization and date ofassembly if the article has been presented; and (7) "Key Words," a listof three to ten important words or phrases for indexing. Whenever possible,use terms from the medical subject heading of Index Medicus.To ensure blinded, impartial review, do not indicate the authors of thearticle on any other page.

Abstract

On the second page include an abstract of fewer than 250 words stating the purposes, basic procedures, main findings, and principal conclusions. Be concise yet detailed.

Author's Inquiries

For inquiries relating to the submission of articles (including electronic submission where available), please visit www.elsevier.com/authors. This site also provides the facility to track accepted articles and set up e-mail alerts to inform you of when an article's status has changed, as well as detailed artwork guidelines, copyright information, frequently asked questions, and more. Please see Information for Authors for individual journal requirements. Contact details for questions arising after acceptance of an article, especially those relating to proofs, are provided after registration of an article for publication.

Text

When appropriate, divide the text into Introduction, Methods, Results,and Discussion.
Introduction: Clearly state the purpose of the article, summarize therationale for the study or observation, give only strictly pertinentreferences, and do not review the subject extensively.Methods: Identify the methods, apparatus, and procedures in sufficientdetail to allow other workers to reproduce the results. Give references toestablished methods, including statistical method; provide references andbrief descriptions of methods that have been published but may not bewell known; describe new or substantially modified methods, givingreasons for using them and evaluating their limitations.Results: Present your results in logical sequence in the text, tables, andillustrations. Do not repeat in the text all of the data in the tables and/orillustrations; emphasize or summarize only important observations.Discussion: Emphasize the new and important aspects of the study andconclusions that follow from them. Do not repeat in detail data given inthe Results sections. Include in the Discussion the implications of thefindings and their limitations and relate the observations to other relevantstudies. Link the conclusions with the goals of the study, but avoidunqualified statements and conclusions not completely supported by yourdata. Avoid claiming priority and alluding to work that has not beencompleted. State new hypotheses when warranted, but clearly label themas such. Recommendations, when appropriate, may be included.

Acknowledgments

Acknowledge only people who have made substantive contributionsto the study, and specify the contributions. Authors are responsible forobtaining written permission from everyone acknowledged by namebecause readers may infer their endorsement of the data and conclusions.

Abbreviations, Symbols, and Nomenclature

Usage should conform to that recommended in Scientific Style and Format (7th edition, 2006), published by the Council of Science Editors. Avoid abbreviations. Do not abbreviate names of organizations, institutions, symptoms, diseases, or anatomic characteristics. Elsevier has developed a list of acceptable abbreviations for use in its journals. For further guidance about manuscript preparation, refer to the "Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals," published by theInternational Committee of Medical Journal Editors (www.icmje.org).

Units of Measurement

Use SI units for linear dimensions, weight, clinical chemistry, andhematology. Use the Celsius scale for all temperatures. The use ofother SI units is encouraged.

References

Cite references consecutively in the text. Do not cite reviewarticles. Use the same number each time the reference appears inthe text. At the conclusion of the article, list references in numericalorder, typed double spaced. Abbreviate journal titles according toIndex Medicus style. Please provide inclusive pagination Punctuationis shown below.

Journal articles: List all authors when three or fewer; when four ormore, list first three and add et al.

Abraham E, Baraff LJ: Oral versus parenteral therapy of pyelonephritis.Curr Ther Res 1982;31:536-542

Books: Capitalize all important words in title.Ludwig S, Fleisher GR, Henretig FM, et al (eds): PediatricEmergency Medicine. Baltimore, MD, Williams & Wilkins,1983, pp 203-209.

Chapter in a book: List editors of book.

Eliastam M: Cardiac emergencies. In Eliastam M, SternbachGL, Bresler MJ (eds): Manual of Emergency Medicine. Chicago,IL, Yearbook, 1983, pp 1-28

References to unpublished information should be included parenthetcallyin the text. Do not cite review articles.

Tables

Type tables double-spaced on separate sheets with number and title.Do not submit tables as photographs. Omit internal horizontal andvertical rules. Cite each table in the text in consecutive order.

Figures

Submit figures electronically as separate files. Complete instructionsfor electronic artwork submission can be found on the Author Gateway,accessible through the journal home page, http://ees.elsevier.com/ajem/ .

Editorial Inquiries

Authors are strongly encouraged to use the Journal gateway for allinquiries regarding submitted manuscripts for the fastest response and mostcurrent information/status. Other inquiries (i.e., unrelated to a submittedmanuscript) can be directed to ajemeditor@aol.com.

Updated August 2011