PEDIATRIC NEUROLOGY: INSTRUCTIONS TO CONTRIBUTORS

Editor-in-Chief

E. Steve Roach, MD

Department of Neurology E583

Nationwide Children's Hospital

700 Children's Drive

Columbus, OH 43205

Telephone: 614-722-4634

FAX: 614-722-4633

pedneurol.editor@nationwidechildrens.org

Philosophy

An excellent journal should consistently influence the future development of the field, not merely catalogue information. Pediatric Neurology will enhance the exchange of ideas and provide essential information to child neurologists and others who treat children with neurological disorders.

Categories of Articles

Topical Reviews:

Review articles should synthesize new and established information on an important clinical subject. Unsolicited review article contributions will be considered, but we suggest that you contact the editorial office regarding the suitability and scope of review article ideas prior to submitting an unsolicited manuscript. Review articles should not exceed 5000 words or 90 references unless approved by the editor. An abstract is required.

Original Articles:

These articles report clinical or laboratory studies of clinical relevance, quality improvement studies, consensus statements, or methodological design summaries from clinical trials. The manuscripts should not exceed 4000 words or 50 references. If the number of authors exceeds 10, the editors reserve the right to print a portion of the names and affiliations separately, preceding the acknowledgment section.

Clinical Observations:

Observations are focused reports that might present a small case series or case report, limited chart review, pilot trial or other clinically relevant studies. These reports should describe new or unusual conditions or provide new insight into the diagnosis, treatment, or pathophysiology of an existing disorder. Clinical observations should not exceed 2500 words and 15 references. An abstract is required.

Perspectives in Pediatric Neurology:

Perspectives in Pediatric Neurology features invited commentaries about provocative or rapidly evolving issues that affect the practice of child neurology or clinical training. These essays may also examine the interface between cultural and medical issues or unveil new hypotheses. These submissions must, without exception, have fewer than 1200 words, no more than two authors, and ten or fewer references. An abstract is not required.

Visual Diagnosis:

These photoessays feature remarkable pictures or a video illustrating a physical finding or a test result. Visual diagnosis submissions must have instructive value and clinical relevance but need not include new observations. These manuscripts should have no more than 500 words (inclusive of references and figure legends), four references, and three authors. A typical submission consists of a one paragraph patient summary, a 1-2 paragraph discussion, and up to 2 images depicting physical signs, radiographic abnormalities, or pathological specimens. An abstract is not required.

Historical Vignettes:

We consider papers that describe the key contributions of individuals or trace the development of disease concepts. Historical vignettes that are likely to be longer than 1200 words should be discussed with the editors prior to submission.

Letters:

Letters to the editor may be considered for the on-line pages but will not be included in the print journal. Letters to the editor typically offer comments on material published in Pediatric Neurology during the past few months or introduce brief ideas or commentary. Letters should not exceed 500 words and 5 references. Letters may include one table or one figure.

Resident-Fellow Authorship Pathway

The editors encourage publication by physicians in training and have developed a pathway to facilitate such scholarly endeavors to the extent possible. Manuscripts summarizing work by a current or recent (completion of training within 18 months prior to submission) resident or fellow will receive special consideration. To be considered for this program, submit with the manuscript a letter from your program director stating the date of training completion and confirming that the work described in the manuscript was begun during the individual's training. Presently, the step-wise review process described below is offered only to physicians training in North America, although we welcome routine submissions from individuals from all regions.

The trainee should be the first author of the submitted manuscript, typically with at least one more senior physician serving as a co-author and project mentor. All submission categories are eligible for consideration, but the manuscript should summarize work done primarily by the trainee. Submissions from residents and fellows will undergo a full review leading to constructive written feedback. If the manuscript is not accepted after this initial review, we will allow a second submission of the revised manuscript provided that the revision is returned to the journal within two months of completion of the first review. At this point, the manuscript can be accepted, accepted with minor or major revisions, or rejected.

These measures are designed to create a constructive and less threatening environment for less experienced authors. However, each accepted manuscript must eventually meet the same standards as the journal's other articles. For this reason, articles evaluated via this program will not be specifically identified at the time of publication.

Submitting a Manuscript

Submissions to Pediatric Neurology must be previously unpublished except in abstract form. No portion of manuscripts submitted to Pediatric Neurology may have been previously published or be simultaneously under review by another journal.Except in unusual circumstances, manuscripts must be submitted electronically. Pediatric Neurology now uses an online manuscript submission and review system. Please go to http://ees.elsevier.com/pnu/to submit your manuscript. The website provides stepwise instructions about how to upload the necessary files. The manuscript system will convert documents to PDF files, which in turn will be available to the reviewers.

Authors who are unable to submit electronically should contact the editorial office (pedneurol.editor@nationwidechildrens.org) to discuss alternative means of submission.

The authors should submit a cover letter containing an assurance that (1) all coauthors have read and agreed to the content of the manuscript, (2) a statement of any commercial in the study design or manuscript preparation or other conflicts of interest by any of the author, and (3) an explanation of any unusual circumstances that could influence the assessment of the manuscript.

The authors may suggest two or three potential referees for their manuscript (please include the individuals' name, e-mail addresses, and institutional affiliations). However, the editors do not guarantee that a suggested reviewer will be assigned to a particular manuscript.

Manuscript Review Process

All manuscripts are initially reviewed by a Pediatric Neurology editor. Submissions that are clearly outside the scope of Pediatric Neurology will be declined without further review. Manuscripts that are improperly formatted or so poorly constructed that it hampers the review process will be declined but with the option of resubmission if the concerns have been addressed. Most submissions are reviewed by two or more qualified reviewers. All correspondence, including the editor's decision and requests for revisions, will be conducted by e-mail. The editor's decisions are final.

Authors may request rapid review and expedited publication of manuscripts they consider to of vital significance to the field. To initiate the rapid review process, the authors should submit a letter with the manuscript outlining the reasons why the manuscript is important. The editor will ensure a rapid review and editorial decision, and successful manuscripts will be considered for publication in the next available issue of the journal.

All accepted manuscripts are subject to copyediting. Before publication, page proofs are sent to the corresponding author, who is responsible for verifying the final manuscript contents, including all copyediting changes. Costs for late changes or additions made by the author that exceed 10% of article length will be charged to the author.

Authors whose manuscript is accepted for publication in Pediatric Neurology must convey the article's copyright exclusively to the publisher, including the right to reproduce all or portions of the article in all forms of media.

Manuscript Preparation

Manuscripts should be written in idiomatic English using appropriate scientific terms. Authors whose native language is not English should seek assistance from a colleague who is proficient in English for help with spelling, syntax, and style issues.

Microsoft Word is the preferred word processing format. Manuscripts should be double-spaced throughout, including references, tables, and figure legends. The sequence of elements is title page, abstract, text, acknowledgments, references, figure legends, and tables.

Abbreviations:

We minimize the use of abbreviations. Abbreviations are not appropriate in the abstract or title. All abbreviations must be defined by writing the full name of the abbreviated term followed by the abbreviation in parentheses at the point of first mention within the body of the manuscript.

Multiple Primary Authors:

Up to three authors may be granted joint first authorship if they have shared equally in the work. Any individual who is designated as an author must have participated actively in the design or conduct of the study, analysis of data, and writing or revising the article for scientific content. Joint first authorship will be designated by a notation that the individuals "were equally responsible for the work described in this paper."

Title page:

The first manuscript page should contain the complete title of the manuscript (not to exceed 120 characters and spaces) and a shorter running title (not to exceed 35 characters and spaces). The title page should list the names, highest academic degrees, and affiliations (academic department and institution) of each author. Please include on the title page the name, address, e-mail address, and telephone and FAX numbers for the individual designated as the corresponding author. Lastly, please add the manuscript's word count.

Abstract:

The abstract should summarize the article's background, results, and conclusions well enough to convey the essence of the article to a reader who does not have immediate access to the full publication. An abstract should be a single paragraph of no more than 250 words for review papers and longer original articles and comparatively shorter for case reports and brief reports. We now utilize a structured abstract format, with large case subheadings designating major headings such as BACKGROUND, METHODS (or PATIENTS), RESULTS, and CONCLUSIONS of each article.

Key words:

Please include four to eight key words. These may be listed at the bottom of the abstract page. For manuscripts that do not require an abstract, list the key words on a separate page following the title page.

Commercial products:

Please utilize generic names for pharmacologic agents, proprietary techniques, or other commercial products. If for some reason it is necessary to include a proprietary name for a product, list the brand name parenthetically after the first use of the generic name. Thereafter, continue to utilize the generic name.

Human Subjects and Animal Studies

Experimental studies involving human subjects must be approved by the appropriate institutional research oversight body and informed consent obtained from each subject or legal guardian when appropriate. Animal experimentation must be approved by the institution's animal research oversight committee. Please document such approval explicitly in the manuscript.

Reference Format

The authors are responsible for the accuracy and completeness of their references. All bibliography entries must be cited within the text or tables. The references must be listed numerically in the order that they are cited within the text or tables. Text citations should appear as superscript Arabic numerals. Once cited, the reference retains the same citation number throughout the manuscript. The reference list must be double-spaced.

List all authors or editors of each cited publication unless there are more than six of them. If a cited publication has more than six authors, list the first three followed by "et al." List the remaining journal citation data in the following order: the title, journal name, year of publication, volume number, issue number, and inclusive page numbers. Journals should be abbreviated as in Index Medicus. For cited book chapters, include the authors (as with the journal entries), chapter title, book editor (if applicable), book title, city of publication, publisher, and year of publication. Volume or edition numbers may or may not be necessary. Whole book citations have the same format aside from the absence of the chapter title. The sample citations below illustrate the order and punctuation of the reference format.

Cited web pages should include the last date accessed by the authors. We recommend that the authors print a file copy of the accessed pages in case the site later becomes dysfunctional.

Only material accessible to the public is included in the reference list. Unpublished manuscripts that have been accepted for publication may be cited in the bibliography, but not manuscripts that are incomplete or still under review. The author's own unpublished work may be mentioned parenthetically within the text as unpublished observations. Another individual's unpublished data should be highlighted parenthetically as a personal communication, being careful to include the individual's name, the date they shared the information, and whether the communication was written or oral. We reserve the right to ask for a copy of an accepted but yet unpublished manuscript as well as for verification of its acceptance.

As of 2013, the reference format in Pediatric Neurology is like that of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). You may select the JAMA format when creating reference lists and text citations with computerized reference management programs.

Shown below are examples of reference citations:

Journal Articles:

1. Lo WD, Lee J, Rusin J, Perkins E, Roach ES. Intracranial hemorrhage in children: an evolving spectrum. Arch Neurol. 2008; 65(12):1629-1633.

2. Lo WD, Ichord RN, Dowling MM, et al. The Pediatric Stroke Recurrence and Recovery Questionnaire: validation in a prospective cohort. Neurology. 2012; 79(9):864-870.

Book Chapter:

3. Vidaurre, JA, Patel, AD. Diagnosis and classification of seizures and epilepsy syndromes. In: Manual of Pediatric Neurology. Weisleder P (ed). Hackensack, NJ: World Scientific Publishing Company; 2012.

Complete Book:

4. Roach ES, Lo WD, Heyer GL. Pediatric Stroke and Cerebrovascular Disorders, 3rd edition. New York, NY: Demos Medical Publishing; 2011.

Website:

5. Autism Speaks. Transition Tool Kit: A guide for families on the journey from adolescence to adulthood, 2011. Available at: http://www.autismspeaks.org/family-services/tool-kits/transition-tool-kit. Accessed October 6, 2012

Illustrations

To facilitate electronic processing of manuscripts, photographic illustrations should be submitted in digital format. Any digital enhancement techniques applied to figure images must be described in detail in the figure legend. Please also include a comparison copy of the same image prior to the modification.

General points

o Make sure you use uniform lettering and sizing of your original artwork.

o Save text in illustrations as 'graphics' or enclose the font.

o Only use the following fonts in your illustrations: Arial, Courier, Times, Symbol.

o Number the illustrations according to their sequence in the text.

o Use a logical naming convention for your artwork files. Ideally, the file name should embed the first author's last name and the figure number.

o Provide captions to illustrations separately.

o Produce images near to the desired size of the printed version.

o Submit each figure as a separate file.

Please do not:

o Supply files that are optimized for screen use (e.g., GIF, BMP, PICT, WPG); the resolution is too low;

o Supply files that are too low in resolution;

o Submit graphics that are disproportionately large for the content.

Please read and follow the Artwork Guideline section of the Author Artwork Instructions PDF guide to be found at http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions. You are urged to visit this site; some excerpts from the detailed information are given here.

Formats

Regardless of the application used, when your electronic artwork is finalized, please 'save as' or convert the images to one of the following formats (note the resolution requirements for line drawings, halftones, and line/halftone combinations given below):

EPS: Vector drawings. Embed the font or save the text as 'graphics'.

TIFF/JPG: Color or grayscale photographs (halftones): always use a minimum of 300 dpi.

TIFF/JPG: Bitmapped line drawings: use a minimum of 1000 dpi.

TIFF/JPG: Combinations bitmapped line/half-tone (color or grayscale): use at least 500 dpi.

If your electronic artwork is created in a Microsoft Office application (Word, PowerPoint, Excel) then please supply 'as is'.

All figures must be referenced within the manuscript text and numbered in the order they are mentioned. Figure legends should describe its illustration in sufficient detail that a reader can interpret the illustration without repeated reference to the manuscript's text. Figure legends should be double spaced and placed in the manuscript after the list of references.

Photographs of identifiable subjects must be accompanied by signed permission from an adult patient, a parent, or legal representative authorizing publication. Please be careful to eliminate names or other potentially identifying data from radiographs or other illustrations.

Color illustrations may be submitted to Pediatric Neurology but any added cost related to their reproduction must be borne by the author. However, color figures may be published in the electronic version of the journal at no cost to the authors. Color prints are not suitable for reproduction as black and white prints. Authors should consult Elsevier's website for guidelines for preparing electronic illustrations: http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions

Video Illustrations

Pediatric Neurology accepts short video illustrations that are accessible in its online edition. Video illustrations are subject to the same documentation of patient or family consent as photographic illustrations. Please also submit one black and white video capture photograph from the video for use in the print journal.

Video illustrations can be treated as another illustration and occur anywhere in an article, at the position as desired and indicated by the submitting author.

Please read and follow the Multimedia section of the Author Artwork Instructions PDF guide to be found at http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions.

Tables

Each table should be typed and double- spaced. Use spaces, not vertical rules, to separate columns. You may need to convert or copy data from statistical or spreadsheet software into a Microsoft Word file in order to preserve the manuscript's formatting.

Number the table pages consecutively with the rest of the manuscript. Tables must be cited within the text and should be identified with Arabic numerals (for example, Table 1 and Table 2) in the order of their text appearance. Please provide a concise title for each table. Some tables will benefit from a brief legend explaining its organization and content. Explanatory notes, and definitions of abbreviations, and source attribution for borrowed material should appear immediately underneath the table's legend. Table footnotes should be designated by symbols (such as *, †, ‡, §, ¶, #, ††, or ‡‡).

Republished Material

We prefer not to use previously published tables or figures in original articles in Pediatric Neurology, although previously printed illustrations may be suitable for reviews, historical vignettes, and selected other papers. Authors who intend to include previously published material must submit written permission to republish the items from both the copyright holder and the author. The source of any republished material should be listed in the bibliography and this entry cited in the appropriate portion of the manuscript along with an appropriate notation that the material was "reprinted with permission from….."

Previously unpublished material that belongs to an individual other than the authors should be acknowledged in the manuscript at the point where the material is used (e.g. "photograph courtesy of Dr. John Smith") and accompanied by written permission to publish the material from the donor.

Any cost associated with the republication is the responsibility of the authors.

Reprints

Reprints may be ordered prior to publication on the form provided by Elsevier. The corresponding author is responsible for ordering reprints for all authors. Reprints ordered after publication of the journal can be ordered at increased cost by special arrangement.

Open Access Option

Pediatric Neurology provides the option of making your article freely available via Science Direct. To avoid any appearance of conflict of interest, you can only opt for open access publication after you have been advised of your article's acceptance for publication. The fee of $3,000 excludes taxes and other potential author fees such as color charges. In some cases, institutions and funding bodies have entered into agreement with Elsevier to meet these fees on behalf of their authors. Details of these agreements are available at http://www.elsevier.com/fundingbodies. Authors who wish to select this option should complete and submit the order form available at http://www.elsevier.com/locate/openaccessform.pdf. Whatever access option you choose, you retain many rights as an author, including the right to post a revised personal version of your article on your own website. Additional information can be found at: http://www.elsevier.com/authorsrights

Public Access Policy Compliance

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) policy requires that NIH-funded investigators submit any final peer-reviewed manuscripts to PubMed Central (PMC) and that these appear on PMC no later than 12 months after final publication. To comply with this HIH Public Access Policy, Elsevier will submit the final peer-reviewed manuscripts (reflecting any changes made by the authors in response to the peer-review process) to PMC on behalf of authors reporting NIH funding of the submitted work. Elsevier will authorize the manuscript's public access posting 12 months after final its publication. Authors should declare their NIH funding when completing the copyright transfer form.

Elsevier has also worked with various other foundations and agencies to ensure compliance with their public access policies. For further details about how these policies are implemented, please see complete information at:

http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/authorsview.authors/fundingbodyagreements.