Guidelines for Authors on Preparing Manuscripts

• Manuscript Submission
• Peer Review
• Manuscript Specifications
• Types of Articles
• Editing

• Authors
• Reviewers

Psychosomatics uses a Web-based manuscript submission and tracking system. To submit your paper, visit the web site at Manuscript Central (see the manuscript submission link at PsychosomaticsJournal.org) and either create an account or use your existing account. Then follow the instructions to upload your manuscript.

The editors welcome contributions of original manuscripts that are not under consideration for publication elsewhere. Authors submitting manuscripts containing data or clinical observations that have already been published or are in press, submitted elsewhere, or to be submitted elsewhere must provide full details of this in a cover letter. Upon acceptance of an article, the author(s) will be required to assign copyright ownership in writing to the Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine. A copyright transfer form, which must be signed by all authors, will be sent by the Publisher.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST POLICY

Authors are required to disclose commercial or similar relationships to products or companies mentioned in or related to the subject matter of the article being submitted. Sources of funding for the article should be acknowledged. Affiliations of authors should include corporate appointments relating to or in connection with products or companies mentioned in the article, or otherwise bearing on the subject matter thereof. Other pertinent financial relationships, such as consultancies, stock ownership or other equity interests or patent-licensing arrangements, should be disclosed to the Editor-in-Chief in the cover letter at the time of submission, and this information should also be listed in the manuscript's Disclosure section, which appears before the Reference section. Questions about this policy should be directed to the Editor-in-Chief.

PUBLIC ACCESS POLICY

Broad access to the research literature and the rights of our authors are important to the Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine and to our Publisher. Read our public access policy for guidelines on deposit mandates for research funded by NIH and others and institutional repositories.

CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION

Psychosomatics requires, as a condition of consideration for publication, registration of clinical trials in a public trials registry. Trials must be registered at or before the onset of patient enrollment. For this purpose, a clinical trial is defined as any research project that prospectively assigns human subjects to intervention or comparison groups to study the cause-and-effect relationship between a medical intervention and a health outcome. Studies designed for other purposes, such as to study pharmacokinetics or major toxicity (for example, phase I trials), would be exempt. Psychosomatics does not advocate one particular registry, but requires authors to register their trial in a registry that meets several criteria. The registry must be accessible to the public at no charge. It must be open to all prospective registrants and managed by a not-for-profit organization. There must be a mechanism to ensure the validity of the registration data, and the registry should be electronically searchable.An acceptable registry must include at minimum the following information: a unique identifying number, a statement of the intervention (or interventions) and comparison (or comparisons) studied, a statement of the study hypothesis, definitions of the primary and secondary outcome measures, eligibility criteria, key trial dates (registration date, anticipated or actual start date, anticipated or actual date of last follow-up, planned or actual date of closure to data entry, and date trial data considered complete), target number of subjects, funding source, and contact information for the principal investigator. To our knowledge, at present, only www.clinicaltrials.gov, sponsored by the United States National Library of Medicine, meets these requirements; there may be other registries, now or in the future, that meet all these requirements. Registration information must be provided in the cover letter at submission.

Peer Review

All manuscripts are subject to peer review to determine the originality, validity, and significance of the submitted material. Criteria for publication include scientific merit, interest to clinicians, and pertinence to clinical psychiatry and the interrelationship of psychiatry and medical practice. The review process is usually completed within 8 weeks, but delays sometimes occur. Reviewers' comments will be returned with rejected manuscripts at the discretion of the editors.

Manuscript Specifications

The first page must contain the article title, authors' names and affiliations, address for correspondence and reprint requests, and phone number. Each article must include an abstract (250-word maximum), a disclosure statement and a reference list.

Disclosure
Every article must contain a Disclosure section, which appears just before the references. In this section, every author must disclose any financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that could potentially and inappropriately influence (bias) their work and conclusions. Examples of potential conflicts of interest include employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications/registrations, and research grants or other funding. The existence of competing interests is common and often inevitable. Competing interests are not inherently unethical, but not declaring them is. Any grant funding or support for the article should be listed in this section. If no conflicts exist, the authors should state: The authors report no proprietary or commercial interest in any product mentioned or concept discussed in this article.

References
References are cited by number in the text in sequence of first appearance and listed numerically at the end of the text. Reference format and punctuation should conform to the Vancouver style. When six or more authors are listed, include the first six and then use et al for the rest. Reference format and punctuation must conform to the following style:

• Kline BR, Smith GH, Gonzales MH: Factitious cancer on the consultation-liaison service. Psychosomatics 1992;33(1):124-135
• Walsh B (ed): Diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder, in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. New York, Bookhouse Press, 1992, pp 23-45

Correct Index Medicus journal abbreviations must be used; those not in Index Medicus should include full journal title. Be sure that all Tables and Figures are mentioned in the text. The publisher will prepare the final layout of all Tables and Figures appropriately, as close to the mention in the text as possible. It is not necessary to indicate where Tables and Figures should be placed. Tables or Figures used from another published source (either exactly or closely adapted) require written permission from the publisher. It is the author's responsibility to obtain this permission upon acceptance of the manuscript by Psychosomatics. Elsevier will not publish any material that has been previously published without this permission.

Tables
Each Table should be typed on a separate page using Word or Excel format. Type all material using double spacing. Tables should be self-contained and self-explanatory. Provide a title for each table and use Arabic numbers. Do not use vertical lines to separate information within the table. Avoid the use of both tables and graphs to illustrate the same results and detailed description of information in either within the text that can be easily observed in the Tables and Figures. Use superscript letters for table legends.

Illustrations
Instructions for submitting Figures may be found on the EES page under Author Information Artwork Guidelines. Original illustrations should be professionally designed, in two dimensions, separately from the text (Tables are included with the Text), and submitted with the manuscript in recent versions of software programs. (Elsevier recommends that only JPEG, EPS, or PDF formats be used for electronic artwork.) Figure size must be at least 8.5 cm (maximum 17.6 cm) in width. Resolution of the jpg images must be at least 300 dpi Color illustrations are encouraged, and may be requested of the corresponding author by the Editor-in-Chief for certain figures; however, the cost of color printing is at the author's expense.

Types of Articles

REVIEWS

Clinically focused reviews in the area of psychosomatic medicine, with special emphasis on topics of relevance to clinical practice, restricted to 3,000 words with a structured abstract of no more than 250 words, a maximum of 5 tables and figures (total) and up to 50 references.

ORIGINAL RESEARCH REPORTS

Articles containing original research should not exceed 3,500 words with a structured abstract of no more than 250 words, a maximum of 5 tables and figures (total), and up to 40 references.

CASE REPORTS

Each case report should be preceded by an introduction and followed by a brief discussion of the significance of the case(s) and suggestions for further study. References should be kept to a minimum. Case reports are restricted to 2,400 words with up to 20 references and may include 1 table or figure.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Brief letters (maximum of 750 words and 5 references) should comment on published articles or other subjects of interest to readers. Comments on published articles are forwarded to authors for reply at the discretion of the editors. The editors reserve the right to edit letters for clarity and length.

Editing

All manuscripts will be edited for clarity, conciseness, and conformity to journal style. Authors are given an opportunity to review editorial changes prior to publication.
• Rights & Permissions

• Contact the Journal Editorial Office

Information for Authors & Reviewers

Authors

MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION

Psychosomatics uses a Web-based manuscript submission and tracking system called Manuscript Central to accelerate the peer review process and shorten the time from manuscript submission to publication decision. Thus, the Journal will not accept manuscripts and letters by mail.

To submit your paper, please visit the manuscript submission site at Manuscript Central and either create an account or use your existing account. Then follow the instructions to upload your manuscript. All submissions must include a title page and be accompanied by a cover letter and list of suggested reviewers.

PUBLIC ACCESS POLICY

Broad access to the research literature and the rights of our authors are important to the Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine and our Publisher. Read our public access policy for guidelines on deposit mandates for research funded by NIH and others and institutional repositories.

AUTHOR REPRINTS

A reprint order form will be sent to the corresponding author before publication of the article.

Click Here for information on ordering bulk reprints for commercial use.

Reviewers

BECOMING A REVIEWER

Individuals interested in reviewing for Psychosomatics should visit Manuscript Central and create an account.

Abstracts of articles within a reviewer's given area of expertise are sent via e-mail to the reviewer. Within 3 days, the reviewer is asked to indicate willingness to review and availability to perform the review within a 2-week time frame.

COMPETING INTERESTS

Most competing interests, financial or otherwise, do not disqualify one from participating in the peer review process, but the Journal requests that you indicate any conflict that you may have in reviewing any particular manuscript. You can also notify the Journal if you feel that you cannot review a manuscript because of a competing interest. This will not affect your reviewer status in any way.

CONFIDENTIALITY

Manuscripts must be reviewed with due respect for authors' confidentiality. In submitting their manuscripts for review, authors entrust the Journal with the results of their scientific work and creative effort, on which their reputation and career may depend. Authors' rights may be violated by disclosure of the confidential details of the review of their manuscript. Reviewers should never copy, share, or discuss a manuscript under review or the data within with anyone without expressed written permission of the Journal's Editor and the authors.