The primary purpose of JOURNAL OF DIABETES AND ITS COMPLICATIONS is to act as a source of information, usable by those caring for patients with diabetes mellitus who are thereby at risk for development of those complications which all too often appear with time. While our primary aim is to assist the practitioner in his/her care of such patients, and to afford access to information that may allow the prevention of such complications, it is the Editors' wish to function as a forum for that information which, while still experimental, may shed light upon current thinking of those active in the fields appropriate to the aims of JOURNAL OF DIABETES AND ITS COMPLICATIONS.

In addition to general articles on clinical aspects of diabetes mellitus, JOURNAL OF DIABETES AND ITS COMPLICATIONS also presents articles on basic research in all areas of diabetes and its related syndromes. Topics covered relevant to the diabetic patient will include diagnosis, pathogenesis, and clinical management of: diabetic retinopathy, neuropathy and nephropathy; peripheral vascular disease and coronary heart disease; gastrointestinal disorders, renal failure and impotence; and hypertension and hyperlipidemia. JOURNAL OF DIABETES AND ITS COMPLICATIONS will also publish papers on the general pathogenesis and prevention of diabetes.

Criteria for initial considerations for papers submitted will be originality, statistical probability of all data, and applicability to the aims of the Journal as a whole. Additional weight will be afforded to those submissions that are concise and comprehensible. All potentially acceptable manuscripts will be subjected to the process of peer review. To aid with the peer review process, at least five suggested reviewers whose expertise falls within the scope of the submitted manuscript must be provided. For each suggested reviewer include full names, addresses (physical and email), phone and fax numbers.

To increase the usefulness of JOURNAL OF DIABETES AND ITS COMPLICATIONS to the readership, submissions in the following categories, IN ADDITION TO ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPTS, will be deemed appropriate for consideration by the Editors and Editorial Board:

Editorials: Comments by organizations or individuals on topics of current interest.
Review Articles: Critical presentations of topics of interest to those active in the prevention and treatment of diabetes and its long-term complications.
Case Reports: Limited to the presentation and discussion of cases that help advance our understanding of diabetes and related syndromes.
Letters to the Editor: Responses to previous articles and editorials.
Announcements: Announcements to pertinent forthcoming meetings or events.

MANUSCRIPTS: All authors listed in a manuscript submitted to the JOURNAL OF DIABETES AND ITS COMPLICATIONS must have contributed substantially to the work, participated in the writing of the manuscript, and seen and approved the submitted version. Individuals who have contributed to the writing of the manuscript but are not listed as an author and have not contributed substantially to the work should be referenced in the Acknowledgements section of the manuscript. Manuscripts should be typewritten, double-spaced, using a standard sized typeface and margins of at least one inch, and should not exceed 25 pages. Manuscripts are accepted for publication with the understanding that their content, or their essential substance, have not been published elsewhere, except in abstract form or by the express consent of the Editors. Materials taken from other sources must be accompanied by written permissions for reproduction, obtained from the original publisher. Statistical methods should be identified. Priority claims are discouraged. Acknowledgements of aid or criticism should be approved by the person whose help is being recognized. All manuscripts must be submitted through the JOURNAL OF DIABETES AND ITS COMPLICATIONS' (JDC) online submission and review web site ( http://ees.elsevier.com/jdc/ ). Authors are requested to submit the text, tables, and artwork in electronic form to this address. Please note that an editable file is needed for production purposes, so please upload your text files as Word (.doc) files, not as a PDF. In an accompanying letter, authors should state that the manuscript, or parts of it, have not been and will not be submitted elsewhere for publication. Authors must include a list of at least five potential reviewers for their manuscript, with complete contact information.

Submission items include a cover letter (a separate file for upload), suggested reviewers, the manuscript (including title page, abstract, manuscript text, references, and table/figure legends), tables and figures. Revised manuscripts should also be accompanied by a unique file (separate from the cover letter) with responses to reviewer's comments. The preferred order of files is as follows: cover letter, suggested reviewers, response to reviews (revised manuscripts only), manuscript file(s), table(s), and figure(s). Files should be labeled with appropriate and descriptive file names (for example, SmithText.doc, Fig1.eps, Table3.doc). Upload text, tables and graphics as separate files. Do not import figures or tables into the text document and do not upload your text as a PDF. Complete instructions for electronic artwork submission can be found at www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions.

Manuscripts must be written in English. The file should follow the general instructions on style/arrangement and, in particular, the reference style of this journal as given in the Information for Authors. The file should be double spaced and 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, figure and table callouts. Be sure to keep a back-up disk for reference and safety.

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 in a footnote on the title page. 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. Such relationships may be disclosed in the Journal at the discretion of the Editor-in-Chief in footnotes appearing on the title page. Questions about this policy should be directed to the Editor-in-Chief.

HUMAN AND NON-HUMAN SUBJECTS Ethical guidelines should be followed in studies on human or non-human subjects and described in the paper. Articles involving research conducted in human subjects must include a statement that approval by the Institutional Review Board was granted. Articles involving research conducted in non-human animals must include a statement indicating approval by the Institutional Review Board and that the care and use of animals conformed to applicable national/international guidelines.

TITLE PAGE: On the title page include title; subtitle (if any); first name, middle initial, and last name of each author, which academic degrees; name of Department(s) and Institution(s) to which the work should be attributed; disclaimer(s) (if any); name and address of author to whom requests for reprints should be sent. The address, telephone and fax numbers of the person responsible for negotiations concerning the manuscripts should be listed separately and clearly labeled as such. Authors will be required to sign a statement conferring the manuscript copyright to JOURNAL OF DIABETES AND ITS COMPLICATIONS.

ABSTRACT AND KEY WORDS: An abstract of 100 to 250 words for articles (including reviews), or 50 to 100 words for brief communications or expanded abstracts, should be typed double-spaced on a separate page. It should cover the main factual points, including statements of the problem, methods, results, and conclusions. The abstract should be accompanied by a list of three of five key words for indexing purposes.

TEXT: Appropriate headings and subheadings should be provided in the methods, results, and discussion sections. Please keep the text clear and concise. Because the readership of JOURNAL OF DIABETES AND ITS COMPLICATIONS spans many disciplines, jargon should be avoided, as it may not be familiar to some readers.

ABBREVIATIONS: Use standard abbreviations and units recommended in the Style Manual for Biological Journals (Fourth edition, Arlington, Va., American Institute of Biological Sciences, 1978). Nonstandard abbreviations should be defined the first time they appear in the text. A list of abbreviations is available in "Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts submitted to Biological Journals," Annals of Internal Medicine 90:95-99, 1979.

DRUG NAMES: Generic names should be used. Proprietary names may be given (parenthetically) with the first use of the generic name.

REFERENCES: References should be cited in the text by name(s) of author(s), followed by year of publication in parentheses. The reference list should be typed alphabetically according to the following style:

For Journal Articles: Vitinghus, E. & Mogensen, C. E. (1982). Graded exercise and protein excretion in diabetic man and the effect of insulin treatment. Kidney International, 43, 215-276.

For Books: Brownlee, M. (Ed.) (1981). Diabetes Mellitus. New York, NY: Garland Press. For Articles in Books: Kohner, E. M. (1981). Assessment and treatment of diabetic retinopathy. In Brownlee, M. (Ed.),Diabetes Mellitus. (pp. 117-212): New York, NY: Garland Press.

For Government Publications: Mackay, B. B. (Ed.) (1979). Twelfth Annual Contractors Conference of the Artificial Kidney Program of the NIAMDD. Bethesda, Maryland: U.S. Government Printing Office (NIH publication No. 81-1979).

Accuracy of references is the responsibility of the author(s) and should be carefully rechecked before submission. References that are in press must state name of journal and, if possible, volume and year. References to unpublished material, if essential, should be incorporated in the appropriate place in the text. Written permission from authors of unpublished data should be obtained and submitted.

ILLUSTRATIONS: To properly submit digital artwork, please see "Artwork Instructions" on http://ees/elsevier.com/jdc/ for details on image formats, sizing, naming conventions, preparation, and file delivery of your digital artwork. Digital artwork that does not conform to these instructions will be rejected.

TABLES: Tables should be typed, double-spaced, on separate sheets with number (Roman) and title. Symbols for units should be confined to column headings. Abbreviations should be kept to a minimum, and those used, explained.

REVIEW AND ACTION: All contributions (including solicited articles) are critically reviewed by the Editors, members of the Editorial Board, and/or appropriate consultant reviewers. Reviewers' comments are usually returned to authors. The decision of the Editors is final. Contact address:

Philip Raskin, MD
Editor-in-Chief
JOURNAL OF DIABETES AND ITS COMPLICATIONS
Department of Internal Medicine
The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
5323 Harry Hines Boulevard
Dallas, Texas 75390-8858, USA
E-mail: jdc@utsouthwestern.edu



Updated September 2009