Clinica Chimica Acta International Journal of Clinical Chemistry and Diagnostic Laboratory Medicine
Guide for Authors
Clinica Chimica Acta publishes original Research Communications in the field of clinical chemistry and laboratory medicine,
defined as the application of chemistry, biochemistry, immunochemistry, biochemical aspects of hematology, toxicology, and molecular
biology to the study of human disease in body fluids, cells or tissues. The objective of the journal is to publish novel information
leading to a better understanding of biological mechanisms of human diseases, their prevention, diagnosis, and patient management. Reports
of an applied clinical character are also welcome. Papers concerned with normal metabolic processes or with constituents of normal cells
or body fluids, such as reports of experimental or clinical studies in animals, are considered when they are clearly and directly relevant
to human disease. Development and evaluation of novel analytical methodologies where applicable to clinical chemistry and laboratory
medicine, including point-of-care testing, and topics on laboratory management and informatics will also be considered.
PUBLICATIONS
Original Research Communications: Peer-reviewed, high-quality, concise research investigations that represent new and significant contributions
to science. Letters to the Editor: commenting on papers published in Clinica Chimica Acta - these should be less
than 400 words and may include 1 illustration or 1 table. Invited Critical Reviews of recent central developments in medical
biochemistry and laboratory medicine. Case reports involving interesting or novel clinical laboratory data. Meeting
announcements.
Consensus recommendations or guidelines on the use of laboratory test for clinical practice will be considered
if they are compiled by a recognized organization or expert panel (e.g. IFCC, IUPAC, AACC, etc). Please contact the appropriate Editor-in-Chief
for consideration. The responsibility for such material remains with the originating body.
Manuscript submission
Manuscripts
should be submitted to the CCA web site at http://ees.elsevier.com/cca Submission is only possible online through this
web site. Authors are required to transmit the text and art of the manuscript in electronic form to this address. A manuscript is accepted
for consideration for publication in Clinica Chimica Acta with the understanding that it has not been published previously (except in
abstract form or as part of a public lecture or academic thesis), that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, that
its publication has been approved by all the authors and tacitly or explicitly by the responsible authorities in the laboratories where
the work was carried out and that, if accepted, it will not be published elsewhere in the same form, in either the same or another language,
without the consent of the Editors-in-Chief and the Publisher. Reference should be made to previously published abstracts, etc. in the
introductory section. Responsibility for the accuracy of the material in the manuscript, including bibliographic citations, lies entirely
with the authors. Relevant ethical approval must be noted for investigations involving human or animal subjects. Authors are invited
to consult any member of the Editorial Board, if in doubt about any aspect of scope, format or content of a proposed paper.
A submission
letter should always accompany the submitted paper, providing the following information:
(a) The full name and address of the corresponding
author (including telephone and fax numbers and E-mail address).
(b) Any known changes of address within a period of six months after
submission of the paper.
(c) The type of paper (Original Research communication, Short communication, Letter to the Editor, Critical
Review etc).
(d) The full title of the submitted paper.
(e) The names, addresses and telephone, fax and e-mail details (where
possible) of three suitable, potential reviewers. If there are compelling reasons for excluding some individuals as potential reviewers,
these may be mentioned. However, the ultimate reviewer selection is at the Editors-in-Chief's discretion.
We assume that all of
the authors have approved the submitted manuscript. If this assumption turns out to be incorrect, the manuscript will be withdrawn and
will not be published.
Closely related papers that are in press or that have been submitted elsewhere must be included with the manuscript.
Submitted manuscripts will generally be published within a week of acceptance and thus be made public.
For the Americas, Japan
and Asia: Alan H. Wu
San Francisco General Hospital
For Europe, Australia and all other territories: Joris Delanghe
University Hospital Gent
Reviews from all areas: Greg S. Makowski
Hartford Hospital
The Editors-in-Chief are responsible for the professional review of the manuscripts. Receipt of manuscripts by the Editors-in-Chief
will be acknowledged. All materials submitted becomes the property of CCA.
Language Editing : Authors who are unsure of correct
English usage should have their manuscript checked by someone proficient in the language. Manuscripts in which the English is difficult
to understand may be returned to the author for revision before scientific review. The external services offered on our website are for
your consideration only: www.elsevier.com/locate/languagepolishing
With Asia Science Editing, Elsevier has negotiated
a rate of EUR 0.024 per word (ca EUR 6 per page). A EUR 10 handling fee per manuscript is added, if payment is by credit card. Different
rates apply for mathematic-based manuscripts. Turnaround time is typically 5 days.
For all third party language editing recommendations,
all interaction and responsibility is between the Author and the Language Editor. Language editing should not be confused with the copy-editing
that takes place during the production process after a manuscript has been accepted.
Ethics of Experimentation: Scientific
investigations involving humans or animals must have approval of the appropriate ethics committee. When conducting scientific research
using human tissue and which is intended for publication in CCA, authors should follow procedures that are in accordance with the ethical
standards as formulated in the Helsinki Declaration of 1975 (revised 1983). When conducting experiments on animals, these be carried
out in accordance with the EU (86./609/EEC), NIH guidelines, or local or national requirements for the care and use of laboratory animals.
A statement that informed consent was obtained from all subjects must accompany investigations involving humans.
Revision and
publication dates
Manuscripts requiring revision and/or condensation will be returned to the authors by the Editors-in-Chief,
specifying the requested alterations and including the (anonymous) referee reports. Authors are requested to resubmit the revised manuscript
within three months. Papers not resubmitted within three months will be treated as new submissions.
Proofreading
Authors
of Original Research Communications, Review articles and Case Reports will receive proofs as a PDF file by e-mail. As acceptance is based
upon the submitted version of the paper, it is essential that no new material be inserted in the text at the time of proofreading; furthermore,
no alterations to style or meaning will be permitted at this stage. Any new material that the authors may wish to introduce, for reasons
of scientific accuracy, will be checked by the Editors-in-Chief and a charge may be made for corrections. Elsevier will do everything
possible to get your article corrected and published as quickly and accurate as possible. Therefore, it is important to ensure that
all of your corrections are sent back to us in one communication. Subsequent corrections will not be possible, so please ensure
your first sending is complete.
Page charges: There are no submission fees or page charges
Offprints
The
corresponding author will be provided with a free electronic offprint, as a PDF, or alternatively twenty five printed offprints. An offprint
order form, price list and copyright transfer form are sent upon receipt of the manuscript at the Publisher so that (extra) offprints
may be ordered if required. It is essential that copyright be transfered at this stage.
Publication
For enquiries
relating to the submission of articles please visit the journal's homepage at http://www.elsevier.com/locate/cca or http://ees.elsevier.com/cca/.
From there you can also track accepted articles (http://www.elsevier.com/trackarticle) 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.
Contact details for questions arising after acceptance of an article, especially those relating to proofs, are provided after registration
of an article for publication.
PREPARATION OF PAPERS
Authors should consult a recent issue of the journal to make
themselves familiar with the conventions and layout of articles.
The entire text, including figure and table legends and the reference
list, should be double-spaced, leaving margins of approximately 3 cm (1 inch). All pages should be numbered consecutively and carry a
running title, in the upper right corner, starting with the title page of the manuscript. Every new paragraph should be clearly indented.
Do not use right-hand justification.
Title page. Page 1 should be concise, descriptive and informative. It should
include:
(1) The title of the article;
(2) The authors' full names (first name, middle initial(s),and surname); (3) Affiliations
(the name of department (if any), institution, city and state or country where the work was done), indicating which authors are associated
with which affiliation;
(4) Acknowledgement of grant support and of individuals who were of direct help in the preparation of the
study;
(5) Disclaimers, (if any);
(6) The name, address, telephone and fax numbers and E-mail address of the corresponding author
Authors are requested to select a maximum of six key words and to present them on the title page of the typescript. They should cover
precisely the contents of the submitted paper and should give readers sufficient information as to the relevance of the paper to his/her
particular field.
Abstract. Page 2 of the typescript should be reserved for the Abstract which should have no more
than 200 words. This should follow a structured format, sub-divided into subsections entitled "Background"; "Methods"; "Results"; and
"Conclusions". Each subsection should be brief and informative, emphasizing those points that are unique to the paper. Since summaries
are increasingly used by abstracting services which will cut off after a fixed number of words, it is important not to exceed the maximum
number of words and to avoid bibliographic references and non-standard abbreviations.
Text. After the Abstract,
Original Research Communications should be organized in the following format: Introduction, Materials and methods, Results, Discussion,
Acknowledgements, List of abbreviations, References. Introduction
This is a short section in which the authors should clearly
state the reasons for and aims of the investigation. Summarise the rationale for the study and hypothesis tested by it, with brief reference
to relevant previous work. Materials and methods
The section Materials and methods should be detailed enough for readers
to reproduce the experiments. Authors should always refer to other work on the same subject, indicating whether or not their experimental
results are in agreement with previous work. Conclusions drawn from experiments described in the tables or figures can often appear most
conveniently in the Results section. Result and Discussion
The overall conclusions based on the work reported should be
given in the Discussion. In some cases, Results and Discussion sections may more appropriately be combined than separated (at the author's
discretion). Every effort should be made to avoid jargon, to spell out all non-standard abbreviations the first time they are mentioned
and to present the contents of the study as clearly and concisely as possible.
Reports of new or improved methods should be as brief
as is consistent with clarity (up to about 1000 words). They should unequivocally identify the element of novelty claimed and the advantages
over existing technology. Performance characteristics, including effects of interfering substances, comparisons with results of accepted
methods and reference values based on appropriate population samples should be documented by adequate data. Citing of earlier publications
is preferred to repetition of details for reagents, procedures, etc., which are always in print. Nevertheless, the information provided
must suffice to allow readers to duplicate the work or to compare the technique with current practice. Instrument and kit evaluations
usually will not be accepted unless a new principle is involved.
Acknowledgements
Only persons who have made substantial
contributions to the work should be acknowledged. Authors are responsible for obtaining written permission from everyone acknowledged
by name because readers may infer their endorsement of the data and conclusions.
The source(s) of support in the form of grants,
equipment, drugs, or all of these should be acknowledged here.
References
Type references double-spaced and
number them consecutively in the order in which they are first quoted in the text. Identify references in text, tables and legends by
arabic numerals [square brackets]. References cited only in tables or in legends to figures should be numbered in accordance with a sequence
established by the first identification in the text of the particular table or illustrations. Please note that all authors should be
listed when six or less; when seven or more, list only the first three and add et al. The names of journals should be abbreviated according
to the list of serial title word abbreviations (ISDS, Paris, l985, ISBN 2-904938-02-8).
Do not include references to personal communications,
unpublished data or manuscripts either 'in preparation' or 'submitted for publication'. Reference to a paper as 'in press' implies that
it has been accepted for publication. Recheck references in the text against the reference list after your manuscript has been revised
and renumber accordingly.
Incomplete references can result in publication delay.
Examples of correct forms of references are
as follows:
[1] Lott JA,Curtis LW, Thompson A, Gechlik GA, Rund DA. Reported alcohol consumption and the serum carbohydrate-deficient
transferrin test in third-year medical students. Clin Chim Acta 1998; 276:121-128
[2] Strunk W, White EB, The elements of style,
third ed. New York: Macmillan, 1979.
[3] Kennedy L. Glycation of haemoglobin and serum proteins. In: Alberti KGMM, DeFronzo RA,
Keen H, Zimmet P, editors. International textbook of Diabetes Mellitus. Chichester: John Wiley, 1992: 985-1007.
Tables
Tables should be used sparingly; they should be used only when the data cannot be presented clearly in the text. Each table, and every
column should be provided with an explanatory heading, with units of measure clearly indicated. The heading of the table should make
its general meaning understandable without reference to the text. Authors are requested to consult recent issues of CCA for the proper
table layout. Cite each table in the text in consecutive order.
The Editor-in-Chief, on accepting a manuscript, may recommend that additional
tables containing important backup data, too extensive to be published in the article, may be published as supplementary material (see
below) or deposited with the National Auxiliary Publications Service or made available by the author(s). In that event, an appropriate
statement will be added to the text. Submit such tables for consideration with the manuscript.
Figures
Figures should
be used to illustrate experimental results clearly. Illustrations for reproduction should normally be about twice the final size required
as figures are often reduced to a one-column width. Symbols, lettering and lines should be sufficiently large and clear to be legible
after reduction. Photographs of tissues, cells, or subcellular components should be included only when they are essential. For more detailed
instructions please visit our artwork instruction pages at http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions.
Colour
Figures
Colour figures may be included in the article in the printed issue, but generally this expense must be borne by the authors.
However, if, together with your accepted article, you submit usable colour figures, then Elsevier will ensure, at no additional charge,
that these figures will appear in colour on the Web (e.g., ScienceDirect and other sites) regardless of whether these illustrations are
reproduced in colour in the printed version. For colour reproduction in print, you will receive information regarding the costs from
Elsevier after receipt of your accepted article. For more detailed instructions please visit our artwork instruction pages at http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions.
[Please note: Because of technical complications that can arise in converting colour figures to "grey scale" (for the printed version
should you not opt for colour in print), please submit in addition usable black-and-white files corresponding to all the colour illustrations.]
As only one figure caption may be used for both colour and black and white versions of figures, please ensure that figure captions are
meaningful for both versions, if applicable.
Figure Legends. Legends should be collated, typed double-spaced, numbered
with Arabic numerals corresponding to the illustrations, and submitted on a separate page. When symbols, arrows, numbers, or letters
are used to identify parts of the illustrations, each should be explained clearly in the legend. For photomicrographs, the internal scale
markers should be defined and the method of staining should be given. The legends should permit the figures to be understood without
reference to the text. If the figure has been previously published, a credit line should be included and a permission letter supplied
by the author.
Figures. Figure legends should be provided as text, placed after the reference section in the main manuscript
file. Number figures consecutively with Arabic numerals. When creating your figures, use font sizes and line weights that will reproduce
clearly and accurately when figures are sized to the appropriate column width. The minimum line weight is 0.5 point. Thinner lines will
not reproduce well. Eliminate all excess white space from the borders of each figure. Do not include figure legends or other extraneous
text in a graphic file. For more detailed instructions please visit our artwork instruction pages at http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions.
Quantities and units
These should be in conformity with international practice relating to the use of SI units: thus concentrations
of solutes of known molecular mass should normally be stated in mol/l or recognized submultiples thereof (nmol/l, etc.). Other solutes
should be expressed in g/l, mg/l, etc. Reagent composition may be specified either in molar terms or in mass or volume of each solute
per liter of final solution (% or w% should not be used). Enzyme activities should be reported in katals or U/l whenever possible and
should be accompanied by a reference to, or a description of, the procedure used for the measurements.
PREPARATION OF SUPPLEMENTARY
MATERIAL
Elsevier now accepts electronic supplementary material to support and enhance your scientific research. Supplementary
files offer additional possibilities for publishing supporting applications, movies, animation sequences, high-resolution images, background
datasets, sound clips, and more. Supplementary files supplied will be published online alongside the electronic version of your article
in Elsevier Web products, including ScienceDirect (http://www.sciencedirect.com). For more detailed instructions please
visit our artwork instruction pages at http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions
PUBLICATION
Copyright
Transfer: Upon acceptance of an article, authors will be asked to sign a "Journal Publishing Agreement" (for more information on
this and copyright see http://www.elsevier.com/copyright). Acceptance of the agreement will ensure the widest possible dissemination
of information. An e-mail (or letter) will be sent to the corresponding author confirming receipt of the manuscript together with a
"Journal Publishing Agreement" form or a link to the online version of this agreement.
US National Institutes of Health (NIH)
voluntary posting ("Public Access") policy.
Elsevier facilitates author posting in connection with the voluntary posting request
of the NIH (referred to as the NIH "Public Access Policy", see http://publicaccess.nih.gov) by submitting the peer-reviewed
author's manuscript directly to PubMed Central on request from the author, immediately after final publication. Please e-mail us at NIHauthtorrequest@elsevier.com
that your work has received NIH funding (with the NIH grant/project number(s), as well as name and e-mail address of the Principal Investigator(s))
and that you intend to respond to the NIH request. Upon such confirmation, Elsevier will submit to PubMed Central on your behalf a version
of your manuscript that will include peer-review comments, for public access posting 12 months after the final publication date. This
will ensure that you will have responded fully to the NIH request policy. There will be no need for you to post your manuscript directly
to PubMed Central, and any such posting is prohibited (although Elsevier will not request that manuscripts authored and posted by US
government employees should be taken down from PubMed Central). Individual modifications to this general policy may apply to some Elsevier
journals and its society publishing partners.
Proofs will be sent to the corresponding author of an article by email in a
PDF file. The proof should be checked carefully and corrections (including replies to a Query Form) should be returned in an e-mail to
Elsevier using the "reply" button within 2 days of receipt. Only printer's errors may be corrected: no changes in or additions to the
edited manuscript will be allowed at this stage.
E-Offprints. The corresponding author, at no cost, will be provided with
a PDF file of the article via e-mail or, alternatively, 25 free paper offprints. The PDF file is a watermarked version of the published
article and includes a cover sheet with the journal cover image and a disclaimer outlining the terms and conditions of use.
Author's
rights
As an author you (or your employer or institution) may do the following:
make copies (print or electronic)
of the article for your own personal use, including for your own classroom teaching use
make copies and distribute such copies
(including through e-mail) of the article to research colleagues, for the personal use by such colleagues (but not commercially or systematically,
e.g., via an e-mail list or list server)
post a pre-print version of the article on Internet websites including electronic
pre-print servers, and to retain indefinitely such version on such servers or sites
post a revised personal version of the
final text of the article (to reflect changes made in the peer review and editing process) on your personal or institutional website
or server, with a link to the journal homepage (on elsevier.com)
present the article at a meeting or conference and to distribute
copies of the article to the delegates attending such a meeting
for your employer, if the article is a 'work for hire', made
within the scope of your employment, you employer may use all or part of the information in the article for other intra-company use(e.g.,
training)
retain patent and trademark rights and rights to any processes or procedure described in the article
include
the article in full or in part in a thesis or dissertation (provided that this is not to be published commercially)
use the
article or any part thereof in a printed compilation of your works, such as collected writings or lecture notes (subsequent to publication
of your article in the journal)
prepare other derivative works, to extend the article into book-length form, or to otherwise
re-use portions or excerpts in other works, with full acknowledgement of its original publication in the journal
Updated
April 2006 - for the latest version please check the journal's web site: www.elsevier.com/locate/cca
