Instructions to Authors Journal of Clinical Neuroscience.
Online Submission of manuscripts
Submission to Journal
of Clinical Neuroscience proceeds online. When submitting a manuscript, full instructions for uploading data and files etc. are
given on the Elsevier Editorial System (EES) website:
You will be guided stepwise
through the creation and uploading of the various files. During the submission process, authors need to provide an electronic version
of their manuscript and a separate electronic version of their abstract. The author should select a set of classifications from a list,
and a category designation for their manuscript (original articles, editorial correspondence, case reports, notices and suggestions for
review articles,etc.) Once the uploading is done, the system automatically generates an electronic (PDF) proof, which is then used for
reviewing. All correspondence, including the Editor's decision and request for revisions, will be done by e-mail.
It is the responsibility
of the authors to create the proper files as instructed above for the electronically submitted manuscript. No hardcopy manuscripts or
illustrations are to be sent to the Editor unless specifically requested.
A paper is accepted for publication on the understanding
that it has not been previously published, except in abstract form, and that it is not simultaneously under consideration by any other
journal. A paper must be accompanied by a covering letter signed by all authors. If accepted, the manuscript shall not be published elsewhere
in the same form, in either the same or another language, without the consent of the authors and Publisher.
Papers that contain
the results of human and/or animal studies will only be accepted for publication if it is made clear that a high standard of ethics was
applied in carrying out the investigations. In the case of invasive studies of humans and animals, papers should include a statement
that the research protocol was approved by the appropriate local ethics committee.
The Editor reserves the right to make editorial
and literary corrections. Any opinions expressed or policies advocated do not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of the Editor,
the Neurosurgical Society of Australasia, or the Publisher.
Copyright In order for us to ensure maximum dissemination
and copyright protection of material published in the Journal, copyright must be explicitly transferred from authors(s) to Publisher.
A copy of the copyright transfer agreement will be sent to the principal author, and must be signed by all authors before
any paper can be published.
We assure you that no limitation will be put on your personal freedom to use material contained in the
paper without requesting permission, provided acknowledgment is made to the Journal as the original source of publication. Preparing
manuscripts These instructions are in accordance with the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors: Uniform requirements
for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals.
Br Med J 1991; 302(67-72).
Instructions for typing:
Allow at least 3 cm margin all round.
Set your line spacing to double space.
Do not justify your text - allow it to run ragged on the
right-hand margin.
Many word processing packages have the justification mode automatically turned on and this must be turned off.
Turn
off the automatic hyphenation option. Only use hyphens when they are part of a word.
Never use the letter 'I' for the number 1. Never
use the letter 'O' for the number 0.
Never use the carriage return (enter) at the end of lines within a paragraph.
Use the carriage return
only at the end of paragraphs or after a heading.
Use normal type for headings. Capitalize the first letter of the word only. Headings
should be ranged to the left hand margin and not centred. Code your headings on the printout only by labelling them (1) for a major heading
or (2) for a minor heading.
Do not underline headings. Do not type them in bold or italic, or type a colon or full stop after them.
Please
use single quotation marks. Only use double quotation marks for quotes within quotes.
If your PC has italics, use sparingly. You may
underline words if you want to indicate italics and this is not available on your word processor.
Always insert a space between a number
and a unit, e.g. 5 mm.
Do not indent lists. However, if preparing a list within a list, use a tab, not a space to indent the sublist.
Bullets, numbers, alphabet characters or dashes may be used but please use rationally and consistently.
Manuscript organization Case Reports should not exceed 1000 words including references and up to a maximum of three (3) figures. Clinical Studies
should not exceed 4000 words including references. Laboratory Studies should not exceed 3000 words including references. Reviews should not exceed 5000 words including references. Short Communication should not exceed 800 words and a maximum
of two (2) figures. Technical Note should not exceed 2500 words including references.
Papers should be set out as
follows, with each section beginning on a separate sheet: title page, abstract, text, acknowledgements, references, tables, captions
to illustrations. Title page:The title page should give the following information: (1) title of the article; (2) initial
and name of each author, with highest academic degrees(s); (3) name and address of the department or institution to which the work should
be attributed; (4) name, address, telephone/fax number and e-mail address of the author responsible for correspondence and to whom requests
for off prints should be sent and (5) sources of support in the form of grants.
Abstracts: This should consist of not more
than 150 words summarising the contents of the article. Below the abstract provide 3-7 key words that will assist in cross-indexing the
article. Whenever possible use terms from the MeSH list of Index Medicus.
Text: Headings should be appropriate to the
nature of the paper. In general those for experimental papers should follow the usual conventions. Other papers can be subdivided as
the author desires; the use of headings enhances readability.
Do not use 'he', 'his' etc. where the sex of the person is unknown;
say 'the patient' etc. Avoid inelegant alternatives such as 'he/she'. Patients should not be automatically designated as 'she' or doctors
as 'he'.
References: The accuracy of references is the responsibility of the author. References should be entered consecutively
by Arabic numerals in parentheses in the text. The reference list should be listed in numerical order on a separate sheet in double or
triple spacing. References to journals should include the author's name and initials (list all authors when six or fewer; when seven
or more, list only the first three and add et al.), full title of paper, journal's title abbreviated, using Index Medicus abbreviations,
year of publication, volume number, first and last page numbers.
For example: Monstein H J, Pedersen K, Haahr P M. Modulation
of cholecystokinin (CCK) gene-expression in a human neuroblastoma cell line: effects of serum on enhanced CCK and c-FOS mRNA expression.
Neuropeptides 1992; 23:107-13. References to books should be set out as follows: Eadie M J. Drug Therapy in Neurology. 1st ed. Edinburgh:
Churchill Livingstone, 1992: 344.
When citing a Churchill Livingstone journal, include the digital object identifier (DOI),
if noted, from the article's title page. Please note the following examples:
Nanduri and Zimniak P (1999) Arch Biochem Biophys
362:167-174, doi: 10.1054/abbi.1998.1009
Tables: Tables should be presented in a separate file. Use only one tab (not spaces)
to separate each column in a table. Do not worry about the alignment of columns on the screen, but if you wish to lay the table out on
the hard copy, set each tab as needed. Each table should be presented on a separate page and should contain only horizontal rules. Do
not submit tables as photographs.
Care should be taken to ensure that all units are included.
A short descriptive title should
appear above each table and any footnotes, suitably identified, should appear below. Ensure that each table is cited in the text.
Figures:
Figures of good quality should be submitted online as separate files. The lettering should be large enough to permit
photographic reduction. The legend should be typed on a page separate from the figure. If there are multiple figures, the legends should
be compiled together on one (1) page (or more if necessary).
Please note that it is the responsibility of authors to produce
and supply artwork at their own cost. For more information, please refer to the (electronic) artwork instructionshttp://www.authors.elsevier.com/artwork
Colourful e-Products: 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) regardless of whether or not these
illustrations are reproduced in colour in the printed version.
Colour Reproduction Reproduction in colour will have to
be approved by the Editor. A limited number of colour figures may be printed in the journal without cost, at the discretion of the Editor,
who will make the judgement based on the academic necessity of the colour illustrations. Otherwise you will receive information regarding
the costs from Elsevier after receipt of your accepted article. For further information on the preparation of electronic artwork, please
see http://authors.elsevier.com/artwork.
Preparation of Supplementary Data (Multimedia Components) Elsevier now accepts
electronic supplementary material to support and enhance your scientific research. Supplementary files offer the author additional possibilities
to publish supporting figures, tables, 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). In order to ensure that your submitted material is directly
usable, please ensure the data is provided in one of our recommended file formats. For more detailed instructions please go to http://www.authors.elsevier.com/artwork
Patient confidentiality: Where illustrations must include recognisable individuals, living or dead and of whatever age, great
care must be taken to ensure that consent for publication has been given. If identifiable features are not essential to the illustration,
please indicate where the illustration can be cropped.
In cases where consent has not been obtained and recognisable features may
appear, it will be necessary to retouch the illustration to mask the eyes or otherwise render the individual 'officially unrecognisable'.
Permission to reproduce borrowed illustrations or tables or identifiable clinical photographs: Written permission to reproduce
borrowed material must be obtained from the original publishers and authors, and submitted with the typescript. Borrowed material should
be acknowledged in the captions in this style: 'Reproduced by the kind permission of (publishers) from (reference)'.
Proofs
One set of page proofs in PDF format will be sent by e-mail to the corresponding Author (if we do not have an e-mail address then paper
proofs will be sent by post). Elsevier now sends PDF proofs which can be annotated; for this you will need to download Adobe Reader version
7 available free from http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html. Instructions on how to annotate PDF files will accompany
the proofs.
If you do not wish to use the PDF annotations function, you may list the corrections (including replies to the Query
Form) and return to Elsevier in an e-mail. Please list your corrections quoting line number. If, for any reason, this is not possible,
then mark the corrections and any other comments (including replies to the Query Form) on a printout of your proof and return by fax,
or scan the pages and e-mail, or by post. Please use this proof only for checking the typesetting, editing, completeness and correctness
of the text, tables and figures. Significant changes to the article as accepted for publication will only be considered at this stage
with permission from the Editor. We will do everything possible to get your article published quickly and accurately. Therefore, it is
important to ensure that all of your corrections are sent back to us in one communication within 48 hours: please check carefully before
replying, as inclusion of any subsequent corrections cannot be guaranteed. Proofreading is solely your responsibility. Note that Elsevier
may proceed with the publication of your article if no response is received.
Contact details for question arising after acceptance
of an article, especially those relating to proofs, are provided when an article is accepted for publication
Proprietary Names
Proprietary names of drugs, instruments etc. should be indicated by the use of initial capital letters.
Abbreviations and
Units All measurements should be expressed in metric units. For more detailed recommendations, authors may consult Baron DN, Clarke
HMcK. Units, Symbols and Abbreviations: A Guide for Medical and Scientific Authors, 6th edition, London, RSM Press, 2008 or
USA equivalent.
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 Enquiries For general Author
Information and Tracking your Article during the editorial process, please visit www.elsevier.com/authors
Contact details for
questions arising after acceptance of an article, especially those relating to proofs, are provided after registration of an article
for publication.
