Guide for Authors
Please direct all general correspondence to the Editorial Office. Authors who wish to submit mini-reviews or reviews, or those who would
like to organise special issues should contact the Editor-in-Chief with their proposals.
We encourage authors to submit their Manuscripts
electronically via our online submission and peer-review tool (see
http://ees.elsevier.com/plefa/).
Fiona Isaac
PLEFA Editorial Production Office
Elsevier
Stover Court
Bampfylde Street
Exeter
Devon EX1 2AH
UK
Tel: +44 1392 285851
Fax: +44 1865 853132
Email:
PLEFA@elsevier.com
Papers should be submitted
in journal style. Failure to do so may lead to significant delays in publication. Spelling may be British or American. Submission of
an article implies that the work described has not been published previously (except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published
lecture or academic thesis), that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, that its publication is approved by all authors
and tacitly or explicitly by the responsible authorities where the work was carried out, and that, if accepted, it will not be published
elsewhere in the same form, in English or in any other language, without the written consent of the Publisher. In an accompanying letter,
the authors should state that they contributed to the manuscript and that they agree to the corresponding author acting on their behalf.
The Editors reserve the right to make editorial and literary corrections. Any opinions expressed or policies advocated do not necessarily
reflect the opinions or policies of the Editors.
Typescripts that contain the results of human and/or animal studies will be accepted
for publication only if it is made clear that a high standard of ethics was applied in carrying out the investigations. In the case of
invasive studies in humans, typescripts should include a statement that the research protocol was approved by a local ethical committee.
These instructions are in accordance with the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, Uniform requirements for manuscripts
submitted to biomedical journals BMJ 302 (1991) 338-341.
Conflict of interest statement
All authors must disclose any financial
and personal relationships with other people or organisations that could inappropriately influence (bias) their work, all within 3 years
of beginning the work submitted. If there are no conflicts of interest, authors should state that there are none.
Presentation
of Manuscripts
Papers should be set out as follows, with each section beginning on a new page: title page, summary, text, acknowledgements,
references, tables, captions to illustrations. The title page should give the following information: (1) title of the article, (2) initials
and surname of each author, (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 (5) sources of support in the form of grants.
Authors may suggest three potential reviewers by submitting relevant names, postal addresses and email addresses.
The summary
should consist of not more than 150 words summarising the contents of the article. The text should be arranged as follows: (1) Introduction,
(2) Patients and Methods, or Materials and Methods, (3) Results, (4) Discussion and Conclusions and (5) Acknowledgements.
Other papers
can be sub-divided as the author desires: the use of headings in such papers enhances readability. Normally only two categories of headings
should be used. Major headings should be in capital letters in the centre of the page and underlined. Minor ones should be typed in lower
case with an initial capital letter and underlined. Each page, including the first, should be numbered.
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', and doctors as 'he'.
Comments
Comments provide an opportunity for discussion of previously
published papers or reviews. The title, authors' names and reference of the article on which comments are being made should be clearly
noted at the top. This should be followed by 'Comments by ?' and the name(s) and address(es) of the writer(s). Comments are strictly
limited to two manuscript pages.
Reference Format
The accuracy of references is the responsibility of the author. References
should be entered in the text as numbers within square brackets. The reference list should be listed in numerical order in a separate
section. References to journals should include the author's initials and surname (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 title abbreviated, using Index Medicus abbreviations, year of
publication, volume number, first and last page numbers. For example:
1. M. Miller-Anderson, H. Borg, L.O. Anderson, Purification
of antithrombin III by affinity chromatography, Thromb Res 5 (1974) 439-452.
References to books should be set out as follows:
2. P. Wallen, Chemistry of plasminogen activation, in: J.F. Davidson (Ed.), Progress in Chemical Fibrinolysis and Thrombolysis, Raven
Press, New York, 1978, pp. 167-181.
Figures
Line Illustrations
All line illustrations should present a crisp
black image on an even white background.
Photographic Illustrations and Radiographs
These should be submitted as clear,
lightly contrasted black and white prints or files. Photomicrographs should have the magnification and details of staining techniques
shown. X-ray films should be submitted as photographic prints or files, carefully made to bring out the details to be illustrated. All
hardcopy illustrations should be clearly marked (by a label pasted on the back or by a soft crayon) with figure number and author's name,
and the top of the figure should be indicated by an arrow. Never use ink of any kind. Do not use paper clips as these can scratch or
mark illustrations. Captions should be in a separate section of the manuscript following the references.
Use of Colour
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 or not 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 further information on the preparation of electronic artwork, please see
http://ees.elsevier.com/plefa/
and click on Artwork Guidelines.
Please note: Because of technical complications which can arise by 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 prints
corresponding to all the colour illustrations.
Permission to reproduce borrowed illustrations or tables or identifiable clinical
photographs
Written permission to reproduce borrowed material (illustrations and tables) must be obtained from the original publishers
and authors, and submitted with the manuscript. Borrowed materials should be acknowledged in the captions in this style: (Reproduced
by the kind permission of x [publishers] from x [reference]'. Elsevier has preprinted forms for use by authors in these cases: email
healthpermissions@elsevier.com
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,
it may be necessary to retouch the illustration to mask the eyes and otherwise render the individual 'officially unrecognisable'.
Tables
These should be double spaced and contain only horizontal rules. Do not submit tables as photographs. A short descriptive
title should appear above each table and any footnotes, suitably identified, below. Care must be taken to ensure that all units are included.
Ensure that each table is cited in the text.
Preparation of Supplementary Data
Elsevier now accepts electronic supplementary
material to support and enhance your scientific research. Supplementary files offer the author additional possibilities to publish 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.
In order to ensure that your submitted material is directly usable, please ensure that data is provided in one of our recommended file
formats. Authors should submit the material in electronic format together with the article and supply a concise and descriptive caption
for each file. For more detailed instructions please visit
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/authors.authors/authorartworkinstructions.
Units & Abbreviations
Avoid abbreviations in the title and abstract. All unusual abbreviations should be fully explained
at their first occurrence in the text. All measurements should be expressed in SI units. Imperial units are acceptable from USA contributors.
Copyright Information
Upon acceptance of an article, authors will be asked to transfer copyright (for more information
on copyright see
http://ees.elsevier.com/plefa/). This transfer will ensure the widest possible dissemination of information.
Proofs
Page proofs are emailed to the corresponding author as PDFs for checking. Elsevier will do everything possible
to get your article corrected and published as quickly and accurately as possible. Therefore it is important to ensure that all of your
corrections are returned in one all-inclusive email or fax as quickly as possible. Subsequent additional corrections will not be possible,
so please ensure that your first communication is complete.
