TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH, THE JOURNAL OF LABORATORY AND CLINICAL MEDICINE
Official Journal of the Central Society for Clinical Research Former title: Journal of Laboratory and Clinical Medicine
Guide for Authors
JEFFREY LAURENCE, MD Translational Research
Department of Medicine
Weill Medical College of Cornell University
411 East 69th Street
New York, NY 10021
AUTHOR GUIDELINES Editorial Scope and Policy
Translational
Research publishes original investigations in the
broad fields of laboratory and clinical medicine. It aims to expedite
the translation
of scientific discovery into new or improved
standards of care by promoting a wide-ranging exchange between
basic, preclinical, clinical,
epidemiologic, and health outcomes
research. Reports of purely laboratory or animal investigations
should have the potential for application
to human disease, and
reports of preliminary human investigations should have the potential
for advancing our understanding of the biology
of human
disease. Reports of public health research should have the potential
for application to the clinic, disease prevention, or healthcare
policy. Case reports/series are encouraged, especially if they provide important mechanistic insight or illuminate a novel therapeutic
principle.
Review manuscripts are welcomed for both state-of-the-art comprehensive
reviews, directed at research scientists in specific
fields, and more general informative reviews, directed at the
broader community of clinical investigators. Originality is critical
in
order to contribute to the medical literature, and the perspective
should be fresh and the synthesis unique. Authors of reviews
should
realize that the Journal is multidisciplinary and that review
articles for such a journal require appropriate interpretive material.
Clarity of presentation is a major criterion for acceptance.
Scientific commentary about published articles may be submitted
as a
Letter to the Editor. These comments should be directed at
confirming the results (from a different approach), extending the
original
report, or refuting results or the authors' interpretation. Reports describing preliminary findings that offer hypothesis-generating
insight into recognized problems may also be submitted as a Letters to the Editor. Maximum length is 1000 words; maximum number of references
is 15. The Editor reserves the right to decide on
publication of letters, shorten them, remove objectionable comments,
and make other
changes in accord with the style of Translational Research.
Original research of limited scope may be submitted as a
Brief Report, and should contain concise accounts of the purpose of the study, methods used, results, and discussion. Maximum length
is 1500 words; maximum number of references is 15.
Papers reporting studies in human subjects must be accompanied
by statements that
the research was carried out according to the
principles of the Declaration of Helsinki, that informed consent
was obtained, and that
the author's institutional review board has
approved the study. This statement must be included in the
Methods section. The Journal encourages
authors to discuss the
ethical concerns in research that involves significant risk to participants.
All clinical trials that prospectively
assign human subjects to intervention and comparison groups for the purposes of evaluating the cause-and-effect relationship between
a medical intervention and a health outcome must be registered with a public registry before submission of a paper based on the trial.
Studies that are designed for other purposes (retrospective records review, pharmacokinetics studies or assessment of major toxicity)
are exempt from the requirement. Trial registry name, registration identification number, and the URL for the registry should be included
in the Acknowlegements. Examples of registries are the US National Library of Medicine registry (http://www.clinicaltrials.gov)
and the International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial Number (ISRCTN) registry (http://www.controlled-trials.com).
The publisher and editors of Translational Research subscribe to
the definitions of authorship as set forth in the Uniform
Requirements
for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals; accordingly,
we expect each listed author to accept full responsibility
for
the paper. Manuscripts submitted to Translational Research are
reviewed (and ultimately published) with the understanding
that
all potential copyright conflicts have been addressed by the author(s) and that all overlap with other publications by the
authors
or by others have been disclosed. Moreover, in the
event that fraud or other irregularity is alleged within 5 years of
the appearance
of a paper in Translational Research, it is our
expectation that the authors will at our request produce both the
actual data
on which the paper was based and documentation of
adequate resources to have carried out the work in question.
It is understood that
statements and opinions expressed in articles
and communications are those of the author(s) and not necessarily
those of the editor(s)
or publisher, and the editor(s) and publisher
disclaim any responsibility or liability for such material. If the
manuscript receives
favorable consideration, a form transferring
copyright and confirming authorship will be sent to the corresponding
author. It must be
signed by all authors. If US Government
jurisdiction precludes copyright transfer, provide a specific
statement of exemption.
Review
and selection
All articles are evaluated by the Editor for suitability for consideration
for publication in Translational
Research. Potentially
acceptable submissions will also be reviewed in detail by two
additional referees with expertise in the specific
area. All revised manuscripts are carefully re-examined with no guarantee of acceptance, and authors will only have two opportunities
to make revisions to the same manuscript. Final acceptance
is based on originality, significance, documentation of conclusions,
and form
of presentation.
Early Online Publication
Accepted articles will be published online ahead of the printed issue and can
be viewed at http://translationalres.com/inpress. Early online publication significantly reduces the time from acceptance
to publication to approximately 4 weeks.
Manuscript preparation and organization
Manuscripts should be submitted online
at http://ees.elsevier.com/transres . The website guides authors stepwise through the submission
process. Submission items
include a cover letter (save as
a separate file for upload), the manuscript (including title page,
abstract, main text, references, and
figure legends), tables, and
figures. Revised manuscripts should also be accompanied by a
separate file (separate from the cover letter)
with responses to
reviewers' comments. Do not import figures or tables into the text
of the article. Original source files (not PDF
files) are required
for online submission. Files should be labeled with appropriate
and descriptive file names (e.g., SmithText.doc,
Fig1.tiff,
Table3.doc). The manuscript must be written in English and typed
double-spaced.
Please send queries concerning the submission
or review process
to the Managing Editor, Michael Franklin, at frank061@umn.edu.
The main sections of all manuscripts
should be indicated with
capitalized head set flush with the left margin. The organization of
review articles should be appropriate to
the content of the review.
The following organization is expected for manuscripts describing
original investigations.
Title page.
Include affiliations of the author(s). Also indicate the address of the author to whom correspondence and reprint requests should be
directed; include business and fax numbers.
Abstract. An abstract of 250 words or less should orient the
reader to the problem,
describe the major observations, and state
the principal conclusions, all in one paragraph without subheadings.
It should be easily understood
without reference to the text.
Running head and abbreviations. Include an abbreviated title
(45 characters or less) and a list
of definitions of any abbreviations
used in the manuscript. Because this is a multidisciplinary journal,
abbreviations should be kept
to a minimum. It is preferable to use
only universally understood abbreviations. Only standard chemical
or nonproprietary pharmaceutical
nomenclature should be
used. All abbreviations must be defined separately in the title,
abstract, and text of the manuscript.
Introduction.
This should be organized and expressed in a way
that will introduce and orient the general scientific reader to the
topic.
Methods.
The Methods section should include a description of
the statistical methods used.
Results. These may be presented in tables
or figures that should
not duplicate the text. All tables and figures must be numbered in
the order of their mention in the text.
Tables should be typed double-spaced as separate documents
from the text of the manuscript. Do not use ditto marks. Center the
table
number at the top of the page and the title of the table
beneath it.
A reasonable number of black-and-white illustrations are permitted
without extra charge to the author. Figures must be of suitable
quality for publication. Resolution for halftone images should be
300
dots per inch (dpi) at the size it will appear in print. Resolution
for line art should be 1200 dpi at the size it will appear in
print.
All images should be at least 5 inches wide. Preferably,
format for digital files should be TIFF (Tagged image file format).
Images submitted
in software-specific proprietary
formats (e.g., PowerPoint, Harvard Graphics, Visio, etc.) must
meet specific conditions. Instructions
for preparing artwork
for online submission can be found at www.ees.elsevier.com/transres.
Consistency in size of illustrations within the article is strongly
preferred. Any special instructions regarding sizing should be
clearly
noted. Arrangements for the use of figures requiring special
handling may be made with the Editor at an additional charge.
Legends
for figures should be typed double-spaced on a separate
page after the References.
Avoid duplicating previously published material.
If it is necessary
to use a copyrighted table, figure, or data, the figure legend or
table footnote should give full credit to the original
source and
should state that the material is reprinted with permission.
Discussion. The discussion should set the results in
context and
set forth the major conclusions of the authors. Information from
the Introduction or Results section should not be repeated
unless
necessary for clarity. The authors' speculations concerning the
possible implications of the findings may be presented in this
section but should be clearly separated from the direct inferences.
As the Journal and its audience are multidisciplinary, we encourage
the inclusion of a short concluding paragraph, under the
subheading "Speculations," which would point out and clearly
denote such broader
possibilities for the general readership.
Acknowledgment(s)
In addition to the customary recognition of nonauthors who have
been helpful to the work described, this section must disclose where appropriate all sources of support for the investigation, any
substantive
conflicts of interest and clinical trial registry information.
References. All references must be cited in the text. These
should
be numbered serially in the text and listed, in the order cited, after
any personal acknowledgments. Reference format should follow
the style outlined in Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts
Submitted to Biomedical Journals (Vancouver style). Journal
abbreviations
should conform to the style of the Cumulated Index
Medicus. If not listed in the CIM, journal titles should not be
abbreviated. Authors
are responsible for the accuracy of their
references. Note: Unpublished results and personal communications
do not belong in the reference
list; they should be cited
parenthetically in the text.
EXAMPLES (if six or fewer authors, list all; if seven or more, list
first
three and add et al.):Journal articles:
You CH, Lee KY, Chey WY, Menguy R. Electrogastrographic
study of patients with
unexplained nausea, bloating and vomiting.
Gastroenterology 1999;79:311-4.
Books:
Langer M, Chiandussi L, Chopra IJ,
Martini L, editors. The
endocrines and the liver. London: Academic Press, 2004:9-34.
Chapters in books:
Gustafsson JA,
Eneroth P, Hokfelt T, Mode A, Norstedt G.
Studies on the hypothalamo-pituitary axis: a novel concept in
regulation of steroid and drug
metabolism. In: Langer M, Chiandussi
L, Chapra IJ, Martini L, editors. The endocrines and the
liver. London: Academic Press, 2005:9-34.
Color Figures
Authors are encouraged to submit color figures, which will be
published online at no cost; however, the expense
of reproducing color
figures in print must be borne by the authors. The charge for reproduction of
color figures is $650 for the
first figure and $100 for each subsequent figure.
Any figure submitted in color and requiring color for adequate representation
of data-as judged by the reviewers-will be reviewed and processed with
the understanding that the figure will appear in color in the
printed version of
the journal at the author's expense. Authors unable to pay color figure
charges may request a waiver in the cover
letter at the time of submission.
Permissions and patient consent forms
Direct quotations, tables, or illustrations that
have appeared in
copyrighted material must be accompanied by written permission
for their use from the copyright owner and original author,
along
with complete information as to source. Photographs of identifiable
persons must be accompanied by signed releases showing
informed
consent.
Authorship statement
At the time of submission, the Journal requires an explicit statement by the senior corresponding
author warranting that the manuscript, as submitted, has been reviewed by and approved by all named authors; that the corresponding author
is empowered by all of the authors to act on their behalf with respect to the submission of the manuscript; that the article is original;
that thearticle does not infringe upon any copyright or other proprietary right of any third party; that neither the text nor the data
reported have been published previously (abstracts excepted); and that the article or a substantially similar article is not under consideration
by another journal at this time. Include this author agreement in the cover letter to be submitted online.
Patricia L. Hogan
Publisher, US Health Sciences Journals
Elsevier
360 Park Ave. South
New York, NY 10010 P.Hogan@elsevier.com
