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JOURNAL OF FORENSIC AND LEGAL MEDICINE
Former title: Journal of Clinical Forensic Medicine

Guide for Authors

Submission of Manuscripts

Submission to Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine proceeds online via Elsevier Editorial System - External link http://ees.elsevier.com/jflm. Authors will be guided step-by-step through uploading files directly from their computers. Electronic PDF proofs will be automatically generated from uploaded files, and used for subsequent reviewing.

Authors should send queries concerning the submission process or journal procedures to AuthorSupport@elsevier.com. Authors can check the status of their manuscript within the review procedure using Elsevier Editorial System.

Authors submitting hard copy papers will be asked to resubmit using Elsevier Editorial System.

Submission of an article is understood to imply that the article is original and is not being considered for publication elsewhere; multiple submission is not acceptable to the Editor, and any such papers, together with future submissions from the authors, will be rejected outright. Submission also implies that all Authors have approved the paper for release and are in agreement with its content.

Upon acceptance of an article, Authors will be asked to transfer copyright (for more information on copyright see External link http://www.elsevier.com/authors. This transfer will ensure the widest possible dissemination of information. A letter will be sent to the corresponding Author confirming receipt of the manuscript. A form facilitating transfer of copyright will be provided.

Each article will undergo review by 2 independent referees, except where indicated below.

All authors should have made substantial contributions to all of the following: (1) the conception and design of the study, or acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data, (2) drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content, (3) final approval of the version to be submitted.

Acknowledgements
All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship as defined above should be listed in an acknowledgements section. Examples of those who might be acknowledged include a person who provided purely technical help, writing assistance, or a department chair who provided only general support. Authors should disclose whether they had any writing assistance and identify the entity that paid for this assistance.

Conflict of interest
If there are no conflicts of interest, authors should state that there are none. Full disclosure to the editor is the safest choice. At the end of the text, under a subheading "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. Examples of potential conflicts of interest include employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications/registrations, and grants or other funding.

Role of the funding source
All sources of funding should be declared as an acknowledgement at the end of the text. Authors should declare the role of study sponsors, if any, in the study design, in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; and in the decision to submit the manuscript for publication. If the study sponsors had no such involvement, the authors should so state.

Ethics
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, papers should include a statement that the research protocol was approved by a local ethical committee.

Categories of Articles

The following types of articles will be considered for publication:

Original Communication: new research, previously unpublished.
Review: detailed review of specific subject, backed up by full reference list and exploring all aspects of subject.
Clinical Practice: review backed up by relevant literature of specific aspects of clinical practice.
Short Report: new research or clinical issue, straightforward idea, simple methodology, concise take-home message.
Case Reviews: one or two related cases with specific message, backed up by broad review of related literature.
Learning Point: single case where outcome identifies or reinforces an important clinical, pathological or legal issue.
Case Reports: one or two related cases with specific unambiguous message that needs little discussion, small number of references.
Personal View: unreferenced, discursive paper on aspect of treatment, care, management that impacted directly on author.
Leading Article: invited article by an authority on a particular issue.
Editorial: topical polemic on an issue of the day, some commissioned, some submitted.
Conference Report: personal views of conferences, symposia or meetings of relevance to journal readership.
Letter to the Editor: comment or useful critique on material published in the journal. The decision to publish submitted letters rests purely with the Editor-in-Chief.
Book Review: review of relevant books which are not more than 2 years old. Unsolicited reviews will not usually be accepted, but suggestions for appropriate books for review should be sent to the Editor-in-Chief.
Postcard: unreviewed personal opinion on topical issues.

Consideration will be given by the Editor to other categories of article that do not fit into the above. Contact the Editor at jasonpaynejames@aol.com for any specific inquiries on these matters.

Preparation of Manuscripts

Language Editing: Elsevier's Author Gateway provides details of some companies who can provide English language and copyediting services to authors who need assistance before they submit their article or before it is accepted for publication. Authors should contact these services directly. For more information about language editing services, please email authorsupport@elsevier.com.

Please note that Elsevier neither endorses nor takes responsibility for any products, goods or services offered by outside vendors through our services or in any advertising. For more information please refer to our terms & conditions External link http://authors.elsevier.com/terms_and_conditions.html?dc=TANDC.

Where appropriate the manuscript should follow the scheme described below: (1) title page, (2) summary and keywords, (3) text, (4) references, (5) tables, (6) captions to illustrations, (7) illustrations.

The title page should give the title of the article; name(s), affiliation(s) , role(s) and qualification(s) of the author(s); name, complete postal address, telephone number, fax number and E-mail address of the person to whom correspondence and proofs should be sent. It may also mention in the form of a footnote sources of support in the form of grants.

The summary should consist of no more than 200 words summarizing the contents of the article. 3-6 keywords (indexing terms) should be supplied.

Avoid abbreviations in the title and abstract. All unusual abbreviations should be fully explained at their first occurrence in the text.

Text. Headings should be appropriate to the nature of the paper. Those for experimental papers should follow the usual conventions: Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, Acknowledgments. Other papers may be subdivided as the authors desire. The use of headings enhances readability. Proprietary names of drugs, instruments etc. should be indicated by the use of initial capital letters. All measurements should be expressed in SI or SI-derived units. The accuracy of references is the responsibility of the authors. References should be entered consecutively by superscript numerals in the text. All references should be referred to in the text.

References to journals should include the authors' names 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 the paper, journal titles abbreviated using Index Medicus abbreviations, year of publication, volume number, first and last page numbers.
7. Stark MM, Norfolk G, Rogers DJ, Payne-James JJ. The validity of self-reported substance misuse amongst detained persons in police custody. J Clin Forensic Med 2002; 9: 25-26.

References to a chapter in an edited book should be set out as follows:
9. Payne-James JJ. Assault and injury in the living. In: Payne- James JJ, Busuttil A, Smock W, editors. Forensic Medicine: Clinical and Pathological Aspects. London: Greenwich Medical Media, 2003: 543-563.

References to a book by one or more authors should be set out as follows:
12. Payne-James JJ, Stark MM. Symptoms and Signs of Substance Misuse. 2nd ed. London: Greenwich Medical Media, 2002.

Refrain from using online references if possible. When referring to internet sources, for example Wikipedia, please state so clearly, and indicate if this information can be checked and on which date you visited this online source.

Tables should be numbered with Arabic numerals according to their sequence in the text. Ensure that each table is cited in the text. Each table should be presented on a separate page. 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.

Preparation of Illustrations

Please note that it is the responsibility of authors to produce and supply artwork at their own cost.

• Illustrations should be numbered with Arabic numerals according to their sequence in the text
• Reference should be made in the text to each illustration
• Each illustration should be identified by its number and the name of the author
• Illustrations and lettering should be of such a size as to allow a photographic reduction of 50% without becoming illegible
• Indicate the magnification of photomicrographs in bar scales on the illustration itself instead of numerical magnification factors
• Make sure you use uniform lettering and sizing of your original artwork
• Save text in illustrations as "graphics" or enclose the font
• Only use the following fonts in your illustrations: Arial, Courier, Helvetica, Times, Symbol
• Number the illustrations according to their sequence in the text
• Use a logical naming convention for your artwork files
• Provide all illustrations as separate files and as hardcopy printouts on separate sheets
• Provide captions to illustrations separately
• Produce images near to the desired size of the printed version

If, together with your accepted article, you submit usable colour figures, Elsevier will ensure that these figures will appear free-of-charge in colour in the electronic version of your paper, regardless of whether or not these illustrations are reproduced in colour in the printed version. Colour illustrations can only be included in print if the additional cost of reproduction is paid for by the author or a sponsor: 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 External link http://authors.elsevier.com/artwork/jcfm

• 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
• It is the authors' responsibility to obtain written permission to reproduce borrowed material (illustrations and tables) from the original publishers and authors

A detailed guide on electronic artwork is available on our website: External link http://authors.elsevier.com/artwork
You are urged to visit this site; some excerpts from the detailed information are given here.
Formats
Regardless of the application used, when your electronic artwork is finalised, please "save as" or convert the images to one of the following formats (Note the resolution requirements for line drawings, halftones, and line/halftone combinations given below.):
EPS: Vector drawings. Embed the font or save the text as "graphics".
TIFF: Colour or greyscale photographs (halftones): always use a minimum of 300 dpi.
TIFF: Bitmapped line drawings: use a minimum of 1000 dpi.
TIFF: Combinations bitmapped line/half-tone (colour or greyscale): a minimum of 500 dpi is required.
DOC, XLS or PPT: If your electronic artwork is created in any of these Microsoft Office applications please supply "as is".

Please do not:
• Supply embedded graphics in your wordprocessor (spreadsheet, presentation) document
• Supply files that are optimised for screen use (like GIF, BMP, PICT, WPG); the resolution is too low
• Supply files that are too low in resolution
• Submit graphics that are disproportionately large for the content

Preparation of supplementary data

Supplementary files supplied will be published online alongside the electronic version of your article. Supplementary files include, but are not limited to, supporting applications, movies, animation sequences, high-resolution images, background datasets, and sound clips. Please ensure that data are provided in one of our recommended file formats to ensure that your submitted material is directly usable. Authors should submit the material in electronic format together with the article and supply a concise and descriptive caption for each file. For further information on the preparation of electronic artwork, please see External link http://authors.elsevier.com/artwork.

Copyright

If excerpts from other copyrighted works are included, the Author(s) must obtain written permission from the copyright owners and credit the source(s) in the article. Elsevier has preprinted forms for use by Authors in these cases: contact Elsevier's Rights Department, Oxford, UK: phone (+1) 215 239 3804 or +44(0)1865 843830, fax +44(0)1865 853333, e-mail healthpermissions@elsevier.com. Requests may also be completed online via the Elsevier homepage External link http://www.elsevier.com/locate/permissions).

Material in unpublished letters and manuscripts is also protected and must not be published unless permission has been obtained.

Authors 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, your 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

Funding body agreements and policies

Elsevier has established agreements and developed policies to allow authors who publish in Elsevier journals to comply with potential manuscript archiving requirements as specified as conditions of their grant awards. To learn more about existing agreements and policies please visit External link Http://www.elsevier.com/fundingbodies.

Proofs and Reprints

Page proofs are sent to the corresponding author (or first-named author if no corresponding author is identified) as an E-mail attachment in PDF format wherever possible, together with instructions. Authors are requested to return corrections within 48 hours, preferably by E-mail or fax. Corrections should be restricted to typesetting errors; any other amendments made may be charged to the authors. Any queries from the typesetters should be answered in full. Elsevier will do everything possible to get your article corrected and published as quickly and accurately as possible. It will also appear as soon as corrected as an "Article in Press" on ScienceDirect. Therefore, it is important that all your corrections are returned in one all-inclusive E-mail or fax.

Twenty-five reprints will be supplied free of charge. Authors may purchase additional reprints.

The Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine does not have page charges.
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