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Information for prospective authors is given below. The journal follows the guidelines laid down by the; International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_requirements.html), Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals: Writing and Editing for Biomedical Publication.
Scope
The Sri Lanka Journal of Critical Care publishes original research papers, brief communications, case reports, images in critical care, editorials, reviews, CME articles and correspondence related to research, education and clinical practice of critical care medicine. Material submitted to the journal must not have been previously published or be under consideration for publication in another journal, other than in abstract form.
Submission must be made online using this website. Only manuscripts in electronic format will be accepted.
Authorship
Each author should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for the contents of the paper submitted. Participation solely in the collection of data does not justify authorship (see criteria in ICMJE).
Ethical responsibility
In the case of research on human or animal subjects, the authors must ensure ethical clearance has been obtained from a recognised ethics authority.
Preparation of documents
The following documents must be submitted;
Details regarding these documents are as follows;
1. Cover letter: this must include the following;
2. Author agreement - signed by all authors stating that the authors take intellectual responsibility for the paper. This document can be scanned and sent as an electronic document.
3. Main text - this must not contain details of the authors or their affiliations. Papers should be submitted in Microsoft Word 2003 format, font Times New Roman or Arial size 12, double spaced. Each page of the manuscript should be numbered and the short title and page number indicated in the upper right-hand corner of each page. The manuscript should start with the full title, followed by an abstract of not more than 250 words, followed by 3-6 keywords. Keywords should be standard MESH keywords used in Medline. The main body of text should begin on the second page. Section heading should be used as follows.
Original research papers: the headings background/introduction, material and methods, results, discussion and conclusions
Case reports: introduction, case report, discussion/conclusions.
Images in critical care: introduction, followed by the image, discussion/conclusions.
Reviews: the format is flexible, but should have background/introduction, main body, conclusions. The main body can be divided into subsections at the authors discretion.
CME articles can have a flexible format, but should be accompanied by 3-5 key learning points and 5 MCQs in best response or true/false format. Editorials are usually commissioned, but non-commissioned editorials may be accepted if they are of special importance. Where abbreviations are used, the first use of the abbreviation should be preceded by the full term. Generic names for pharmaceuticals should be used, with the trade name in brackets if required. SI units must be used. Scientific names of organisms should be given in italics e.g., Staphylococcus aureus. In later citations, the genus maybe abbreviated, e.g., S. aureus. Tables and figures(images) must be cited in the text (table 1, figure 1 etc), and must be numbered according to the order of citation.
Acknowledgements should be given at the end of the text, and should include
References must be cited in the text using superscript numbers, and must be listed in the order of citation. References must be in Vancouver format (see ICMJE for further details), e.g.,
Journal article:
Halpern SD, Ubel PA, Caplan AL. Solid-organ transplantation in HIV-infected patients. N Engl J Med. 2002; 347: 284-7.
Books
Personal authors:
Murray PR, Rosenthal KS, Kobayashi GS, Pfaller MA. Medical microbiology. 4th ed. St. Louis: Mosby; 2002.
Editors or compilers as authors:
Gilstrap LC 3rd, Cunningham FG, VanDorsten JP, editors. Operative obstetrics. 2nd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill; 2002.
Chapter in a book
Meltzer PS, Kallioniemi A, Trent JM. Chromosome alterations in human solid tumors. In: Vogelstein B, Kinzler KW, editors. The genetic basis of human cancer. New York: McGraw-Hill; 2002. p. 93-113.
If there are less than 6 authors in the reference, list all authors; if there are more than 6, list the first 6 followed by ‘et al'.
Where appropriate the manuscript must be accompanied by copies of permission to reproduce published material or to use illustrations of identifiable persons.
4. Images and tables
Images must be in TIFF format with a minimum resolution of 300x300 dpi, and must be uploaded as separate files. Tables maybe embedded within the word document (as Microsoft Word 2003 format) or as separate Microsoft Excel files. If embedded in the main text they must be included at the end of the references section. Images and tables must all be cited in the text, and must be numbered in the order of citation. Image and table legends must be listed at the end of the list of references in the main manuscript.
5. Author declaration
Include a separate file with the following declarations; any conflict of interest, funding obtained for the research, and ethical considerations.
Reviewers
Authors may suggest up to 2 reviewers, and indicate up to 2 reviewers by whom they may not wish to have their manuscripts reviewed. There is no guarantee that the manuscripts would be sent to the suggested reviewers, however manuscripts will not be sent to reviewers whom the authors have suggested to avoid.
What happens after submission
Papers submitted will be acknowledged to the corresponding author. Papers which are submitted are screened by the editors for general suitability, and if found suitable will be sent to two independent reviewers. The reviewers comments will be considered by the editors, and one of 3 decisions made - accept, accept after revision, or reject. Accepted papers will then be formatted for publication and sent back to the authors for approval of the proof, prior to publication. Papers for revision will be sent back to the authors with the suggested revisions. Papers returned for revision must be revised and sent back to the editors within 30 days. Authors will be informed if the papers are rejected, and sent relevant comments for the reviewers. The editors reserve the right to reject papers which are found unsuitable or not in keeping with the journal's editorial requirements without being sent for review, and the editors decision will be final. The editor also reserves the right to edit, shorten or correct any manuscripts, subject to final agreement by the authors.
As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission's compliance with all of the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors that do not adhere to these guidelines.