ISSN 0864-0289
print edition
ISSN 1561-2996
electronic edition

INSTRUCTIONS TO AUTHORS

• Scope and policy
• Manuscript layout and preparation
• Submission of originals
• Manuscript submission

Readers and authors: Professionals and technicians from the fields of hematology, immunology and transfusion medicine.
Mission: The journal offers updated information to the ever increasing number of doctors and other professionals and technicians interested in these three specializations, and serves as a framework for the exchange of scientific information with specialists from other countries, especially from Latin America.
The journal publishes original papers, editorials, bibliographic reviews, case presentations and other publication modes, mainly by Cuban authors. It serves as a vehicle to disseminate information on the development of research and professional updating.
Once handed over, manuscripts may not be submitted to any other journal or publication. Authors are entitled to withdraw their papers by formally communicating their wish not to have them published.

Papers undergo an evaluation process based on peer review, by which each paper is subjected to the consideration of two or more referees, who will issue their verdict.

The final decision concerning publication of the paper is the responsibility of the editorial committee, irrespective of the decision reached by the referees.

The following are acceptable for evaluation: original research papers, systematic reviews, case presentations or reports, as well as any other form of scientific communication prior approval by the editorial committee.
Papers submitted for publication will be accepted as long as they have not been published, either totally or partially, or submitted to any other journal or dissemination medium without the corresponding legal approval by the Medical Sciences Publishing House (ECIMED). Plagiarism, duplicate publication or any other fraudulent act are editorial malpractices constituting breaches of both the law and ethics.

It is an INDISPENSABLE requirement to attach to the paper submitted a scanned copy of the original approval by the Ethics Committee or the Scientific Council of the author's institution. It is likewise indispensable for the paper not to have been previously published. The original of a sworn statement signed by the author and all co-authors should also be attached stating that the paper submitted to our Journal has not been published, either partially or totally, nor is it pending approval or publication by any other dissemination body or medium, either national or international. Only when these two documents are in the possession of the Editorial Committee will the paper be accepted and peer review started. Once handed over, manuscripts may not be submitted to any other journal or publication. Authors are entitled to withdraw their papers by formally communicating their wish not to have them published.

The title of the paper will be written under the heading SUBJECT of the electronic message. The paper itself, fulfilling all the guidelines contained in the present instructions, will be ATTACHED as a single unfragmented Word document headed by the title of the paper. Papers will not be submitted on PDF format. Papers not complying with these requirements will not be accepted.

Selection of materials for publication is based on the following criteria: correspondence with the profile of the journal, scientific quality, clarity of writing, correct spelling, originality, topicality, applicability beyond its original setting, compliance with ethical standards (particularly those concerning experimentation with human beings, consistent application of informed consent and confidentiality concerning personal information), structural consistency and compliance with the guidelines contained in the present document.

Authors' opinions are their sole responsibility and do not necessarily have to coincide with those of the journal's management. Mention of brand names, manufacturers or distributors of equipment or supplies should not be included in the text; instead, generic names will be used. Were this instruction not complied with, the journal's management may choose not to consider the paper.

Originals accepted are subjected to an editorial process which may recommend changes to the text if deemed necessary, such as condensing, deleting or adding tables, figures, charts or annexes. Suggestions are submitted to the author/s for their approval and correction, following which the new version will be mailed to the Journal.

Source of the instructions: These instructions are based on the recommendations contained in the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals, issued by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (5th ed, 1997, revised in 1999 and 2000).

These guidelines are commonly known as "standards" from the Vancouver writing style to which some specific features suggested by the journal's Editorial Committee have been added.

Languages: Papers are published in Spanish and English, with abstracts in English. The use of terms in a language different from that of the text should be avoided. If indispensable, however, they will be written in italics and their spelling carefully verified, as is to be expected from the authors' professional level.

Maximum length will be 15 pages for original papers, 20 for reviews and 8 for brief communications and case reports, including tables, photographs and figures.

Layout: Papers will be printed in 12-point Arial font. No other font will be used. Page borders and other forms of ornamentation will not be acceptable.

Research papers should follow the IMRD format (introduction, methods, results, discussion). The approval for publication will depend on the result of the revision process and is the sole responsibility of the Editorial Committee.

First page: This is a title page containing: a) name of the institution where the research was conducted, b) title of the paper or document, which will not exceed 15 words. The title should describe the content in a clear, concise and specific manner; no acronyms or abbreviations will be used. c) name and surname of each author, d) scientific and/or teaching category or degree, without any reference to the post held, e) institutional filiation of each author, f) name, postal address, telephone number and electronic address (indispensable for communication purposes) of the author in charge of corresponding with the journal. On a separate communication the Journal will be informed of which of these data may be disclosed to readers. This page will not contain any other information.

Author and co-authors: Only those who have directly participated in the research or the preparation of the paper, thus taking on public responsibility for its defense, should appear as authors. Inclusion of other persons on the grounds of friendship, recognition, aid provided or rank in the organization is not acceptable and constitutes a breach of ethics.

Maximum number of authors is 6. A higher number should be substantiated in writing to the Journal, explaining the specific contribution of each to the paper. The order of appearance of the authors is their joint decision. The Journal will present them in the order they were submitted. Persons who contributed to the paper but are not authors, should be mentioned in the "acknowledgements".

Second page: It will contain the structured abstract, which should not exceed 250 words and will include the following: brief introduction, objectives, methods and results. The main conclusions will be stated at the end of the results section, written in an impersonal style, with no abbreviations, acronyms, references to the text, footnotes or bibliographic references. The abstract will not contain any information or conclusion that does not appear in the text.

Key words: Between 3 and 10 key words or phrases will be included at the end of the abstract to help readers recognize the topic and to facilitate indexing of the paper. These should appear underneath the abstract.

Terms from the list of Index Medicus Medical Subject Headings, MESH, should be used whenever possible. If no usable term is found therein and none is available, the terms most commonly used in the subject will be employed. During the editorial process, the Journal may suggest the corresponding corrections.

Body of the paper: The following pages will contain the full text of the paper, with its bibliographic references at the end. Tables, figures, charts and drawings should be submitted on separate sheets and never interspersed in the text.

The right and left margins will be 1 inch or 2.5 cm wide, whereas the lower and upper margins will be 1½ inches or 4.0 cm. Originals should not exceed 15 pages, with the exception of review papers, which may be up to 20 pages, with graphs and figures not exceeding 6. Pages should be numbered consecutively, starting from the title page, with page numbers written at the top right or bottom right corner.

Papers describing research work, including (brief) communications, normally adjust to the "IMRD format" (introduction, methods, results, discussion). Review or update papers tend to require a different layout to achieve greater flexibility in the ordering of the text. In such cases, headings and subheadings should be added to identify the sections included.

Introduction: It should contain the purpose of the paper and the rationale for the research or observations. Use only the indispensable references and do not include either data or conclusions from the research being reported.

Objectives: They should express the purpose of the research. It is recommended to include one general objective and few specific objectives, otherwise the text would have to be enlarged until all objectives have been covered, thus exceeding the set number of pages.

Methods: The basic principle should be that of clarity with respect to the purpose of the research and the way the latter was conducted. Authors should avoid terms like "race", which lacks an accurate biological meaning, and instead use such alternative descriptors as "ethnic group" or "skin color". Authors should accurately specify the meaning of the descriptors and variables used, and carefully describe the way in which data were collected (what terms were used in the survey questionnaires and whether the data were obtained by the authors themselves or were collected from other sources).

The methods, subjects under study, equipment and supplies, procedures and timetable, will be described in sufficient detail and clarity, making it possible for the study to be reproduced by other researchers. The author should declare that the study was conducted in compliance with the ethical regulations and principles governing research with humans and clinical studies. The paper will not be accepted if there is doubt concerning compliance of this requirement.

When experiments with human subjects are presented, indicate whether the methods and procedures were in accordance with the ethical standards issued by the corresponding institutional or national committee, and with an updated revision of the Declaration of Helsinki of 1975.

Results: Present them in a logical sequence in the body of the text, indicating the location of tables, figures and charts. Do not repeat any data. Point out the relevant information. DO NOT discuss the results or use references in this section. Discussion is a separate section. It should not be mixed with the results.

Discussion: Point out the new or important aspects of the study. Do not repeat data from previous sections (results). State the limitations of the data and the study. Relate your observations to other relevant studies. Link the conclusions to the objectives. The conclusions will be substantiated in the results (do not repeat them). Do not include statements of an economic nature (low cost, saving) if the corresponding economic data and their analysis have not been expounded. Recommendations may be included. Conclusions and recommendations will bear a separate subheading; they will be paragraphs within the discussion section.

Footnotes: Clarifications in a smaller though legible font, numbered consecutively at the bottom of the page. They are used for complementary clarifications about the text, and to identify unpublished sources. They should be limited to such uses.

References: The system of references to be used should be the one included in the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals, issued by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors.

Citations: References are indicated with consecutive superscript numbers following their order of appearance, preferably at the end of the paragraph. When several citations are included about a specific topic, the consecutive numbers are joined by a hyphen. E.g. several authors have described… 3-7. It will be understood that 5 citations are being mentioned: 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7. Literal quotations should be written between quotation marks, with the corresponding number at the end. The list of bibliographic references will appear on a separate page or separate pages at the end of the paper following the order in which they appear in the text. It is recommended not to include bibliographic sources which were revised during the study but are not mentioned in the text.

Bibliographic references: This is the resource used to identify the original sources of concepts, methods and techniques cited in the text. They will be double-spaced in French paragraph style on a separate page. References should be clear and accurate, making it possible for both the Editorial Committee and the readers to access them. Recent bibliography should be included which reflects the topicality of the subject. Bibliographic references will follow the recommendations contained in the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals, issued by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) (available at Canadian Medical Association: http://www.cma.ca/publications/mwc/uniform.htm).

They will be numbered in the order in which they appear in the text and should be identified with Arabic superscripts. Original papers should have a minimum of 10 and a maximum of 25 citations; revisions should contain between 25 and 50; and brief communications and case reports between 5 and 10. Quotes from relevant and updated published documents will be included. References to personal communications or unpublished documents should be avoided; if indispensable, they will be included in the text between parentheses. References to papers approved for publication will include the name of the journal and the phrase 'in print' between parentheses. All the authors of the text quoted will be acknowledged; in case they are 7 or more, the first 6 will be mentioned, followed by 'et al'.

Names of journals will be abbreviated according to the Index Medicus (List of journals indexed in Index Medicus). None of their parts will be highlighted with capital letters or underlining. The ordering of bibliographic items and the use of punctuation marks will follow the Vancouver writing style.

Below are examples of some of the most relevant cases:

JOURNALS

1. You CH, Lee KY, Chey RY, Menguy R. Electrogastrographic study of patients with unexplained nausea, bloating and vomiting. Gastroenterology 1980; 79(2):311-4.
   Optionally, omission of the volume number is acceptable for journals with consecutive pagination of volumes.
   

• You CH, Lee KY, Chey RY, Menguy R. Electrogastrographic study of patients with unexplained nausea, bloating and vomiting. Gastroenterology 1980; 79:311-4.
• New linking salt and hypertension [editorial]. BMJ 1981; 282: 1993-4.

BOOKS AND OTHER MONOGRAPHS

• Weinstein I, Swartz MN. Pathologic properties of invading microorganism. In: Sodeman WA Jr Sodeman WA, eds. Pathologic physiology: mechanisms of disease. Philadelphia: WB Saunders, 1974:457-72.

Tables, models and annexes. These will be presented separately (not interspersed in the paper) on vertical sheets consecutively numbered and mentioned in the text. They will not be accepted on photographic paper. Tables will follow the format of the publication, and the publishers may modify them if they pose any technical difficulties.

Figures. Photographs, graphs, drawings, sketches, maps, other graphic representations or non-linear formulas will be labeled as figures and follow consecutive Arabic numbering. Photographs should be of good quality and be submitted as annexes together with the paper. Graphs and drawings will have a maximum width of 15 cm. Each figure will be labeled with a number. They will all be mentioned in the text. Captions will be written underneath in 8-10 point Arial font. The total number of figures and tables will not exceed 6. Authorization of additional tables and figures will be exceptionally considered when required by the paper. This applies to original papers as well as reviews, brief communications and case reports. The source of the figures used should be acknowledged.

Abbreviations and acronyms. These will be preceded by the full name the first time they appear in the text. They will not be used in titles or abstracts. Internationally recognized abbreviations and acronyms will be used, and they will be kept to a minimum.

International System of Units (SI). All clinical laboratory results will be indicated in SI units or in units accepted by the SI. In case traditional units are included, they will be written in parentheses. Example: glycemia: 5,55 mmol/L (100mg/100 mL).

Papers not following these instructions will be returned to their authors. Accepted papers will be processed following the standards issued by the journal. To facilitate the preparation of originals, authors are requested to consult these uniform requirements before submitting their papers to the Cuban Journal of Hematology, Immunology and Transfusion Medicine: ihidir@hemato.sld.cu

Authors may submit their papers by electronic mail to the Cuban Journal of Hematology, Immunology and Transfusion Medicine: ihidir@hemato.sld.cu. Receipt will be acknowledged. It is not necessary to submit a printed version.

The editorial committee will inform authors of the decision to publish, but the manuscript will not be returned.