ISSN 1727-8120
Online version

INSTRUCTIONS TO AUTHORS

• Aims and editorial policy
• Editorial rules
• Sending of materials

The journal Humanidades Médicas accepts the publication of essays, theoretical reflections, and other sections pertaining to the area of Social Sciences and Humanities. Both national and international collaborations are accepted in Spanish, English, and Portuguese, whenever authors agree to comply with the instructions to present materials.

Topics related to History of Medicine and Public Health focus on local histories and histories of institutions, specialties, and personalities. On the subject of Social Studies of Science and Technology, the publication of theoretical studies and case studies is encouraged so as to improve the practice of public health and the Cuban System for Science and Technological Innovation. In relation to developing ethical studies, materials deal with Ethics, Medical Ethics, Bioethics, Ethics of the Research Activity, and the work of Committees and Commissions of Ethics. Other equally valuable contributions include studies on subjects such as Philosophy, Esthetics, History, Sociology, Psychology, Health Communication, Pedagogy, Linguistics, Applied Linguistics, and Teaching of English as a Foreign Language, as well as pedagogic and educational experiences, and sociocultural themes.

Manuscripts ought to be unedited. The journal's peer review system evaluates all materials received, including those previously revised by Scientific Boards or Committees from authors' institutions. Manuscripts requiring modifications are returned to authors for carrying out emendations suggested by peers. Once improved, materials should be sent back in less than three weeks for a second revision.

The editorial staff carries out any necessary revision, reduction or omission of texts, graphs, figures, and annexes so as to improve the quality of the editorial product. A Spanish-English and English-Spanish translation of titles, abstracts, and keywords is available for articles approved, which are to decline other journals' revision.

Humanidades Médicas has the right to accept manuscripts partially presented in events or published in a different language and turn down materials violating the ethics of scientific publication. Approvals are notified by the Editorial Committee. Publication certificates are provided once articles are available online.

Partial or total reproduction of publications is illegal unless previously authorized and whenever the source is cited. Authors' opinions are of their responsibility exclusively and unnecessarily reproduce either the journal's criteria or editorial policy.

Important note: Manuscripts that fail to comply with these instructions are unacceptable
  

Materials ought to be prepared in word processor with extension rtf or doc, using 12-pt Arial fonts (with a proper use of capitalization, italics and boldfaces), single-space typing and justified margins; except for bibliographical references, which should be aligned to the right. Both electronic and printed formats must follow the structure below:

• Title in Spanish
• Title in English
• Author (Full name; in case of various authors, full names will be ordered according to participation).
• Affiliation (On this order: scientific grade, academic title or specialty, academic category, teaching or research category, institution, department, work address, city, country, postal code, and email).
• Abstract in Spanish
• Keywords in Spanish
• Abstract in English
• Keywords in English
• Body of work
• Bibliographical references
• Explanatory notes
  

The IMRAD format (Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion) is also accepted. The title is limited to 15 words, use of capitalization only when required. Originals and revisions must contain an abstract, either structured or non-structured, summarizing objectives, materials and methods, results, and conclusions. Structured abstracts are restricted to 250 words; non-structured, 150. Keywords should be included on the Health Sciences Descriptors (DeCS), available from: http://decs.bvs.br/E/homepagee.htm, and on the Information Sciences Descriptors (DeCI), available from: http://cis.sld.cu/E/tesauro.pdf, to facilitate indexation.

Sections are evaluated in composition according to scientific rigor. Extension varies depending on the characteristics of materials. Articles may extend up to 20 pages; essays, 25. The introduction must describe objectives, topic, and antecedents, but exclude data and conclusions. Avoid the use of abbreviations and acronyms in titles and abstracts. The first time an acronym is used, it has to be enclosed between parentheses and preceded by the group of words it is made from.

The methods section should refer to materials used, criteria for inclusion and exclusion of the entities under research, composition and essential characteristics of the samples studied, and procedures and statistical techniques of the quality controls employed. In the case of well-known methods, a reference to the piece of work containing thorough explanations must be offered; otherwise, a brief description must be added. In the case of unknown methods, give detailed information about them and reasons, advantages, and disadvantages of their use. Programs employed in data processing should be specified.

Results must be presented in a logical sequence. Mention relevant statistics only. Contributions should be explained in the discussion. The conclusions section ought to be in accordance with the objective and explain the results and their limitations in relation to other similar ones. Avoid the repetition of arguments already developed in the introduction and the results, as well as giving unnecessary conclusions and extrapolations with data.

Using jpg or gif formats with a 72 dpi resolution and a maximum of 580 pixels, graphs, tables, and figures may either appear in the body of work or as annexes at the end of the material. Avoid the repetition of the information presented in tables and figures in the text. Graphs are an alternative to tables. Avoid repeating information in tables and graphs.

If the use of explanatory notes (presentation in congresses, academic activities, or others) is necessary, they must be placed at the end of the material and offer full data: name, number, year, event, place (city and country), date, and any other information of interest considered by the authors. Quotations ought to use superscript lowercase Roman numerals, for example: ⁱ, ⁱⁱ, et cetera, with no space after the last character. Avoid insertion of footnotes or notes at the end predetermined by Microsoft Word to facilitate editorial work.

Bibliographical references must be placed at the end of the manuscript according to the order of appearance in the text and comply with the uniformity requirements of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE, the Vancouver group). References should be quoted using superscript Arabic numerals, with no space after the last character.

Uniformity requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals: Samples of references
Updated August 2009
International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE)
National Library of Medicine of USA (NLM)

Original version in English: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_requirements.html

Last reviewed: 14 May 2009  
Last updated: 28 August 2009

Articles in Journals (see also # 36. Journal article on the Internet)

1. Standard journal article

List the first six authors followed by et al. (Note: NLM now lists all authors)

Halpern SD, Ubel PA, Caplan AL. Solid-organ transplantation in HIV-infected patients. N Engl J Med. 2002 Jul 25;347(4):284-7.

As an option, if a journal carries continuous pagination throughout a volume (as many medical journals do) the month and issue number may be omitted.

Halpern SD, Ubel PA, Caplan AL. Solid-organ transplantation in HIV-infected patients. N Engl J Med. 2002;347:284-7.

More than six authors:

Rose ME, Huerbin MB, Melick J, Marion DW, Palmer AM, Schiding JK, et al. Regulation of interstitial excitatory amino acid concentrations after cortical contusion injury. Brain Res. 2002;935(1-2):40-6.

Optional addition of a database's unique identifier for the citation: [Edited 12 May 2009]

Halpern SD, Ubel PA, Caplan AL. Solid-organ transplantation in HIV-infected patients. N Engl J Med. 2002 Jul 25;347(4):284-7. PubMed PMID: 12140307.

Forooghian F, Yeh S, Faia LJ, Nussenblatt RB. Uveitic foveal atrophy: clinical features and associations. Arch Ophthalmol. 2009 Feb;127(2):179-86. PubMed PMID: 19204236; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2653214.

Optional addition of a clinical trial registration number: [Added 12 May 2009]

Trachtenberg F, Maserejian NN, Soncini JA, Hayes C, Tavares M. Does fluoride in compomers prevent future caries in children? J Dent Res. 2009 Mar;88(3):276-9. PubMed PMID: 19329464. ClinicalTrials.gov registration number: NCT00065988.

2. Organization as author

Diabetes Prevention Program Research Group. Hypertension, insulin, and proinsulin in participants with impaired glucose tolerance. Hypertension. 2002;40(5):679-86.

3. Both personal authors and organization as author (List all as they appear in the byline) [Edited 12 May 2009]

Vallancien G, Emberton M, Harving N, van Moorselaar RJ; Alf-One Study Group. Sexual dysfunction in 1,274 European men suffering from lower urinary tract symptoms. J Urol. 2003;169(6):2257-61.

Margulies EH, Blanchette M; NISC Comparative Sequencing Program, Haussler D, Green ED. Identification and characterization of multi-species conserved sequences. Genome Res. 2003 Dec;13(12):2507-18.

4. No author given

21st century heart solution may have a sting in the tail. BMJ. 2002;325(7357):184.

5. Article not in English [Edited 12 May 2009]

Ellingsen AE, Wilhelmsen I. Sykdomsangst blant medisin- og jusstudenter. Tidsskr Nor Laegeforen. 2002;122(8):785-7. Norwegian.

Optional translation of article title (MEDLINE/PubMed practice):

Ellingsen AE, Wilhelmsen I. [Disease anxiety among medical students and law students]. Tidsskr Nor Laegeforen. 2002 Mar 20;122(8):785-7. Norwegian.

6. Volume with supplement

Geraud G, Spierings EL, Keywood C. Tolerability and safety of frovatriptan with short- and long-term use for treatment of migraine and in comparison with sumatriptan. Headache. 2002;42 Suppl 2:S93-9.

7. Issue with supplement

Glauser TA. Integrating clinical trial data into clinical practice. Neurology. 2002;58(12 Suppl 7):S6-12.

8. Volume with part

Abend SM, Kulish N. The psychoanalytic method from an epistemological viewpoint. Int J Psychoanal. 2002;83(Pt 2):491-5.

9. Issue with part

Ahrar K, Madoff DC, Gupta S, Wallace MJ, Price RE, Wright KC. Development of a large animal model for lung tumors. J Vasc Interv Radiol. 2002;13(9 Pt 1):923-8.

10. Issue with no volume

Banit DM, Kaufer H, Hartford JM. Intraoperative frozen section analysis in revision total joint arthroplasty. Clin Orthop. 2002;(401):230-8.

11. No volume or issue

Outreach: bringing HIV-positive individuals into care. HRSA Careaction. 2002 Jun:1-6.

12. Pagination in roman numerals

Chadwick R, Schuklenk U. The politics of ethical consensus finding. Bioethics. 2002;16(2):iii-v.

13. Type of article indicated as needed

Tor M, Turker H. International approaches to the prescription of long-term oxygen therapy [letter]. Eur Respir J. 2002;20(1):242.

Lofwall MR, Strain EC, Brooner RK, Kindbom KA, Bigelow GE. Characteristics of older methadone maintenance (MM) patients [abstract]. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2002;66 Suppl 1:S105.

14. Article containing retraction

Feifel D, Moutier CY, Perry W. Safety and tolerability of a rapidly escalating dose-loading regimen for risperidone. J Clin Psychiatry. 2002;63(2):169. Retraction of: Feifel D, Moutier CY, Perry W. J Clin Psychiatry. 2000;61(12):909-11.

Article containing a partial retraction: [Added 12 May 2009]

Starkman JS, Wolder CE, Gomelsky A, Scarpero HM, Dmochowski RR. Voiding dysfunction after removal of eroded slings. J Urol. 2006 Dec;176(6 Pt 1):2749. Partial retraction of: Starkman JS, Wolter C, Gomelsky A, Scarpero HM, Dmochowski RR. J Urol. 2006 Sep;176(3):1040-4.

15. Article retracted

Feifel D, Moutier CY, Perry W. Safety and tolerability of a rapidly escalating dose-loading regimen for risperidone. J Clin Psychiatry. 2000;61(12):909-11. Retraction in: Feifel D, Moutier CY, Perry W. J Clin Psychiatry. 2002;63(2):169.

Article partially retracted: [Added 12 May 2009]

Starkman JS, Wolter C, Gomelsky A, Scarpero HM, Dmochowski RR. Voiding dysfunction following removal of eroded synthetic mid urethral slings. J Urol. 2006 Sep;176(3):1040-4. Partial retraction in: Starkman JS, Wolder CE, Gomelsky A, Scarpero HM, Dmochowski RR. J Urol. 2006 Dec;176(6 Pt 1):2749.

16. Article republished with corrections

Mansharamani M, Chilton BS. The reproductive importance of P-type ATPases. Mol Cell Endocrinol. 2002;188(1-2):22-5. Corrected and republished from: Mol Cell Endocrinol. 2001;183(1-2):123-6.

17. Article with published erratum

Malinowski JM, Bolesta S. Rosiglitazone in the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus: a critical review. Clin Ther. 2000;22(10):1151-68; discussion 1149-50. Erratum in: Clin Ther. 2001;23(2):309.

18. Article published electronically ahead of the print version

Yu WM, Hawley TS, Hawley RG, Qu CK. Immortalization of yolk sac-derived precursor cells. Blood. 2002 Nov 15;100(10):3828-31. Epub 2002 Jul 5.

Books and Other Monographs

19. Personal author(s)

Murray PR, Rosenthal KS, Kobayashi GS, Pfaller MA. Medical microbiology. 4th ed. St. Louis: Mosby; 2002.

20. Editor(s), compiler(s) as author

Gilstrap LC 3rd, Cunningham FG, VanDorsten JP, editors. Operative obstetrics. 2nd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill; 2002.

21. Author(s) and editor(s)

Breedlove GK, Schorfheide AM. Adolescent pregnancy. 2nd ed. Wieczorek RR, editor. White Plains (NY): March of Dimes Education Services; 2001.

22. Organization(s) as author [Edited 12 May 2009]

Advanced Life Support Group. Acute medical emergencies: the practical approach. London: BMJ Books; 2001. 454 p.

American Occupational Therapy Association, Ad Hoc Committee on Occupational Therapy Manpower. Occupational therapy manpower: a plan for progress. Rockville (MD): The Association; 1985 Apr. 84 p.

National Lawyer's Guild AIDs Network (US); National Gay Rights Advocates (US). AIDS practice manual: a legal and educational guide. 2nd ed. San Francisco: The Network; 1988.

23. 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.

24. Conference proceedings

Harnden P, Joffe JK, Jones WG, editors. Germ cell tumours V. Proceedings of the 5th Germ Cell Tumour Conference; 2001 Sep 13-15; Leeds, UK. New York: Springer; 2002.

25. Conference paper

Christensen S, Oppacher F. An analysis of Koza's computational effort statistic for genetic programming. In: Foster JA, Lutton E, Miller J, Ryan C, Tettamanzi AG, editors. Genetic programming. EuroGP 2002: Proceedings of the 5th European Conference on Genetic Programming; 2002 Apr 3-5; Kinsdale, Ireland. Berlin: Springer; 2002. p. 182-91.

26. Scientific or technical report

Issued by funding/sponsoring agency:

Yen GG (Oklahoma State University, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Stillwater, OK). Health monitoring on vibration signatures. Final report. Arlington (VA): Air Force Office of Scientific Research (US), Air Force Research Laboratory; 2002 Feb. Report No.: AFRLSRBLTR020123. Contract No.: F496209810049.

Issued by performing agency:

Russell ML, Goth-Goldstein R, Apte MG, Fisk WJ. Method for measuring the size distribution of airborne Rhinovirus. Berkeley (CA): Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Environmental Energy Technologies Division; 2002 Jan. Report No.: LBNL49574. Contract No.: DEAC0376SF00098. Sponsored by the Department of Energy.

27. Dissertation

Borkowski MM. Infant sleep and feeding: a telephone survey of Hispanic Americans [dissertation]. Mount Pleasant (MI): Central Michigan University; 2002.

28. Patent

Pagedas AC, inventor; Ancel Surgical R&D Inc., assignee. Flexible endoscopic grasping and cutting device and positioning tool assembly. United States patent US 20020103498. 2002 Aug 1.

Other Published Material

29. Newspaper article

Tynan T. Medical improvements lower homicide rate: study sees drop in assault rate. The Washington Post. 2002 Aug 12;Sect. A:2 (col. 4).

30. Audiovisual material

Chason KW, Sallustio S. Hospital preparedness for bioterrorism [videocassette]. Secaucus (NJ): Network for Continuing Medical Education; 2002.

31. Legal Material

Public law:

Veterans Hearing Loss Compensation Act of 2002, Pub. L. No. 107-9, 115 Stat. 11 (May 24, 2001).

Unenacted bill:

Healthy Children Learn Act, S. 1012, 107th Cong., 1st Sess. (2001).

Code of Federal Regulations:

Cardiopulmonary Bypass Intracardiac Suction Control, 21 C.F.R. Sect. 870.4430 (2002).

Hearing:

Arsenic in Drinking Water: An Update on the Science, Benefits and Cost: Hearing Before the Subcomm. on Environment, Technology and Standards of the House Comm. on Science, 107th Cong., 1st Sess. (Oct. 4, 2001).

32. Map

Pratt B, Flick P, Vynne C, cartographers. Biodiversity hotspots [map]. Washington: Conservation International; 2000.

33. Dictionary and similar references

Dorland's illustrated medical dictionary. 29th ed. Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders; 2000. Filamin; p. 675.

Unpublished Material

34. In press or Forthcoming [Edited 12 May 2009]

(Note: NLM prefers "Forthcoming" rather than "In press" because not all items will be printed.)

Tian D, Araki H, Stahl E, Bergelson J, Kreitman M. Signature of balancing selection in Arabidopsis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. Forthcoming 2002.

Electronic Material

35. CD-ROM

Anderson SC, Poulsen KB. Anderson's electronic atlas of hematology [CD-ROM]. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2002.

36. Journal article on the Internet [Edited 12 May 2009]

Abood S. Quality improvement initiative in nursing homes: the ANA acts in an advisory role. Am J Nurs [Internet]. 2002 Jun [cited 2002 Aug 12];102(6):[about 1 p.]. Available from: http://www.nursingworld.org/AJN/2002/june/Wawatch.htmArticle

Optional presentation (omits bracketed phrase that qualifies the journal title abbreviation):

Abood S. Quality improvement initiative in nursing homes: the ANA acts in an advisory role. Am J Nurs. 2002 Jun [cited 2002 Aug 12];102(6):[about 1 p.]. Available from: http://www.nursingworld.org/AJN/2002/june/Wawatch.htmArticle

Article published on the Internet ahead of the print version:

See # 18.

Optional formats used by NLM in MEDLINE/PubMed:

Article with document number in place of traditional pagination:

Williams JS, Brown SM, Conlin PR. Videos in clinical medicine. Blood-pressure measurement. N Engl J Med. 2009 Jan 29;360(5):e6. PubMed PMID: 19179309.

Article with a Digital Object Identifier (DOI):

Zhang M, Holman CD, Price SD, Sanfilippo FM, Preen DB, Bulsara MK. Comorbidity and repeat admission to hospital for adverse drug reactions in older adults: retrospective cohort study. BMJ. 2009 Jan 7;338:a2752. doi: 10.1136/bmj.a2752. PubMed PMID: 19129307; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2615549.

Article with unique publisher item identifier (pii) in place of traditional pagination or DOI:

Tegnell A, Dillner J, Andrae B. Introduction of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination in Sweden. Euro Surveill. 2009 Feb 12;14(6). pii: 19119. PubMed PMID: 19215721.

37. Monograph on the Internet [Edited 12 May 2009]

Foley KM, Gelband H, editors. Improving palliative care for cancer [Internet]. Washington: National Academy Press; 2001 [cited 2002 Jul 9]. Available from: http://www.nap.edu/books/0309074029/html/.

38. Homepage/Web site [Edited 12 May 2009]

Cancer-Pain.org [Internet]. New York: Association of Cancer Online Resources, Inc.; c2000-01 [updated 2002 May 16; cited 2002 Jul 9]. Available from: http://www.cancer-pain.org/.

39. Part of a homepage/Web site [Edited 12 May 2009]

American Medical Association [Internet]. Chicago: The Association; c1995-2002 [updated 2001 Aug 23; cited 2002 Aug 12]. AMA Office of Group Practice Liaison; [about 2 screens]. Available from: http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/1736.html

40. Database on the Internet [Edited 12 May 2009]

Open database:

Who's Certified [Internet]. Evanston (IL): The American Board of Medical Specialists. c2000 - [cited 2001 Mar 8]. Available from: http://www.abms.org/newsearch.asp

Closed database:

Jablonski S. Online Multiple Congenital Anomaly/Mental Retardation (MCA/MR) Syndromes [Internet]. Bethesda (MD): National Library of Medicine (US); c1999 [updated 2001 Nov 20; cited 2002 Aug 12]. Available from: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/archive//20061212/mesh/jablonski/syndrome_title.html

41. Part of a database on the Internet [Edited 12 May 2009]

MeSH Browser [Internet]. Bethesda (MD): National Library of Medicine (US); 2002 -   . Meta-analysis [cited 2008 Jul 24]; [about 2 p.]. Available from: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/cgi/mesh/2008/MB_cgi?mode=&index=16408&view=concept MeSH Unique ID: D017418.

42. Blogs [Added 12 May 2009]

Holt M. The Health Care Blog [Internet]. San Francisco: Matthew Holt. 2003 Oct -   [cited 2009 Feb 13]. Available from: http://www.thehealthcareblog.com/the_health_care_blog/.

KidneyNotes.com [Internet]. New York: KidneyNotes. c2006 -   [cited 2009 Feb 13]. Available from: http://www.kidneynotes.com/.

Wall Street Journal. HEALTH BLOG: WSJ's blog on health and the business of health [Internet]. Hensley S, editor. New York: Dow Jones & Company, Inc. c2007 -   [cited 2009 Feb 13]. Available from: http://blogs.wsj.com/health/.

Contribution to a blog:

Mantone J. Head trauma haunts many, researchers say. 2008 Jan 29 [cited 2009 Feb 13]. In: Wall Street Journal. HEALTH BLOG [Internet]. New York: Dow Jones & Company, Inc. c2008 -   . [about 1 screen]. Available from: http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2008/01/29/head-trauma-haunts-many-researchers-say/.

Campbell A. Diabetes and alcohol: do the two mix? (Part 2). 2008 Jan 28 [cited 2009 Feb 13]. In: Diabetes Self-Management Blog [Internet]. New York: Diabetes Self-Management. [2006 Aug 14] -   . 2 p. Available from: http://www.diabetesselfmanagement.com/blog/Amy_Campbell/Diabetes_and_Alcohol_Do_the_Two_Mix_Part_2

Reider J. Docnotes: Health, Technology, Family Medicine and other observations [Internet]. [place unknown]: Jacob Reider. 1999 -   . CRP again ...; 2004 Apr 2 [cited 2009 Feb 13]; [about 1 screen]. Available from: http://www.docnotes.com/2004/04/crp-again.html

Printed and electronic manuscripts should be mailed to:

Centro de Desarrollo de las Ciencias Sociales y Humanísticas en Salud
Universidad de Ciencias Médicas de Camagüey
Carretera Central Oeste Km 4½, Camagüey 7
Cuba
CP: 70 700

Telephone: +53 (32) 201015

Emails: revistahm@infomed.sld.cu, revistahm@finlay.cmw.sld.cu