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CONTENTS (revision September 2007)

SERVICES AND INFORMATION

HOW TO SUBMIT

PRE-SUBMISSION GUIDE AND QUERIES

GUIDELINES AND CHECKLIST

SERVICES AND INFORMATION

EXPEDITED: Coming soon - The new priority service from IJCP exclusively for clinical trials. Priority peer review: 7 working days from online submission. Priority proofs: 7 working days from 'accept' decision. Priority online: 7 working days from proof approval to OnlineEarly publication. Priority print: 'Late Breaker' publication in next IJCP print issue. Exclusively for clinical trials (interventional and observational studies). Contact us for more information.

Timelines: rapid, robust peer review and publication. IJCP offers a rapid, robust service for papers that do not qualify for EXPEDITED. An example: paper received 3 October 2006, accepted 10 November 2006, online 5 December 2006, print 8 January 2007. If you let us know about your paper before submitting, we will arrange rapid peer review. Our average peer review times are around 20 working days. Proofs can be delivered around 10 working days after 'accept' decision. OnlineEarly publication can be around 10 working days after proof approval. Contact us before submission for fastest standard process.

Late Breakers. IJCP Late Breakers section is reserved for rapid print publication of selected 'just-through-review' original papers and review articles.

OnlineEarly. The fastest form of publication online ahead of print. OnlineEarly papers are indexed in Medline/PubMed, and can be cited using permanent Digital Object Identifier (DOI).

OnlineOpen. OnlineOpen offers you the opportunity to ensure that your article is immediately and permanently made free to access online. If you want your paper to be OnlineOpen you need to complete the combined payment and copyright licence paperwork: OnlineOpen Form.

OnlineExtra supplementary material. IJCP articles can be accompanied by slideshows to help explain and illustrate key concepts. Use our OnlineExtra PowerPoint template; other digital media can also be included. Supplementary material, slideshows or supporting data, should draw exclusively from or support material presented in your manuscript.

Distribution. Global circulation, including networked content, is 7354 (updated figure as of 27 March 2008, including 30 of the world's top 50 universities, 29 of the top 50 US primary care medical schools, and 24 of the top 50 US medical research schools). Target audience is general medicine (secondary care, primary care). Electronic reach via Blackwell Online service and Medscape.com, EBSCO and OVID, plus abstracting services including Medline/PubMed, Current Contents and Embase.

Medscape. Content syndication in partnership with Medscape.com delivers IJCP authors broader reach, notably in the US, by free online distribution.

PR for Articles. IJCP informs the world's medical and lay press immediately before selected IJCP content is published, amplifying reach and impact.

Contributors first: Any other questions? IJCP exists to serve your needs. We offer you the highest standards of service. If you need information not provided here please email the IJCP Editorial Office.

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HOW TO SUBMIT
All manuscripts should be submitted online (MS Word or similar, not PDF).

FAQs and tips about preparing and submitting manuscripts, automated email tracking and more at the Blackwell Publishing Author Services website.

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PRE-SUBMISSION GUIDE AND QUERIES
Want an informal opinion before you submit? For informal and rapid pre-submission guidance, send your abstract and brief letter explaining why your manuscript is suitable by email to the IJCP Editorial Office and we'll be in touch.

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GUIDELINES AND CHECKLIST
Read IJCP Editorial Policy for manuscript types considered and IJCP peer review process.

Checklist. Use our submission checklist to help prepare your submission.

Standards. Materials should comply with the ICMJE Uniform Requirements. We recommend that manuscripts reporting randomised trials should follow CONSORT guidelines; manuscripts reporting diagnostic accuracy studies should follow STARD guidelines; manuscripts reporting meta-analyses should follow QUOROM guidelines; and that authors preparing manuscripts reporting epidemiological studies should consider STROBE guidelines.

Suitability. Your cover letter should explain why your manuscript is suitable for publication in IJCP.

Title. Concise and informative title (read Optimizing for Search Engines).

Authors. Names department(s) and institution(s) of all authors. (In online submission system, confirm that all listed authors meet ICMJE authorship criteria and that nobody who qualifies for authorship has been excluded. Credit for authorship should be based on: [1] substantial contributions to research design, or the acquisition, analysis or interpretation of data; [2] drafting the paper or revising it critically; [3] approval of the submitted and final versions. Authors should meet all three criteria.)

Corresponding author. Name, address, email address, telephone and fax numbers. (Corresponding author should take responsibility for communicating with all other authors and getting their approval for the final version to be published. During online submission corresponding authors can nominate an individual, who may or may not be an author, to assist them with administration of the publication process.)

Author contributions. Recommendation: Include a short description of each authors' contribution immediately before your references. (Examples of categories for authors' contributions: Concept/design, Data analysis/interpretation, Drafting article, Critical revision of article, Approval of article, Statistics, Funding secured by, Data collection, Other.)

Access to data. You will be asked during online submission to confirm that authors had access to the study data that support the publication.

Abstract. Your abstract should be around 250 words using structured headings to identify, for example, the aims, methods, results, discussion and conclusion from your paper (read Optimizing for Search Engines).

Research papers: 'What's known?' and 'What's new?'. After your abstract please answer these questions: 'What is already known about this topic?' (2 or 3 short sentences; 70 words) and 'What does this article add?' (2 or 3 short sentences; 70 words).

Review papers: 'Review Criteria' and 'Message for the clinic'. After your abstract please answer these questions: 'How did you gather, select and analyze the info you considered in your review?' (2 or 3 short sentences; 70 words) and 'What is the take-home message for the clinician?' (2 or 3 short sentences; 70 words).

Disclosures (title page under heading 'Disclosures'). For each author, disclose potential conflicts of interest, including all relevant financial interests (e.g. employment, significant share ownership, patent rights, consultancy, research funding) in any company or institution that might benefit from the publication (or state 'none'). Authors might consider, as a guide for financial disclosures, reporting interests where the sums concerned are above USD10,000 or the equivalent of >5% of an author's gross income. Authors do not need to report the sums concerned.

Funding and Acknowledgements (under heading 'Acknowledgements' before references). State sources of funding for the research and its publication, or for the publication (or state 'none'), including a short description of involvement of the funder in study design, data collection, data analysis, manuscript preparation and/or publication decisions. Acknowledge individuals who do not qualify as authors but who contributed to the study or manuscript (or state 'none'). Contributions that should be acknowledged include administrative, technical, or material forms of support like writing assistance, literature searching, data analysis, administrative support, supply of materials. (Authors should secure approval from anyone listed in acknowledgements.)

Research ethics. You will be asked during online submission to confirm that your study has been approved by relevant bodies (e.g. institutional review boards, research ethics committees) and that appropriate consent was obtained for studies involving human participants.

Publication ethics. IJCP's author guidelines were prepared with reference to Best Practice Guidelines on Publication Ethics: a Publisher's Perspective (Graf C, Wager, E, Bowman A et al. Int J Clin Pract 2007;61[s152]:1-26). IJCP is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics.

Clinical trials - registration. Recommendation: Provide clinical trial registration number and registry name at the end of your abstract.

Clinical trials - data posting. Recommendation: If trial data are posted online before submission and peer reviewed publication, provide clinical trial results database number and database name at the end of your abstract.

Prior Publication. You will be asked during online submission to confirm that the submitted work is not published, in press or currently being considered for publication elsewhere. (Abstracts, presentations at scientific meetings and clinical trial data posting should be indicated in your cover letter. Publication of abstracts, presentations at scientific meetings and subsequent press coverage will not jeopardise full publication in IJCP. Posting of clinical trials results in databases [data without interpretation, discussion, context or full conclusions in the form of tables and text to describe data/information where this is not easily presented in tabular form] prior to submission to IJCP will not jeopardize full peer reviewed publication in IJCP.)

Appendix (e.g. list of participating physicians). Optional. Will appear in print and online. Use an appendix immediately following references to list further details related to clinical studies like participating physicians, clinical and coordinating centers (which should be presented in the most concise form possible, i.e. not tabulated).

Supplementary material (e.g. OnlineExtra slideshows). Optional. Will only appear online. Should be submitted online during manuscript submission as 'Supplementary Files'. Supplementary material is additional material to accompany your printed article online. Supplementary material, slideshows or supporting data, should draw exclusively from or support material presented in your manuscript.

Tables. All tables should be mentioned in the text and individually numbered. Tables should be presented together and separated from the main text. They should be numbered in the order in which they are mentioned in the text, and each should have a short explanatory caption. Each table column should have a short heading. Any tables previously published should be submitted with the written consent of the copyright holder, an acknowledgement should be included in the caption, and the full reference included in the reference list.

Illustrations. For detailed information about preparing and submitting digital images, please register at the Blackwell Publishing Author Services website and refer to the 'Author Resources' pages.

Illustrations will only be accepted if provided electronically (TIFF preferred; JPEG, GIF, EPS, PNG Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Excel also acceptable); they should be professionally drawn, labelled and photographed; freehand lettering is not acceptable. Staining techniques and the magnification of micrographs should be stated, and arrows/abbreviations explained in the captions. If the subjects of photographs are identifiable, either their eyes should be masked or their written permission to use the photograph be submitted with the manuscript. Any information (including personal data) that could enable a patient to be identified should be removed.

All illustrations and figures should be mentioned in the text and individually numbered. Only those essential to the paper should be included. Illustrations and figures should be presented together and separated from the main text. They should be numbered in the order in which they are mentioned in the text, and each should have a short explanatory caption. Any illustrations and figures previously published should be submitted with the written consent of the copyright holder, an acknowledgement should be included in the caption, and the full reference included in the list.
Illustrations may be reproduced in colour if essential to the article. A charge will be made for colour reproduction (see below). If colour is required, a Colourwork Agreement Form must be completed and returned to the Editorial Office. Any article received with colour work will not be published until this form has been returned.

Measurements and abbreviations. Measurements should be given in the units in which they were made, but non-metric units must be accompanied by metric (SI) equivalents (exceptions: blood pressure in mmHg; haemoglobin in g/dl). British Pharmacopoeia drug names should be used (proprietary/other names may follow in parentheses). If an acronym is used, the term for which it stands should be given in full at its first mention in the text, for example, anti-diuretic hormone (ADH).

References. Original textual matter quoted from other authors must have formal citation and be appropriately attributed and referenced. Authors should verify references against the original documents. References should be identified in the text using square brackets, and numbered and listed consecutively at the end of the paper in the order in which they are first cited in the text. The Vancouver style is used.

We recommend EndNote or Reference Manager for reference management and formatting. Search EndNote or Reference Manager reference styles for International Journal of Clinical Practice at http://www.endnote.com/support/enstyles.asp or http://www.refman.com/support/rmstyles.asp.

For more guidance about how to reference and cite, please refer to the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals, prepared by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors.

Copyright. Authors are required to license copyright in their paper to Blackwell Publishing. Copyright licensing is a condition of publication. On acceptance, you must submit either a completed copyright Exclusive Licence Form or, if you want OnlineOpen publication, an OnlineOpen Form. Papers will not be published unless copyright has been licensed.

Proofs. Proofs will be sent to the designated corresponding author. (During online submission corresponding authors can nominate an individual, who may or may not be an author, to assist them with administration of the publication process.)

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