INSTRUCTIONS for AUTHORS

Abstract

INSTRUCTIONS for AUTHORS

The Bangkok Medical Journal is the official journal of the Bangkok Hospital Group. The Journal publishes original articles on all aspects both clinical and experimental.

EDITORIAL POLICIES 

The Editors-in-Chief of The Bangkok Medical Journal invite manuscripts in all areas of medical research. As a general guide, manuscripts will be considered for publi- cation if they contribute significant new findings to the field.

TYPES OF MANUSCRIPTS

The following types of material may be are considered for publication:

(1)Peer-reviewed papers

1. Critical reviews and commentary.


2. Full-length original research articles.These articles should be limited and confine to the critical parts and material.


3. Special reports. In some cases,special reports from ILAE Commissions or other broadly constituted working groups will be published after peer review.


4. Briefcommunications.These articles – including short studies, small series, case reports.

(2)Editorially-reviewed

(3)Supplements

MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION

(1)  General Style Guidelines

Manuscripts are to be submitted (and will be published) in English. Use international non-proprietary (generic) names when referring to drugs; avoid proprietary (brand) names.

(2)  Manuscript Format

1. Critical Reviews and Invited Commentaries

• Title Page (see Full-Length Original Research below)


• Summary and Key Words Reviews and commen- taries should generally begin with a brief (less than 200 words) summary of the content. The summary (unstruc- tured) should provide the reader with an abstract of the main points of the paper. The Summary should be followed by a list of 3–6 Key Words; please provide Key Words that will assist in the indexing of your article (i.e., make it easy for for individuals who are searching PubMed to find your paper). 

1. Full-LengthOriginalResearchandBriefCommunications

*Title Page

Include the following information: Full title of the manuscript; authors’ names (first and last names, middle initial when commonly used by that author); institutional affiliation for each author (use super-scripted numbers after each author’s name, and a corresponding superscripted number before each institutional affiliation); contact information for the corresponding author.

* Summary 

Full-Length Original Research reports should consist of four sections, labeled: Purpose; Methods; Results; Discussion. This structured summary should concisely and specifically describe why and how the study was performed, the essential results, and what the authors conclude from the results.

* Key Words

Key word are significant words in medical indexing. It is a useful item to explain the type of paper for search- ing from the lists of medical journals.

* Introduction

State the objectives of the study clearly and concisely, and provide a context for the study by referring judi- ciously to previous work in the area. Do not attempt to present a comprehensive review of the field. Provide     a statement about the significance of this research for understanding and/or treating the concerned disease.

*  Methods

Describe the research methods in sufficient detail that the work can be duplicated; alternatively, give references (if they are readily accessible) and comprehensive de- scriptions. Identify the statistical procedures that were used and the rationale for choosing a particular method, especially if it is not standard.

* Results

Results should be reported fully and concisely, in a logical order. Descriptive information provided in figure legends need not be repeated in the text; use the text, however, to describe key features of the figures.When appropriate, give sample numbers, the range and standard deviation (or mean error) of measurements, and signifi- cance values for compared populations.

*  Discussion

Provide an interpretation of the results and assess their significance in relation to previous work in the field. Do not repeat the results. Do not engage in general discussion beyond the scope of the experimental results.

*  Conclusion

Conclusions should be supported by the data obtained in the reported study; avoid speculation not warranted by experimental results, and label speculation clearly.

* Acknowledgements

All acknowledgements including financial support should be mentioned under the heading “acknowledge- ments” and not as footnotes on the first page or in the text.

*  References

Authors are responsible for the accuracy of their references. References should follow a Harvard-like format.Citation of references in the text of an article should be given by author last name (no initials) followed by the year. When two or more citations are given, list them in chronological order. When there are two authors, include both names, separated by “&”; when there are three or more names, give only the first author followed by “et al.” If there are two or more papers by the same author(s) in  the  same  year,  identify  them  by “a”, “b”, etc. (and be sure to include the identifying letters in the Reference List). All references  cited  in the text (including those included in figure legends and tables) should be listed References.

Start the References on a separate page, and arrange citations in alphabetical order by the first author’s last name; do not number the citations. List all the authors (do not use “et al.” in the reference list).

For journal references, the names of authors (last name and initials) should be followed by the date (in parentheses), title of the article, journal name (in italics – use PubMed abbreviations), volume number (followed by a colon) and pages (first – last page numbers). Reference to electronic material should include author name(s), date, article title, and journal (as above); where volume and/or page numbers are not available, substitute Digital Object Identifier (DOI) number.

MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION

(1)  Cover letter

All manuscripts should be submitted with a cover letter, addressed to the Editors-in-Chief, which explains why the manuscript should be published in The Bangkok Medical Journal. In particular, authors should identify novel findings, innovative approaches, and important insights that would make the manuscript of particular value to the readers of The Bangkok Medical Journal.

(2)Text, table and figure files

All files should be given a label that includes the first author’s last name and the nature of the file.

MANUSCRIPT PUBLICATION

(1)Proofs

Proofs are mailed electronically in a PDF format, and must be returned within three days of receipt.

Late returns of proofs will cause substantial delay in article publication. It is the corresponding author’s responsibility to see that the proof is accurately checked and corrected, and to return the proofs promptly to avoid publication delays.

Please check the spelling of coauthors’names, text, tables, legends, and references care-fully. It is the authors’ responsibility to make sure that the information is accurate. Indicate corrections either using the PDF editor function (so asto return proofs electroni-cally toeeeproofs @aol.com), or with clear hard-copy indications which should be faxed to +1 508 586-4024. The proof corrections stage is not the time for fine-tuning language or making any other substantive changes. Confine corrections to errors in printing; authors may be charged for major author-initiated changes.

(2)  Early View

The publication-ready PDF of an article will be published initially online. Early View publication will precede print publication by a variable time period. The online publication date will be considered the official publication date. Early View published material will be indexed by PubMed, and can be cited by DOI number. In general, manuscripts will be published on Early View within 35 working days of the publisher’s receipt of   the complete accepted manuscript (including CAF and permission forms).

(3)  Public access of accepted/published articles

Prior to acceptance, articles may be shared (print or electronic copies) with colleagues; at this time the article may be posted on the author’s personal website, on his/ her employer’s website, and/or on free public servers in the author’s subject area – with the acknowledgement that the article has been submitted to The Bangkok Med- ical Journal. After an article has been accepted, authors may share print or electronic copies of the article (accept- ed and revised to address peer review) with colleagues, and may use the material in personal compilations, other publications of his/her own work, and for educational/ research purposes. Articles published in The Bangkok Medical Journal are freely accessible to the public – via website “www.bangkokmedjournal.com”