Submissions

Author Guidelines

Manuscript Preparation and Submission

The manuscript preparation for submission to  the CCC Journal must follow the recommendation of the ICMJE . The CCC is an official journal of the TSCCM, that accepts broad types of manuscripts including original articles, narrative and systematic reviews, meta-analyses and case reports in various aspects of critical care medicine. The manuscript style is compatible with the American Medical Association (AMA) Journal guidelines for medical sciences.

In most cases, we do not impose strict limits on word count or page numbers. However, we strongly recommend that you write concisely and adhere to the guidelines described below.

CCC Article Template and EndNote Styles Download

• CCC_original_article_template (docx)
• CCC_review_article_template (docx)
• CCC_case_report_template (docx)
• CCC EndNote Styles (ens)

Submission files:

From the January 2022, Manuscript submission to Clinical Critical Care is online at : https://he02.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/ccc/about/submissions 

Submit files including:

File 1 Cover letter to editors (optional)

File 2 Checklist guideline for research report or systematic review (optional)

File 3 Title page and Main manuscript in order (See below)

File 4 Agreement form Agreement form

General Guidelines

1. File format: We prefer Microsoft word files (.doc/.docx) for all main manuscript documents. Manuscripts should be typed on A4 sized documents.    We prefer doubled-spaced “Arial” 14-point type with continuous line number (new start on each page) and pages numbered starting from the main text page. Page numbers should be placed at the middle of the bottom of each page. We will not accept any uneditable file format, for example, .pdf file, for any submission.
2. Style and Language: All manuscripts must be in English.
3. Units of Measurement: All measurement variables should be reported in metric units. The journal encourages the use the international standardized (SI) units. These are available at  https://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/index.html or https://physics.nist.gov/cuu/pdf/sp811.pdf.
4. Abbreviations and Symbols: Use only standard abbreviations.  The spelled-out abbreviation followed by the abbreviation in parenthesis should be used upon first mention unless the abbreviation is a standard unit of measurement.
5. Statistical Methods: Authors should describe the analysis methods, software programs and data sources.
6. Arrangement of Manuscript: The submitted article should be arranged in order of 1) Title page 2) Abstract 3) Introduction 4) Materials and Methods 5) Results 6) Discussion 7) Conflicts of Interest 8) Acknowledgment 9) Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID) 10) Authors’ contributions 11) References 12) Tables 13) Figures and Figure legends (See the template) 
     a. The title of each new section should begin on a new page. Number pages consecutively starting with the abstract page.
7. Reporting Guidelines for the Study: The authors are encouraged to follow the reporting guidelines relevant to their specific research design. (the EQUATOR Network (http://www.equator-network.org/home/) and the United States National Institutes of Health/National Library of Medicine (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/services/research_report_guide.html).
8. Editing: Accepted manuscripts will be copy-edited according to the CCC Journal style guide. Galley proofs are sent to the corresponding author for approval. Authors are responsible for all statements made in their work, including changes made by the copy editor and authorized by the corresponding author.
9. Transfer of Copyright: All accepted manuscripts become the property of the TSCCM and may not be published elsewhere without written permission from the TSCCM. Copyright will be transferred to the TSCCM on behalf of all co-authors by the submitting author. Copyright will revert to authors for any manuscripts that are rejected.
10. During Submission: When authors wish to recommend a reviewer in the same field, the author should provide the name, email address, affiliation, and reason for the recommendation (optional).

File 1 Cover Letter:

This letter is optional for every manuscript submitted to the journal. Please prepare the cover letter for the journal editor that briefly discusses the importance of the submitted work and why it is appropriate for the journal. Please avoid repeating information that is already present in the abstract and introduction. The cover letter is not shared with the reviewers, and should be used to provide confidential information such as conflicts of interest and to declare any related work that is in press or submitted elsewhere.

 File 2 : Checklist guideline 

CCC required authors to prepare their study or systematic review article using globally recognized reporting requirements. Download the right research guideline using the resources offered by the EQUATOR network: http://www.equator-network.org/ before the authors begin drafting the report. The authors must identify the reporting guideline they employed in the methods section and present a completed copy of the appropriate reporting checklist when submitting the publication.

Examples of Reporting guidelines used by Clinical Critical Care:

Qualitative studies - COREQ - Consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research, http://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/coreq

Observational cohort, case control and cross sectional studies - STROBE - Strengthening the Re­porting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology, http://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/strobe/

Quasi-experimental/non-randomised evaluations - TREND - Transparent Reporting of Evaluations with Non-randomized Designs, http://www.cdc.gov/trendstatement/

Randomised (and quasi-randomised) controlled trial - CONSORT - Consolidated Standards of Re­porting Trials, http://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/consort/

Study of Diagnostic accuracy/assessment scale - STARD - Standards for the Reporting of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies, http://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/stard/

Systematic Review of Controlled Trials - PRISMA - Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses, http://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/prisma/

Systematic Review of Observational Studies - MOOSE - Meta-analysis of Observational Studies in Epidemiology, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10789670

If you are reporting original research, you need to use the following for:

Randomized studies, the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials - CONSORT; http://www.consort-statement.org

Descriptive and epidemic studies the Transparent Reporting of Evaluations with Nonrandomized Designs (TREND) http://www.cdc.gov/trendstatement/

Descriptive and epidemiologic studies http://www.cdc.gov/trendstatement/

and for Quality improvement reports, the Standards for Quality Improvement Reporting SQUIRE www.squire-statement.org

File 3 : Title Page: This page must be separate from the main manuscript, which consist of the details described below.

• • • Article Title: Title must fit in two lines with no more than 75 characters including spaces. Information of the study design should be provided; however, the author should avoid technical terms, abbreviations and active verbs. The title should use generic drug names, not brand names
    • Author Information and Affliliations: Full name of all authors must be declared with the author's highest academic degrees. The name of department(s) and institution(s) or organization(s) where the work was conducted should be attributed and specified. All authors must provide full contact information, including e-mail address.
      Only one corresponding author must be identified and full contact information provided.
    • Authors’ Contributions. You must construct a brief statement for inclusion in your manuscript that lists the role(s) of each author using the ICMJE criteria. This section describes the authors' works. All contributors must meet at least one of the seven core contributions by CrediT (conceptualization, method, software, validation, formal analysis, investigation, data curation), and at least one of the writing contributions (original draft preparation, review and editing). These contributions will be published. The submitting author is responsible for completing this information at submission, and that all authors will have agreed to their individual contributions is expected.
    • ORCID: We encourage the listing of authors’ ORCID number. To obtain an ORCID, authors should register at the ORCID website: https://orcid.org. Registration is free for all researchers.
    • Word count. A word count for the paper's text excludes its abstract, acknowledgments, tables, figure legends and references.
    • Number of Figures and Tables.

File 3 Main manuscript

Organization of  manuscript – Original Article:

The following are general requirements for manuscript formats.

1. Article title (no author name and institute)

2. Abstract: Include an abstract of no more than 300 words. Abstracts for Original Articles should be structured, consisting of the following sections: (1) Background, state the problem or purpose of the study; (2) Methods, briefly describe the study design and variables; (3) Results, describe the main findings; and (4) Conclusion, emphasize new or important aspects of the study or observations. The references must not be included in the abstract. The author should provied keywords; a maximum of 6 keywords should be listed. The arrangement of keywords should be in alphabetical order, separated by a semicolon (;), use MeSH terms (Medical Subject Heading: https://meshb.nlm.nih.gov/ )

3. Key Messages: Please provide 3-5 key messages,The key messages provide the important findings of your study and is limited to 50 – 100 words or less.

4. Introduction: Provide the context or background for the study. State the specific purpose or research objective of, or hypothesis tested by, the study or observation. Cite only directly pertinent references, and do not include data or conclusions from the work being reported.

5. Materials and Methods: Provide the selection and description of participants, measurement outcomes, study procedures, definition of interested variables, ethical issues and conducts and agent of the study registration/number. Relevant statistical methods must be provided in this part.

6. Results: Present the relevant results in text. Tables and figures should not be included in this part. Do not repeat all of the data in the tables or illustrations in the text; emphasize or summarize only the most important findings.

7. Discussion : Emphasize the new and important aspects of your study and put your findings in the context of the totality of the relevant evidence. State the limitations of your study, and explore the implications of your findings for future research and for clinical practice or policy.

8. Conclusion : Summarize the main findings and short suggestion.

9. Disclosure of Conflicts of Interest: We encourage all authors to disclose their potential conflict of interest that could influence the decision, work or manuscript of the authors. When no conflict of interest exists, please state “All authors have no conflicts of interests to declare”

10. Source(s) of Support and Funding: These include grants, equipment, drugs, and/or other support that facilitated the conduct of the work described in the article or the writing of the article itself.

11. Acknowledgements: This part is not compulsory. The person who participates in the study that does not meet the criteria of the author by the ICMJE might be declared in this part.

12. References:  References should be cited in sequential order  in the text; and identify them in the text by brackets [  ] . Arabic numerals. The references follow the NLM style guide for authors, editors, and publishers (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/citingmedicine). All of the references should be stated in English, including author, title and journal name. The abbreviation of journal names must follow the journal indexed in the NLM Journal Catalog (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nlmcatalog/journals). Journal titles that are not listed should follow the ISO abbreviation guidelines (http://www.iso.org/iso/home/store/catalogue_tc/catalogue_detail.htm?csnumber=3569). The list of the first six authors may be listed. When articles have more than six authors, the first six authors with “ et al.” is used

Example of Reference Style  [CCC EndNote Styles  (ens)]

• Journal Article
  Authors. Article title. Journal title Published year;Volume: Start-End page

1. 1. Auiwattanakul S, Chittawatanarat K, Chaiwat O, Morakul S, Kongsayreepong S, Ungpinitpong W, et al. Effects of nutrition factors on mortality and sepsis occurrence in a multicenter university-based surgical intensive care unit in Thailand (THAI-SICU study). Nutrition. 2019;58:94-9.
   2. Wacharasint P, Fuengfoo P, Rangsin R, Morakul S, Chittawattanarat K, Chaiwat O. Hazards and Intensive Care Unit Economic Burden of Cigarette Smoking on Critically Ill Surgical Patients: Analysis of the THAI-SICU Study. J Med Assoc Thai. 2016;99(Suppl 6):S38-S46.

• Book
  Authors. Book title. Edition*. Place of publication: Publisher; Published year.
  *Mark edition when it is beyond the 2nd edition
           Marino PL.The ICU book. 4th ed. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer; 2014.

• Book Chapter
  Authors of chapter. Title of chapter. In: Editors of book, editor(s). Title of book. Edition. Place of publication: Publisher; Published year. p. Start-End page.
  
  Chittawatanarat K. Perioperative Life Threatening Conditions : Respiratory Problems. In: Permpikul C, Phumipichet A, eds. Best Practices in Critical Care. Bangkok: Thai society of critical care medicine; 2006: p.93 - 122.

• Electronic Format
  • Electronic publication before print
    Auiwattanakul S, Chittawatanarat K, Chaiwat O, Morakul S, Kongsayreepong S, Ungpinitpong W, et al. Effects of nutrition factors on mortality and sepsis occurrence in a multicenter university-based surgical intensive care unit in Thailand (THAI-SICU study). Nutrition  2018 Dec 10 [Epub]. https://doi:10.1016/j.nut.2018.06.021.
  • Website
    Chittawatanarat K. The knowledge gap of nutrition assessment and treatment in Thai government hospital [Internet]: Health interventiona and technology assessment program, 2013. [cited 2020 Dec 20]. Available from: http://www.hitap.net/documents/18954.. 

13. Table: Tables must be submitted in Excel or Microsoft Word table format and not as images. They should appear at the end of the manuscript and not be embedded throughout the text. Table callouts should appear throughout the text by Table 1, Table 2 etc. Each table should have a table caption, and all symbols should be explained in the legend.

14. Figures and Illustrations: Figures should be submitted as high-resolution figure files and not be embedded in the manuscript. Figures may be in color or black and white. Credit for any previously published illustration must be given in the corresponding legend, and permission from the copyright holder must be obtained by the author and submitted with the manuscript.

Each figure should have a figure caption, and figure callouts should appear in the text by Figure 1, Figure 2 etc.. Figures should not be submitted in Microsoft Word. Acceptable file formats include TIFF (.TIF), Tag Image File Format; EPS (.EPS), Encapsulated Postscript File and JPEG (.JPG), Joint Photographic Experts Group.

1. 16. Legends of Figures and Illustrations
       All figures and illustrations should be described in the text separately. The abbreviation on figures and illustrations should be described. 

Organization of Case Reports

            Case reports reveal interesting, unique and instructive cases which have value concerning learning point and scientific reasoning, new technologies, new equipment and new information on clinical practice concerning critical care. The length of articles should not exceed 1500 words. The submission files are the same as the original articles.

1. Cover Letter
2. Abstract: We prefer not to exceed 200 words
3. Introduction: Briefly describe the case and background
4. Case Report: Describe the important findings that are directly related to critical care practice
5. Discussion: Briefly discuss the important points of the case.
6. Reference: We prefer the number not to exceed 15 references
7. Table and Figures: Appropriate proportion to the case.

Organization of Reviews

            The abstracts should be less than 250 words with concise contents. The length of the manuscript excluding references, tables, and figures should not exceed 5000 words.

Study Protocol

           The journal accepts study protocols in the critical care field. The study should be approved by an Ethics Committee or Internal Review Board before submission. In addition, we suggest the  author should register the study on the registration trial website including “clinicaltrial.gov” and primary registries in the WHO registry network (https://www.who.int/clinical-trials-registry-platform/network/primary-registries). These include Thai Clinical Trials Registry (TCTR).

Contents of study protocol 

The primary features of the research protocol are the same as those in the original paper and may include all of the following. The template and details are identical to the original article template. 

a. Background

i. Background or prior knowledge and knowledge gap
ii. Aims or Objective of study
iii. Trial design

b.Methods 

i. Study setting
ii. Eligibility criteria and exclusion criteria
iii. Intervention
iv.Outcome measurement

1. Primary outcomes
2. Secondary outcomes
3. Exploratory outcomes 

v. Timeline 

1. Follow up period
2. Intervention during follow up 

vi. Data analysis plan 

1. Sample size estimation (with reference) depend on the primary outcome 2.Outcome analysis plan 

vii. Data management and data monitoring 

1. Input data
2. Monitoring method
3. Confidentiality
4. Dissemination policy 

c. Discussion

Letter to the Editor

           Letters to the Editor should include brief constructive comments on the published article, and should be submitted no more than six months after the articles have been published. The body text  is limited up to 1000 words and should have less than 10 references. The letters may be edited by the Editorial Board. The responses from the author of related articles may be provided and the format of responses is the same as Letters to the Editor.

Other Publication Types

            The journal accepts other publication types such as guidelines, brief reports, and history articles. The format can be discussed with the Editorial Board.

Peer review and publication processes

1. Screening after Submission

The screening process begins after complete submission. The manuscript may be returned to the author after receipt and without a review if it does not fit the aims and scope or does not follow the Instructions to the authors. All submitted manuscripts are checked by a plagiarism-screening tool, and when a minor similarity of more than 30% is found, after excluding the quotes, bibliography, small matches of six words, small sources of 1% and method of study, the work will be deemed unaccepted.

2. Peer Review Process

The manuscripts will be reviewed by two or more expert reviewers. After reviews, the editor may request authors to revise the manuscripts according to the reviewer’s opinion. After revising the manuscript, the author should upload the revised files with a response to reviewer comments to each item of the reviewer’s opinion. The revised part of the manuscript should be marked as either a different font color or underlined using track change in Microsoft Word. The author’s revisions should be completed within 60 days after the request. When not received by the due date, the reminding letter will be sent to the author.  The editorial Board might consider it for publication on case by case basis.  The Editorial Board will make a final decision on the approval of the submitted manuscript for publication and can request any further corrections, revisions, and deletions of the article text when necessary. Statistical editing is also performed when the data requires professional statistical review by a statistician.

3. Process after Acceptance

When the manuscript is finally accepted, the proofreading will be sent to the corresponding author after professional manuscript editing and/or English proofreading. Proofreading should be performed again for any misspellings, typos or errors by the authors. The final version will appear in PDF with unique DOI number.

4. Fee for Publication and Reprints

The CCC Journal has no article processing charge. However, this policy could be changed in the future.

5. Copyright and Open Access

Copyright ownership is to be transferred to the TSCCM. The authors should submit the, “Authorship Responsibility and License Agreement Form” at the time of manuscript submission. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

6. Clinical Data Sharing Policy

The journal accepts the ICMJE recommendations for data sharing statement policy (http://icmje.org/icmje-recommendations.pdf). All manuscripts reporting clinical trial results are recommended to submit a data sharing statement following the ICMJE guidelines.