Style Matters Uniform - ICMJE

1 StyleMattersUniformrequirementsformanusc riptssubmittedtobiomedicaljournalsIntern ationalCommitteeofMedicalJournalEditorsI nthe12yearssincetheywerefirstpublishedth e"Uniformrequirementsformanuscriptssubmi ttedtobiomedicaljournals"(theVancouverst yle)haveprovedpopularwithbothauthorsande ditors; ,publishedhere, (AnnalsofInternalMedicine),LaurelThomas( MedicalJournalofAustralia),StephenLock(B ritishMedicalJournal),GeorgeDLundberg(7o urnaloftheAmericanMedicalAssociation),Ro binFox(Lancet),MagneNylenna(Tidsskriftfo rdenNorskeLaegeforening),LoisAnnColaiann i(IndexMedicus),ArnoldSRelman,MarciaAnge ll(NezvEnglandjournalofMedicine),PovlRii s(7ournaloftheDanishMedicalAssociation,D anishMedicalBulletin),RichardGRobinson(N ewZealandMedicalJournal),BrucePSquires(C anadianMedicalAssociationJournal),LindaC lever(WesternjournalofMedicine)Correspon denceto:Editor,BMJ,orEditor.

2 302:338-41 InJanuary1978agroupofeditorsfromsomemajo rbiomedicaljournalspublishedinEnglishmet inVancouver,BritishColumbia, ,in-cludingformatsforbibliographicrefere ncesdevelopedfortheVancouvergroupbytheNa tionalLibraryofMedicine, ; ,therequirementsareinstructionstoauthors onhowtopreparemanuscripts,nottoeditorson publicationstyle.(Butmanyjournalshavedra wnontheserequirementsforelementsoftheirp ublicationstyles.)Secondly, , ,authorssendingmanuscriptstoapartici-pat ingjournalshouldnottrytopreparetheminacc ordancewiththepublicationstyleofthatjour nalbutshouldfollowthe"Uniformrequirement sformanuscriptssubmittedtobiomedicaljour nals."Neverthelessauthorsmustalsofollowt heinstruc-tionstoauthorsinthejournalasto whattopicsaresuitableforthatjournalandth etypesofpapersthatmaybesubmitted-forexam ple,originalarticles,reviews, ,thejournal'sinstructionsarelikelytocont ainotherrequirementsuniquetothatjournal, suchasnumberofcopiesofmanuscripts,accept ablelanguages,lengthofarticles, "Uniformrequirementsformanuscriptssubmit tedtobipmedicaljournals" ,NezvEnglandJournalofMedicine,10 ShattuckStreet,Boston,MA02115,USA;thosef romotherregionsshouldbesenttotheEditor,B ritishMedical7ournal,BritishMedicalAssoc iation,TavistockSquare,LondonWCIH9JR, ; ,includingtitlepage,abstract,text,acknow ledgments,references,tables, ,inthefollowingsequence:titlepage;abstra ctandkeywords;text;acknowledgments;refer ences.

3 Tables(eachtable,completewithtitleandfoo tnotes,onaseparatepage); ,unmountedglossyprints,usually127x173mm( 5x7in)butnolargerthan203x254mm(8x10in).S ubmittherequirednumberofcopiesofmanuscri ptandfigures(seejournal'sinstructions) ,asdescribedunderSubmissionofmanu-script s, ' , , ,thepublicationmorethanonceofthesamestud y, ,providedthefollowingconditionsaremet.(1 )Theeditorsofbothjournalsconcernedareful lyinformed;theeditorconcernedwithseconda rypublicationshouldhaveaphotocopy,reprin t,ormanuscriptoftheprimaryversion.(2)The priorityoftheprimarypublicationisrespect edbyapublicationintervalofatleasttwoweek s.(3)Thepaperforsecondarypublicationiswr ittenforadifferentgroupofreadersandisnot simplyatranslatedversionoftheprimarypape r;anabbreviatedversionwilloftenbesuffici ent.(4)Thesecondaryversionreflectsfaithf ullythedataandinterpretationsoftheprimar yversion.

4 (5)Afootnoteonthetitlepageofthesecondary versioninformsreaders,peers,anddocumenti ngagenciesthattheBMJVOLUME3029 FEBRUARY1991338 This archived document is no longer current. The current document is available at ,andisbeingpublished, :"Thisarticleisbasedonastudyfirstreporte dinthe[titleofjournal,withfullreference] ." ,usuallytopublicmedia, ,andonlybyarrangementwiththeeditor,preli minaryreleaseofdatamaybeacceptable-forex ample,towarnthepublic ,216x279mm(8/2x11in)orISOA4(212x297mm),w ithmarginsofatleast25mm(1in). ,includingtitlepage,abstract,text,acknow ledgments,references,tables, :titlepage,abstractandkeywords,text,ackn owledg-ments,references,individualtables , , (a)thetitleofthearticle,whichshouldbecon cisebutinformative;(b)firstname,middlein itial,andlastnameofeachauthor,withhighes tacademicdegree(s)andinstitutionalaffili ation;(c)nameofdepart-ment(s)andinstitut ions(s)towhichtheworkshouldbeattributed; (d)disclaimers,ifany;(e)nameandaddressof authorresponsibleforcorrespondenceaboutt hemanuscript;(f)nameandaddressofauthorto whomrequestsforreprintsshouldbeaddressed orstatementthatreprintswillnotbeavailabl efromtheauthor;(g)source(s)ofsupportinth eformofgrants,equipment,drugs,orallofthe se.

5 And(h)ashortrunningheadorfootlineofnomor ethan40characters(countlettersandspaces) (a)conceptionanddesign,oranalysisandinte rpretationofdata;andto(b)draftingthearti cleorrevisingitcriticallyforimportantint ellectualcontent;andon(c) (a),(b),and(c) (collective)authorshipmustspecifythekeyp ersonsresponsibleforthearticle;otherscon tri-butingtotheworkshouldberecognisedsep arately(seeAcknowledgments). (ofnomorethan150wordsforunstructuredabst racts,250wordsforstructuredabstracts).Th eabstractshouldstatethepurposesofthestud yorinvestigation,basicprocedures(selecti onofstudysubjectsorexperimentalanimals;o bservationalandanalyticalmethods),mainfi ndings(givespecificdataandtheirstatistic alsignificance,ifpossible), ,andidentifyassuch, (MeSH)listofIndexMedicus; ,methods,results, , ,reviews, , (patientsorexperimentalanimals,including controls) ,apparatus(manufacturer'snameandaddressi nparentheses), ,includingstatisticalmethods(seebelow);p rovidereferencesandbriefdescriptionsform ethodsthathavebeenpublishedbutarenotwell known.

6 Describeneworsubstantiallymodifiedmethod s,givereasonsforusingthem, ,includinggenericname(s),dose(s),androut e(s) (institutionalorregional)orwiththeHelsin kiDeclarationof1975, usepatients'names,initials,orhospitalnum bers, 'sortheNationalResearchCouncil'sguidefor ,oranynationallawon, (suchasconfidenceintervals).Avoidsolerel ianceonstatisticalhypothesistesting,such astheuseofpvalues, ,andsuccessof, (suchasdropoutsfromaclinicaltrial).Refer encesforstudydesignandstatisticalmethods shouldbetostandardworks(withpagesstated) ; ,suchas"random"(whichimpliesarandomising device),"normal,""significant,""correlat ions,"and"sample."Definestatisticalterms ,abbreviations, ,tables, ; , ,butclearlylabelBMJVOLUME3029 FEBRUARY1991339 This archived document is no longer current. The current document is available at ,whenappropriate, (titlepagefootnoteorappendixtothetext;se ethejournal'srequirement)oneormorestatem entsshouldspecify(a)contributionsthatnee dacknowledgingbutdonotjustifyauthorship, suchasgeneralsupportbyadepartmentalchair man;(b)acknowledgmentsoftechnicalhelp;(c )acknowledgmentsoffinancialandmaterialsu pport,specifyingthenatureofthesupport;(d ) ,"scientificadviser,""criticalreviewofst udyproposal,""datacollection,""participa tioninclinicaltrial.

7 " ,tables, , (1)Standardjournalarticle(Listallauthors ,butifthenumberexceedssixgivesixfollowed byetal)YouCH,LeeKY,CheyRY, , ;79(2) ,ifajournalcarriescontinuouspaginationth roughoutavolumethemonthandissuenumbermay beomitted:YouCH,LeeKY,CheyRY, , ;79 ,HaynesAR,OwenMJ,FarrallM,JamesLA,LaiLY, ' ;1:352-5.(2) ;2:742-4.(3)NoauthorgivenCoffeedrinkinga ndcancerofthepancreas[editorial].BMJ1981 ;283:628.(4)ArticleinaforeignlanguageMas soneL,BorghiS,PestarinoA,PicciniR, ;114:1545-7.(5)VolumewithsupplementMagni F,RossoniG, ;20 Suppl5:75-8.(6)IssuewihsupplementGardosG ,ColeJO,HaskellD,MarbyD,PaineSS, ;8(4 Suppl):31S-37S.(7) ;69(Pt3):389-99.(8)IssuewithpartEdwardsL ,MeyskensF, ;20(2Pt1):257-60.(9) ;(3):353-84.(10) :86-100.(11) ;13:XvI-XXVII.(12)Typeofarticleindicated asneededSpargoPM, [letter].

8 Anaesthesia1989;44 , [abstract].ClinRes1987;35:475A.(13) :Effectofplatinumcompoundsonmurinelympho cytemitogenesis[RetractionofAlsabtiEA,Gh alibON, :JpnJMedSciBiol1979;32 ;33:235-7.(14)ArticleretractedAlsabtiEA, GhalibON, [ :JpnJMedSciBiol1980;33:235-7].JpnJMedSci Biol1979;32:53-65.(15)Articlecontainingc ommentPiccoliA, :stillanopenquestion[comment].Nephron198 9;51 :Nephron1988;48:12-7.(16)Articlecoemente donKobayashiY,FujiiK,HikiY,TatenoS,Kurok awaA, :aretrospectivestudyinheavyproteinuricca ses[seecomments].Nephron1988;48 :Nephron1989;51:289-91.(17) [publishederratumappearsinBrJAddict1989; 84 ;83 (18)Personalauthor(s)ColsonJH, :SPaul,1986.(19)Editor(s),compilerasauth orDienerHC,WilkinsonM, :Springer-Verlag,1988.(20) :TheFoundation,1987.(21)ChapterinabookWe insteinL, :SodemanWAJr,SodemanWA, :Saunders,1974:457-72.]]

9 (22)ConferenceproceedingsVivianVL, ;1984 Mar30-31; :AmericanMedicalAssociation,1985.(23) :GammageRB,KayeSV, ;1984 Oct29-31;Knoxville(TN).Chelsea(MI):Lewis ,1985:69-78.(24) (MD):NationalInstitutesofHealth,National HeartandLungInstitute; :NIH-NHLI-69-2185-4.(25) [dissertation].Pittsburgh(PA):UnivofPitt sburgh,1988.(26)PatentHarredJF,KnightAR, McIntyreJS, , ,654, (27)NeewspaperarticleRensbergerB, ;SectA:2(col5).(28)AudiovisualAIDS epidemic:thephysician'srole[videorecordi ng].Cleveland(OH):AcademyofMedicineofCle veland,1987.(29)ComputerfileRenalsystem[ computerprogram]. (KS):Medi-Sim,1988.(30) ,94thCongr., (1975).(31)MapScotland[topographicmap].W ashington:NationalGeograpicSociety(US),1 981.(32)BookoftheBibleRuth3 :OxfordUnivPress,1972.(33) ' :Saunders,1988:527.(34)Classicalmaterial TheWinter'sTale:act5,sceneI, :Rex, (35)InpressLillywhiteHB, archived document is no longer current.

10 The current document is available at , ;"unpublishedobservations"and"personalco mmunications"maynotbeusedasreferences,al thoughreferencestowritten,notoral,commun icationsmaybeinserted(inparentheses) ;designatethejournalandadd"Inpress."Info r-mationfrommanuscriptssubmittedbutnotye tacceptedshouldbecitedinthetextas"unpubl ishedobservations"(inparentheses).Theref erencesmustbeverifiedbytheauthor(s) , ,inthissequence:, ,**, ,onacceptingapaper,mayrecommendthataddit ionaltablescontainingimportantbackupdata tooextensivetopublishbedepositedwithanar chivalservice,suchastheNationalAuxiliary PublicationServiceintheUnitedStates, ; ,roentgenograms,andothermaterialsendshar p,glossyblackandwhitephotographicprints, usually127x173mm(5x7in)butnolargerthan20 3x254mm(8x10in).Letters,numbers, , ,author'sname, ,arrows, , ,ascertainwhetherthejournalrequirescolou rnegatives,positivetransparencies, ,startingonaseparatepage, ,arrows,numbers, ,height,weight,andvolumeshouldbereported inmetricunits(metre,kilogram,litre) (SI).