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MANUSCRIPT CRITERIA AND INFORMATION
INTRODUCTION
Please send manuscripts and correspondence to Frederick P. Rivara, MD, MPH, Editor, Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Child Health Institute, University of Washington, 6200 NE 74th St, Suite 210, Seattle, WA 98115-8160; phone: (206) 685-3573; fax: (206) 685-3572.
Manuscripts are considered with the understanding that they have not been published previously in print or electronic format and are not under consideration by another publication or electronic medium. Copies of possibly duplicative material that has been previously published or is being considered elsewhere must be provided at the time of manuscript submission.1(pp98-102)
Duplication may arise if 2 or more manuscripts by overlapping authors use the same source of data and either (a) the manuscripts address essentially the same question, or (b) the 2 publications could be readily combined into 1, thereby presenting more information in less space.
Electronic Submission. Manuscripts may be submitted via e-mail to archpediatrics{at}jama-archives.org. Print mail address and telephone and fax numbers of the corresponding author also should be included on the title page of the manuscript.Tables, figures, and text should be included in the same file if possible. Manuscripts submitted by e-mail should not also be submitted by mail or fax. Signed authorship forms should be sent by regular mail or fax.
Archives Express. Archives Express provides rapid peer review and publication of original research of major clinical or public health importance.2 Authors should contact the editor by e-mail to inquire about the suitability of an article for Archives Express.
Types of Manuscripts Suitable for Submission
Archives publishes original contributions, systematic reviews, special communications, commentaries, and letters to the editor. Topics of interest include all subjects that relate to the practice of pediatrics and the betterment of child and adolescent health. The most frequent categories of articles are described below.
Original Articles. New observations that have not been submitted or published elsewhere. Each manuscript should clearly state an objective or hypothesis; the design and methods (including the study setting and time period, patients or participants with inclusion and exclusion criteria, or data sources and how these were selected for the study); the essential features of any interventions; the main outcome measures; the main results of the study; a "Comment" section, placing the results in the context of published literature; and the conclusions. Typical length: 2000 to 3500 words (not including tables, figures, and references). Any manuscript over 4000 words will be returned without review unless this has been previously discussed with the editor.
Reports of Randomized Controlled Trials. Manuscripts reporting the results of randomized controlled trials should include the CONSORT flow diagram as a figure in the manuscript to illustrate the progress of all patients in the study (Figure 1). In addition, the CONSORT checklist (Table 1) should be completed and submitted with the manuscript.
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Flow diagram of subject progress through the phases of a randomized trial. Adapted from Moher D, Schulz KF, Altman D, for the CONSORT Group. The CONSORT statement: revised recommendations for improving the quality of reports of parallel-group randomized trials. JAMA. 2001;285:1987-1991.
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Checklist of Items to Include When Submitting Reports of Randomized Controlled Trials to the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine*
Systematic Reviews. Systematic, critical assessments of literature and data sources pertaining to clinical topics, emphasizing factors such as cause, diagnosis, prognosis, therapy, or prevention. All articles and data sources reviewed should include information about the specific type of study or analysis, population, intervention, exposure, and tests or outcomes. All articles or data sources should be selected systematically for inclusion in the review and critically evaluated, and the selection process should be described in the article. Typical length: 2000 to 4000 words (not including tables, figures, and references).
Clinical Problem Solving. Submissions are invited for Clinical Problem Solving. The purpose is to demonstrate the thinking process involved in approaching a patient with an unknown illness. Each case, which can be accompanied by photographs and radiographs, should illustrate lessons that can be applied to a broader population of children or adolescents. Manuscripts should be 2000 to 3000 words. See recent examples of Clinical Problem Solving articles in Archives.3
On My Mind. Creative expressions of personal opinion or moving experiences in either poetry or prose form. Manuscripts should be limited to 800 words.
The Pediatric Forum. A mixture of brief, peer-reviewed observations or investigations, letters to the editor, and other short commentaries. Letters discussing a recent Archives article should be received within 4 weeks of the article's publication and should not exceed 400 words of text and 5 references. Letters reporting original research also are welcome and should not exceed 500 words of text and 6 references. A word count should be provided with each letter.
Other. In addition, Archives will publish some unsolicited reviews on books, journals, videos, and Web sites pertaining to child and adolescent health. Potential contributors should contact the editorial office at archpediatrics{at}jama-archives.org, however, before submitting a review.
Authorship Information
Designate a corresponding author and provide a complete address, telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail address. The corresponding author will be identified as such in the published article. Authors are required to identify each author's contributions to the work described in the manuscript.
Group Authorship. If authorship is attributed to a group (either solely or in addition to 1 or more individual authors), all members of the group must meet the full criteria and requirements for authorship described in the Authorship Criteria and Responsibility, Financial Disclosure, Assignment of Copyright, and Acknowledgment Form. A group must designate 1 or more individuals as authors or members of a writing group who meet full authorship criteria and requirements and who will take responsibility for the group, in which case the other group members are not authors, but may be listed in an acknowledgment. 1(p93)4
Data Access and Responsibility. For reports containing original data, at least 1 author (eg, the principal investigator) should indicate that he or she "had full access to all the data in the study and takes responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis."7
Authorship Requirements. With the cover letter include (1) the statement on and checklist for authorship responsibility, criteria, and contributions, (2) the statement on financial disclosure, and (3) either the statement on copyright or the statement on federal employment. Each of these 3 statements must be read and signed by all authors.1(p89-93) The corresponding author must sign the acknowledgment statement (4). (See the Authorship Criteria and Responsibility, Financial Disclosure, Assignment of Copyright, and Acknowledgment Form.)
Editorial Review and Publication
Peer Review. All submitted manuscripts are reviewed initially by an Archives editor. Manuscripts with insufficient priority for publication are rejected promptly. Other manuscripts are sent to expert consultants for peer review. Peer reviewer identities are kept confidential. Author identities are not kept confidential. The existence of a manuscript under review is not revealed to anyone other than peer reviewers and editorial staff. Information from submitted manuscripts may be systematically collected and analyzed as part of research to improve the quality of the editorial or peer review process. Identifying information remains confidential.
Revised Manuscripts. Authors are encouraged to consult our publication on how to respond to reviewers' comments.6 Please provide a detailed letter outlining your responses to the reviewers' comments and specify the page and line numbers where these changes have been made in the marked copy. Provide an original and 2 copies of your revised manuscript. In addition, include 1 copy in which the revisions have been marked manually using colored pens or using the "edit" feature in most word-processing programs.
Rejected Manuscripts. Rejected manuscripts will not be returned to authors. Original illustrations, photographs, and slides will be returned.
Editing. Accepted manuscripts are copyedited according to AMA style1 and returned to the 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.
Reprints. Reprint order forms are included with the edited typescript sent for approval to the corresponding author. Reprints are shipped 3 weeks after publication.
Embargo Policy. All information regarding the content and publication date of accepted manuscripts is strictly confidential. Information contained in or about accepted articles cannot appear in print, on radio or television, or in electronic form or be released by the media until 3 PM CST on the first Monday of the month.
Unauthorized Use. Unauthorized use of the Archives logo or any content for commercial purposes or to promote commercial goods and services (in any format, including print, video, audio, and digital) is not permitted by the Archives or the AMA.
All published manuscripts become the permanent property of the AMA and may not be published elsewhere without written permission from the AMA. AMA does not charge a permissions fee to authors who wish to use their articles or parts thereof in other books or journals. However, an author must obtain permission from the AMA, as the copyright holder, for such use. To do so, send a written request to Rhonda Bailey, Department of Licensing and Permissions, AMA, 515 N State St, Chicago, IL 60610; fax: (312) 464-5835; e-mail: Rhonda_Bailey{at}ama-assn.org. In the permission you receive, the proper credit line will be indicated.
Manuscript Preparation
Manuscripts should be prepared in accordance with the American Medical Association Manual of Style1 and/or the "Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals." 7
- Authors are encouraged to consult "Writing for Publication in Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine."8
- Submit the original manuscript and 4 photocopies; use 1 side of standard-sized white bond paper and 1-inch margins.
- Double-space throughout, including title page, abstract, text, acknowledgments, references, figure legends, and tables. Start each of these sections on a new page, numbered consecutively, beginning with the title page.
- Figure legends and tables, in that order, should be on separate numbered sheets at the end of the manuscript, after the references.
- Insert line numbers using the line-numbering feature in your word-processing program to facilitate communication about reviewers' comments.
- On the title page, include a word count for text only, exclusive of title, abstract, references, figure legends, and tables.
- Provide printed text copy that can be scanned by an optical character reader and contains no smudges or pencil or pen marks.
- Use only standard 12-point font size.
- On the title page include the full names, highest academic degrees, and affiliations of all authors. If an author's affiliation has changed since the work was done, list the new affiliation as well.
- Conventional units of measure are preferred, with Système International (SI) units expressed secondarily (in parentheses). In tables and figures, a conversion factor to SI may be presented in the footnote or legend to economize space. Exceptions to this policy include calories, hematocrit, glycosylated hemoglobin, blood cell counts, and ejection fraction, for which conventional units alone should be expressed. The metric system is preferred for length, area, mass, and volume. (See SI conversion table.)
- Use nonproprietary names of drugs, unless the specifictrade name of a drug is directly relevant to the discussion.1(pp353-356)
- Do not use abbreviations in the title or abstract and limit their use in the text.
Manuscripts that do not follow theses guidelines will be returned without review.
Abstract. Include a structured abstract of no more than 250 words for reports of original data, reviews, meta-analyses, and consensus statements. (See instructions for preparing structured abstracts 1(pp521-529) and glossary of methodologic terms.) For other major manuscripts, include an unstructured abstract of no more than 150 words that summarizes the objective, main points, and conclusions of the article. Abstracts are not required for editorials or commentaries.
Statistics. Authors are encouraged to consult "Reporting Statistical Information in Medical Journal Articles."9 Describe statistical methods with enough detail to enable a knowledgeable reader with access to the original data to verify the reported results. When possible, quantify findings and present them with appropriate indicators of measurement error or uncertainty (such as confidence intervals). Avoid relying solely on statistical hypothesis testing, such as the use of P values, which fails to convey important quantitative information. Discuss the eligibility of experimental subjects. Give details about randomization. Describe the methods for and success of any blinding of observations. Report complications of treatment. Give numbers of observations. Report losses to observation (such as dropouts from a clinical trial). Specify any general-use computer programs used.
Put a general description of methods in the "Methods" section. When data are summarized in the "Results" section, specify the statistical methods used to analyze them. Restrict tables and figures to those needed to explain the argument of the article and to assess its support. Use graphs as an alternative to tables with many entries; do not duplicate data in graphs and tables. Avoid nontechnical uses of technical terms in statistics, such as random (which implies a randomizing device), normal, significant, correlations, and sample. Define statistical terms, abbreviations, and most symbols.
Institutional Review Board (IRB) Approval. For studies involving data derived from animals or humans, state in the "Methods" section of the manuscript that the study has been reviewed by an appropriate IRB. Only an IRB should judge whether a study is exempt from the need for IRB approval.10 For investigations involving human subjects, state in the "Methods" section the manner in which informed consent, and, where appropriate, assent, was obtained from the subjects.
"What This Study Adds" Box. For all articles include a short statement, at the end of the manuscript, of what your article adds to the literature. It should be divided into 2 short sections. In the first section, describe in 2 to 3 sentences what is already known and why the study needed to be done. In the second section, describe in 2 to 3 sentences what the study adds to existing information and the implications of your results. Try to capture the essence of the contribution and its implications for the reader without restating the results.
Patient Descriptions, Photographs, and Pedigrees. Include a signed statement of informed consent to publish (in print and online) patient descriptions, photographs, and pedigrees from all persons (parents or legal guardians for minors) who can be identified in such written descriptions, photographs, or pedigrees. (See patient permission form.)
Personal Communications and Unpublished Data. Include a signed statement of permission from each individual identified as a source of information in a personal communication or as a source for unpublished data, and specify the date of the communication and whether the communication was written or oral.1(p125)
Permissions Required to Reproduce or Adapt Material. Acknowledge all text, illustrations, and tables adapted or reproduced from other publications and submit permission from the original publishers (or other copyright owner) to republish in print and online editions of the Archives and its licensed versions.1(p124) (See permission form.)
Funding/Support: All financial and material support for the research and the work should be clearly and completely identified. The role of the funding organization in the design, conduct, interpretation, and analysis of the study and review or approval of the manuscript should be specified.
References. Number references in the order they appear in the text; do not alphabetize. In text, tables, and legends, identify references with superscript arabic numerals. When listing references, follow AMA style1(pp28-51) and abbreviate names of journals according to Index Medicus. Note: List all authors and/or editors up to 6; if more than 6, list the first 3 and "et al."
Journal articles: Sandel M, Zotter J. How substantial housing affects children's health. Contemp Pediatr. 2000;17:134-148.
Books: Institute of Medicine, Committee on Quality of Health Care in America. Crossing the Quality Chasm: A New Health System for the 21st Century. Washington, DC: National Academy Press; 2001.
Online: Lead-Based Paint Hazard Control Grant Program. Available at: http://www.hud.gov/offices/lead/lhc/index.cfm. Accessed November 15, 2002.
Unpublished data, personal communications, or manuscripts "in preparation" or "submitted" should not be included in the list of references. Such material, if essential, may be incorporated in the body of the article.
Authors are responsible for the accuracy and completeness of their references and for correct text citation.
Web References. Please keep a print copy of any reference to Web-only information. If the URL changes or disappears, interested readers may contact the corresponding author for a copy of the information.
Tables and Figures
Number all tables and figures in the order of their citation in the text. Include a title for each table and figure—a brief, succinct phrase, preferably no longer than 10 to 15 words. Information in the tables and figures should not be redundant with information in the text.
Tables. Title all tables and number them in order of their citation in the text. Double-space each table on separate sheets of standard-sized white paper. If a table must be continued, repeat the title on a second sheet, followed by "(cont)." Include copies of all tables on the disk that is submitted with the manuscript.
Illustrations. Submit 5 sets of all illustrations: (1) computer-generated graphs produced by laser printers (600 dpi minimum); (2) high-contrast prints for x-ray films; (3) color slides or corresponding color prints for pathological specimens. Affix a label with figure number, title, name of first author, short form of the manuscript title, and an arrow indicating "top" to the back of the print. Do not mark directly on the print or the transparency. Apply indicators to an overlay or photocopy of the print or transparency. Original illustrations, photographs, and slides from rejected manuscripts will be returned to authors.
Submit digital files for images and illustrations originally created digitally. RGB color submissions are preferred. Calibrated color proofs should be submitted with color digital film, if possible. The canvas size of continuous tone images should be at least 5 inches wide (depth not important) with an image resolution of at least 350 ppi. Line art images should have a minimum resolution of at least 1270 ppi. Formats acceptable are EPS, TIFF, and JPG. (See additional guidelines for submitting digital figures.)
Legends. Include double-spaced legends (maximum length, 40 words) on separate pages. For photomicrographs, include the type of specimen, original magnification, and stain. Include internal scale markers on electromicrographs. Indicate the method of enhancement for digitally enhanced images.
Digital Enhancement of Images. Digitally enhanced images (CT/MRI, blots, photographs, photomicrographs, ultrasound images, x-ray films, etc) must be clearly identified in the figure legends as digitally processed images. Include and clearly label 5 print copies of the processed and original images.
Manuscript Checklist
 1. Include original manuscript and 4 photocopies.
2. On the title page, include a word count for text only, exclusive of title, abstract, references, tables, and figure legends.
3. Include statements signed by each author on authorship responsibility, criteria, and contributions; financial disclosure; and copyright transfer or federal employment.
4. Indicate general and specific contributions from each author on the same form as the statements mentioned in item 3 above.
5. Include statement signed by corresponding author that written permission has been obtained from all persons named in the acknowledgment on the same form as the statements mentioned in item 3 above.
6. Include research or project support/funding in an acknowledgment.
7. Double-space manuscript (text, references, and tables) and leave right margins unjustified (ragged).
8. Use the line-numbering feature of your word-processing program.
9. Check all references for accuracy and completeness. Put references in proper format and in numerical order, making sure each is cited in sequence in the text.
10. Include a title for each table and figure—a brief, succinct phrase, preferably no longer than 10 to 15 words.
11. Send 5 sets of all illustrations with titles and explanatory legends for each.
12. For digitally enhanced images, indicate method of enhancement in legend; provide 5 copies of the enhanced and original images.
13. Provide an abstract that conforms with the required abstract format.
14. Include written permission from each individual identified as a source of personal communication or unpublished data.
15. Include the information for the "What This Study Adds" box at the end of the manuscript.
16. Include informed consent forms for identifiable patient descriptions, photographs, and pedigrees.
17. Include written permission from publishers (or other copyright owner) to reproduce or adapt previously published illustrations and tables in print and online editions of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine and its licensed versions (in print and online).
18. On the title page, designate a corresponding author and provide a complete address, telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail address.
REFERENCES
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1. Iverson CL, Flanagin A, Fontanarosa PB, et al. American Medical Association Manual of Style: A Guide for Authors and Editors. 9th ed. Baltimore, Md: Williams & Wilkins; 1998.
2. Rivara FP, Bergman AB, Christakis DA, Joffe A. New directions for the ARCHIVES. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2001;155:11-12.
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3. Kane JM, Schmidt K, Conway JH. Fever, hepatosplenomegaly, and pancytopenia in a 5-month-old infant. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2003;157:201-205.
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4. Flanagin A, Fontanarosa PB, DeAngelis CD. Authorship for research groups. JAMA. 2002;288:3166-3168.
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5. DeAngelis CD, Fontanarosa PB, Flanagin A. Reporting financial conflicts of interest and relationships between investigators and research sponsors. JAMA. 2001;286:89-91.
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6. Cummings P, Rivara FP. Responding to reviewers' comments on submitted articles. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2002;156:105-107.
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7. International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals. Available at: http://www.icmje.org.
8. Rivara FP, Cummings P. Writing for publication in Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2001;155:1090-1092.
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9. Cummings P, Rivara FP. Reporting statistical information in medical journal articles. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2003;157:321-324.
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10. Rivara FP. Research and human subjects. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2002;156:641-642.
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