|
MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION
The North Carolina Medical Journal, a publication of
the North Carolina Institute of Medicine, is a medium
for communication with and by health care professionals
and lay persons who share an interest in health and
health care policy affecting the lives of North Carolinians.
It publishes six times a year: January/February, March/April,
May/June, July/August, September/October, and November/December.
Audience
Most of our readers are health care providers (About
50% are physicians and 25% are nurses, dentists, pharmacists,
physicians assistants, etc.), but many of our readers
are government officials, policy makers, or other (NC
legislators, NC Department of Health and Human Services
Division directors, hospital administrators, public
health directors, social services directors, and more).
Therefore, as you write, please keep in mind that not all readers
will be familiar with medical jargon.
Word Count and Focus
As you may have noticed from having received previous
issues of the newly formatted Journal, we have a substantial
piece we call an "issue brief" in each issue. The issue
brief usually describes the broad spectrum of issues
under consideration, but not in great detail. We will
provide commentators with a copy of the issue brief
or an outline of the issue brief if the full document
is not yet available.
We then usually ask 6 or 7 key individuals to
write shorter, 1500-2000 word "commentaries" on these
issues. We ask these commentators to direct their comments
toward certain aspects of the issue brief (typically
those most pertinent to the commentator's position).
The commentator can chose to write about any aspect
of the specified topic he/she cares about. The commentator
need not feel obligated to write a "critique" of the
issue brief, but to think of his/her piece as an "extension"
of the basic issue brief. While we include program descriptions,
we try to weight articles toward information that not
only describes situations and programs, but also describes
challenges and potential policy solutions.
Editing
Once your article has been copyedited
and formatted for the Journal we will send it to you
so that you have a chance to make some final edits before
it is sent to the printer. In most cases, we would require
your comments with 24-36 hours.
We encourage authors to electronically submit their
manuscripts (via e-mail as Microsoft Word attachments).
Please send your double-spaced manuscript to ncmedj(at)nciom(dot)org.
MANUSCRIPT REVIEW AND EDITING
We edit manuscripts for clarity, style, and
conciseness. We follow the AMA Style Guide, 10th Edition.
Authors are sent the edited articles for
their review and approval before publication.
Copyright to published articles is held by the North
Carolina Medical Journal and the North Carolina Institute
of Medicine. However, authors may copy and distribute
their own contributions in any way they see fit. Any
article reprinted from the North Carolina Medical Journal
must carry a credit line indicating that it appeared
in the North Carolina Medical Journal and is reprinted
with permission.
Tables
Double-space tables (including any footnotes) and provide a title for
each. Extensive tables or supplementary material may be published on the
Journal's Web site only or may be deposited with the National
Auxiliary Publications Service.
Medical Illustrations
Medical and scientific illustrations will be created or redrawn in-house.
If an outside illustrator has created a figure, the Journal reserves
the right to modify or redraw it to meet our specifications for publication.
The author must explicitly acquire all rights to the illustration from the
artist in order for us to publish it.
References
Keep references to a minimum (preferably no more than 15).
Authors are responsible for the accuracy and completeness of their references and for correct text
citation. 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 style3(pp28-51) and abbreviate names of journals according to the journals list in
PubMed (See
PubMed Journal Abbreviations). Note: List all authors and/or
editors up to 6; if more than 6, list the first 3 followed by “et al.”
Examples of Reference Style:
1. Carrat F, Bani-Sadr F, Pol S, et al; for the ANRS HCO2 RIBAVIC Study Team.
Pegylated interferon alfa-2b vs standard interferon alfa-2b, plus ribavirin, for chronic hepatitis C
in HIV-infected patients: a randomized controlled trial. JAMA. 2004;292(19):2389-2848.
2. Lynfield R, Ogunmodede F, Guerina NG. Toxoplasmosis. In: McMillan JA, Feigin RD,
DeAngelis CD, Jones MD Jr, eds. Oski’s Pediatrics: Principles and Practice. 4th ed.
Philadelphia, Pa: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2006;1351-1362.
3. Guidelines for Invited Commentaries and Issue Briefs for the North Carolina Medical Journal.
Available at: http://www.ncmedicaljournal.org/guidelinesforcommentaries.shtml.
Accessed December 7, 2006.
Numbered references to personal communications, unpublished
data, or manuscripts either "in preparation"
or "submitted for publication" are unacceptable.
If essential, such material can be incorporated at the
appropriate place in the text.
Units of Measurement
Authors should express all measurements in conventional units. Figures
and tables should use conventional units, with conversion factors given
in legends or footnotes.
Abbreviations
Except for units of measurement, abbreviations are strongly discouraged.
Except for units of measurement, the first time an abbreviation appears,
it should be preceded by the words for which it stands.
Drug Names
Generic names should be used. When proprietary brands are used in research,
include the brand name and the name of the manufacturer
in parentheses after the first mention of the generic name in the Methods section.
For more information please contact:
Christine Nielsen, Managing Editor
North Carolina Medical Journal
630 Davis Drive, Suite 100
Morrisville, NC 27560
919.401.6599 ext. 25
919.401.6899 fax
E-Mail: ncmedj (at) nciom (dot) org |
