Instructions to Authors: Acta Anaesthesiologica Belgica

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Papers
Papers submitted to the Acta Anaesthesiologica Belgica are subject to peer review and after acceptance to further editorial revision. It is a condition of acceptance for publication that copyright becomes vested in the journal and permission to republish must be obtained from the publishers.
Papers based on a clinical investigation should conform to ethical standards as set out in the Declaration of Helsinki. In the case of animal studies it is the responsibility of the author to satisfy the Board that no unnecessary suffering has been inflicted.
 

Legal considerations
Authors should avoid the use of names, initials and hospital numbers which might lead to recognition of a patient. A patient must not be recognizable in photographs unless written consent of the subject has been obtained. A table or illustration that has been published elsewhere should be accompanied by a statement that permission for reproduction has been obtained from the author and publishers.
 

Preparation of manuscript
Four copies (1 for the Secretary and 3 for the reviewers)of each manuscript should be submitted in English and should indicate the title of the paper, the name(s), qualifications and full address(es) of the author(s), and be in double-spaced typing on one side only of the paper, with a wide margin. Contributors should retain a copy in order to check proofs and in case of loss.

Papers are most often subdivided into:
 

• Title page
• Summary
• Keywords
• Introduction (not headed)
• Methods
• Results
• Discussion
• Acknowledgements
• List of references
• Tables
• Illustrations
• Title page
   

There should be a separate title page, including the name(s), degrees and address(es) of author(s). It should be made clear which address relates to which author. Authors' current addresses differing from those at which the work was carried out, or special instructions concerning the address for correspondence, should be given as a footnote on the title page and referenced at the appropriate place in the author list by superscript symbols.

If the address to which proofs should be sent is not that of the first-mentioned author, clear instructions should be given in a covering note and not on the title page. The title page should be paginated as page 1 of the paper.

A short running title containing not more than 50 characters and spaces should also be suggested.

Summary
The summary will be printed at the beginning of the paper. It should be on a separate sheet, in the form of a single paragraph which gives a succinct account of the problem, the methods, results and conclusions, and normally should be 50-150 words. It may be used as it stands by abstracting journals.

Keywords
Keywords will be used according to: "Keywords in Anesthesiology", 3rd edition, 1988, N. M. Greene, Elsevier, New York, Amsterdam, London.

Introduction
The introduction should give a concise account of the background of the problem and the object of the investigation. Previous work should be quoted only if it has a direct bearing on the present problem.

Methods

Methods must be described in sufficient detail to allow the experiments to be interpreted and repeated by the reader. Any modification of previously published methods should be described and the reference given. If the methods are commonly used, only a reference to the original source is required.

Drugs
When a drug is first mentioned it should be given the generic or official name followed in parentheses by the chemical formula only if the structure is not well known, and by the capitalized proprietary name.

Results
Description of experimental results, while concise, should permit repetition of the experiments by others. Data should not be repeated unnecessarily in text, tables and figures, and unwarranted numbers of digits should be avoided. Significance should be given as values of probability. The desired positions of tables and figures may be indicated by written instructions enclosed within lines and brackets, for example :

(TABLE III near here )

Discussion
The discussion should not merely recapitulate the experimental results, but should present their interpretation against the background of existing knowledge. It should include a statement of any assumptions on which conclusions are based.

Acknowledgements
Acknowledgements will be printed in small type. They should be brief, and should include reference to sources of support and sources of drugs not freely available commercially.

References
There should be a table of references at the conclusion of the paper. These references should be arranged in alphabetical order. In the references, the order should be: author's name, followed by initials; title of the paper to which reference is made; title of publication underlined with a single line (to indicate italics) and abbreviated in accordance with the Cumulative Index Medicus; volume number in arabic numerals, underlined with a wavy line (to indicate bold face); the number of the first and last pages in arabic numbers; year of publication; thus: Mundeleer P., Pulmonary compliance display. Acta Anaesth. Belg., 28, 171-181, 1978.

In the case of books , the reference should be as follows : name of author and initials; title of book, underlined number of edition; page number; town of origin, publisher, year of publication; for example : Hill D. W., Physics applied to anaesthesia, 2nd edn., p. 212. London, Butterworths, 1971.

In the text, reference is made to the publications by the numbers used in the references.

Text references to "unpublished observations" should not be included in the final list of references. Authors are responsible for verifying that the wording of references to unpublished work is approved by the persons concerned. Papers which have been submitted and accepted for publication should be included in the list, the phrase "(in press)" replacing volume and page number.

It is essential that authors verify the content and details of references which they list as this responsibility cannot be accepted by either Editors or Publishers.

Tables
All tables should be on separate sheets and be capable, with their captions, of interpretation without reference to the text. They should be numbered consecutively with roman numerals. Units in which results are expressed should be given in brackets at the top of each column, and not repeated on each line of the table. Ditto signs are not used.

Illustrations
Photographs should be unmounted glossy prints, and should be protected adequately for mailing. Surfaces should not be marred with clips, pins or by heavy writing on the back. Drawings, charts and graphs should be in black india ink on white paper. Illustrations should be clearly numbered on the back, preferably in soft pencil, with reference to the text, and using arabic numerals. They should be accompanied on a separate sheet by a suitable legend. Lettering should be professional-looking, uniform, preferably in a common typeface, large enough to read at a reduced size, and in proportion to the illustrated material. Lines in the original must also be thick enough to allow for reduction. Magnifications, especially in photomicrographs, should be indicated by a scale on the photograph itself, in order to remain appropriate after reduction.

The name of the author and title of the paper should also be written in soft pencil on the back of the illustrations.

It is emphasized that care taken in the original preparation of figures will obviate the time-consuming and expensive necessity of their revision.

General information
The submitted text has to be presented by the author in correct scientific English. The Acta can propose revision of the text by a competent person, but this will be charged to the author.

Instructions to the printer
Words to be printed in lower-case italics should be indicated by one underline. Two underlines indicated small capitals, three indicate large capitals and four, italic capitals. A wavy underline indicates a word to be printed in bold type.

Proofs
These should be corrected and returned to the editor within 5 days of receipt. Overseas contributors should return their proofs by airmail.

Reprints
Reprints can be supplied if application is made on the order form attached to the proofs. The order form should be returned with the proofs.

Editor
Prof. M. Vercauteren
marcel.vercauteren@uza.be

Instructions to Authors: Acta Chirurgica Belgica

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1. The ACTA CHIRURGICA BELGICA publish the annals of the Royal Belgian Society for Surgery and selected original works, review papers and technical notes. Case reports are accepted providing they are of marked interest, or enlighten some recent advances in surgery. Letters to the Editors concerning papers previously published in the ACTA CHIRURGICA BELGICA are welcome. Original articles are published upon the understanding that they have never been published before, nor are presently under consideration elsewhere, except as an abstract.

2. The ACTA CHIRURGICA BELGICA subscribe to the policy of uniform requirements for manuscripts. Authors should consult Uniform Requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals.
   International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. N Engl J
   Med. 1997 Jan, 23 ; 336(4) : 309-15.

3. Articles are written in English, British spelling. Authors are responsible for linguistic and grammatical editing of manuscripts before submission to the ACTA CHIRURGICA BELGICA. Manuscripts improperly prepared or edited will be returned to the authors without peer-review by the editors.

4. They should not exceed 15 pages, figures and tables included ; longer papers can only be published by special arrangement with the editorial board. The manuscripts must be typewritten or printed on A4 paper (210 297 mm) with double spacing, 3-cm margins and on one side of the paper only.

5. All manuscripts should be submitted electronically as an attachment to the following e-mail address : amb@skynet.be.

6. Text documents should be in the Microsoft Word format (all versions).

7. Separate files should be submitted for the covering letter, main document, and any illustrations or figures. Do not insert figures, illustrations or other graphic material in the main text document.

8. The main document should encompass the title page, abstract, key words, body of the paper, tables, and legends. The manuscript should be type-written in double-space, with a ragged (unjustified) right margin and the number of each page in the upper right-hand corner.

9. Electronic illustrations or figures should be provided separately in either EPS or TIFF format. Use of MS PowerPoint or Excel to prepare illustrations is not acceptable. Black and white or colour photographs should be scanned and provided as TIFF files with a minimal resolution of 300 dpi. Upon final acceptance of the manuscripts, authors may be contacted to provide higher resolution images or the original photographs. Although electronic submission is strongly preferred, authors unable to submit figures electronically may send 3 copies and a diskette (CD-rom or ZIP) of the original material to the editorial office:
   The Editors, Acta Chirurgica Belgica,
    avenue Circulaire 138A, B-1180 Brussels,
   Belgium.

10. The text can only be submitted electronically.

11. A covering letter must accompany all submissions, signed by all authors. This letter should state that :
    (1) the present manuscript is original, is not under consideration by another journal and has not been previously published;
    (2) all authors have read and approved the manuscript, and take public responsibility for it ;
    (3) (when applicable) the design of the study has been approved by local ethics committees or conforms to standards currently in application.

12. Each page will be numbered in the upper right corner (beginning with the title page) and marked with the complete name of the first author. Each of the following sections should begin a new page :
    title page ; abstract ; text ; acknowledgements ; references ; tables ;
    legends for illustrations.
    
    The Title page should include :
    (1) the title of the paper,
    (2) the names of the authors with their departmental and/or institutional affiliation,
    (3) a running title of less than 40 spaces,
    (4) the name and address of the corresponding author,
    (5) the number of pages, tables and figures of the paper. The title must make it possible to understand the content of the article : it must be clear, accurate and short (no more than 15 words).
    
    The second page should carry an Abstract. It should summarise the purposes of the study, the material and methods, main results and significant conclusions. It must be comprehensible without reference to the text. It should not be longer than 20 lines. The abstract should be followed by a list of three to ten Keywords,as listed in the Medical Subjects Headings of the Index Medicus.
    
    The body of the paper starts on the third page. It is divided into chapters. The Introduction clearly states the purposes of the work.
    
    Material and methods describe the clinical or experimental subjects for the study and the techniques and equipment used. When appropriate, statistical methods are described in details.
    
    - Results are given in text, tables and figures, with minimal redundancy between them. The Discussion stresses the original and important aspects of the study and ends with a conclusion.
    - Original case reports could be submitted for publication in the Acta Chirurgica Belgica. The presentation should be strictly limited to the clinical description of the case and to the discussion of its particular aspect.
    - Review of the literature should be omitted and only references that underline the specificity of the case in its presentation or in its management should be mentioned.
    - Case reports should be limited to a maximum of 8 pages, with a maximum of 10 references, 1 figure and 1 table, and no more than 3 authors.

13. Words or sentences to be stressed will be underlined and written in italics.

14. Abbreviations should be limited to the minimum. They must be avoided in the title and the abstract. In the text, the full term for which an abbreviation stands should first appear in full with the proposed abbreviation within brackets.

15. Each Table with an appropriate short title should be typed on a separate page. The tables are designated by Roman numerals. The legend of a table is placed as a footnote, under the table concerned.

16. The legends of the Figures will be listed on a separate page, typed double spaced. They must be short and comprehensible without reference to the text. Good quality illustrations help to understand the text. All illustrations must be numbered with Arabic numerals.

17. Colour illustrations will be charged to the author.

18. Reproduction of figures from another journal or from a book requires a permission-letter from the copyright-holder.

19. References will be typed with double spacing on a separate page. They will be listed consecutively in the order in which they are first mentioned in the text, using the Vancouver style (see above : Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals).
    Each reference of a standard journal article will include in order :
    author(s) with initial(s) of first name(s) (list all authors when six or less ; when seven or more, list only first three and add “et al.”), complete title in the original language, journal name abbreviated as in Index Medicus, year of publication, volume number, first and last pages.
    For example: VAN SCHIL P, VAN MEERBEECK J, VANMAELE R, EYSKENS E. Role of thoracoscopy in pleural and pulmonary pathology. Acta Chir Belg 1996; 96: 23
    
    The sequence for the chapter of a book should be: author(s)with initial(s) of first name(s), chapter title, editors, book title,place of publication, publisher, year of publication, first and lastpages. For example : WEINSTEIN L, SWARTZ MN. Pathogenicproperties of invading microorganisms. In :SODEMAN WA, eds.Pathologic physiology : mechanisms of disease. Philadelphia :WB Saunders, 1974 : 457-72.
    
    In the text, the references will be numbered consecutively byArabic numerals between brackets.

20. Manuscripts that have been accepted for publication become the property of the Acta Chirurgica Belgica, which is copyrighted by the Royal Belgian Society for Surgery.
    They may not be published or reproduced in whole or in part without the written permission of the author(s) and of the editorial board of the Acta Chirurgica Belgica.

21. Fifteen reprints will be sent free of charge to the authors. Additional reprints can be ordered when receiving the proofs:
    they will be charged to the author.
    
     

Instructions to authors: Acta Gastro-Enterologica

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Acta Gastro-Enterologica Belgica publishes studies in the field of Gastroenterology. The language of the journal is English. Papers from any country will be considered for Publication. Manuscripts submitted to the journal should not already have been published previously in English or any other language, nor should they be under consideration for publication elsewhere in English or any other language. All unsolicited papers are peer-reviewed before it is decided whether they should be accepted, rejected, or returned for revision. The journal reserves the right to edit the language of papers accepted for publication for clarity and correctness, and to make formal changes to ensure compliance with Acta’s style. Authors have an opportunity to review such changes in the proofs.
 

1. Submission of manuscripts
Manuscripts should be submitted electronically by e-mail to: Pierre Deprez, MD, phD : Editor-in-Chief, E-mail : actagastrobe@scribis.com, with a copy to Christel Martin, actagastrobe@scribis.com
 

2. Presentation of manuscripts
Authors are invited to submit the following types of paper for consideration: original articles, case reports, letters to the editor, reviews, expert point of view, articles from Symposia or meetings, Consensus conferences and Guidelines from scientific societies.
 

• A covering letter is required, stating the name and address of the main author with telephone and fax numbers, e-mail and the type of manuscript (e.g., article, case report).

• A signature sheet is required upon submission. Please ensure that the original signatures of the principal author and all the co-authors appear under the following text: “I hereby declare that I am author of the paper by … et al. entitled… None of the material in this manuscript has been published previously in any form and none of the material is currently under consideration for publication elsewhere other than noted in the covering letter to the Editor”.

• All submissions must include a footnote on each page with the page number and first author’s name. In the text, abbreviations should be kept to a minimum and given in parentheses alongside the abbreviated expression on first use. Commercial names of products should be avoided if possible.

• Text must be in MS Word format.

• Title page. The manuscript should have a separate title page including the following items:

  • Full title without abbreviations.

  • Names of all authors with initials only of first names.

  • Main affiliation of each author.

  • Corresponding author’s name, full address, fax and e-mail.

• Abstract (summary). Required for all contributions, except letters to the editor, and should contain a maximum of 250 words and be subdivided as follows for original articles:

  • Background and study aims: not more than two sentences outlining previous work in this area and defining the aims of the study.

  • Patients and methods: relevant data on patients, study design (prospective or retrospective), and parameters.

  • Results: presenting the most relevant data.

  • Conclusions: one or two sentences with a special emphasis on the clinical conclusions to be drawn from the study.

• Original articles should present the results of original research in the form of a full-length study. Should contain the following sections: abstract, introduction, patients/materials and methods, results, discussion; reference list, tables, figure legends.

• Case reports should present only cases of exceptional interest. Should contain the following sections: short abstract, introduction, case report, discussion; reference list, tables, figure legends. An extensive review of existing published cases on the matter should be provided.

• Letters to the editor should refer to a recent article published in the journal or to a short relevant communication in the field of Gastroenterology.

• Reviews, Symposia, Expert point of views or Guidelines should include an abstract, the core text, a summary and a research agenda for the future.

• References. Number references consecutively in the order in which they are first mentioned in the text. Identify references in text, tables, and legends by Arabic numerals placed in brackets. In the numbered reference list at the end of the text, use the style of the examples below. Use Index Medicus abbreviations for journal titles.
  
  Article ( list all authors) :
  13. Adler M, Goubau P, Nevens F. Hepatitis C virus: the burden of the disease. Acta Gastroenterol Belg 2002; 65: 83-86.
  
  Book:
  18. Day RA. How to write and publish a scientific paper. Philadelphia: Institute for Scientific Information, 1979.
  
  Chapter in Book
  22. Costa M, Furness JB, Llewellyn-Smith IF. Histochemistry of the enteric nervous system. In: Johnson LR, ed. Physiology of the gastrointestinal tract. Volume 1. 2nd ed. New York: Raven, 1987:1–40.
  
  

• Tables and figures. Each table and figure must be referred to the text (as follows: (Table 1) or (Figure 1) and numbered. Each table must be typed on a separate page with its heading above it.

• Figures (in colour if possible) should be forwarded as separate files (JPG, 300 dpi) and should include any arrow or notation directly in the figure. Figures inserted into PPT files or Word files are not acceptable. Name of the figure should include first author name and number referred to the text.
  Legends for figures should be typed, starting on a separate page.
  

3. Reviewing process
All manuscripts (except symposium articles which are reviewed by the organizer and the Editorial Board), are submitted to one (case reports), two (original articles) or three (in case of disagreement) reviewers. Referees are requested to answer within 30 days or send back the manuscript if they cannot comply with this regulation.

Decisions of the reading committee (reviewers and editorial board):

• The paper can be accepted for publication without further changes.
• The paper can be accepted for publication after minor changes that must be addressed.
• The paper can be accepted for publication after a major revision. In this case the authors should provide a clear point-by-point reply to all remarks of the referee on a separate sheet and provide one copy of the manuscript with the changes highlighted in bold. The paper is then resubmitted to the referees for final decision.
• The paper does not meet priorities of the journal and is not to be considered for publication in Acta Gastro-Enterologica Belgica.
   

4. Reprints
Authors receive 25 reprints free of charge; further reprints can be ordered at cost price when returning the proofs.
 

5. Copyright
All rights are held by the publisher, including the right to reproduce all or part of any publication.

Instructions to Authors: Acta Neurologica Belgica

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Aims and scope : Acta Neurologica Belgica publishes original articles in neurology, neurosurgery and basic neurosciences. Manuscripts should be written in English and are considered for publication with the understanding that they have not been published elsewhere except in abstract form and are not under simultaneous consideration by another journal.

Types of papers:

• Commentaries ‘Editorials’, written by members of the Advisory Board.
• Consensus papers and guidelines, written by experts in the Belgian and international neurological community.
• Review articles on selected topics, written by invited authors, but unsolicited reviews will also be considered. It is recommended that authors intending to submit review articles contact the Editor in advance.
• Original articles : full-length papers devoted to the scope and the purpose of the journal.
• Case reports of unusual clinical syndromes or diseases.
• Letters to the Editor : letters concerning matters arising in recent articles are welcome.
• Society proceedings : report of the scientific meetings of the Belgian Neurological Society, the Belgian  Neurosurgical Society, the Belgian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology, the Belgian Study Group of Multiple Sclerosis, the Belgian Study Group of Neuropathology, and the Belgian Pediatric Neurology Society.
• Book reviews.
• Announcements at the Editor’s discretion.

Manuscripts:
They should be sent in triplicate including an electronic version on floppy disc or CD-ROM to the
Editor-in-Chief : Professor Dr. P. BOON,
 Department of Neurology, Ghent University Hospital,
 De Pintelaan 185,
9000 Gent, Belgium;
tel. : (32) (0)9 240 45 39 ; telefax : (32) (0)9 240 49 71.

A title page should identify the title of the article, a running title (maximum 38 characters), authors, name of institution(s) from which the work originated and the address, telephone and fax numbers of the corresponding author.

Pages of text should be numbered consecutively. All manuscripts must be double spaced throughout including references and legends for illustrations. Margins of at least 25 mm should be left on all sides. Articles should be submitted under conventional headings of “introduction”, “methods and materials”, “results”, “discussion”, but other headings and subheadings will be considered if more suitable for a particular manuscript.

Acknowledgements,
including recognition of financial support should be typed on a separate page at the end of the text.

Summary:
A summary of approximately 200 words is mandatory at the beginning of each article. It should be followed by 5 to 8 key words. Authors are encouraged to choose their own key words.

Illustrations:
All figures should be in a form suitable for immediate reproduction. All photographs must be submitted as clear black and white prints on glossy paper (preferably no smaller than 10 12 cm and no longer than 20 25 cm). The additional cost of colour illustration may be charged to the authors.
 Identify each figure with a label at the back indicating top, figure number and first author. Photomicrographs should include a calibration bar with a scale indicated on the figure or in the legend. Legends for illustrations should be typed on a separate page.

Tables:
They must be typed with double spacing on separate pages and should be numbered and provided with a short descriptive heading. Place explanatory matter in footnotes.

References:
Citation in the text should be by author(s) and year in chronological, not alphabetical order. When papers written by more than two authors are cited in the text, the abbreviation “et al.” should be used following the name of the leading author. All references cited in the text must be listed at the end of the paper, in double spaced typing and arranged in alphabetical order of first author’s name. References must be complete and should include the names of up to five authors (if there are more, cite the first five, then “et al.”), the full title, journal, year of publication, volume number, first and last pages. Journal titles should be abbreviated according to Index Medicus.

Manuscripts in preparation and submitted but not accepted as well as “personal communications” should not appear in the reference list, but should be cited in the appropriate place in the text.
Books or chapter references should also include the place of publication and the name of the publisher. Examples of correct forms of reference follow:

MARTIN J. J., CEUTERICK C., LUBKE U., VAN BROECKHOVEN C. Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Immunohistochemistry of foetal muscles. Acta Neurol. Belg., 1993, 93: 130-138.

MAC DONALD W. I. Should optic neuritis be treated ? In : “More dilemmas in the management of the neurological patients”. Warlow C., Garfield H. eds., Edimburgh, Churchill Livingstone, 1987, 51-54.

Electronic manuscripts:
After final acceptance, the corresponding author will be requested to submit a disk (3 1/2” size) containing the article, in addition to the final printed, exactly matching, version of this article. Electronic manuscripts permit the reliable and fast delivery of proofs. Identify clearly on the disk: system (MS dos, Macintosh ...), format, software program and version, first author’s name.

Proofs:
They will be sent to the first-named author of an article unless an alternative is requested on the title page of the manuscript. They should be checked carefully and returned to the publisher within 2 days of receipt. Only typesetting errors may be corrected.

Reprints:
They may be ordered by completing and returning to the Publisher the order form sent with the proofs. Twenty-five reprints per contribution will be made available free of charge.

Copyright:
Upon acceptance of an article by the journal, the author(s) is (are) reputed to transfer copyright of the article to the publisher. This transfer will ensure the widest possible dissemination of information.

Subscriptions and Advertisements
Subscription information 2000: Volume 100 (1 volume in 4 issues) Belgium: € 55; abroad: € 62.
Subscription orders can be entered only by calendar year (Jan-Dec) but individual issues may also be obtained. Orders should be sent to “Publications Acta Medica Belgica”,
Avenue Circulaire 138 A,
1180 Brussels, Belgium
(account number : 210-0251210-32).

Advertising enquiries : please contact
Dr. A. MICHOTTE,
AZ-VUB Jette
Dienst Neurologie,
Laarbeeklaan 101,
1090 Brussel,
fax.: (32)-(0)2-477 68 00,
E-mail : alex.michotte@az.vub.ac.be.

Instructions to Authors: ACTA ORTHOPAEDICA BELGICA

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The journal ‘Acta Orthopaedica Belgica’ welcomes original articles, technical notes, review articles, current concepts reviews and case reports that contribute to orthopaedic surgery and traumatology (chil­dren and adults), from any author regardless of his country of residence..

Original articles are accepted only for exclusive publication in A.O.B. (Acta Orthopaedica Belgica). Simultaneous submission to several journals will be considered malpractice on the part of the authors and will result in rejection of their manuscript.

Publication does not constitute official endorsement of opinions presented in the articles. Articles published and their illustrations become the property of A.O.B. and are covered by “Copyright”. Permission will be given to recognised medical journals to reprint any­thing in these pages, if properly requested permission is first obtained from A.O.B. and if the material used is properly credited to the A.O.B.

Letter of transmittal
After reception of a manuscript, the first author will receive a mes­sage which acknowledges receipt of the manuscript, together with a standard letter of transmittal which shall be signed by all contributing authors and returned to the editor of A.O.B. Each author must assume full responsibility for the content of the manuscript. A corresponding author must be clearly identified, and his mailing address, phone, fax and e-mail address must be provided.

Structure of the article
Acceptance of a scientific contribution is a decision of the editorial board, after consulting expert referees.

English is the sole language of the journal. The editors understand that English is not the mother language of many contributors. Nevertheless, proper grammatical construction, proper use of vocabu­lary and spelling are the prime responsibility of the authors. Non con­forming manuscripts will be returned.

Title page: the title, in bold low case letters, should be short (maxi­mum 15 words), clearly indicating the content of the article.

The title will be followed by the first names (in low case letters) and last names (in capital letters) of the authors; no more than six authors can be listed for an original study, and four for a case report. If the number of authors is in excess, the specific contribution of every author must be clearly stated in the letter of transmittal.

A footnote is added to the title page, giving hospital or university affiliation and title of each author, as well as the name, mailing address, telephone, fax and e-mail address of the corresponding author. The authors shall also specify in which institution the study was carried out.

The text must be precise, clear and concise.

The number of pages is limited to 25 double-spaced A4 sheets for an original article and to 5 or 6 pages for a technical note or case report. Pages should be numbered.

Abbreviations may not be used in either title or abstract; if used in the text, their meaning must be given the first time used.

Articles should follow the “AIMRAD” structure (Abstract, intro­duction, materials (or patients) and methods, results and discussion) :

Abstract: normally no more than 150 words. It should state the purpose of the study in one sentence. Methods of study should be stated. The results should be summarised in sufficient detail to support the conclusions reached. Statements such as: “The results will be discussed” or “other data will be presented ”are not acceptable.

Introduction: short review of previous relevant studies and state­ment of the purpose of the study.

Materials (or patients) and methods: methods should be detailed only when they are original; otherwise the source should be given.

The authors shall clearly specify whether their study was prospec­tive or retrospective, whether it was a controlled or cohort study; the proportion of patients lost to follow-up shall be indicated.

Statistical methods shall be described in detail.

Results: they should be objectively described, without comments. As a rule, results of surgery should have a follow-up of more than two years.

A p value must be reported for any significant differences present­ed. When no significant differences are reported, a power study must be done and the value of alpha or beta reported. Correlation coeffi­cients will be reported when applicable.

Discussion: includes comments on published data correlated to bibliographical references. No attempt should be made to present a comprehensive literature review. The strengths, weaknesses and limi­tations of the study must be presented. The conclusions shall be based on the findings reported in the manuscript.

References: The literature references quoted in the text are num­bered and listed alphabetically at the end of the article; they are referred to in the text by their number, in lower case italic figures between rounded brackets. Only references actually used by the authors and of significance will be included. For books, author or editor, title, pub­lisher, year of issue, first and last page of quoted text shall be mentioned. Titles of journals shall be abbreviated according to international rules (Index Medicus).The typography to be used is that found in recent issues of the journal; it shall be used with scrupulous attention to accuracy.

Examples:

Rockwood CA, Matsen FA III. The Shoulder. 2nd ed, WB Saunders, Philadelphia, 1990, pp 722-735.

Shaw M, Burnett H, Wilson A, Chan O. Pseudosubluxation of C2 on C3 in polytraumatized children, prevalence and significance. Clin Radiol 1999; 54: 577-580.

Hoser C, Fink C, Brown C et al. Long-term results of arthroscopic partial lateral meniscectomy in knees without associated damage. J Bone Joint Surg 2001; 83-B: 513-516.

Conflicts of interest : Any conflict of interest, any grant or financial profit related with the study must be mentioned in a brief note at the end of the manuscript. This statement has no bearing on the editorial decision to publish the manuscript.

Presentation of the manuscript
We encourage e-mail submission of manuscripts, including the complete text, tables and figures. Should this not be possible, the manuscript, with tables and illustrations, should be sent to the editor-­in-chief as a digital copy on a floppy disk or a CD-ROM. A workable digital copy (WORDS format) of the typewritten manuscript should be submitted, double-spaced on DIN A4 with a wide margin (at least 5 cm) on one side to facilitate editorial work.

A second title page is also requested, not mentioning the names of the authors or their institution, to enable blinded evaluation by the reviewers.

Every page reiterates the title in a footnote and is numbered.

Illustrations and figures must be numbered with arabic figures, according to the sequence in which they appear in the text.

The tables should be on separate sheets and should be numbered in roman figures. Figures and tables will be quoted in the text and their appropriate places indicated in the margin. There should be a title with a short descriptive heading for each table and a legend for each figure. A list of the legends should be typed double spaced on a separate sheet, attached to the main text.

When submitting an illustration that has appeared elsewhere, its ori­gin must be stated and evidence must be provided that permission has been obtained from the author and publisher to reproduce it.

Illustrations should be serially numbered and their files shall include the first author’s name. Digital illustrations should have suffi­cient definition to permit quality printing. Hard copy non-digital illus­trations should be avoided and will exceptionally be accepted. Original radiographs should not be sent to the editor.

The use of colour prints will be considered only when it is neces­sary to illustrate a particular feature that cannot be made clear in some other way. Illustrations should be of the same size and orientation when they appear in the same figure. Slides are not accepted.

When an article has been reviewed and returned by the editorial board to the authors with comments or corrections, the revised edition is to be resubmitted, preferably as an electronic copy sent by e-mail to the editor, according to previously prescribed rules. All correspondence will be conducted by e-mail. Before publication, galley proofs of the accepted version of the manuscript are sent to the corresponding author for final critical reading. They shall be returned by e-mail to the printer (info@universa.be) within three days. After publication, the corresponding author will receive by e-mail a PDF elec­tronic copy of the manuscript as it appears in the journal so that he can produce offprints of his paper. Hard-copy reprints can also be ordered directly from the printer, at the authors’expense.

In case of non-acceptance of a manuscript, the corresponding author will be informed; manuscripts not accepted for publication will not be returned to the authors, except when explicitly requested.

Authors who wish to submit a manuscript are invited to visit the journal website (http://www.actaorthopaedica.be) in order to get familiar with the lay out and typography requested.



Central address for transmittal
ACTA ORTHOPAEDICA BELGICA c/o Prof. Roger Lemaire, editor
Rue du Centre 44-46
B-4130 Esneux, Belgium
E-mail : aob.edit@skynet.be

Instructions to Authors:

Journal belge de Radiologie (JBR)
Belgisch Tijdschrift voor Radiologie (BTR)
Belgian Journal of Radiology

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• The purpose of the Belgian Journal of Radiology is the publication of articles dealing with diagnostic radiology and related imaging techniques, therapeutic radiology, allied sciences and continuing education.

• All — new and revised — manuscripts and correspondence should be addressed to
  JBR-BTR Editorial Office,
  Avenue Circulaire 138A,
  B-1180 Bruxelles,
  tel.: 02-374 25 55, fax: 32-2-374 96 28.

• Please note that the following instructions are based on the “Uniform Requirements for manuscripts
  Submitted to Biomedical Journals” adopted by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors
  (Radiology, 1980,135: 239-243). It should however be noted that presentation modifications may be introduced by the Editorial Office in order to conform with the JBR-BTR personal style.

• Authors should specify to which of the following headings their manuscript is intended:
  Original Article, Review Article, Case Report, Pictorial Essay, Continuing Education, Technical Note, Book
  Review, Opinion, Letter to the Editor, Comment, Meeting News, in Memoriam, News.

• Authors should consider the following remarks and submit their manuscripts accordingly.All articles must contain substantive and specific scientific material.
  – Original articles are articles dealing with one specific area of Radiology or allied science related through the personal experience of the author.
  – Review articles are special articles reporting the experience of the author considered in the generalperspective of the literature over the topic.
  – Case reports are short descriptions of a particularcase providing a message directly linked to an individual patient investigated.
  – No more than one case should be described in detail and clinical description should be kept to aminimum. Case reports should invest the usual headings of articles but should focus on the particular radiologic procedure that contributed to the diagnosis. References should be present, though limited in number. Tables and acknowledgements are usually omitted.
  – Pictorial essays are articles presenting information through illustrations and legends. The presentation remarks stated in the paragraph dealing with case reports apply to pictorial essays.
  – Continuing education articles are designed in accordance with the general guidelines for articles published in the JBR-BTR in particular they are divided into introduction, material and methods, results, discussion, references, and are provided with an abstract.
  However, papers addressing the continuing education may have only additionally to their contents an introduction (stating the aim of the article and providing any background information useful to understand why the topic is relevant, and describing the subtopics covered by the study),references, and an abstract.

• Tables should be limited to a maximum of one table per 6 pages of manuscript. Illustrations should also be limited to a maximum of one illustration (1010 cm) (possibly made up of different parts) per 3 pages of manuscript.

• All the material should be made available to the JBR- BTR editorial office (2 copies of the manuscript with 2 sets of illustrations) with the corresponding diskette though there will not be peer review.

• Images in Clinical Radiology are short (max. 1 typed page) case reports designed to illustrate with max. 3 figures a specific entity. The report should not include abstract nor discussion nor references but consist of a synthetic description of the clinical and radiological features as well as the final diagnosis.

• Technical notes are short descriptions of a specific technique, procedure or equipment of interest to radiologists. Technical notes may originate from radiologists having experience of the item presented or from commercial firms (these should contact the Editorial Office to obtain specific guidelines for publication).

  The manuscript length should be inferior to 1 typed page, original language should be English, the manuscript may be accompanied by maximum 1 b/w figure, and include references.
  – Book reviews should be limited to one typed page, mention full references of the book, including
  number of pages, of illustrations (when available), and price. The author should specify to whom the book is intended and give a personal appreciation. They will be published with the initial letters of the signature.
  – Opinion articles are special articles dealing with controversial topics of specific concern to radiologists.
  They may include tables and figures, and must provide a references list.
  – Letters to the Editor and their replies present objective and useful criticism over an article published
  in one of the last four issues of the JBRBTR. They will be published with the name and address of the author. References are necessary, tables and figures are accepted but acknowledgements are not appropriate.
  – Meeting news are reports of national or international congresses, symposia and meetings of
  radiology. Full references of the meeting, including date, place and summary of the main topics
  should be mentioned. Text should be kept to major facts. Figures, tables, references and
  acknowledgements should not be included.
  – In memoriams and News are essentially dealt with in the Editorial Office. Contributions may
  however be submitted under the form of letters addressed to the Editorial Office which will check
  the adequacy of the information.

General Guidelines for Papers
 

Manuscript Requirements
Send 3 copies of the manuscript, including tables and figures (1 original set + 2 copies of the text and 2 original sets + 1 copy of the illustrations) and the corresponding diskette (see below Instructions for Electronic Manuscript Submission). In keeping with sound environmental and economic principles, the JBR-BTR encourages all authors to submit manuscripts printed on both sides of the page. The practice not only will save paper but also will reduce the price of postage required to mail the manuscript. Note that failure to provide an electronic version of manuscript will result in costs to be charged to the author. The original set should mention the personal references of the author. The copies should be nameless (including the figures). Each section of the manuscript begins on a new page in the following order: titre page running title page + key-words, abstract, text, acknowledgements, references, tables and captions for illustrations. Use English or one of the national languages. In the latter case, an English version of the titre, abstract, key-words, legends must necessarily be provided. Note that the author will be charged the costs of translation.

Submitted manuscripts may not be covered by a previous copyright. The author will be held responsible for any litigation that might possibly ensue.
Manuscripts will be submitted to a review Committee whose decision is final. Authors are usually notified within eight weeks as to the acceptability of their paper.

Instructions for Electronic Manuscript Submission
Please send an electronic version of your manuscript either a floppy disk or a CD-rom in conjunction with the traditional paper version or separately as an e-mail with attachments to JBR-BTR@skynet.be
Please follow the general instructions on style/arrangements and, in particular, the reference style as given in the present “Instructions to Authors”. Note, however, that while the paper version of the manuscript must be presented in the traditional double spaced format, the electronic version will be typeset and should not contain any extraneous instructions.

For exemple: use hard carriage returns only at the end of paragraphs and display lines (e.g. titles, subheadings); do not use an extra hard return between paragraphs; do not use tabs or extra space at the start of a paragraph or for list entries; do not indent runover lines in references; turn off line spacing; turn off hyphenation and justification; do not specify pages breaks, page numbers, or headers; do not
specify typeface.
Care should be taken to correctly enter “one“ (1) and longer case “el“ (l), as well as “zero” (O) and capital “o“ (O). Illustrations and tables will be handled conventionally. However, figures and table legends should be included at the end of the electronic file.
Non-standard characters (Greek letters, mathematical symbols, etc.) should be coded consistently throughout the text. Please make a list of such characters and provide a listing of the codes used.
Note that disks and CD-roms will not be returned to authors.

• Title
  Keep it short and relevant.

• Title must be followed by the surname(s) and first name(s) (for computer processing purposes, 2 initial letters only will be admitted) of all authors.

• The position held by the authors, their academic degrees, the name of the institution to which they belong and/or from which the article originates and the name of the department Head (if required) must be indicated at the bottom of the first page.

• The title in the national language of the text should be noted after the key-words.

• A running title in English should be provided on a separate page.

• Two copies of a blind titre page are included, giving only the titre (without the authors’ names) for use in the review process.
  
   

Abstract and Key-words
Written in English exclusively, the abstract should head the manuscript and summarize the aim, the methods, results and conclusions. It should not exceed 200 words for major papers and 100 words for the other studies. No abbreviation or references are used in the abstract.
Three to six key-words from the terms used in the JBR-BTR Subject Index (and/or the most recent three-year cumulative index of Radiology) should be listed.

Text
The text should be clearly divided in the following sections: introduction, material and methods, results, discussion and conclusion. Abbreviations should be defined in an explanatory note before being used as such. The definitive text should be typed on one side only of a standard size (A4) typewriting paper, in double-spacing throughout and have at least 3 cm margins.

The manuscript should not be longer than 16 typewritten pages, including references and summary for a major paper unless otherwise agreed by the Editor (one typewritten page is equivalent to approximately 250 words) and no longer than 6 typewritten pages for the other types of work.

Specific guest editorials Specific guest editorials are invited papers written by selected distinguished specialists. They should summarize in concise the stase of the art in one specific field of medical imaging or related sciences in no more than 8 typewritten pages, including either 1 table or illustration (drawing or graph). The bibliography should not exceed 12-15 recent and/or fundamental references.

References
References should be numbered consecutively in the order in which they appear in the text. Their number should be kept down to 20 for major papers and 8 for case reports and other papers.
They should be given as follows:

a) abridged titles of periodicals should conform to those in the Index Medicus.
All authors are listed when six or fewer; when seven or more authors, the first three are listed, followed by “et al.”. 
Ex.: Bomsel F., Couchard M., Henry E.: Respiratory distress in the newborn. J Belge Radiol, 1980, 63: 89-107.

b) in the case of books, references should indicate: the authors of the chapter, the title of the chapter,
the title of the book, the editor(s), publisher, edition, city, year and specific pages.
– Ex.: Isengrin P.: Radiologie stomacale. 3e édition, Arscia, Bruxelies, 1974, p. 22.
– Ex.: Weinstein L., Swartz M.N.: Pathogenic properties of invading microorganisms.
In: Pathologic physiology: mechanisms of disease. Edited by Sodeman W.A. Jr, Sodeman W.A., Cds. Printed by Saunders, Philadelphia, 1974, pp. 457-472.
Quote the name and address of the author to whom the reprints will be sent, at the end of the references.  Corresponding author and Reprints

The name and address of the corresponding authors should be mentioned affer the references.
25 reprints, are offered free by the JBR-BTR.

Tables
Tables should be presented on a separate page and numbered in Roman numerals in the order in which they are cited in the text. They should have an English title and legend. Abbreviations should be defined in a foot note. Only commonly admitted measurement standards should be used.
Figures and Legends Illustrations should be restricted to the minimum required to show the essentiel features described in the paper. They must be mentioned in the text. Two complete unmounted sets of original figures in labeled envelopes should be provided. All figure parts relating to one patient should have the same figure number. Use capital letters A, B, C, in the left lower corner to distinguish figures from one set. Figures should be marked on the back with an arabic numeral indicating the sequence in which they are to be referred to, with a lightly pencilled “top“ indicating their topside and the name of the first author. Never use ink on front or back of any figure. For uniformity purposes, points of interest should be showed on the figures with removable (Letraset) arrows or/and letters, or should be indicated on an accompanying photocopy of the figures, in order to enable our services to use their own characters.

Images should be uniform in size and magnification.

1. Radiographs. Cost and number: depending on the length of the manuscript (a total of 2 to 6 times 14 15 cm is available free of charge).
Presentation: glossy prints, no larger than 18/24 cm.
It is advisable for films to be centered on the zone of major interest and they should be grouped. Arrows should indicate the important points.
2. Photographs and drawings Four-colour illustrations will be printed at the expense of the authors.
Drawing and graphs should be of professional quality. They should illustrate — not duplicate — data given in the text.

Legends are typed separately and preceded by the number of the corresponding illustration.
Note that illustrations will not be returned to authors.

(*) Pr J. PRINGOT,
Avenue Circulaire 138A, B-1180 Bruxelles,
 Belgique
((tél: 02-374.25.55, fax: 02-374.96.28, e-mail: JBR-BTR@skynet.be).