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Authors' Guidelines
World Wide Wounds welcomes contributions from healthcare professionals with an interest in wound management. This guide includes instructions for layout and style, guidance on editorial policy and copyright. |
Contents
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Last updated: November 2006 Revision: 2.0 |
World Wide Wounds is able to accommodate a wide variety of style, length and content. Editorial criteria are confined to originality, relevance, quality and interest. Articles accepted for publication include review articles, case reports, practice guides and original research.
World Wide Wounds also welcomes the submission of abstracts of research published elsewhere. Abstracts should be no more than 300 words in length and provide a concise account of the work. Where an opinion is expressed, it must be made clear to the reader as to whose opinion it is.
Press releases, letters and email about new developments of interest and relevance to the field of wound management, with an emphasis on practice are welcomed. All such communications must provide a name and contact details for further enquiries. Contributors' confidentiality will be respected if clearly requested. Anonymous material will not be published.
Articles should be sent to the editor as an email attachment to editor@smtl.co.uk.
Microsoft Word is the preferred word-processing program. We can also handle versions of WordPerfect and Microsoft Word for DOS, Windows or Macintosh. As articles are prepared using the DocBook XML V4.1.2 DTD, this format is acceptable also. If you are unable to provide the article in one of the above formats, please provide the article as a plain text file with no formatting information.
If submitting your article on floppy disk, indicate the type of computer (PC, Macintosh, Linux etc), the program name and version, the file name(s) and the corresponding author's name.
Articles should be submitted using the following format:
Include the title of the article; the full name, professional title, highest professional and academic qualifications of each author; the department and institution of each author; the name, address, telephone and fax numbers and email address of the author responsible for correspondence.
For general articles, a synopsis of the paper in no more than 250-300 words. For original investigations, see later.
Include up to six keywords relevant to your article.
Include three to six brief statements summing up the most important points of your article. These could be used as learning points.
Use headings within the text to make it easier to read and understand. Subdivide the text into main sections with subheadings. Keep these short and succinct and similar in sense and style.
All articles should be written in plain English, free from jargon and the writing be clear and direct. All spelling will be in English (use `s' spellings, e.g minimise). Abbreviations should be kept to a minimum and shown in full when first used.
These are welcome where they add emphasis, clarity and/or interest to articles and should be clearly labelled, with relevant captions. The text should indicate where they are to be placed.
Illustrations can be accepted as line drawings, mono or coloured or as photographs or slides (do not send glass mounted slides/transparencies), but must be of a high quality. Do not send originals. Digital files can be used, but must be saved as .tif or .jpeg files and be at least 1200 pixels wide or 300 dpi at 9 cm wide.
The author is responsible for obtaining written permission from patients where necessary. If using previously published material, written permission must be sought from the publisher before submitting the material.
The author may acknowledge substantive contributions to the article to mark the receipt of financial assistance, materials and other resources. It is the author's responsibility to obtain permission from all supporting agencies.
All articles must fully referenced. References are indicated in the text by a number with the full list at the end of the article in numerical order.
Authors must use the Vancouver style for references. Please give the names and initials of all authors (if more than six, list the first three only followed by et al). Authors are responsible for the accuracy of all relevant citations.
Author(s) names and initials (no stops), title (upper and lower case, no quotation marks), edition or volume, place of publication (city or state), publisher and year. Add relevant page numbers if appropriate.
Insert name of chapter authors, title of chapter and editor(s) followed by In: and follow the directions for book title (see above).
Author(s) names and initials (no stops), title of article (lowercase, no quotation marks), journal title (using Index Medicus abbreviations where appropriate), year of publication, volume and issue number and inclusive pages.
To cite web publications available for viewing/downloading, give the author's name (if known), the full title, site/journal name, the full http address (URL) and the date of visit or date the page was last updated.
Case reports need to provide a straightforward account of events associated with a patient's care, detailing the rationale used, any problems experienced and how you might apply any lessons learnt from the experience, using the literature to back up any actions. Case reports can usefully illustrate innovative treatments, a particular product or technique, and provide a valuable teaching aid. Where possible they should be accompanied by photographs to enhance points made in the text. The identity of patients must be protected.
All reviews should provide a detailed overview of any topic related to wound care. Where appropriate they should re-evaluate the literature with a view to what's new and its relevance to practice.
Practical guides should provide a clear, detailed explanation of how to manage a particular aspect of wound care.
This should be supported with photographs and/or illustrations to help support explanations given in the text. The literature should be used to justify the rationale given; when this is not available the author must provide a supportive argument.
Articles presenting new and original work or information should aim to make an important contribution to current knowledge and practice. All original articles should be of a high academic standard and be divided into clearly marked sections as below:
See manuscript presentation.
A concise account of the aims and achievements of the work - i.e. what the research set out to achieve and summary of results. Not to exceed 400 words. World Wide Wounds prefers structured abstracts where possible.
This section should put into context the research undertaken, enabling the reader to understand the background, reasons for interest, previous related work and whether you intend to verify existing knowledge, replicate previous work or move to new territory.
Type of method used (i.e. questionnaire/investigation technique) and materials (i.e. new dressing material). This should be sufficiently detailed to give the reader a basic understanding of the research methods and, if necessary, to replicate the work.
To be given in sufficient detail for World Wide Wounds and reviewers to evaluate the work.
This section should reflect back on the Introduction and will require references to other related work. It is useful to consider the discussion in three parts:
Results - highlighting any unexpected results and comparing/contrasting the findings with those of other researchers.
Clinical and statistical significance of the results. Research involving people and health care should not be seen as an end in itself. The consequences of the work for wound management practice deserves discussion.
Problems, weaknesses and limitations of the work - honest appraisal of research limitations may be the key to achieving publication of flawed, but useful research.
All accepted manuscripts will be subject to editorial revisions for clarity, punctuation, syntax and conformity to style. Wherever possible, the author(s) will be fully involved in the editorial process, although the final decision lies with the editor. Proofs of the article will be sent to corresponding authors prior to publication.
Permission must be obtained for all copyright material and acknowledged as specified by the copyright holder. Evidence should be given where permission has been granted.
All manuscripts submitted to World Wide Wounds will be subject to peer review. This will be double blind. Reviewers' comments will be shared with the authors.
World Wide Wounds is published by SMTL and Medical Education Partnership, who share copyright on all material published in the journal from March 2001.
World Wide Wounds accepts material for publication on the following basis:
Articles should be submitted exclusively to World Wide Wounds and received with the understanding that they are the author(s)' original work and have not been published elsewhere in whole or in part, in printed or electronic form, and is not being considered for publication elsewhere.
Material contains no violation of existing copyright or other third party right or any material of an obscene, libellous or unlawful nature.
Permission has been obtained for any illustrations, diagrams or other material included in the article of which the author(s) is not the copyright owner and the source acknowledged.
It is a condition of acceptance for publication of any contribution accepted for publication that copyright is transferred and assigned to World Wide Wounds. On occasion World Wide Wounds may publish material without being the owner of the copyright. In these cases full acknowledgement of the copyright owner will be cited and consent obtained from the copyright owner.
Authors are requested to use the downloadable copyright consent form (PDF) and submit it to the editor with their article.
World Wide Wounds asserts its copyright ownership under relevant national and international law.
Under international treaty and the laws of most countries, readers must observe the following:
The person using World Wide Wounds may view, download and store single copies of articles providing that the articles are used only for their personal, non-commercial use.
To make multiple copies or republish substantial parts of the original, written permission must be obtained from the publishers.
Written permission must be obtained from the publishers for any uses and or copies of articles published in World Wide Wounds in whole or in part, and include the customary bibliographic citation, including author attribution, article title, World Wide Wounds and the URL http://www.worldwidewounds.com/ and must include a copy of the copyright notice.
Every precaution is taken to ensure that the content of this site is accurate and legally and morally correct. However, neither SMTL or The Medical Education Partnership accept any responsibility for the views or comments expressed by individuals or organisations through emails, discussion forums or published works. In no event shall SMTL or The Medical Education Partnership be liable for any damages to any party arising out of or in connection with the use of articles or other material derived from the journal World Wide Wounds.
All agreements and transactions are subject to UK and international law.